This article explains HubSpot’s current seat model in a simple, friendly way so teams can quickly understand who needs which seat and why. The goal is to make the topic easy for any HubSpot user, no matter their experience.
Before we break everything down, there is one important principle to understand:
When your company buys Sales Hub or Service Hub at any tier, some of the features in that hub become available to all Core Seat users. Only the advanced, rep-specific tools require a Sales or Service Seat.
An easy way to think of this is:
Buying a hub unlocks baseline features for everyone with a Core Seat.
Assigning a Sales or Service Seat unlocks the premium tools meant for sales or service reps.
For example:
If your business buys Sales Hub Professional, all Core Seat users can still create deals, view pipelines and use the shared CRM tools.
But only users with a Sales Seat can use things like sequences, calling tools or advanced deal automation.
This applies the same way for Service Hub. A seat is the level of access a user has inside HubSpot. Different seats unlock different tools. Think of seats like access passes at an event. A Core Seat is the standard pass, and Sales or Service Seats are premium passes that unlock more specialised features.
HubSpot currently uses three main seat types:
Core Seat
Sales Seat
Service Seat
You can also have View-Only users, which are free, but they cannot edit anything.
A Core Seat is the standard seat for regular HubSpot users across all hubs. Anyone who needs to create or edit in the CRM will need at least a seat that includes Core access (a Core Seat, Sales Seat or Service Seat).
A Core Seat includes:
Full editing access to CRM records (contacts, companies, deals, tickets)
Ability to use all standard tools in the hubs your business pays for (Marketing, Sales, Service, CMS and more)
Access to workflows, reporting, lists, email creation and other foundational tools
A Core Seat does not include advanced Sales Hub or Service Hub tools that are exclusive to users with an assigned Sales or Service Seat.
A Sales Seat is used for sales reps who need access to the advanced features in Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise.
A Sales Seat includes everything a Core Seat includes, plus tools like:
Email sequences for automated outreach
Calling and call recording
Forecasting tools
Quote features and e-signature (depending if you signed up to HubSpot prior to Commerce Hub Professional launching)
Playbooks for guided conversations
Lead rotation and advanced deal automation
A Sales Seat replaces a Core Seat. You cannot assign both to the same user, because a Sales Seat already includes Core access.
A Service Seat is for support teams that need advanced Service Hub Professional or Enterprise tools.
A Service Seat includes everything a Core Seat includes, plus tools like:
Ticket routing and automation
Help Desk alongside SLAs (service level agreements)
Customer feedback surveys (NPS, CSAT, CES)
Advanced service analytics
Service playbooks
Like the Sales Seat, a Service Seat includes Core access. You cannot assign both Core and Service Seats to one user.
Yes. HubSpot allows a single user to have both a Sales Seat and a Service Seat if their role requires both.
For example, a Customer Success Manager who handles renewals and also manages support escalations may need:
Sales Seat for quotes and renewal workflows
Service Seat for Help Desk
HubSpot treats these as separate "seat pools", so assigning one does not block the other.
A Sales or Service Seat automatically includes all the capabilities of a Core Seat. Because of this, a user can only be:
Core only, or
Sales only, or
Service only, or
Sales + Service together
There is no case where a user needs both Core and Sales or both Core and Service.
| Seat Type | What it Includes | Who It's For | Key Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Seat | Editing access to all standard features across your purchased hubs | Marketers, admins, ops teams, general HubSpot users | Editing CRM records, building emails, workflows, dashboards |
| Sales Seat | Core access plus advanced Sales Hub tools | Sales reps, BDMs, AEs, sales leaders | Sequences, playbooks, calling, advanced deal automation |
| Service Seat | Core access plus advanced Service Hub tools | Support reps, service leads, customer success teams | SLAs, ticket routing, surveys, service analytics |
| Sales + Service Seat | Full Core plus full Sales and full Service access | Multi role team members | Quotes + ticket management + automation across both hubs |
Core Seats are the standard "all purpose" HubSpot access.
Sales and Service Seats unlock the advanced features of those hubs.
A user can have both a Sales and a Service Seat.
A user cannot have both Core and Sales, or Core and Service, because Sales and Service already include Core access.
If you're unsure which seats your team needs, King Henry can review your setup and recommend the most cost effective, role appropriate configuration.