HubSpot vs Salesforce - yes
First off, just because a product has a 'free' version doesn't mean that the free version is the one that will always meet your needs.
If you're considering moving from SalesForce (which is very much NOT free), you are most likely to need the paid-for functionality in HubSpot's Sales Hub at the very least.
Good point @NBNite, you can onboard HubSpot internally rather than going to eye-watering-ly expensive consultants, but again it doesn't mean you have to. For many organisations, they just won't have the in-house resources to set it up properly, and when you combine that with the speed these projects usually need to get up and running, they don't have the time either.
HubSpot's partner community has over 6000 solutions partners, ranging from Diamond tiered ones (like us at BabelQuest) to individual consultants covering pretty much every corner of the world.
Most HubSpot partners will give you a few hours of free consultancy during their sales process. If you're in any doubt about being able to migrate from SalesForce to HubSpot, I would recommend asking a HubSpot Solutions partner for help. There is a partner directory at https://www.hubspot.com/agencies where you can find one suited to your time zone and needs.
Yes, most of our experience has been with clients who have engaged us to help with the migration. If you have in-house specialists in setting up HubSpot and Salesforce then it’s easy to do yourself. If you don’t, it’s going to be far easier and cheaper to hire a HubSpot partner to do it. We have a few ebooks and guides on our site that can help build the case. BabelQuest.co.uk
Depending on your use case - yes
Our team dabbled between several CRM's (Pipedrive, Zoho, Apto) prior to making the switch to Hubspot, but have really found their all-around tool easier to use. I believe if you're a larger team considering making the move over to Hubspot (say from Salesforce), you may find the limited customization features to be hindering, but for a smaller team just starting out or looking to streamline all client communication in one platform, you'll be very happy with Hubspot.
One other thing to keep in mind : Hubspot was designed to be onboarded and customized internally (a cost-saver) vs. Salesforce, a tool that would likely require the help of an implementation specialist (additional cost) to help your team get up and running.
Looking for a better way to plan remote meetings across time zones, and keep up with events. What software is doing that best today?
@ericjmurphy great thoughts here! Do you typically see people using outside consultants when migrating from Saleforce to Hubspot?