The HubSpot alternative for distributors
HubSpot is a CRM built to generate leads. Proton is a platform for distributors, where the CRM module shares your ERP order history with quoting, order entry and product data.
Distributors growing with Proton
“It’s not just a reporting tool, it’s a sales growth engine. We’re giving the sales team a sports car, not a ball and chain.”Dane LeBelDirector of Inside Sales · VallenRead the case study 
Case study
“The value of Proton for our industry is that right out of the box, it speaks our language. It understands what challenges distribution companies have.”Jason MooreheadVP of Sales · SwishRead the case study Case study
“Proton is the best ROI of any tech investment we’ve made in the past 30 years.”Mike PageFormer CMO & CTO · R.S. HughesRead the case study 
Case study
“We’re seeing a 3x profit return for every dollar spent on Proton software. What makes Proton different is the people and their domain expertise. It feels like we have a partner — a group that’s living and breathing distribution. They understand the unique challenges distributors face.”Erik GershwindFormer CEO · MSCRead the case study 
“Seeing how Proton’s three key components — CRM capabilities, AI-driven insights, and website integration — overlap was eye-opening. Integrating these drives revenue and enhances communication.”Matt CohenPresident · ReplenexCase study
“Proton gets info to our sellers fast and effectively, so they can talk about what’s relevant and what’s important. With Proton, our team has better discussions with customers.”Tim BabcoCIO · ORS NascoRead the case study 
“Before Proton, important info was buried in reports and often overlooked. With Proton, the data is right at our fingertips, easy to access and actionable. It’s a game-changer for our daily routine.”Matt GoldbergRegional Manager · Benco DentalRead the case study Case study
“Beforehand, depending on the amount of SKUs, it could have taken a week, two weeks to gather all the relevant information and images. Now with the PIM, farm to table, it could be a matter of hours.”Ben KuhnsVP of Sales & Marketing · Dakota RiggersRead the case study Case study
“The ‘due to reorder’ feature has made our sales team much more proactive in discussing new sales opportunities with customers, rather than just reacting to incoming orders. This has helped us increase the order size per invoice.”Kyle SchullPresident & Owner · BPIRead the case study Case study
“When a CRM works, everybody gets on board pretty quick. So far, we’ve had a lot of wins. That makes it contagious; if everybody sees that guy got that sale, they want to get the next one.”Eric WessingerPresident & CEO · Richards SupplyRead the case study 
Case study
“It provides better visibility and accountability. We went from a one-dimensional CRM to a three-dimensional one with Proton.”Matthew JamesCEO · Purity LifeRead the case study Case study
“Proton has helped us to greatly reduce ramp-up time for our new sales staff. Today, it’s around 60 to 90 days — just a third of what it used to be.”Guy LaceyVice President · Salon Services ProRead the case study Case study
“Proton’s added one day’s worth of sales per month.”Adam CrewsDirector of Sales · Chattanooga Shooting SuppliesRead the case study Case study
“We used to see large projects quoted by our quotations team, but communication didn’t always reach outside sales for proper follow-up. Proton’s had a big impact helping with that. … It checks all the boxes for us.”Schaun CorbettVice President of Sales · AquiferRead the case study How does Proton compare to HubSpot?
HubSpot is strong at marketing automation. The differences show up in what reps know about orders, and in what happens after the call.
| HubSpotMarketing-first CRM | ProtonAI platform for distributors | |
|---|---|---|
| The AI | HubSpotPartial fit: Breeze reads your CRMIt works from contacts, emails and deals. It sees orders only if you sync them in. | ProtonStrong fit: AI built on your ERPIt reads every order, so it knows what each account buys and what it stopped buying. |
| Built for | HubSpotPartial fit: Any industryA general-purpose CRM, used by sales teams in every industry. | ProtonStrong fit: Wholesale distribution onlyMade for reps selling thousands of SKUs to repeat accounts. |
| A rep’s morning | HubSpotPartial fit: Deals and tasksGood for tracking a pipeline. It doesn’t rank accounts by what they buy. | ProtonStrong fit: Who to call, and whyA list ranked from order history, including the accounts that stopped reordering. |
| Your ERP | HubSpotPartial fit: Through a third partyConnecting P21, Eclipse or SX.e usually means a connector to set up and maintain. | ProtonStrong fit: Our engineers build and run itP21, Eclipse, SX.e, NetSuite and more, one ERP or several at once. |
| Platform | HubSpotPartial fit: Marketing, sales and serviceSeparate hubs, sold alone or bundled. None of them manages product data. | ProtonStrong fit: CRM is one moduleQuoting, order entry, product data and eCommerce connect to the same customer and order data. |
| Marketing automation | HubSpotStrong fit: Its home groundEmail, landing pages, forms and campaigns, in one place. | ProtonPartial fit: Connects to HubSpotKeep HubSpot for marketing, and Proton connects to it. Most distributor revenue runs through reps, so that’s where Proton focuses. |
CRM is one module of Proton
HubSpot covers CRM, marketing and service. In Proton, the CRM shares its data with quoting, order entry, product data and eCommerce.
Why distributors choose Proton over HubSpot
Less research before each call
Purchase history, open quotes and the last conversation arrive as one brief. Midwest Wheel’s territory assistants prep a call in 30 seconds, in the parking lot before they walk in.
The emailed PO is handled too
When the customer emails a PO after the call, Proton reads it and drafts the order from the same account data the rep sees. HubSpot’s hubs don’t include order entry from emailed POs.
Your ERP connection is our job
HubSpot usually reaches P21 or Eclipse through a third-party connector that someone has to set up and maintain. Proton’s engineers build and maintain the ERP connection, and ORS Nasco went live in 12 to 14 weeks.
Customer story
84% of ORS Nasco’s monthly users are in Proton every day
“It’s important to have a CRM that’s made for the way our industry operates. Our sellers have to be able to plan intelligently and provide fast and meaningful answers and service to our customers.”Read the ORS Nasco story
Questions to ask HubSpot before you sign
Put these to HubSpot’s sales team, and ask to see each answer in the demo.
How will my reps see which accounts are slipping, based on what those customers actually buy?
Can you connect to our ERP without middleware, and who maintains that connection?
When Breeze recommends something, is it based on CRM activity or on our order history?
Where would our product data and quoting live: in HubSpot, or in other systems we’d connect?
HubSpot or Proton?
HubSpot is a CRM built around inbound marketing, for businesses in any industry. Proton is a platform built for wholesale distributors: its CRM module tells each rep who to call and what to sell, and quoting, order entry, product data and eCommerce run on the same ERP data.
No. Proton can connect to HubSpot, so marketing keeps running there while your reps sell in Proton. It also connects to Mailchimp and Klaviyo. Proton focuses on sales because most of a distributor’s revenue comes through its reps.
Reps use what saves them time. ORS Nasco’s previous CRM wasn’t getting adopted; with Proton, its team has created more than 65,000 call notes. Read the ORS Nasco story
Integrations can move order data into HubSpot, but building the sync from P21 or Eclipse and keeping it running is your team’s job. In Proton, order history is the starting point: recommendations and alerts are built on it, and our engineers maintain the connection.
HubSpot has quotes, but no product information management and no automation that turns emailed RFQs and POs into orders. Proton’s PIM and Quote & Order Entry Automation sit beside the CRM module and use the same customer and order data.
It depends on your systems and your data. ORS Nasco went live in 12 to 14 weeks. You can keep HubSpot running for marketing the whole time.
More ways to compare CRMs
See Proton next to HubSpot
Bring your HubSpot questions. We’ll walk you through a rep’s day in Proton, from the ranked call list to the drafted order.
