1 Accepted solution
Hi @PEigenschink , this is a very common question when people get close to publishing their first HubSpot app, so you’re not missing something obvious.
Short answer: HubSpot does not handle billing or licensing for you. If you publish an app to the HubSpot Marketplace today, you are fully responsible for pricing, billing, subscriptions, trials, renewals, and access control. HubSpot’s role stops at app distribution, install, OAuth, and permissions.
What HubSpot gives you is the install and auth layer. You can detect installs, uninstalls, and account IDs via OAuth and webhooks, but there’s no native concept of “paid vs free” users enforced by HubSpot. Most apps handle licensing by mapping the HubSpot portal ID to a customer record in their own system and checking entitlement on every request or at runtime. HubSpot explicitly states that monetization is managed outside the platform (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/apps/developer-platform/list-apps/listing-your-app/app-marketpla...
If you want to surface plan or trial status inside HubSpot, you typically do it indirectly. For example, showing UI conditionally in a CRM extension or blocking API actions if the account isn’t licensed on your side. Some vendors also use the App Uninstall webhook to immediately revoke access when an app is removed (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/api/webhooks).
One thing to plan early is how you’ll handle upgrades and downgrades without breaking existing installs. Since HubSpot won’t enforce this for you, your backend becomes the source of truth for entitlement, even though HubSpot is the source of truth for identity and authorization.
If you’re coming from ecosystems like Salesforce AppExchange, this feels manual, but it’s the normal model in the HubSpot world today. Hope this helps clarify the landscape.
Did my answer help? Please mark it as a solution to help others find it too.
 | Ruben Burdin HubSpot Advisor Founder @ Stacksync Real-Time Data Sync between any CRM and Database |
 | |
Hi @PEigenschink , this is a very common question when people get close to publishing their first HubSpot app, so you’re not missing something obvious.
Short answer: HubSpot does not handle billing or licensing for you. If you publish an app to the HubSpot Marketplace today, you are fully responsible for pricing, billing, subscriptions, trials, renewals, and access control. HubSpot’s role stops at app distribution, install, OAuth, and permissions.
What HubSpot gives you is the install and auth layer. You can detect installs, uninstalls, and account IDs via OAuth and webhooks, but there’s no native concept of “paid vs free” users enforced by HubSpot. Most apps handle licensing by mapping the HubSpot portal ID to a customer record in their own system and checking entitlement on every request or at runtime. HubSpot explicitly states that monetization is managed outside the platform (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/apps/developer-platform/list-apps/listing-your-app/app-marketpla...
If you want to surface plan or trial status inside HubSpot, you typically do it indirectly. For example, showing UI conditionally in a CRM extension or blocking API actions if the account isn’t licensed on your side. Some vendors also use the App Uninstall webhook to immediately revoke access when an app is removed (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/api/webhooks).
One thing to plan early is how you’ll handle upgrades and downgrades without breaking existing installs. Since HubSpot won’t enforce this for you, your backend becomes the source of truth for entitlement, even though HubSpot is the source of truth for identity and authorization.
If you’re coming from ecosystems like Salesforce AppExchange, this feels manual, but it’s the normal model in the HubSpot world today. Hope this helps clarify the landscape.
Did my answer help? Please mark it as a solution to help others find it too.
| | Ruben Burdin HubSpot Advisor Founder @ Stacksync Real-Time Data Sync between any CRM and Database |
| | |
