--- title: HubSpot Custom Objects - When to Use Them description: HubSpot Custom Objects let you store any data your business needs in the CRM - not just contacts and deals. Learn what they are, when to use them, and whether your portal is ready. image: https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/HubSpot%20Custom%20Objects%20-%20When%20to%20Use%20Them%20Explained%20by%20warbble%20digital.png --- [![Warbble-logo](https://www.warbble.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Warbble-logo.png?width=714&height=101&name=Warbble-logo.png)](https://www.warbble.com) - [About Us](https://www.warbble.com/about-us) - [Blog](https://www.warbble.com/blog) - Services - [HubSpot Onboarding](https://www.warbble.com/en-ie/hubspot-onboarding) - [Thrive Hubspot Optimisation](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-hubspot-optimisation) - [Thrive Monday Optimisation](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-monday-optimisation) - [Klaviyo](https://www.warbble.com/email-marketing) - [Thrive Klaviyo Optimisation](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-klaviyo-optimisation) - [HubSpot RevOps](https://www.warbble.com/rev-ops) - Case Studies - [Sheridans Cheesemonger](https://www.warbble.com/sheridans-client-spotlight) - [Maybe\*](https://landing.warbble.com/maybe-case-study) - [Contact Us](https://www.warbble.com/contact) [Book a meeting](https://meetings.hubspot.com/gregfurlong/round-robin) ## HubSpot Custom Objects - When to Use Them.   HubSpot is built around five standard objects: Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets, and Activities. For most businesses, those five cover everything they need. But for businesses with more complex data models - subscription services, property portfolios, event management companies, professional services firms tracking projects - the standard structure eventually hits a wall. That's where Custom Objects come in. They're one of HubSpot's most powerful and least-understood features - and knowing when to use them (and when not to) is the difference between a CRM that fits your business perfectly and one you're constantly working around. If you've ever found yourself thinking **"I wish I could store this data in HubSpot but there's nowhere logical to put it,"** this article is for you.   HubSpot Custom Objects: What They Are and When to Use Them | warbble·digital The Direct Answer A **HubSpot Custom Object** is a user-defined data structure that lets you store, organise, and relate any type of business data within HubSpot that doesn't fit into the standard Contact, Company, Deal, or Ticket objects. You define the object name, its properties, and how it associates with other objects in your CRM. Custom Objects are available on **HubSpot Enterprise plans** (Marketing Hub Enterprise, Sales Hub Enterprise, Service Hub Enterprise, or Operations Hub Enterprise). They are built and managed via Settings - Objects - Custom Objects, or programmatically via the HubSpot API. 10 Maximum Custom Objects per HubSpot Enterprise portal ~40% Of Enterprise portals we audit have a use case that would benefit from Custom Objects Enterprise Only available on Enterprise tier - not Pro or Starter ## Standard Objects vs Custom Objects: What's the Difference? Before deciding whether you need Custom Objects, it's worth understanding exactly what the standard objects can and can't do. HubSpot's five standard objects are powerful and cover the vast majority of B2B and B2C use cases - but they have fixed names, fixed association types, and fixed positions in HubSpot's data model. Custom Objects break all three of those constraints. | Feature | Standard Objects | Custom Objects | | --- | --- | --- | | **Object name** | Fixed Contact, Company, Deal, Ticket, Activity | Flexible You define the name (e.g. "Property", "Subscription", "Event") | | **Properties** | Fully customisable properties available on all plans | Fully customisable properties - same flexibility, different object | | **Associations** | Fixed associations (Contact - Company, Deal - Contact, etc.) | Associate with any standard or custom object you define | | **Workflows** | Available on Pro and above | Available - can trigger on Custom Object record creation or update | | **Reports** | Full reporting available | Full reporting available, including cross-object reporting | | **Plan availability** | Available from Free upwards | Enterprise only | | **API access** | Full API support | Full API support via Custom Objects API | ## When Should You Use Custom Objects? The clearest signal that you need a Custom Object is when you find yourself storing a type of data in a place it doesn't belong - stuffing subscription details into Deal properties, or tracking event attendance via a contact tag system that's becoming unmanageable. Here are the most common legitimate use cases. 01 Subscriptions and Recurring Revenue Businesses If your business sells subscriptions - SaaS products, membership services, recurring maintenance contracts - you'll quickly find that a single Deal object isn't a great fit for ongoing revenue relationships. A Deal is designed to represent a one-time sales motion. A subscription has a start date, a renewal date, a tier, a status, and a billing cadence. Those are fundamentally different data requirements. A **Subscription** Custom Object lets you create one record per subscription, associate it with the relevant Contact and Company, track its properties independently, and trigger renewal workflows based on the subscription's own data - without forcing that data into a Deal structure it wasn't built for. Example Properties Subscription Start Date, Renewal Date, Subscription Tier, Monthly Recurring Revenue, Cancellation Reason, Auto-Renew Status, Associated Licence Count. 02 Property, Asset, or Inventory Tracking Estate agencies, equipment rental companies, fleet management businesses, and any organisation that sells or manages physical or digital assets often need to track the asset itself as a first-class record in the CRM - not just the person who owns or rents it. A **Property** or **Asset** Custom Object can hold all the details about the asset - its specifications, location, status, and history - and be associated with the relevant Contacts (e.g. current owner, prospective buyers) and Deals (e.g. the active sale or rental agreement). This gives you a complete view of both the asset's lifecycle and the people attached to it, without duplicating data across contact properties. Example Properties Asset ID, Location, Condition, Acquisition Date, Current Status (Available / Under Offer / Sold), Estimated Value, Last Inspection Date. 03 Events and Courses Businesses that run events, training programmes, or online courses need to track the event itself as a distinct record - not just the attendees. If you're running 12 events per year with 200 attendees each, trying to manage that via contact properties and lists becomes unwieldy and unreportable very quickly. An **Event** or **Course** Custom Object gives each event its own record with its own properties, associated with the Contacts who registered, attended, or completed it. You can then report on event performance, attendance rates, and revenue per event - all within HubSpot, without needing a separate event management tool. Example Properties Event Name, Date, Location, Capacity, Registered Count, Attendance Rate, Revenue Generated, Presenter Name. 04 Projects and Deliverables Professional services firms - agencies, consultancies, law firms, accountancy practices - often need to track client projects separately from the Deal that won them. Once a Deal closes, the work begins - and the project has its own timeline, milestones, team members, and status that have nothing to do with the original sales pipeline. A **Project** Custom Object lets you track post-sale delivery within HubSpot, associated with both the original Deal and the Contact. This closes the loop between sales and delivery, gives leadership a complete revenue-to-delivery view, and removes the need to maintain a separate project management spreadsheet for data that belongs in the CRM. If you're using [HubSpot's full suite](https://www.warbble.com/hubspot-onboarding), this kind of joined-up data model is where the real value lies. Example Properties Project Name, Start Date, Go-Live Date, Project Status, Assigned Team Member, Estimated Hours, Actual Hours, Delivery Notes. 05 Products with Complex Configuration HubSpot has a native Products library, which works well for straightforward product catalogues. But if your products have complex, instance-specific configurations - think bespoke software licences, configured machinery, or customised service packages - the native Products object may not be flexible enough to store everything you need against each sale. A **Product Configuration** or **Licence** Custom Object lets you capture the unique details of each instance of a product sold - associated with both the Deal and the Contact - without polluting your master product library with instance-specific data. This is particularly useful for businesses that need to support customers post-sale based on the specific configuration they purchased. Example Properties Licence Key, Configuration Type, User Count, Feature Flags, Expiry Date, Support Tier, Custom Integrations Enabled. ## Custom Object Use Cases by Industry. Property & Real Estate Property Listings Track each property as its own record - price, location, status, viewings - associated with vendor and buyer contacts and active deal pipelines. SaaS & Technology Subscriptions & Licences One record per subscription with renewal dates, tier, MRR, and usage data - powering automated renewal sequences and churn risk workflows. Education & Training Courses & Cohorts Track each course or cohort as a record, link enrolled contacts, monitor completion rates, and report on revenue per course without external tools. Field Services & Maintenance Equipment & Assets Associate each asset with its owner contact, track service history, next maintenance date, and warranty status - all tied to the relevant deal and company. Professional Services Projects & Engagements Bridge the gap between a closed deal and live delivery - track milestones, team assignments, hours, and project status within HubSpot rather than a separate spreadsheet. Events & Hospitality Events & Venues Each event is a record with date, capacity, revenue, and attendance data - linked to registered contacts and enabling post-event segmentation and follow-up. Is Your Portal Ready for Custom Objects? Custom Objects work best when these foundations are already in place 1 You're on HubSpot Enterprise Custom Objects require an Enterprise licence - check your plan before planning a build 2 Your standard objects are clean and well-structured Custom Objects add complexity - messy foundations will compound the problem 3 You have a clear data model mapped out Know exactly what properties you need and how the object associates with existing data 4 You've exhausted standard object workarounds Custom properties, associations, and deal pipelines should be tried before adding a Custom Object ## When Not to Use Custom Objects. Good Reasons to Build One - You have data that genuinely doesn't fit Contact, Company, Deal, or Ticket - You need to associate the same type of data with multiple object types - You want to run workflows and reports on this data class independently - You're on Enterprise and have clean existing data foundations - A non-HubSpot system is currently storing data that belongs in your CRM - Your [HubSpot onboarding](https://www.warbble.com/hubspot-onboarding) partner has scoped and validated the data model Reasons to Pause and Reconsider - You're trying to solve a data quality problem - Custom Objects won't fix messy data - You haven't maxed out custom properties on standard objects yet - You're on Pro or Starter - Custom Objects aren't available on those plans - You don't have a clear association logic mapped out before building - You're duplicating data that already exists in a standard object - Nobody on your team will own or maintain the object after it's built I had a very good experience with the team from warbble·digital for our HubSpot onboarding process. We had regular calls and updates which was really helpful and my questions were always answered. Highly recommend! \- Donaghy, K. ## Frequently Asked Questions. Are Custom Objects available on HubSpot Professional? + No - Custom Objects are only available on HubSpot Enterprise plans. This includes Marketing Hub Enterprise, Sales Hub Enterprise, Service Hub Enterprise, and Operations Hub Enterprise. If you're on a Professional plan and need Custom Objects, you'll need to upgrade at least one Hub to Enterprise. It's worth discussing this with a [HubSpot partner](https://www.warbble.com/hubspot-onboarding) before committing, to make sure a Custom Object is genuinely the right solution for your use case rather than a well-configured standard object. How many Custom Objects can I create in HubSpot? + HubSpot Enterprise portals support up to 10 Custom Objects. Each Custom Object can have up to 1,000 properties. In practice, most businesses need between one and three Custom Objects - if you find yourself planning more than five, it's worth stepping back and reviewing whether your data model is being structured correctly, or whether some of those objects could be handled with associations and properties on existing objects instead. Can I use Custom Objects in HubSpot workflows? + Yes. HubSpot supports Custom Object-based workflows, which means you can trigger automations based on Custom Object record creation, property changes, or association events. For example: when a Subscription record's Renewal Date property is 30 days away, enrol the associated Contact in a renewal sequence. This is one of the most powerful aspects of Custom Objects - they're not just a data store, they're a trigger source for your automation layer. Can I report on Custom Objects in HubSpot? + Yes - Custom Objects are fully supported in HubSpot's custom report builder. You can create single-object reports on Custom Object data, or cross-object reports that combine Custom Object data with standard objects. For example, a report combining Subscription records with Contact data to show MRR by industry, or events attended per contact over the last 12 months. This reporting capability is one of the main reasons to use Custom Objects over an external database. How is a Custom Object different from a custom property? + A custom property is an additional field added to an existing object - for example, adding a "Preferred Contact Method" property to the Contact object. A Custom Object is an entirely new data type - a new record category with its own set of properties, its own records, and its own associations. Think of it this way: a custom property adds a column to an existing table. A Custom Object creates a new table entirely. Custom properties are available on all HubSpot plans; Custom Objects require Enterprise. Do I need a developer to set up Custom Objects? + Not necessarily. Simple Custom Objects can be created directly within HubSpot's settings interface without any coding. However, if you need to populate Custom Objects via API (for example, syncing subscription data from a billing platform like Stripe or Chargebee), developer involvement is usually required for the integration work. A [HubSpot partner like warbble·digital](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-hubspot-optimisation) can handle both the strategic data modelling and the technical build, ensuring your Custom Object structure is set up correctly from day one rather than requiring costly rebuilds later. Free Thrive Score ## Not Sure if Your Portal Is Ready for Custom Objects? Get a free Thrive Score in 30 minutes. We benchmark your portal across Feature Adoption, Data Quality, Automation Maturity, and Revenue Readiness - and give you a prioritised roadmap for what to build next. [Book Your Free Thrive Score -\>](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-hubspot-optimisation) HubSpot Diamond Partner · Top 3% Globally · 200+ Implementations   HubSpot is built around five standard objects: Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets, and Activities. For most businesses, those five cover everything they need. But for businesses with more complex data models - subscription services, property portfolios, event management companies, professional services firms tracking projects - the standard structure eventually hits a wall. ##### Share ### Related Post [![HubSpot Sequences vs Marketing Emails - What's the Difference](https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/Sequences%20vs%20Marketing%20Emails%20-%20Whats%20the%20Difference%20Explained%20by%20warbble%20digital.png)](https://www.warbble.com/blog/what-is-the-hubspot-meeting-scheduler-and-what-is-it-actually-worth) ##### [What Is the HubSpot Meeting Scheduler - and What Is It Actually Worth?.](https://www.warbble.com/blog/what-is-the-hubspot-meeting-scheduler-and-what-is-it-actually-worth)   ##### [CONTINUE READING](https://www.warbble.com/blog/what-is-the-hubspot-meeting-scheduler-and-what-is-it-actually-worth) [![How Do I Clean Up My Klaviyo List?](https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/How%20Do%20I%20Clean%20Up%20My%20Klaviyo%20List%20%20Explained%20by%20warbble%20digital.png)](https://www.warbble.com/blog/you-built-beautiful-klaviyo-flows.-nobodys-seeing-them) ##### [You Built Beautiful Klaviyo Flows. Nobody's Seeing Them..](https://www.warbble.com/blog/you-built-beautiful-klaviyo-flows.-nobodys-seeing-them)   ##### [CONTINUE READING](https://www.warbble.com/blog/you-built-beautiful-klaviyo-flows.-nobodys-seeing-them) ## Book some time with our Marketing Expert.   Your time is important. Let us turn it into value. [Talk to an Expert](https://meetings.hubspot.com/gregfurlong/round-robin) ![W-Warbble-logo-sponsorship-one-line-white](https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/W-Warbble-logo-sponsorship-one-line-white.png) #### The best choice for end-to-end HubSpot & Klaviyo support. Dublin London Johannesburg Cape Town [HubSpot Onboarding](https://www.warbble.com/en-ie/hubspot-onboarding) [Thrive Hubspot Optimisation](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-hubspot-optimisation) [Klaviyo](https://www.warbble.com/email-marketing) [Thrive Launchpad](https://www.warbble.com/thrive-launchpad) [Wonderment](https://landing.warbble.com/wonderment-and-warbble-digital) [Account-Based Marketing](https://www.warbble.com/growth-abm) [Privacy Policy](https://www.warbble.com/privacy-policy) ## Let’s talk. [sam@warbble.com](mailto:sam@warbble.com) ### Our Partners. ![diamond-badge-white](https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/diamond-badge-white.svg) ![Image 6](https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/warbble-theme-2023/about/Image%206.png) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Charlene Lutge", "url" : "https://www.warbble.com/blog/author/charlene-lutge" }, "dateModified" : "2026-05-21T11:20:46.982Z", "datePublished" : "2026-05-21T11:10:12.000Z", "headline" : "HubSpot Custom Objects - When to Use Them", "image" : [ "https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/HubSpot%20Custom%20Objects%20-%20When%20to%20Use%20Them%20Explained%20by%20warbble%20digital.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.warbble.com/blog/hubspot-custom-objects-when-to-use-them", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.warbble.com/hubfs/Warbble_logo-2.png" }, "name" : "Warbble Digital" } } ```