Question: How do you set user permissions in HubSpot?
Quick Answer: Go to Settings, then Users & Teams, find the user and choose Edit permissions. Assign a seat, choose how to set access (for example, start with a template), then work through the CRM objects and CRM tools and save. A seat decides which tools a person can use and affects what you pay. Permissions decide what that person can view, create, edit, delete and export. The best setups match both to what the person actually does every day.
Adding users to HubSpot takes minutes. Deciding what each of them should be able to do takes a little more thought, and it is the step most teams rush. This is the same moment where a rep can accidentally edit a colleague's deal, a leaving employee can export the whole contact list, or a business can find itself paying for paid seats that nobody uses fully.
This guide walks through the setup step by step, using a sales rep as the example, and then widens out to the questions every growing business should ask about seats, roles and cost. It works whether you are a ten-person team where everyone wears several hats, or a larger operation with dedicated sales, service and marketing roles.
The video shows the full setup on screen. The sections below add the context that sits around it: what each seat means, what it costs you, and how to choose by role.
What is the difference between a seat and a permission?
A seat decides which HubSpot tools a user can access, based on what you have bought. A permission decides what that user can do inside those tools, such as view, create, edit, delete or export records.
Both matter, and they work together. Changing someone's seat does not automatically change their permissions, so a person can have a permission switched on that their seat no longer lets them use. Think of the seat as the door and the permissions as the rules inside the room.
Think about this: Decide the role first, then the seat, then the permissions. Teams that click through the screens without a role in mind usually end up with everyone on the same defaults, which is rarely right for anyone.
What seat types does HubSpot offer?
HubSpot describes these seat types in its seat documentation. Which ones you can assign depends on the subscriptions you have purchased.
Swipe sideways to see the full table on mobile.
| Seat type | What it gives the user | Cost note |
|---|---|---|
| Core seat | Access to the core features and tools in the subscription services you have purchased | Paid |
| Sales seat | All features in Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise | Paid |
| Service seat | All features in Service Hub Professional or Enterprise | Paid |
| Revenue seat | All features in Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise | Paid |
| View-only seat | View records, dashboards, customer data and reports, filter reports, and log notes on records they can see. Cannot edit records, save reports or change settings | Free and unlimited on Starter, Professional and Enterprise |
| Developer seat | Access to the developer platform only | Free |
| Partner seat | Access to all features in a client account, for eligible HubSpot Solutions Partner employees | Free |
Two clarifications come up often.
"Pro seat." You may hear people talk about a Pro seat. HubSpot's documentation does not use that name. It is usually shorthand for a paid Sales, Service or Revenue seat on a Professional subscription, so check which hub and tier you actually have.
Super Admin. Super Admin is a permission level that sits alongside seats. It is not a seat type. Users with the permission to add and edit user permissions can only hand out the permissions they hold themselves, so only a Super Admin can give someone Super Admin access.
Think about this: A Developer seat cannot be combined with another seat or with Super Admin permissions. If a person with a normal seat needs access to developer tools, a Super Admin can grant the developer tools permission on their existing seat instead.
How do seats affect what HubSpot costs you?
Paid seats are a direct line on your bill, so the seat you give each person is a cost decision as well as an access decision. A few points from HubSpot's documentation are worth keeping in mind:
- View-only seats are free and unlimited, so anyone who only needs to look at data, such as an owner, an accountant or a board member, does not need a paid seat.
- Removing a seat from a user unassigns it, but you keep being billed for it until you remove the unassigned seat. The removal is scheduled for your next billing period.
- You cannot reduce seats below your subscription's minimum commitment, and purchased seats cannot be reduced until your next renewal date.
- The seats-based pricing model applies to accounts and subscriptions created after 5 March 2024. Older accounts that have not migrated only have access to paid Sales or Service seats.
Think about this: If you understand what each person's role is and they are using the tools built for that role, HubSpot is doing its job. They follow up on leads, they work service tickets, and your marketing does what it is meant to do. A paid seat that sits mostly unused is wasted spend. A seat that is too limited for the role costs you in a different way, through missed follow-up and lost revenue.
How do you set user permissions step by step?
This follows the video. Permissions can be edited by Super Admins, or by users who have the permission to add and edit user permissions.
- Open Settings. Click the settings icon in the top navigation bar of your HubSpot account.
- Go to Users & Teams. In the left sidebar, under Account Management, choose Users & Teams. You will see every user you have added.
- Find the user and choose Edit permissions. Hover over the user's row and click Edit permissions.
- Assign a seat. The first section on the Editing access screen is the seat. It is usually chosen when the user is added, and you can change it here.
- Choose how to set access. You will see four options: manually assign permissions, use custom permission sets, start with a template, or start from scratch. A template pre-fills typical settings for a role and lets you copy permissions from an existing user. You can edit anything it fills in. Custom permission sets require an Enterprise subscription.
- Choose permissions. If you start with a template, pick the role. There are tabs for each hub. The CRM tab has three areas: CRM objects, CRM tools and Custom objects. The next two sections cover the CRM tab using a sales rep.
- Save. Click Save at the top right. HubSpot updates the user. Changes can take up to five minutes to take effect, and the user may need to log out and back in to see them.
What permissions should a sales rep have on CRM objects?
CRM objects are the records in your CRM, such as contacts, companies, deals and tickets. Each has its own view, create, edit, delete and merge settings, and for most you choose between all records, the team's records, or the user's own records.
The principle in the video is simple: let reps see broadly so work can be handed over, and limit what they can change to the records they own.
Swipe sideways to see the full table on mobile.
| Object | Setting in the video | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | View all contacts. Create on. Edit, delete and merge their contacts only | Viewing all contacts keeps hand-overs smooth when a rep is out of the office, and shows who on the team has already spoken to a company. Limiting edits stops accidental or deliberate changes to someone else's records |
| Companies | View all companies. Edit, delete and merge their companies only | Same logic as contacts |
| Unassigned records | Unassigned box ticked | A ticked box lets the rep edit or delete records that have no owner yet. Decide deliberately whether you want that |
| Deals | View, edit, delete and merge their deals only | Deals are treated differently to allow for privacy |
| Orders and carts | Off | Reps work in the deals pipeline and do not need this data |
| Tickets | View their tickets. Edit, delete and merge their tickets. Create left off | The template preset allowed viewing only. Adjust to how your team works |
| Tasks | Their tasks only | Privacy, and keeps reps focused on what they have to do |
| Notes | View all notes | Shared context across the team means fewer repeated questions for the customer |
| Courses, listings, appointments, services, projects | Left as the template had them | Not used in the demonstration portal, so no changes were needed |
Think about this: Visibility and editing are separate decisions. Many teams make the mistake of locking everything down to "their own" and then wonder why handovers are slow. Open up view access where context helps, and keep edit and delete access tight.
What permissions should a sales rep have in CRM tools?
CRM tools control bulk actions and how users work with records. These are the settings with the biggest data-protection impact.
Swipe sideways to see the full table on mobile.
| Tool | Setting in the video | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Communicate | Records they own | Applies to CRM emails, not marketing emails. Prevents reps from contacting each other's customers and creating internal conflict |
| Bulk delete | Off | Stops anyone deleting a large volume of records by accident |
| Import | On | Useful if reps prospect in the field or use the mobile app. Turn it off if you want imports regulated for a cleaner CRM |
| Export | Off | CRM data belongs to the company. A rep who leaves should not be able to take it with them |
| Edit customer tasks | Off | Can be turned on if reps interact with customers in the system this way |
| Edit associations | On | Lets reps maintain the links between a contact and a company, or a deal and a contact |
| Data Agent access | Off | Keep off unless the role needs it |
| Customise record page layout | Off | Layout changes are better handled by an admin |
| View connected record data | Off | Protects privacy where you have connected accounts, so reps from one company cannot see another company's data |
| Create CRM views | On | Lets reps build views that suit their own productivity |
The Custom objects area follows the same pattern. Set permissions for whatever custom objects your business has created.
Think about this: Treat Export and Bulk delete as the two permissions to turn on only when there is a clear reason. HubSpot labels some permissions as critical for good reason.
How should you choose seats and permissions for different roles?
The sales rep example is one role. Most growing teams have several, and in smaller businesses one person often covers more than one. Use the table below as a set of questions to ask, not a fixed rulebook. What each seat includes depends on your subscription, so confirm against HubSpot's product and services catalogue before you buy.
Swipe sideways to see the full table on mobile.
| Role | Seat to consider | Permissions to think about | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales rep | A Sales seat if they use the full sales tools daily, otherwise a Core seat | View broadly for handovers. Edit and delete their own records. No export or bulk delete | Do they actually use sequences, forecasting and the other paid sales features? |
| Sales coordinator | Often a Core seat, unless they use the paid sales tools | May need to update records for several reps. Still no export or bulk delete | Are they supporting the team or selling? Their edit scope may need to be wider than a rep's |
| Service rep | A Service seat if they work in the full service tools | Create and edit tickets. View the contacts and companies tied to those tickets. Limit access to deals if they do not need it | Do they need to see deal values, or only the customer's history? |
| Marketing user | Usually a Core seat, depending on what your marketing subscription includes | Marketing tools access. Limited CRM edit access | Do they need to edit sales records, or only read them? |
| Administrator (not Super Admin) | Whichever seat matches the tools they use | The specific admin permissions they need, such as managing users or properties, rather than full Super Admin | What do they genuinely need to administer? Super Admin should be rare |
| Sales or service manager | The seat matching the team they manage | View and report across the team. Edit access scoped to the team's records | What do they need to see to coach, and what do they need to change? |
| Owner, finance or board member | View-only seat | Dashboards and reports | Can they get what they need without a paid seat? |
| External consultant or partner | Partner seat, where eligible | Whatever the engagement needs | Is access reviewed when the engagement ends? |
Think about this: A person who covers two roles, for example a sales coordinator who also handles service tickets, is where seat and permission mistakes happen most. Write down the real tasks first, then choose the seat that covers them.
What else should you review as the team grows?
- Starting templates. Templates are a good first draft. Review every permission they pre-fill, because the defaults will not match your business.
- Leavers. Before removing a user, reassign the records, assets and responsibilities they own. Removing or deleting a user removes their access to the account.
- A regular review. Seats and roles change. Looking at who holds which seat every quarter catches unused paid seats and permissions that no longer fit.
- Your own process. Write down what each role can see and change, so the next person to add a user is not guessing. This is a process decision before it is a technology one.
Why does this matter for revenue?
Permissions and seats exist to support the work, and the work is revenue. Sales reps who can see the whole team's contacts do not call the same customer twice. Service reps with the right ticket access resolve issues faster and keep customers. Marketing users with the right access keep campaigns running. And locked-down export and delete permissions protect the asset you have spent years building, which is your customer data.
Done well, seats and permissions let each person focus on what they are there to do, keep your costs matched to your actual use, and reduce the chance of losing leads, customers or data along the way.
Key Takeaways
- A seat decides which tools a user can access and affects cost. Permissions decide what the user can do with them. Changing one does not change the other.
- HubSpot's seat types are Core, Sales, Service, Revenue, View-only, Developer and Partner. Super Admin is a permission level, not a seat.
- View-only seats are free and unlimited, which makes them the right choice for anyone who only needs to see data.
- For a sales rep, open up view access for handovers, restrict edit and delete to their own records, and turn off export and bulk delete.
- Choose by role, not by habit. A coordinator, a service rep and a manager need different setups.
- Unassigned paid seats are still billed until you remove them, so review seats regularly.
- Reassign a leaving user's records before you remove them.
FAQ
What is a core seat in HubSpot?
A Core seat gives a user access to the core features and tools in the HubSpot subscriptions you have purchased. It is a paid seat.
What is the difference between a core seat and a sales seat?
A Core seat gives access to core tools. A Sales seat gives access to all the features in Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise. Which one a person needs depends on how many of the paid sales tools they use.
Is there a pro seat in HubSpot?
HubSpot does not name a seat "Pro". People usually mean a paid Sales, Service or Revenue seat on a Professional subscription.
What is a developer seat in HubSpot?
A Developer seat is free and gives access only to the developer platform. It cannot be combined with another seat or with Super Admin permissions.
What can a view-only user do in HubSpot?
A view-only user can view records, dashboards, customer data and reports, filter reports, and log notes on records they can see. They cannot edit records, save reports or change settings. View-only seats are free and unlimited.
Is Super Admin a seat?
No. Super Admin is a permission level. Only a Super Admin can give another user Super Admin access.
How long do permission changes take to apply?
Permission updates can take up to five minutes. Users may need to log out and back in before they see the change.
Learn more from HubSpot
- Manage user permissions (HubSpot Knowledge Base)
- Assign and manage seats (HubSpot Knowledge Base)
- HubSpot user permissions guide (HubSpot Knowledge Base)
Related reading
If you are adding users to HubSpot and want a second pair of eyes on seats, roles and permissions before they cost you money or data, a CRM Readiness Assessment is a quick way to check. Happy to walk through it with you.
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