It’s not often we write about a competing product, but given the big news around PieSync and their rather quiet delivery, we felt it prudent to chime in. It was announced a few days ago that PieSync is no longer accepting new customers, and instead will become a part of HubSpot’s Operations Hub. Unfortunately for their customer base, PieSync will be discontinuing operations at the end of 2021. While this is likely great news for Hubspot customers, users who were looking to utilize PieSync as a stand-alone product they may or may not like the change. Existing PieSync customers will be enrolled in Hubspot’s free plan; though some base functionality may be limited by the change.
So why are we writing about all this? CiraApps and PieSync have a bit of an interesting history; several years ago, before their acquisition by Hubspot, CiraSync & PieSync worked toward developing cooperative blog content. We charted one anothers progress for some time, and somewhat saw what PieSync provided as filling in the second half of what CiraSync did not do at the time. PieSync was and continues to be a fantastic tool for syncing data across numerous applications, and CiraSync is the premier tool in getting that data into smartphone users hands.
The Hubspot acquisition was huge news for the team at PieSync, and I can personally say the staff at CiraApps watched this unfold with great interest. During the past year, PieSync revitalized their platform, built a wonderful website, expanded their product’s functionality tremendously, and grew in ways companies often dream of. The team through and through did a phenomenal job marketing their product, and did an even better job designing it.
So what does this mean for PieSync users? Well, it puts a lot of them in a bit of a tough spot. For users who are already working with Hubspot or wish to – this is fantastic news, PieSync’s functionality will enhance Hubspot in a number of ways the platform could only have hoped for two years ago. For other users, they may find themselves locked out of a platform which was an integral part of their day to day life.
Luckily, there is still a solution. In April of 2021, CiraApps Ltd. rolled out their new product – the CiraHub. CiraHub is a multi-way data synchronization tool which allows users to connect contacts and calendars across multiple platforms. For example, with CiraHub a user can quickly and easily set up a „Hub“ and several „Spokes“ which they can then connect to their Salesforce contacts, Active Campaign database, and an Outlook Mailbox to keep all the contacts in sync. That means when a contact is added, updated, or removed from one source, that change is instantly reflected in the other two databases. There’s no need to „push“ or „export“ contacts, it simply works. The functionality expands well beyond there – the same can be done with Calendars, other data sets, contacts between individuals, or even handle the merging of two company Global Address Lists. We find its easier for users to try the functionality for themselves and see how powerful it is – so we’ve launched a robust free trial.
But to the point at hand, we want to thank the PieSync team for all they’ve done over the years. PieSync has served as a source of inspiration for the team here at CiraApps, along with a healthy competitor. While they’ll be missed as a stand-alone product, they’re a testament to the power of growth and innovation. We look forward to what they come up with next.