Why can’t I add more contacts in HubSpot Free after deleting some?

[CThomsen1]

Hi HubSpot Community,

I’m having an issue with my HubSpot Free account. I recently uploaded around 700 contacts, which turned out to be incorrect, so I deleted them to fix the issue and uploaded the correct contacts again.

Now HubSpot shows that I have no more contact slots available, even though I only have about 500 active contacts in the system. I’ve checked the Trash, and there are only around 25 deleted contacts, so that shouldn’t be the problem.

Has anyone experienced the same issue on the Free version, and do you know how I can free up space so I can add more contacts manually?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[WebGuruz_Tech]

Hi @CThomsen1 

Yes, this is a common issue on the HubSpot Free plan, and it’s actually expected behavior.
When you uploaded the 700 contacts, HubSpot counted them toward your monthly marketing contact creation limit. Even though you deleted those contacts later, the limit does not reset immediately, and deleted marketing contacts still count toward your usage for the current billing cycle.
That’s why HubSpot is showing “no available contact slots” even though you currently have only around 500 active contacts in your CRM. The number you see in Trash does not affect this — the system is tracking how many marketing contacts were created this month, not how many exist right now.

What you can do:

• On the Free plan, the only way to clear this is to wait for your monthly reset (based on your billing date). After the cycle refreshes, you’ll be able to add more contacts.

• If you need to keep adding marketing contacts immediately, you would need to upgrade to a paid plan, which gives a higher limit and more flexibility.

[TomM2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @CThomsen1 is the issue that you don't have marketing contacts? You can still import these as non-marketing contacts if you wish. 

Marketing contacts resets every month though, even if contacts are deleted they will not be removed from your marketing contacts count until the 1st of each month. So the 700 you uploaded will still count until the 1st of Jan.
There’s no way to instantly change a contact’s status from marketing to non-marketing and have it impact your billable count immediately, this always waits until the next reset.
Deleting contacts is immediate, but is different from converting them to non-marketing, which waits until next reset.

[BérangèreL]

Hi @CThomsen1, I hope that you are well!

To add to what @TomM2 shared, you can view your current contact usage by navigating to the contact index page.

This page will display the total number of contact records in your account (paid customers are able to track their usage here: "Track your CRM data usage").

You will also receive a limit notification email at 80% and 100% usage. So you will be informed when you've hit your limits.

I can confirm that deleted/merged contacts do not count towards the contact limit.

I hope it helps!
Bérangère

[BérangèreL]

Hi @CThomsen1 and welcome, we are so happy to have you here!

Thanks for reaching out to the HubSpot Community!

Here is a similar post "Unable to create new contacts in Hubspot" where the solution from @karstenkoehler might help you!

Also, let's connect with our Top Experts: Hi @karstenkoehler, @franksteiner79 and @TomM2 can you think of other suggestions to help @CThomsen1, please?

Thanks so much and have a lovely day!
Bérangère