At some point, your team outgrows HubSpot’s default objects, Contacts, Companies, Deals, and Tickets. When your business relies on tracking subscription plans, owned products, vendor contracts, or implementation projects, the standard data model just doesn’t go far enough.
You lose visibility, automation gets messy, and reporting becomes a patchwork of spreadsheets and workarounds.
Custom objects offer the solution. They let you define your own CRM structure to mirror how your business actually runs, rather than forcing your model into HubSpot’s limitations.
While many teams know the feature exists, using it well means more than just turning it on. You need to thoughtfully plan object relationships, property sets, and data workflows to avoid slow creep into chaos.
This guide walks you through creating, editing, and using custom objects in HubSpot CRM, step by step.
You’ll learn how data flows between these objects, how to link them to standard records, where custom objects make the most significant operational impact, and which roadblocks you’ll want to dodge at setup.
Plus, you’ll see how to report on these objects across your pipelines to keep teams aligned.
HubSpot Custom Objects: Overview
A custom object in HubSpot CRM is your flexible container for business data that doesn’t belong in Contacts, Companies, Deals, or Tickets.
Each one acts like a fully featured object: you give it a name, define properties (like fields or columns), connect it to other objects, and use it across record views, pipelines, and automation.
You’ll find custom objects under CRM > Custom Objects once they’re live.
HubSpot treats them just like its standard objects, so you can surface them in workflows, filters, lists, reports, and dashboards.
Technically, they live within HubSpot’s data model layer. When deployed correctly, they unify your sales, marketing, and service teams by giving them access to the same structured information.
Custom objects are available in HubSpot’s Enterprise tiers and support API integration, so your outside systems stay in sync with your HubSpot data model.
How It Works Under The Hood
Creating a custom object is like designing your own table in a database, but HubSpot does the heavy lifting behind the scenes.
You define how it should behave, how it should display, and which objects it should be related to, then HubSpot powers it like a first-class citizen in your CRM.
Here’s the core setup flow:
- Object Definition: You start by giving your object a name, selecting a primary display property (the line item label that appears), and writing the singular/plural labels users will see.
- Properties: You create custom fields, text inputs, dropdowns, numbers, dates, just as you would for contacts or deals. These shape the data you’ll capture.
- Associations: You define how the object connects to Contacts, Companies, Deals, or Tickets. For example, you might associate a custom “Subscription” object with both a customer contact and their company profile.
- Record Management: Once active, the CRM interface lets you search, filter, edit, and associate these records as you would any other object. The data appears in sidebars and pages where users already work.
You can create custom objects in one of two ways:
- Via the HubSpot API, which gives developers control over defining and managing object schemas.
- Through the visual Custom Object UI Tool (available in Enterprise portals), which lets admins build schema through the HubSpot interface.
Behind the scenes, each custom object gets a unique API name and sits in HubSpot’s structured data layer, making it fully accessible to automation rules and custom reports.
Main Uses Inside HubSpot
Tracking Subscriptions Or Memberships
One of the most common custom object use cases is managing recurring plans or memberships. If you sell subscriptions, it’s hard to represent them accurately using deal records alone.
Why this matters: Deals represent discrete sales events, not ongoing relationships. With a “Subscription” custom object, you can track which product version a customer is on, renewal cycles, and preferences, perfect for lifecycle automations and retention reporting.
Mini example:
Say you’re running a SaaS company. You create a “Subscription” object with properties like Plan Type, Start Date, and Renewal Date. Each record links to the customer and company. HubSpot workflows send reminder emails 30 days before renewal, and reports track churn by plan type.
Managing Assets Or Products Owned
For companies selling equipment or managing tech assets, storing ownership data directly in deals or contacts quickly becomes unworkable.
Why this matters: Having an “Asset” custom object lets you store serial numbers, warranty details, or usage history cleanly, and tie them to people or companies. Your reps and support team then see exactly which assets matter to each customer.
Mini example:
A manufacturing firm creates “Machine Asset” as a custom object. Each record holds details like Model Number, Install Date, and Warranty Expiration and is associated with the client’s company profile. When a service ticket comes in, the agent can see which machine it references and access history directly from the ticket.
Recording Projects Or Deliverables
Consulting, creative, or service-based firms often need to track client projects outside of sales or support activities.
Why this matters: Projects don’t belong in the sales pipeline (Deals), and not every deliverable is a support issue (Tickets). A “Project” custom object stores timelines, resources, and budgets in a single location.
Mini example:
A marketing agency sets up a “Project” object linked to Contacts and Companies. Each project includes Status, Budget, and Phase. Reports show the number of active projects by phase, time-to-delivery, and resourcing gaps, all within HubSpot.
Handling Contracts And Renewals
If your team tracks contract lifecycles manually or in PDFs, a custom object will instantly bring structure to the chaos.
Why this matters: HubSpot doesn’t include a contract object by default. You need more than an attachment field to track sign dates, term lengths, and renewal status. A custom object locks in those fields, and links them to the relevant deals and contacts.
Mini example:
A B2B software company builds a “Contract” object with associations to both Company and Deal. The CRM tracks fields like Contract Start Date and Term Length. A workflow sends account managers a task 60 days before expiration. Dashboards visualize the renewal pipeline by region and contract value by client size.
Common Setup Errors And Wrong Assumptions
Even experienced admins fall into predictable traps when setting up custom objects. Watch out for these four mistakes:
- Incorrect object relationships
Explanation: If you skip planning associations, workflows won’t trigger, and your data falls out of sync. Check relationships in CRM > Associations to ensure links between objects follow your real-world processes. - Overcomplicating property setup
Explanation: It’s tempting to add every field you might ever want, but doing so burdens users and bloats automation. Define only the properties needed for current tasks and build from real use cases. - Using custom objects for simple data
Explanation: If a piece of data fits within an existing record type, such as a customer’s favorite product, use a custom property. Creating an unnecessary object can make automation harder, not easier. - Deleting test objects too soon
Explanation: Deleting an object permanently deletes its data. Always test in a developer or sandbox environment before removing a custom object from your production portal.
Step-By-Step Setup Or Use Guide
To start, verify that you have access to an Enterprise-tier HubSpot account and have CRM schema permissions. If you’re using the API, confirm developer access as well.
Here’s how to create a custom object in HubSpot:
- Go to Settings > Objects > Custom Objects and click “Create custom object”
Explanation: This opens the interface where you’ll configure the object. - Set the object name, labels, and primary display property
Explanation: These determine how HubSpot names and presents the object throughout the interface. - Add properties
Explanation: Create only the fields your team needs to track. Use dropdowns for consistent reporting and automation. - Define associations
Explanation: Choose which standard/custom objects this one links to, for example, tie a custom “Asset” to both Contacts and Companies. - Save and publish
Explanation: Once you confirm the schema, HubSpot makes the object live in your portal. - Import data as needed
Explanation: Use CSV imports to populate the object quickly, mapping columns to properties you created. - Build object-based workflows
Explanation: Automate tasks and updates based on object properties, for instance, send reminders based on renewal dates. - Build custom reports and dashboards.
Explanation: Surface insights into the object, such as tracking subscriptions, contracts, or project completion.
Measuring Results In HubSpot
Once your custom object is functional, it’s all about measuring how it supports your operations. HubSpot’s reporting tools let you analyze your custom data just as you would any built-in object.
Here’s where to focus:
- Use single-object reports to show counts by property, like the number of “Active Subscriptions.”
- Build cross-object reports to tie objects together, for instance, Contract value by associated Deal stage.
- Audit workflow logs to make sure object-based automations are firing as expected.
- Tie revenue properties in custom objects to attribution or forecasting dashboards.
- Track usage trends by reporting how many custom object records are created, updated, or inactive over time.
Dashboards that include custom object data give your RevOps team a clear view of how these objects contribute to engagement, retention, or delivery metrics.
If they’re not showing up, check user permissions or whether the report view supports your custom associations.
Short Example That Ties It Together
Let’s say you manage both recurring contracts and service projects for clients.
You build two custom objects in HubSpot: “Contract” and “Project.”
How it works:
- Each Project record links to a Contact and a Company, and tracks delivery status and dates.
- Contracts are associated with both the Project and the Deal, connecting money and execution.
- Renewals trigger internal alerts 45 days before a contract ends.
- Reports combine the number of projects by status with total contract value to monitor workload and recurring revenue.
With this setup, your entire post-sale pipeline lives inside the CRM, no Excel, no guesswork.
Your team works in real time, and executives see precisely what’s impacting the bottom line.
How INSIDEA Helps
Getting custom objects right from the start is mission-critical. Minor missteps in data structure can lead to broken workflows, missed automation inputs, or a reporting system no one trusts.
INSIDEA helps organizations like yours structure HubSpot to match your real operations, whether you’re implementing custom objects for the first time or optimizing an existing mess.
Our specialists walk you through:
- HubSpot onboarding: Launch with confidence and set up the essentials cleanly.
- HubSpot management: Keep your automations reliable and your CRM organized.
- Advanced automation: Align workflows to how your processes actually work.
- Custom reports: Track team performance and customer outcomes, not vanity metrics.
- Custom object architecture: Design relationships and pipelines that reflect your business model.
- RevOps consulting: Link marketing, sales, and service around shared data and goals.
If you want to hire HubSpot experts for HubSpot consulting services that set up custom objects cleanly and keep your portal usable as it grows, reach out at INSIDEA.
Build your HubSpot CRM around how your business truly runs, and let structure drive more intelligent automation, reporting, and growth.
