What This Update Actually Is
HubSpot added Affirm and Klarna as installment payment options directly inside its native checkout experience. This shipped on September 4, 2026.
It works on three HubSpot Commerce tools: payment links, invoices, and quotes. Buyers choose Affirm or Klarna at checkout and pay in installments. You receive the full payment upfront, minus a 5.99% processing fee plus any applicable platform fee.
A few things to know before you get excited. These options are for one-time payments only. Recurring subscriptions and saved payment methods are not supported. Affirm and Klarna are also subject to eligibility checks, so not every buyer will qualify at checkout.
Availability varies by tool. Payment links and invoices are open to any qualifying merchant regardless of HubSpot tier. Quotes require Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise.
Why HubSpot Shipped This
High-ticket deals stall. That's not a theory. It's something we see across sales portals regularly: a prospect loves the offer, approves the scope, then hesitates at the payment screen because the full amount feels like a lot to commit to right now.
Humans don't always have a cash-flow problem. They have a perceived-risk problem. Breaking a $6,000 invoice into manageable installments changes the psychology of the decision, even when the total cost is identical.
HubSpot is also responding to a broader market shift. Buy-now-pay-later is no longer a consumer-only expectation. B2B buyers, especially at smaller companies and agencies, increasingly want the same flexibility they get when buying software or equipment on credit terms. HubSpot is bringing that to Commerce Hub natively, so you don't need a separate integration to offer it.
How to Use It Step by Step
Getting started is straightforward if your business is eligible. Here's the path:
- Go to Settings in your HubSpot portal.
- Navigate to Tools, then Revenue, then Payments.
- Check whether Affirm, Klarna, or both appear as available options. If you're eligible, they'll show up here. If they don't appear, your account may not yet qualify.
- Enable the payment methods you want to offer at the account level. New payment links, invoices, and quotes will inherit these settings automatically.
- Optionally, toggle Affirm or Klarna on or off for individual payment links, invoices, or quotes. This gives you control at the transaction level.
- Follow the fair-access rule. HubSpot requires that you offer Affirm and Klarna consistently to all buyers. You can turn them off globally, but you can't selectively exclude specific contacts.
That last point is important. HubSpot's policy requires fair and consistent access. Don't build a workflow that offers installment options to some segments and hides them from others.
What It Touches in Your HubSpot Strategy
This update lives in Commerce Hub, but the ripple effects reach further than checkout.
On the sales side, reps sending quotes now have a new tool to handle price objections. Instead of discounting, they can point buyers toward installment flexibility. That's a meaningful shift in how deals close.
On the revenue ops side, watch your deal reporting. A closed-won deal paid via Klarna looks identical in your CRM to a deal paid by credit card, but the net revenue is different after the 5.99% fee. Make sure your revenue reporting accounts for that fee so your forecasting stays accurate.
Key Takeaway
The 5.99% processing fee applies to the full transaction amount. For high-ticket deals, model this against your margin before enabling Affirm or Klarna on specific product lines.
On the marketing side, this changes what you can say in proposals and nurture content. Highlighting installment flexibility in late-stage email sequences or on pricing pages can move fence-sitters faster. Understanding how humans process pricing decisions is worth revisiting here.
If you want to understand why installment framing works at a deeper level, our piece on B2B buyer behavior and brain science explains the psychology behind how humans evaluate cost versus value, and how to frame pricing in a way that reduces perceived risk.
Key Takeaway
Installment options work best when they're surfaced early in the buyer journey, not just at checkout. Update your pricing pages, proposal templates, and late-stage email content to mention flexibility before buyers ever see the invoice.
One more area to think about: your quote templates. If you're using Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise and sending quotes regularly, build a standard note into your quote footer that explains Affirm and Klarna are available. Don't make buyers discover it at the last step.
Who Should Care Most
Not every HubSpot portal will feel the same impact here. Here's who this update moves the needle for most:
- Service businesses with average deal values above $1,500 where buyers frequently push back on full upfront payment.
- Agencies and consultancies using quotes in Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise who want to reduce friction on project retainers or one-time engagements.
- E-commerce or product businesses in the US and Canada already using HubSpot Payments or Stripe who sell higher-priced items via payment links.
- Revenue ops leaders who need to close the gap between deal volume and average transaction size without touching discounting policies.
- Sales managers looking for ways to coach reps past price objections without giving away margin.
This update is not the right fit for businesses selling low-ticket products, subscription-based services, or anything outside the US and Canada. The recurring payments limitation is the biggest constraint to check before you invest time setting this up.
Sales teams pairing this with other recent HubSpot updates will feel a compound effect. If your reps are already using Notetaker with Smart Deal Progression to capture objection signals during calls, they can now act on price-sensitivity data by surfacing installment options in the very next quote or invoice they send.
George's Take
What I love about this update is that it solves a real friction point without asking you to duct-tape another tool into your stack. We've worked with service businesses where a 30% bump in closed deals came simply from letting humans choose how they pay, not just whether they pay. The psychology of a monthly payment is fundamentally different from a lump sum, even when the math is the same. My caution is this: model the 5.99% fee against your margins before you flip the switch on high-volume, lower-margin products. This is a conversion tool, not a free one. Use it where the deal size justifies it and where you've got the buyer relationship to frame it well.
“Installment options don't just change how buyers pay. They change what buyers believe they can afford. That's a very different lever than a discount.”
If you want to think through how payment flexibility fits into your broader deal strategy and customer journey, our breakdown of the B2B customer journey in 2026 is a good companion read. It'll show you where checkout friction fits in the bigger picture of how humans actually move from interest to commitment.
If you're not sure whether Affirm and Klarna are the right move for your business, or if you want to make sure your Commerce Hub setup is built to actually convert, let's talk. Book a strategy call with the Sidekick team and we'll look at your payment flow, your deal data, and your margin structure together, so you make this decision with clarity instead of guesswork.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the processing fee for Affirm and Klarna in HubSpot?
HubSpot charges a 5.99% processing fee per transaction when a buyer uses Affirm or Klarna at checkout, plus any applicable platform fee. This fee applies to the full transaction amount and is separate from your standard HubSpot Payments or Stripe processing rate. Factor this into your pricing before enabling installment options.
Can I use Affirm and Klarna for recurring HubSpot subscription payments?
No. Affirm and Klarna in HubSpot are only available for one-time payments. They cannot be applied to recurring subscription billing or saved as a payment method for future transactions. If your revenue model relies on subscriptions, this update doesn't change your checkout options.
Which HubSpot tools support Affirm and Klarna at checkout?
Affirm and Klarna are available on payment links, invoices, and quotes. Payment links and invoices are open to eligible merchants on any HubSpot tier. Quotes require Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise. All three tools inherit your account-level payment settings automatically.
Who is eligible to offer Affirm and Klarna through HubSpot?
Eligible merchants must be based in the United States or Canada and use either HubSpot Payments or Stripe as their payment processor. Affirm availability is also subject to a separate eligibility check. If Affirm or Klarna don't appear in your payment settings, your account may not yet qualify.
Can I offer Affirm to some buyers and not others in HubSpot?
No. HubSpot requires that you offer Affirm and Klarna in a fair and consistent manner to all buyers. You can toggle these options on or off at the account level or for individual payment links, invoices, and quotes, but you can't selectively restrict access based on contact segments or deal properties.
Does enabling Affirm or Klarna affect existing HubSpot payment links or invoices?
Only new payment links, invoices, and quotes inherit the account-level settings after you enable Affirm or Klarna. Existing documents already sent are not automatically updated. You'll need to update or resend them individually if you want installment options to appear for buyers who already received a payment link or invoice.
