PLG in HubSpot: Proven Framework to Convert Free Users into Paying SaaS Customers

If you run a SaaS company with a product-led growth (PLG) motion, HubSpot can get messy fast.

Free users pile in, but you can’t tell who’s serious.

Sales doesn’t know which accounts to chase.

And upgrades or downgrades slip through the cracks.

This guide shows you how to structure HubSpot so you can:

• Track free sign-ups to paid conversions.
• Spot product-qualified leads (PQLs).
• Spot product-qualified accounts (PQAs).
• Keep PLG revenue and sales revenue clean and separate.

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🔑 Keep Lifecycle Simple

Lifecycle stages should stay clean and universal. Don’t add “PQL” as a lifecycle stage.

Here’s the SaaS lifecycle we recommend:

• Subscriber: Signed up for content.
• Lead: Added manually or signed up.
• MQL: ICP fit with marketing engagement.
• SQL: Handed to sales.
• Opportunity: A deal exists.
• Customer: Closed won.
• Evangelist: Refers others.
• Other: Doesn’t fit.

👉 Instead of overloading lifecycle, use PLG properties and a PLG pipeline to track product activity.

🧩 PQLs and PQAs: Properties, Not Lifecycle

Two layers matter in PLG:

• PQL (Product Qualified Lead): A contact-level property (boolean or dropdown). Example: PQL = Yes when a free user hits a trigger like 3 logins in 7 days, invited teammates, or hit usage limit.
• PQA (Product Qualified Account): A company-level property. Example: PQA = Yes when 5+ users from the same company are activated.

This way:

• Lifecycle stays clean.
• Properties track product signals.
• Sales sees when a company is ready for outreach.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Contact vs Company Tracking

Revenue closes at the company level, but product signals often start at the user level.

• Contacts: Track individual usage, upgrades, downgrades.
• Companies: Aggregate usage. Example: “If 5+ users are Activated, set Company PQA = Yes and notify sales.”

This ensures sales focuses on real demand, not noise from one-off sign-ups.

💰 Track Revenue by Source

Not all upgrades are equal:

• Self-serve upgrades: Auto-sync from your product into HubSpot. Create a deal with Deal Source = Product.
• Sales-assisted upgrades: Rep creates the deal with Deal Source = Sales.

Enterprise upgrades are usually sales-driven, but tracking source cleanly gives you attribution for product vs sales.

🛠 Build a PLG Pipeline

Use a dedicated PLG pipeline (separate from sales) to track user journeys:

• Signed Up → User created an account.
• Activated → Engaged with key features.
• Upgraded → Paid user.
• Downgraded → Dropped to free.
• Churned → Stopped using product.

👉 Sales pipeline only kicks in when a company is flagged as PQA and sales creates a deal.

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📉 Handle Downgrades and Churn

PLG churn happens quietly if you don’t track it.

• Small downgrades: Store in a multi-line property like Revenue History.
• Major downgrades or churn: Move to Downgraded or Churned stage in PLG pipeline.
• Churn reasons: Standardize reasons (competitor, budget, no longer needed).

This gives you clean Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) from PLG accounts.

📊 Define PQLs: Hard Triggers First

You can define PQLs in two ways:

• Hard triggers: Clear usage events, like “Invited 3 teammates” or “Hit usage limit.”
• Scoring model: Points for activity (logins, invites, feature use).

Start with hard triggers for clarity. Add scoring once you have more data.

⚙️ Automate PLG Workflows

Make HubSpot do the heavy lifting:

• Trial expiry alerts: Notify sales if a trial hasn’t upgraded.
• Usage triggers: Auto-update PQL property when thresholds are met.
• Company aggregation: If multiple PQLs exist at one company, set PQA = Yes and notify sales.
• Downgrade alerts: Notify CS when usage drops.

Automation ensures PLG tracking isn’t dependent on reps updating fields, just as in the Investor-Ready SaaS Reporting Blueprint, where automated data flows replace manual updates for accuracy and scale.

📈 PLG Dashboards That Matter

Your dashboards should show:

• PQL → PQA conversion rate.
• Free → Paid upgrades.
• Churn rate for PLG users.
• Product vs sales-sourced revenue.
• Average active users per company.

This gives you visibility into whether growth is truly product-led or sales-led.

⚠️ PLG Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating every free sign-up as SQL.
• Mixing PLG and sales deals in one pipeline.
• Skipping churn reasons.
• Ignoring product usage signals.

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✅ The Bottom Line

PLG adds complexity, but HubSpot can handle it if you set it up right:

• Keep the lifecycle clean.
• Use PQL/PQA as properties, not lifecycle stages.
• Separate PLG and sales pipelines.
• Track revenue source: Product vs Sales.
• Automate triggers for upgrades, downgrades, and churn.

Do this, and HubSpot becomes your engine for turning free users into paying customers.

👉 Want help setting up PLG in HubSpot? [Book a free strategy call].