In response to recession fears, some investors have abandoned volatile growth stocks in favor of defensive value stocks, but that decision may ultimately prove unwise. Recent losses notwithstanding, growth stocks have outperformed value stocks over the long term. The S&P 500 Growth index is up 251% over the past decade, while the S&P 500 Value index is up just 158%.

Here are two growth stocks worth buying now.

HubSpot: Customer relationship-management software

HubSpot (HUBS -2.40%) specializes in customer relationship management (CRM) software. Its platform features an integrated suite of applications for marketing, sales, service, and operations, all built on a common database that stores customer interactions.

The company also offers solutions for payments and content management. Those tools help businesses attract leads, convert leads into customers, and maintain good relationships with those customers over time.

HubSpot focuses on small and medium-sized businesses (SBMs), an underserved segment of the CRM market. Its freemium pricing model allows SMBs to use its platform for free, then graduate to paid tiers when they need more functionality. That strategy has helped HubSpot thrive despite competition from CRM giants like Salesforce and Microsoft, though the company's knack for innovation has also been instrumental in its success.

HubSpot pioneered inbound marketing, a strategy that replaces unsolicited ads with engaging content that attracts consumers at the right time. Inbound marketing material could be social media content, websites, or blogs, whereas outbound marketing content generally takes the form of pop-up ads.

Inbound marketing is supposed to be more organic, and HubSpot is proof that inbound strategies work. The company uses its own CRM technology to engage potential customers and grow its business.

That strategy has paid off handsomely. HubSpot is the market leader in CRM software among small businesses, and research company G2 recently recognized HubSpot as the best global software seller in any software category. That prestigious commendation reflects a strong market presence and high user satisfaction scores.

HubSpot delivered strong financial results last year, especially in a difficult economic environment. The company's customer base climbed 24% to 167,386, and the average subscription revenue per customer jumped 3%. In turn, revenue rose 33% to $1.7 billion and non-GAAP net income soared 53% to $2.78 per diluted share.

Looking ahead, investors have good reason to believe that momentum will continue. CRM software plays an important role in helping businesses forge lasting customer relationships, which makes it relevant to almost any organization in any industry, and HubSpot has a strong competitive position and large market opportunity. Management expects its total addressable market to grow at 10% annually to reach $72 billion by 2027.

Currently, shares trade at 11.9 times sales, a discount to the three-year average of 17.3 times sales. That creates a worthwhile buying opportunity for patient investors.

DigitalOcean: Cloud Computing

Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure collectively hold more than 50% market share in cloud infrastructure and platform services, and both companies offer a broad array of cutting-edge products. But those products are designed for large organizations with robust IT support and are often too complex for SMBs.

DigitalOcean (DOCN -1.76%) simplifies cloud computing. Its intuitive interface features click-and-go options that allow SMBs to deploy cloud services in minutes, without any specialized training. DigitalOcean also provides round-the-clock technical support and customer service, and its community ecosystem offers thousands of developer tutorials. 

Despite difficult economic conditions, DigitalOcean delivered solid financial results last year. Revenue increased 34% to $576 million, driven by an uptick in total customers and the average spend per customer, and non-GAAP net income soared 154% to $0.94 per diluted share. The company is well-positioned to maintain that growth trajectory. DigitalOcean estimates its total addressable market will reach $195 billion by 2026, and the company is working to expand its portfolio.

DigitalOcean recently acquired Cloudways, a managed hosting provider that extends its ability to simplify cloud computing for SMBs. Clients can now outsource server configuration and maintenance to DigitalOcean, which allows them to spend more time designing websites and building applications (and less time managing the underlying infrastructure).

DigitalOcean also launched its serverless platform last year, DigitalOcean Functions. Serverless platforms simplify pricing by charging clients based on usage rather than a fixed number of servers.

Currently, shares trade at 5.6 times sales, a discount to the historical average of 11.2 times sales. Investors should take that opportunity to buy a small position in this growth stock.