Pipedrive Integration problem
Hi all,
Does anyone have any ideas on the below?
We have grabbed the integration from the HS marketplace and integrated our Pipedrive account with HS. At a surface level it works, however, although it says that it is “listening” in truth we regularly have to force a sync or sometimes completely reconnect a sync (e.g. Contacts).
Does anyone have any ideas that might fix this?
The short answer is:
The regular sync issues you are experiencing with the marketplace integration are common, as these pre-built connectors often lack the real-time speed, reliability, and custom logic needed for critical business processes.
The most reliable and cost-effective solution is to bypass the marketplace app and implement a custom, webhook-driven integration using the HubSpot API and Pipedrive REST API, with a lightweight service layer to orchestrate the data flow.
This setup ensures true real-time synchronization, allowing you to define exactly what data syncs and when, virtually eliminating the need to force a sync or reconnect the integration.
The long answer is:
The issue you are seeing is a known limitation of many third-party or native marketplace integrations, especially when dealing with high volumes of updates, specific data structures, or simply due to the app’s polling frequency being too slow for your operational needs.
While the integration says it’s “listening,” it is likely relying on a periodic poll – checking for changes every 5, 15, or even 30 minutes – which is not true real-time.
The solution lies in creating a custom integration that uses webhooks, which are effectively instant notifications from one platform to another when a change occurs.
You can set this up using HubSpot API and Pipedrive REST API combined with a robust, custom connector using a service like Stape or even a simple script deployed on a platform like Google Cloud Platform.
The key is to leverage the native webhook functionality in both HubSpot and Pipedrive.
When a record (like a Contact) is created or updated in HubSpot, you set up a workflow that triggers a HubSpot API webhook, which is an immediate, outgoing POST request containing the change data.
This webhook is sent to a custom endpoint URL you control (e.g., via Stape or Google Cloud Platform).
The custom endpoint receives the payload and then, instead of waiting for the marketplace app to poll, instantly uses the Pipedrive REST API to push the update directly to the corresponding record in Pipedrive.
You repeat this in the reverse direction: set up a Pipedrive webhook to notify your custom endpoint immediately of any changes in Pipedrive, and then use the HubSpot API to apply the update instantly in HubSpot.
This “event-driven” architecture is far superior to a polling integration because the data transfer is triggered immediately by a Standard Event like ‘Contact Created’ or ‘Contact Property Updated’, ensuring data consistency in real-time.
Furthermore, you can use Google Tag Manager (GTM) in this setup for certain types of tracking data.
While GTM is generally used for front-end event tracking, you could potentially use it to send data via a webhook request to your server-side endpoint (using a platform like Stape’s server-side GTM features) for events that originate on your website and impact HubSpot or Pipedrive data, like Form Submission or Purchase, treating those as additional Standard Events.
However, for core CRM object sync like Contacts, the direct HubSpot API and Pipedrive REST API webhooks are the most direct and reliable approach.
This custom solution is extremely cost-effective because you avoid monthly fees for premium, third-party sync tools, and the cost of running a simple webhook listener on a cloud platform like Google Cloud Platform or via a service like Stape is often negligible.
It gives you granular control over field mapping, error logging, and the custom logic needed to handle your specific sync requirements, preventing the intermittent failures you’re currently seeing.
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