I would start with the work you need done and the person responsible for delivering it. A contractor or agency label tells you little about whether that person understands your CRM model, migration or integration.
For focused HubSpot work, direct access to a specialist can be a good fit. A project with several simultaneous workstreams may need a delivery team. Establish which situation you have before comparing proposals.
When a contractor can fit
Consider a contractor when the scope is focused and the work can be sequenced: reviewing a pipeline, building an integration or improving a defined part of the CRM. Ask whether the person proposing the work will also design, build and document it.
Direct access can make decisions easier to follow. It still needs agreed scope, a change process and time from your own team. Confirm availability, other commitments and what happens during absence. If the work needs another specialism, establish who brings it in and who remains accountable.
When an agency can fit
Consider an agency when you need several disciplines working at the same time, coordinated delivery across teams or continuing capacity beyond one person's availability. A multi-hub migration alongside content and integration work may require that structure.
Ask for the actual project team and its allocated capacity. An agency name alone does not establish who is available or how specialist work is reviewed. Confirm who makes decisions, how context passes between people and how team changes are handled.
Your procurement process may also affect the choice. Check its supplier requirements early with your own procurement team, then compare providers that can meet them.
Compare total scope and cost
Ask both providers to price the same deliverables and assumptions. A useful proposal separates discovery, configuration, data work, testing, training and post-launch support. It should explain what is included, what depends on your team and how changes are priced.
For hourly work, compare the estimated effort and the people doing it. For a fixed fee, check the acceptance criteria and excluded work. For a retainer, confirm the capacity or outputs included and how priorities are agreed.
Include software subscriptions, connector costs and ongoing maintenance where relevant. A lower hourly rate does not establish a lower total cost, and a larger team does not guarantee an earlier finish. Ask each provider to explain the schedule's dependencies and review points.
Published rate examples can describe a particular supplier or market. They do not establish universal contractor and agency prices. Use comparable proposals for your own scope instead of a promised percentage saving.
Ask for relevant evidence and a delivery plan
These questions help evaluate either model:
- Who will do the work? Name the responsible specialist and the people reviewing it. Agree how staffing changes will be communicated.
- What similar problem have they solved? Ask what they built, which decisions they owned and what remained open. A related integration or data model is more useful evidence than a logo alone.
- What do they need from your team? Plan stakeholder decisions, data access, process definitions and review time. Someone internally must own the business rules.
- How will changes be tested? Ask about sample records, migration checks, approval before live updates and handling exceptions.
- What happens after launch? Confirm documentation, administrator access, training, maintenance ownership and the boundary of ongoing support.
My Account-based CRM case is an example of describing design, implementation and recurring review separately. My consultancy approach also distinguishes review recommendations from implementation scope.
Treat partner status and AI as context
HubSpot partner tiers involve sourced, assisted and managed points linked to recurring revenue, with additional program requirements. They are not simply a count of completed implementations. HubSpot documents how tier points work.
I would still ask about the assigned person's relevant experience and the team's review process. Partner status is one piece of information about the organization.
The same applies to AI tooling. Ask which tasks use AI and who checks the output before it changes CRM data or reaches customers. A claim about faster drafting does not establish that one person can cover every role in a project.
Choose around the work and continuity you need
For a contained problem, a specialist with clear ownership may be enough. Where work needs to run in parallel, evaluate the team's coordination and capacity. In both cases, agree the scope and handover before starting.
The onboarding guide covers the setup decisions to prepare. If you want to discuss a particular situation, you're welcome to compare notes.