You become a HubSpot App Partner, officially a member of the Technology Partner Program, when HubSpot approves your app's Marketplace listing. There is no separate application form to fill in first. HubSpot's Technology Partner page puts it plainly: "Once your app is approved, you'll officially be a Technology Partner." So the real work is building an app that passes listing review, and the hardest gate for a new app is having at least three active customer installs before you can submit.
For a SaaS company, that changes the plan. Partner status arrives at the end of the build, not before it, and it depends on customers already using the integration. Appnigma's marketplace apps service is built for this path. It offers "a native app, marketplace listing preparation, and review support." The review work covers "HubSpot listing review and certification support where eligible." Agencies that implement HubSpot for clients want the Solutions Partner Program instead, covered in our guide to HubSpot's partner programs.
Updated October 2026. Checked against HubSpot's Technology Partner page, the app listing and certification requirements, and the Technology Partner Program guide. This update removes the application form and approval timeline described in the earlier version, which HubSpot does not use, and adds the install rule, review timelines and the four partner tiers.
Is there an application form for the HubSpot App Partner Program?
No. HubSpot's Technology Partner Program guide lists three steps to join. You build your integration on HubSpot's developer platform, create a Marketplace listing that meets the listing requirements, and submit it for review. Once the listing is approved, the guide says "your company is officially part of the HubSpot Technology Partner Program at the Partner tier." Listing your first app is also the moment you sign the Technology Partner Program Agreement.
This matters because many guides, including the earlier version of this page, describe a short form reviewed in one to three days. Teams that follow that advice wait for an approval email that never comes, when they could be recruiting the customers whose installs the listing review requires.
It also changes who you talk to. HubSpot's join page does have a form, but it signs you up for information emails, and the page says "this form is not an application to join the HubSpot technology partner program." Before approval there is also no partner manager. Named partner managers only arrive at the Leading tier, per the program guide.
The path from first build to Partner tier
HubSpot's Technology Partner page describes six stages, but the sequencing that saves time is running the listing work in parallel with the install count, not after it.
Build the integration. Your app has to use OAuth as its only authorization method and request only the scopes it needs, per the app listing requirements. No approval is needed to start. HubSpot's account types page says a standard account "can be free or paid." Since March 9, 2026, legacy developer accounts have been migrated to standard HubSpot accounts, so apps are built from the same kind of account your customers use. The same account later shows your partner tier and performance data, per the program guide. Our guide on how to build a HubSpot app covers the build itself.
Write the listing while the first customers install. HubSpot wants listing content "specific to the integration as opposed to general product information." The setup guide requirements ask for screenshots of each install step, including the scope approval screen, so your design partners' first installs are the natural moment to capture them. Support, terms and privacy pages must be live, and listed pricing must match your website.
Freeze scopes before submission. The Shared data table has to reflect every object your OAuth scopes touch, and a read plus write scope on the same object must be advertised as a two-way sync. Adding a scope late means updating the table, the setup screenshots and every customer's consent, so settle scopes before the install month starts.
Getting three active installs before you can list
The install rule is stricter than it reads. HubSpot counts an install as active only if it belongs to a production HubSpot account "unaffiliated with your organization" that showed successful app activity "within the past 30 days." Activity means OAuth-authenticated API requests, or signed requests from webhook subscriptions and app cards. Your own portal, your sandbox and a friendly test account do not count.
In practice, a SaaS company needs three customers who run HubSpot, will install an unlisted app, and keep it making calls for a month before submission. The HubSpot page frames this as part of the build, telling partners to "share your app with customers for feedback," because the same customers produce the installs.
Three ways teams usually get there:
- Ask existing customers who already asked for the HubSpot integration to act as design partners, and agree on the use case before you build.
- Ship the install link from inside your product's settings page, so connected accounts keep generating API activity without anyone remembering to test.
- Track activity per account in the final month, since an install that goes quiet for 30 days stops counting on the day you submit.
The same counting rule comes back at certification, where the bar is 60 active installs instead of three.
What the Ecosystem Quality team checks in your listing
The listing requirements split into minimum requirements and listing content. Missing a minimum requirement gets the submission rejected. Weak listing content gets the listing set to draft mode.
| Area | What HubSpot requires |
|---|---|
| One app per use case | Apps with similar functionality that use the same APIs should be consolidated into a single app |
| Authorization | OAuth as the sole method, with the public app ID tied to the listing |
| Installs | At least three active, unique installs from unaffiliated production accounts |
| Terms | Agreement to the Technology Partner Program Agreement |
| Industries | No app that exclusively serves HubSpot's restricted industries |
| Platform version | No classic CRM cards, and from November 2, 2026, a supported developer platform version for new listings |
| AI connectors | User-level permissions or HubSpot's MCP Server |
| URLs | Live, public pages, each under 250 characters, crawled by HubSpot's SEO tools |
The crawl check catches more teams than expected. HubSpot recommends adding its crawler's user agent, HubSpot Crawler, to your site's allow list before you submit, since a firewall that blocks the crawler makes working pages look broken. HubSpot's May 2026 changelog says legacy apps and older Projects versions "will be rejected for new listings" from November 2, 2026, so an app started today should target the current platform version. Branding is checked too. The app name can't combine "Hub" or "HubSpot" with your own brand, and HubSpot must be written with a capital S.
How long listing review and certification take
HubSpot publishes the review clock. The Ecosystem Quality team "will complete an initial review within 10 business days," and the whole feedback process "should take no more than 60 days from the time feedback is shared," according to the listing requirements. You can only submit one app at a time, and HubSpot automatically rejects extra apps submitted while one is in review.
Certification is a separate, later step. The certification requirements say an app must be listed "for at least six months," have at least 60 active installs, and keep an API success rate above 95 percent. It also needs a security questionnaire and a demo video, and certification lasts two years before renewal.
| Milestone | Earliest point | HubSpot source |
|---|---|---|
| Submit the listing | Three installs active in the past 30 days | Listing requirements |
| Initial review feedback | Within 10 business days of submission | Listing requirements |
| Listing approved, Partner tier | After feedback is resolved, within 60 days of feedback | Listing requirements, program guide |
| Apply for certification | Six months after listing, with 60 active installs | Certification requirements |
| Renew certification | Two years after certification | Certification requirements |
Read as a plan, the dates say two things. First feedback lands within about two calendar weeks of submission, but certification can't start until at least six months after the listing goes live, so it is never part of a launch date. The second point is easier to miss. Certification judges the success rate of your production traffic, and HubSpot's own feedback example cites an app at 83 percent "in the last 30 days," mostly from 429 rate limit errors. HubSpot's usage guidelines limit each installing account to "110 requests every 10 seconds," so an app that throttles, batches and refreshes tokens early from the first install arrives at month six with a clean record instead of a rebuild.
Certified apps get a "HubSpot Certified App" badge, inclusion in the certified search filter, eligibility for curated collections, and "favorable consideration" in HubSpot's partnership initiatives. Our page on HubSpot app certification requirements covers the review criteria in detail.
What each Technology Partner tier requires and adds
Every listed app enters at the Partner tier. Higher tiers depend on revenue measures HubSpot tracks, set out in the program guide.
| Tier | Attached MRR, 12 month average | Influenced MRR, 12 months | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner | None | None | Not required |
| Rising | $400K | $1K influenced deal MRR or $5K first 90 days MRR | Not required |
| Leading | $1M | $5K influenced deal MRR or $30K first 90 days MRR | Preferred |
| Premier | $7M | $30K influenced deal MRR or $100K first 90 days MRR | Mandatory |
The guide defines attached MRR as "average monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from customers actively using your app(s) over the past 12 months." Rising, Leading and Premier also require Marketplace reviews and ratings, which HubSpot is phasing in through 2026. Because the measure follows the customers who use your app, a tier reflects who installs it as much as how many. As plain arithmetic, $400K of attached MRR spread across 200 active customer accounts means those accounts average $2,000 a month. Tier upgrades happen once per quarter. For the 2026 launch HubSpot made an exception, with no tier reductions until the first review window in Q1 2027.
Two points correct common assumptions. Leads are available from day one, because every partner gets "a free, dedicated listing page" that can carry calls to action, with lead submissions visible in the developer platform. Joint marketing is "considered" at Leading and prioritized at Premier, and it depends on tier rather than certification. A listing is still a discovery channel rather than a pipeline, which is why Appnigma's own page says it "is not a promise of inbound leads."
Mistakes that send a HubSpot listing back
HubSpot rejects listings or sets them to draft for a few recurring, avoidable gaps.
- Counting your own sandbox or a partner agency's portal toward the three installs, when only unaffiliated production accounts count.
- Requesting scopes "just in case." Every scope must be used, and the Shared data table must list the objects those scopes cover.
- Copying product marketing into the listing instead of describing what the HubSpot integration does.
- Publishing setup documentation behind a login, or omitting how to disconnect and uninstall the app.
- Submitting a second app while the first is still in review, which HubSpot rejects automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I become a HubSpot App Partner?
Get a Marketplace listing approved. That needs an OAuth app with three active installs from unaffiliated customer accounts, and approval places you in the Technology Partner Program at the Partner tier.
How long does HubSpot App Partner approval take?
HubSpot completes the initial listing review within 10 business days, and the whole feedback process should take no more than 60 days from when feedback is shared. The usual delay comes earlier, while a new app collects its three active installs.
Does HubSpot charge a fee or take a revenue share?
No. HubSpot's certification FAQ says "we do not charge you a fee to list or certify your apps" and adds that "there is no revenue sharing."
Do sandbox or internal installs count toward the three installs?
No. HubSpot counts only production accounts unaffiliated with your organization that made successful API or webhook activity in the past 30 days.
When can a new app apply for HubSpot certification?
After at least six months listed, with 60 active installs and an API success rate above 95 percent. Plan certification as a second milestone after launch.
Can Appnigma build and list our HubSpot app?
Yes. Appnigma's marketplace apps service delivers a native HubSpot app with listing preparation and review support, including HubSpot listing review and certification support where eligible. HubSpot controls approval and review timing.
Related Articles
- HubSpot partner programs explained
- HubSpot Marketplace complete guide
- How to build a HubSpot app
- HubSpot app certification requirements
- HubSpot partners directory
Sources
- Technology Partner Program, HubSpot
- Technology Partner Program Tiers, Requirements and Benefits Guide, HubSpot
- App listing requirements in the HubSpot Marketplace, HubSpot Developers
- HubSpot Marketplace certification requirements, HubSpot Developers
- Account types and API usage guidelines, HubSpot Developers
- App listing and certification requirement updates for May 2026, HubSpot Developer Changelog
- Technology Partner Program Agreement, HubSpot Legal
- Acceptable Use Policy, restricted industries, HubSpot Legal
