HubSpot to GoHighLevel Migration Checklist for Australian Agencies (2026 Guide)
Last updated: September 2026.
A HubSpot to GoHighLevel migration is the moment most agency owners either win a client for five years or lose them in five weeks. Move the data cleanly, rebuild the automations properly and cut over without a gap in follow-up, and the client never looks back. Miss one of those and you spend the next quarter apologising for lost enquiries.
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Key takeaway: A GoHighLevel migration checklist has seven stages: audit, clean, map, import, rebuild automations, run both systems in parallel, then cut over. Contacts, companies, deals and custom fields move natively; workflows, email sequences and activity history do not and must be rebuilt. Budget two to four weeks for a typical Australian small business account.
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This checklist comes from Dr Priya Jaganathan, Go High Level Certified Admin, Certified AI Tech Stack Consultant and keynote speaker, who has run CRM transitions for Australian service businesses moving off HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Salesforce and spreadsheets. Every step below is one we use on real client accounts.
What a GoHighLevel migration actually involves
A GoHighLevel migration is the process of moving a business's contacts, pipelines, custom fields, forms, calendars and automations from an existing CRM into HighLevel, then switching the business's live channels (phone, SMS, email, web forms, chat) to run through it. It is not a single import. It is a data move plus a rebuild plus a cutover.
The reason this matters is that HubSpot and GoHighLevel are structured differently. HubSpot separates marketing, sales and service into hubs with their own objects. HighLevel puts everything on one contact record with pipelines, conversations and workflows attached. Roughly a third of a migration is moving data; two-thirds is re-expressing the old logic in the new system.
If you are still deciding whether to move at all, read our GoHighLevel vs HubSpot comparison for Australian agencies first. This guide assumes the decision is made.
Why CRM migrations go wrong (and what it costs)
Migrations fail on the things that do not transfer. Contacts, companies, deals and custom field values can be imported into HighLevel directly, and since 2026 HighLevel has offered a native HubSpot connector in the Import menu for contacts, companies and opportunities, so the CSV step is optional. What does not move is the logic: workflows, email sequences, lead-scoring rules, chatflows and the activity timeline (email opens, page views, past tasks) stay behind.
The most expensive gap is the one between switching off HubSpot's automations and switching on HighLevel's. In that window, new enquiries arrive and nobody follows up. Our own experience across Australian client accounts is that follow-up gaps of even a few days are where the real revenue leak sits, because the leads that arrive during a migration are exactly the ones the business is paying to acquire.
The second cost is trust. A client who asked for a smoother system and gets duplicate contacts, broken forms and missed reminders will not blame HighLevel. They will blame you. That is why we treat the parallel-run stage as non-negotiable.
The 7-step HubSpot to GoHighLevel migration checklist
Work through these in order. Each stage has a sign-off before the next one starts.
Step 1 — Audit what actually exists. Export a list of every HubSpot object in use: contact properties, deal stages, active workflows, sequences, forms, lists, integrations and connected inboxes. Then mark each as keep, merge or kill. In most accounts we audit, a large share of the custom properties have not been updated in a year and can be dropped. Do not migrate junk.
Step 2 — Clean before you move. Deduplicate on email and phone, standardise Australian phone numbers to E.164 format (+61 4XX XXX XXX) or SMS will fail, fix obviously broken emails, and decide what to do with unsubscribed contacts. Under the Spam Act 2003, consent status must travel with the contact, so export HubSpot's subscription types and map them to HighLevel DND settings.
Step 3 — Map fields and pipelines. Build a simple spreadsheet: HubSpot property on the left, HighLevel field on the right, data type in the middle. Create the custom fields and pipeline stages in HighLevel before you import anything. Get the client to sign off the mapping. This single document prevents most post-migration arguments.
Step 4 — Import in the right order. Companies first (if used), then contacts, then opportunities, then notes and tasks. Use the native HubSpot connector where the objects are supported and CSV for the rest. Tag every imported record with a migration tag and date so you can find and fix a batch later without touching organic data.
Step 5 — Rebuild automations, not copy them. Take the workflows you marked keep and rebuild them in HighLevel's workflow builder. This is your chance to simplify. Ten HubSpot workflows often collapse into three HighLevel ones because triggers, conditions and multi-channel actions live in one builder. Our guide to GoHighLevel workflows for AI agencies covers the patterns we use most. If the client wants WhatsApp as a channel, wire it in at this stage using our GoHighLevel WhatsApp automation guide.
Step 6 — Run both systems in parallel for 7 to 14 days. Point new form submissions and a test phone number at HighLevel while HubSpot keeps running for existing contacts. Compare: did every test lead get the right first message, land in the right pipeline stage and trigger the right task? Fix, retest, then move on.
Step 7 — Cut over and decommission. Repoint the website forms, calendar links, phone numbers and email sending domain. Run one final delta import of contacts created during the parallel period. Downgrade HubSpot only after 30 days of clean HighLevel operation and after exporting a full archive.
| HubSpot asset | Moves natively? | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts, companies, deals | Yes | Native HubSpot connector or CSV, tagged by batch |
| Custom properties | Yes (values) | Create matching custom fields first, then map |
| Workflows and sequences | No | Rebuild and simplify in HighLevel workflows |
| Forms and landing pages | No | Rebuild in HighLevel funnels, repoint embeds |
| Activity history (opens, views) | No | Archive as PDF/CSV; carry summary notes only |
| Email templates | Partly | Copy HTML, rebuild merge fields |
| Meetings links | No | Recreate calendars, update every public link |
For agencies doing this more than once, save the finished build as a snapshot. Our post on GoHighLevel snapshots explains how a migration template turns a three-week job into a one-week job.
Not sure your client's account is ready to move? Book a CRM transition call and we will audit the HubSpot account with you and hand back a mapped, costed migration plan.
Not on HighLevel yet? Start with a free 30-day trial — enough time to build everything in this guide before you pay a cent.
An Australian example: a Brisbane mortgage broker
A two-adviser mortgage brokerage in Brisbane came to us on HubSpot Starter with about 4,000 contacts, 22 active workflows and a Meetings link embedded on every page of their website. The pain was cost per seat and the fact that SMS lived in a separate tool, so follow-up on new enquiries depended on someone remembering.
The audit killed 14 of the 22 workflows outright: they were duplicates or had not fired in months. The remaining eight became four HighLevel workflows, including a missed-call text-back and a settlement-anniversary review request. The parallel run caught one real problem: the website form was posting to HubSpot and HighLevel simultaneously, creating double enquiries. That was fixed before cutover, not after.
Total elapsed time was 16 days. The brokerage now runs SMS, email, calendar and pipeline in one place, and the monthly software bill dropped because the SMS tool and the HubSpot seats went. The lesson is not that HighLevel is magic. It is that the audit and the parallel run are where migrations are won.
Common CRM migration mistakes
Migrating everything. Every dead property and stale workflow you carry across is one you have to maintain. Audit first, cull hard.
Skipping phone-number formatting. Australian numbers stored as 0412 345 678 will not send SMS. Convert to +61412345678 before import, not after the first failed campaign.
Ignoring consent. If you import contacts who unsubscribed in HubSpot without carrying their status, the first broadcast breaches the Spam Act and torches the sending domain.
Cutting over on a Friday. If something breaks, nobody sees it until Monday. Cut over on a Tuesday morning with the client on standby.
No delta import. Contacts created in HubSpot during the parallel run get forgotten. Do one last import on cutover day and tag it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a HubSpot to GoHighLevel migration take?
For a typical Australian small business with a few thousand contacts and under 25 workflows, plan for two to four weeks end to end. The data import itself takes hours; the audit, rebuild and parallel run take the rest. Larger accounts with heavy integrations can take six to eight weeks.
Can I import HubSpot workflows into GoHighLevel?
No. Workflows, sequences and chatflows cannot be exported from HubSpot in a form HighLevel can read. They must be rebuilt in HighLevel's workflow builder, which is usually a good thing because it forces you to simplify.
Does the HubSpot activity history transfer?
No. Email opens, page views and timeline events stay in HubSpot. Export what you need as an archive and carry across only the notes, tasks and deal stages that affect future action.
What does a GoHighLevel migration cost in Australia?
It depends on contact volume, workflow count and how much rebuilding is involved. Most agencies price migrations as a fixed project scoped after an audit rather than by the hour, so the client knows the number before work starts. Ask for the audit first and the quote second.
Should I run HubSpot and GoHighLevel at the same time?
Yes, for 7 to 14 days. Route new leads to HighLevel while HubSpot keeps serving existing contacts, then compare results before you switch everything. This parallel run is the cheapest insurance you can buy.
Do I need the native HubSpot connector or a CSV export?
Use the native connector in HighLevel's Import menu for contacts, companies and opportunities where it is available, because it handles field mapping and reduces formatting errors. Use CSV for anything the connector does not cover, such as notes or custom objects.
Ready to move a client, or your own business, off HubSpot without losing a lead in the process? Book a CRM transition call with Pivot 2 Thrive or see how we work at pivot2thrive.com.au.
Want the platform ready before the call? Claim the free 30-day HighLevel trial and we will build into it.
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