HubSpot lifecycle stages vs. lead status - all you need to know

Long story short: Lifecycle Stages = Lead Status.

Except, of course, that’s far from true (and the reason you’re here). 

Welcome!

If you’ve just started working in HubSpot, or you’re coming out the other side of a HubSpot-Salesforce integration, you’ve probably tripped over two fields that never seem to line up: Lifecycle Stage and Lead Status.

At first glance, they sound like two ways of saying the same thing. They’re not. And treating them as interchangeable is where reporting headaches, messy handoffs, and endless “where exactly is this lead?” conversations begin.

When Lifecycle Stage and Lead Status aren’t used properly, marketing ends up blasting the wrong messages, sales wastes time chasing unripe leads, and managers can’t trust the funnel reports they’re supposed to rely on. It’s a small detail with a very real cost.

The good news is that these properties can actually make your CRM work for you instead of against you. When used together, Lifecycle Stage gives you the high-level funnel view, and Lead Status shows what’s happening in the trenches.

In this guide, we’ll break down the difference so you can spend less time debating definitions and more time moving deals forward.

What are HubSpot lifecycle stages?

Lifecycle Stages show the overall progression of a contact or company through your funnel. Think of them as the milestones that signal where someone sits in their relationship with you.

A Subscriber, for instance, is someone who has only signed up for a newsletter or blog.

A Lead has taken a step further, maybe by filling out a contact form or downloading a guide.

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are scored based on defined criteria and move into Sales Qualified once a rep has confirmed fit. From there, they may become an Opportunity if a deal is created, then a Customer if that deal closes.

Customers who become advocates can be marked as Evangelists, while contacts who don’t fit are often tagged as “Other.”

Lifecycle Stages are most powerful when you automate them.

Instead of relying on someone to manually advance a record, you can build rules. For example, downloading an ebook might push a contact from Lead to MQL, while requesting a demo could promote them directly to SQL.

This keeps the funnel accurate without constant human intervention.

For a clear breakdown of what goes into each Lifecycle Stage and how to automate updates, start with HubSpot’s own guide on using lifecycle stages.

What is lead status in HubSpot?

Where Lifecycle Stage gives you the headline, Lead Status provides the detail.

It describes what has happened with a qualified lead, particularly in the MQL and SQL stages. This is where sales teams track the actual interactions they’ve had.

A fresh inbound lead or import is marked as “New.”

If a rep has reviewed and is preparing outreach, it becomes “In Progress.”

Once outreach begins - through a call, tracked email, or sequence - but the lead hasn’t responded, it’s “Attempted to Contact.”

A reply or ongoing conversation moves the status to “Connected.”

If a deal is created, the lead moves to “Open Deal.”

And when a rep determines the lead isn’t qualified, it’s moved to “Unqualified.”

Closed outcomes are reflected as well. A deal that doesn’t move forward will update the contact’s Lead Status to “Lost,” while a successful close sets it to “Won.”

Adding context with unqualified reason

Marking a lead as unqualified without explanation leaves a lot of value on the table.

A better approach is to require reps to select an Unqualified Reason whenever they apply that status. This mirrors how many teams use “Lost Reason” on deals and creates a feedback loop for marketing. Reasons can include competitors, poor fit, lack of interest, or bad timing.

Over time, these inputs show you why leads are falling out and whether your marketing needs to adjust targeting or messaging. Instead of a dead-end status, “Unqualified” becomes actionable data.

Why lead status matters

It’s tempting to think Lifecycle Stage alone is enough. After all, it shows you where contacts are in the funnel. But without Lead Status, you lose important nuance.

Two leads might both be sitting in SQL, but one has already connected with a rep while the other has been unresponsive despite three outreach attempts. Treating them the same wastes effort and makes reporting less useful.

Lead Status allows sales to prioritize.

Reps can quickly see which leads are warm and which are cold, and marketing can re-engage those marked as “Not Ready” without confusing them with true dead ends. Managers also benefit, since funnel reports become far more reliable when Lifecycle Stages and statuses are used in tandem.

Lifecycle stage vs. lead status in HubSpot

The distinction comes down to scope.

• Lifecycle Stage tells you where a contact is in the funnel overall.
• Lead Status tells you what’s happening with them right now.

A contact may be in SQL because a rep marked them as a fit. On paper, that looks like progress. But if the only action so far is a single unanswered call, Lead Status (“Attempted to Contact”) shows the reality: technically qualified, but no engagement yet.

This is exactly why Salesforce separates Lead Stage and Lead Status into different fields, and why HubSpot users need to treat them with the same discipline.

Common struggles

Even when teams understand the distinction, execution can get messy.

The most frequent problems are inconsistent updates - especially for Lead Status - and lack of alignment between sales and marketing on what each value actually means. Add in large lead volumes and you get data that quickly goes stale.

The solution is part process, part culture.

Define your stages and statuses clearly.

Automate updates wherever possible.

And make sure reps see value in keeping statuses current, not just extra admin work.

FAQs: HubSpot lead status vs. lifecycle stage

How can I customize lifecycle stages and lead statuses?
Go to your HubSpot settings and adjust the default properties. You can add custom Lifecycle Stages and Lead Statuses to match your funnel, as long as you keep definitions clear across teams.

What are some common challenges in managing these fields?
The big ones are accuracy, consistency, and alignment. Without rules and training, reps forget to update Lead Status, and reporting breaks down.

How often should lead status be updated?
Ideally after every significant sales touchpoint - calls, emails, meetings. The closer to real-time, the more valuable the data.

Where Salesforce fits in

For teams running both HubSpot and Salesforce, there’s another layer.

In Salesforce, campaign members act as a junction object that links leads and contacts to campaigns.

In HubSpot Enterprise, you can mirror these as custom objects for better reporting.

But there are limits: HubSpot custom objects don’t sync back into Salesforce, you’re capped at 500,000 records, and associations require setup.

If that’s too heavy, you can import Salesforce campaigns into HubSpot as static lists, but remember those lists are snapshots, not living records. They won’t show member statuses or auto-update.

Before you leave

If you’re stuck juggling HubSpot and Salesforce without the bandwidth or know-how to make them work together, consider consulting an expert.

At RevBlack, we clean up the CRM mess so your marketing team isn’t haunted by integration mistakes, and your sales leaders don’t waste hours clicking around in fields they’ll never use.

‍Submit a contact form and we’ll scope a setup that makes your systems support you, not the other way around.