How to Migrate from HubSpot CRM to Zoho CRM: A Step-by-Step Guide

When a sales team outgrows HubSpot CRM, the decision to migrate hubspot to zoho crm is straightforward in principle but technically complex in execution. Zoho CRM offers deeper customisation, tighter integration with the broader Zoho ecosystem, and substantially lower per-seat costs, especially for teams that want a unified platform across sales, marketing, finance, and support. The challenge is moving years of contact history, deal pipelines, email sequences, and automation logic without losing data integrity or disrupting your team mid-quarter.

This guide walks through every stage of the process: what to audit before you start, how to export each data type from HubSpot, how to map and import records into Zoho CRM in the correct order, and how to rebuild your automation and email workflows. There are eight sections covering the full migration lifecycle, plus a checklist of the ten go-live checks that separate clean migrations from ones that cause problems weeks later.

Before You Start: The Data Audit

The single most common reason CRM migrations take twice as long as planned is skipping the data audit. Before exporting anything, you need a clear picture of exactly what lives in your HubSpot account and whether all of it is worth moving.

What HubSpot stores that you need to account for

• Contacts — first name, last name, email, phone, lifecycle stage, owner, custom properties, subscription status
• Companies — name, domain, industry, size, address, associated contacts
• Deals — name, amount, pipeline, stage, close date, associated contacts and companies
• Activities — calls, meetings, emails logged against contacts/companies/deals
• Notes — free-text notes attached to records
• Email sequences — automated multi-step outreach sequences
• Workflows — automation rules for lead rotation, notifications, stage changes, task creation
• Custom properties — any fields your team added beyond the HubSpot defaults

Run a property usage report in HubSpot (Settings > Properties > Export all properties) before you begin. This export lists every custom property, how many records have a value in it, and when it was last modified. Properties with zero records or last modified more than two years ago are candidates to leave behind. Carrying dead data into a new CRM increases import time and clutters your field list.

Data quality decisions to make upfront

Decide before exporting: which lifecycle stages map to which Zoho CRM lead/contact statuses, what your deal stage naming convention will be in Zoho, and whether you will migrate all activity history or only activities from the last 24 months. Activity history is the largest data set in most HubSpot accounts and the one that causes the most import complexity. Setting a cutoff date reduces volume and speeds the migration considerably.

Exporting from HubSpot

HubSpot exports data as CSV files. Every major object type has its own export path in the UI.

Contacts and companies

Go to Contacts > Contacts > Actions > Export. Select all properties you want to include. HubSpot will email you a CSV download link within a few minutes. Repeat the same process under Companies. When you open the CSV, check that email addresses are in a single column (not split across primary/secondary columns), that phone numbers are formatted consistently, and that the “Associated Company” column is populated for contacts that should link to company records.

Deals

Export from Sales > Deals > Actions > Export. The deal export includes the associated contact and company IDs. You will need these IDs when you build the import associations in Zoho CRM. Do not delete these columns from your CSV before importing.

Activities and notes

HubSpot does not offer a single bulk export of all activity history from the standard UI. You have two options: export via the HubSpot API (requires a developer token and a script to paginate through the engagements endpoint), or use the HubSpot data export in Settings > Account > Integrations > Export. The full account export produces a zip file containing all engagement records. This is the faster option for teams without API access.

Email sequences

Sequences are not exportable as structured data. You will need to manually document each sequence: the number of steps, timing delays, subject lines, and body copy. Create a spreadsheet with one row per sequence step before you close out your HubSpot account.

Field Mapping: HubSpot Properties to Zoho CRM Fields

Field mapping is where migrations succeed or fail. Zoho CRM uses different terminology and has different default fields than HubSpot. The table below covers the most common mappings.

Custom field strategy

Log into Zoho CRM and create all custom fields before you upload a single CSV. Go to Setup > Customisation > Modules > Contacts (or Leads, or Accounts) > Fields. For each custom HubSpot property you are migrating, create the equivalent field in Zoho with the same data type. If you upload records before the fields exist, the import will silently discard those columns.

For picklist fields, populate all option values in Zoho before importing. A picklist import in Zoho CRM will reject any value that does not already exist in the field’s option list, unlike some CRMs that create new options on the fly.

Importing into Zoho CRM: The Correct Order

Import sequence matters. Zoho CRM uses lookup relationships between records, and if you import contacts before accounts, the account association cannot be set during the contact import. Follow this order exactly.

1. Accounts (Companies) — import first, note the Zoho-assigned record IDs from the import result file
2. Contacts — import second, use the Account Name column to associate contacts to accounts
3. Leads — import if you have unconverted HubSpot contacts that have not been associated to a company
4. Deals (Opportunities) — import after contacts, link via Contact Name and Account Name
5. Activities and Notes — import last, associating each to the correct contact or deal record

Use Zoho CRM’s native import wizard (Setup > Import > Import your data). Upload each CSV, map the columns to Zoho fields in the mapping screen, and download the import result file after each batch. The result file contains a row for every record with a status column showing whether it was created, updated, or rejected, and an error description for rejections. Fix rejections before moving to the next object type.

Handling duplicate detection

Zoho CRM’s import wizard allows you to set a duplicate-check field (typically email address for contacts). If a contact already exists in Zoho with the same email, the import will update the existing record rather than creating a duplicate. Enable this for every contact and lead import.

Recreating Workflows and Automation in Zoho CRM

Workflow automation is the part of the migration that takes the most judgment. HubSpot’s workflow builder and Zoho CRM’s workflow rules and Blueprint are different paradigms.

Mapping HubSpot workflows to Zoho equivalents

Build the five or six workflows that your team uses daily first. Leave edge-case automation for after go-live once you confirm the core flows are working correctly. Blueprint in Zoho CRM is more structured than anything in HubSpot for pipeline stage management, but it takes longer to configure, so schedule separate time for it if your deal process has complex required-field logic at each stage.

Recreating Email Sequences in Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM’s equivalent of HubSpot sequences is the Cadences feature (available in the Enterprise plan and above). Cadences allow you to build multi-step email and call sequences assigned to contacts or leads, with time delays and conditional branching.

Using the sequence documentation you created during the export phase, rebuild each sequence in Zoho CRM under Actions > Cadences. For each step, select the email template, set the delay from the previous step, and set the exit condition (reply received, link clicked, or manual removal). If you are on a Zoho CRM plan that does not include Cadences, the equivalent functionality is available through Zoho Campaigns with the CRM sync enabled, or through Zoho SalesIQ for website-triggered outreach.

Email Integration: Connecting Gmail or Outlook to Zoho CRM

Email integration is one of the first things your team will notice after migration. Configure this before you ask anyone to start using Zoho CRM.

Gmail integration

Go to Setup > Channels > Email > Email Configuration and connect the Google Workspace account. Each user authenticates individually via OAuth. Once connected, emails sent from Gmail appear in the CRM timeline for the associated contact. The Zoho CRM for Gmail extension (available in the Chrome Web Store) adds a CRM sidebar panel directly inside Gmail, showing contact details and deal history without switching tabs.

Outlook integration

The Zoho CRM plug-in for Outlook (desktop version and Outlook for Microsoft 365) provides the same sidebar functionality. Connect via Setup > Channels > Email > Email Configuration > Microsoft. For organisations using Exchange on-premises, the IMAP/POP3 configuration path is available as an alternative.

Email tracking

Enable email tracking in Setup > Channels > Email > Email Tracking. This records email opens and link clicks against the contact record, equivalent to HubSpot’s email tracking. The tracking pixel is injected automatically into outbound emails sent through Zoho CRM.

Testing Before Go-Live: 10 Checks Every Migration Needs

Before switching your team from HubSpot to Zoho CRM, run through these ten checks. Each one catches a different category of migration error.

1. Record count parity — compare total contacts, accounts, and deals in Zoho against the source CSV row counts. A discrepancy of more than 1-2% means something was rejected during import.
2. Association integrity — open 10 random contact records and verify the account association is correct. Open 10 deals and verify the contact and account links.
3. Custom field values — check that picklist fields contain the expected values and text fields are not truncated.
4. Owner assignment — confirm that records assigned to specific sales reps in HubSpot are assigned to the correct users in Zoho. Mismatched email addresses between HubSpot and Zoho users is the most common cause of unowned records.
5. Pipeline stages — verify that deal stage names match exactly and that the deal distribution across stages looks correct.
6. Email deliverability — send a test email from Zoho CRM using your domain and verify it arrives in the inbox, not spam. Check SPF and DKIM records if needed.
7. Workflow triggers — create a test lead and move it through each workflow trigger to confirm actions fire correctly.
8. Sequence enrolment — enrol a test contact in each migrated cadence and verify the first step sends correctly.
9. Mobile app access — confirm key users can log into the Zoho CRM mobile app and see their assigned records.
10. Reporting baseline — rebuild your most-used HubSpot reports in Zoho CRM’s analytics module and confirm the numbers align with what you see in the raw data.

If you are working with a Zoho implementation partner, this checklist forms the basis of the user acceptance testing phase before go-live sign-off. Partners typically run these checks in a staging environment before any user is moved over.

Common Mistakes in HubSpot to Zoho CRM Migrations

These are the errors that come up repeatedly in migrations of this type.

Importing contacts before creating custom fields

Any column in your CSV that does not map to an existing Zoho CRM field will be silently dropped. Create every custom field first, then import. There is no way to recover dropped import data without re-importing.

Migrating all historical activity data

Seven years of logged emails and call notes will make your CRM feel cluttered and slow for users. Set a cutoff, typically 18-24 months of activity history, and be selective about which activity types to bring across. Closed-lost deal notes from four years ago rarely have any operational value in a new system.

Not mapping deal stages before importing deals

If your HubSpot deal stages do not match the stages you set up in Zoho, every deal will be imported into the default stage. Stage names must be identical (case-sensitive) between the CSV and the Zoho pipeline configuration, or you need to use the column mapping screen to explicitly map each source value to a Zoho stage.

Forgetting subscription status and GDPR consent fields

HubSpot stores email subscription status and communication consent per contact. These do not have direct equivalents in Zoho CRM’s default fields. If your team relies on subscription status to filter outreach lists, create a custom picklist field in Zoho to capture this before importing.

Expecting one-to-one feature parity

Some HubSpot features work differently in Zoho CRM. The Meetings link (HubSpot’s built-in scheduling tool) maps to Zoho Bookings, which is a separate product in the Zoho suite. HubSpot’s Ad Management integration maps to Zoho Social or Zoho MarketingHub. Plan for the fact that some features need a Zoho product complement rather than a direct CRM setting. If you are evaluating whether the total platform cost makes sense, the Zoho One savings calculator shows how bundling across the Zoho suite compares to paying for multiple point tools including HubSpot.

Migrating from HubSpot to Zoho CRM is a structured process, not a one-click transfer. The teams that complete it cleanly are the ones that invest time in the data audit and field mapping before touching the import tools. Follow the sequence in this guide, run the ten go-live checks, and give your team a parallel running period before the final cutover. If any stage of the migration is unclear, an implementation partner who has run this process before will reduce your total project time significantly.