Twenty
Twenty 2.52 lets apps run their own account-connection flows and adds inbox sharing.
Comparison · CRM
Folk vs HubSpot
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Folk and HubSpot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Folk vs HubSpot: at a glance
What is Folk?
folk ships a French interface weeks after moving its data storage to Europe.
folk is a lightweight relationship CRM that widened its surface through the summer: a mobile app, Tasks, an Interactions API and MCP connector, and EU data residency. October added phone-number lookup, calling with recording, a field-sales roundup, bulk create and update through MCP, and on October 27 a French-language interface.
What is HubSpot?
HubSpot is in roundup-cadence mode after Spring Spotlight, polishing Commerce Hub and integrations.
HubSpot just closed Spring Spotlight (Contracts went public, AI playbooks shipped) and the recent stretch is mostly digestive: an April product-updates rollup, a sandbox-sunset deadline extension, two near-identical Commerce Hub QoL roundups, and a Smart-CRM narrative on cross-tool data. The most concrete shipment in the window is a free HubSpot for Google Sheets extension that brings record reads/writes into a sheet sidebar.
Folk vs HubSpot: editorial side-by-side
Folk
5.0CRM
folk ships a French interface weeks after moving its data storage to Europe.
◆ Current state
folk is a lightweight relationship CRM that widened its surface through the summer: a mobile app, Tasks, an Interactions API and MCP connector, and EU data residency. October added phone-number lookup, calling with recording, a field-sales roundup, bulk create and update through MCP, and on October 27 a French-language interface.
◆ Where it's heading
Two tracks run together: the prospecting loop for human reps and an agent interface that now writes records in bulk. The French launch, after September's EU data move, shows a third: making folk easier to buy and use for European teams.
◆ Prediction
Expect further localization or EU-focused compliance work alongside more MCP write operations; the entries don't show which language comes next.
HubSpot
5.0CRMMARKETING
HubSpot is in roundup-cadence mode after Spring Spotlight, polishing Commerce Hub and integrations.
◆ Current state
HubSpot just closed Spring Spotlight (Contracts went public, AI playbooks shipped) and the recent stretch is mostly digestive: an April product-updates rollup, a sandbox-sunset deadline extension, two near-identical Commerce Hub QoL roundups, and a Smart-CRM narrative on cross-tool data. The most concrete shipment in the window is a free HubSpot for Google Sheets extension that brings record reads/writes into a sheet sidebar.
◆ Where it's heading
Two arcs are visible. Commerce Hub is steadily maturing — Contracts went public, sales-rep and admin QoL keeps shipping in roundups, and HubSpot is positioning Smart CRM as the data backbone underneath. Integrations continue to spread (TikTok native, Google Sheets), pulling more upstream tooling into the CRM rather than the other way around. The legacy sandbox sunset getting pushed back suggests customer migration is still slower than HubSpot wants.
◆ Prediction
Expect Contracts to move from public beta toward GA, more Commerce Hub QoL drops as the post-Spotlight feature backlog ships, and additional native integrations following the TikTok pattern (likely another major social channel). The legacy sandbox migration will probably get a second deadline if the current one isn't met.
Alternatives to Folk and HubSpot
Other CRM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Folk or HubSpot.
Twenty
Twenty 2.53 lets apps lock field permission actions, a day after role-aware relation pickers.
IntegCRM
IntegCRM keeps building out invoicing, bookings, forms and email for service businesses.
GroupOffice
GroupOffice patches its current 26.0 line and the older 25.0 line on the same afternoon.
Close CRM
Close takes Chloe Chat out of beta for every customer, a month after OIDC SSO.
Corteza
Corteza 2026.9.0 goes final after a week of single-fix candidates.
See all Folk alternatives → · See all HubSpot alternatives →
Recent activity from Folk and HubSpot
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoFolkfolk in French
- 9d agoFolkIntroducing bulk actions in folk MCP
- 14d agoFolkfolk bundles six features for field sales reps
- 21d agoFolkfolk adds calling with call recording (beta)
- 28d agoFolkLet folk find phone numbers for you
- 1mo agoFolkYour data, closer to home 🇪🇺 ⚡
- 6mo agoHubSpotRelease Notes: April Product Updates
- 6mo agoHubSpotLegacy Standard Sandbox sunset deadline pushed back
- 6mo agoHubSpotSmart CRM positioning post — connecting customer data across hubs
- 6mo agoHubSpotCommerce Hub Release Roundup #4: Quality‑of‑Life Wins for HubSpot Admins
- 6mo agoHubSpotQuality‑of‑Life Wins for Sales reps & HubSpot Admins (Commerce Round up #4)
- 6mo agoHubSpotHubSpot for Google Sheets™ is here
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Folk and HubSpot?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Folk and HubSpot are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Folk better than HubSpot?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Folk and HubSpot are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other CRM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Folk?
Top Folk alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Folk alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/folk-crm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to HubSpot?
Top HubSpot alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "HubSpot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hubspot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.