Customer relationship management (CRM) software for business-to-business (B2B) sales enables companies selling to oversee the long sales cycle of their deals and manage account-based clients. The best B2B CRM options offer affordable plans, an intuitive interface, and features for tracking and collaborating on opportunities to sell to other organizations.
Based on our evaluation of dozens of software providers, our picks for the best CRM for B2B sales are:
- Best for B2B revenue operations: HubSpot CRM
- Best for free account management tools: Freshsales
- Best for data view customization: ClickUp
- Best for interface usability: monday CRM
- Best for monitoring products and retail pricing: Pipedrive
- Best for Google Workspace teams: Copper CRM
- Best for project and task management: Insightly CRM
- Best for wholesale businesses: Prospect CRM
HubSpot CRM's Customer Platform offers sales, marketing, customer service, content, operations, and e-commerce tools. making it best for the following B2B functions: |
Best B2B CRM Software Compared
Provider | Free Plan? | Our CRM Rating Out of 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $15 per user | ✓ 5 users | 4.68 |
 | $9 per user | ✓ 3 users | 4.64 |
 | $7 per user | ✓ Unlimited users | 4.40 |
 | $12 per user | ✕ | 4.38 |
 | $14 per user | ✕ | 4.35 |
 | $23 | ✕ | 4.32 |
 | $29 per user | ✓ 2 users | 4.30 |
 | $200 for 4 users | ✕ | 4.04 |
HubSpot CRM: Best CRM for B2B Revenue Operations
Pros
- All-in-one key features for sales, marketing, customer service, and content management
- Free plan has contact management and data storage for 1 million records
- Solid AI tools for marketing strategies and task automation
Cons
- Huge price jump from Starter ($15 per user, monthly) to Professional plan ($1,080 per month)
- Analytics and forecasting tools are not available until the Professional plan
- Account-level overviews on company records and deal scoring are locked in with the Professional plan
- You function as a revenue operations team: HubSpot CRM offers the Customer Platform—a combined set of the Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Operations, Commerce, and Content Management System (CMS) Hubs. Revenue operations teams, a structure becoming popular amongst B2B organizations, can use CRM to improve data sharing and strategic alignment across the different departments.
- You need a simple B2B CRM software with robust free features: HubSpot CRM not only stands out as the best CRM for B2B but also a top overall CRM for small businesses. This is primarily due to crucial product attributes in its free-forever plan, such as pipeline tracking, email engagement, meeting scheduling, and document storage. It is also an intuitive CRM system with a clean, modern-looking interface.
- You want a CRM for B2B business with more scalable pricing: HubSpot is an undisputed champ in offering free CRM tools. However, upgrading from Starter ($15 per user, monthly) to Professional plans ($1,080 per month for five users) might stop you on your tracks because of its wide difference in cost. That said, the pricing structure may not be the best CRM for B2B startups looking to upscale as their business grows:
- Alternative: ClickUp offers scalable paid plans, ideal for startups on a budget. The lowest paid plan (Unlimited) costs $7 per user, per month, while the subsequent tier, Business, is at $12 per user, monthly.
- You are a project-based business: Plenty of businesses in the B2B space provide their services in the form of project deliverables. That said, HubSpot’s project management capabilities are limited to creating lists with tasks and associated subtasks:
- Alternative: Insightly CRM is our favorite CRM for B2B sales teams with free project and task management tools like workflow automation and metric tracker.
HubSpot CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-month breakdown of the Customer Platform plans. Though monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. This includes sales, marketing, customer service, CMS, and operations software. Individual modules can be purchased for lower monthly costs. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
HubSpot CRM’s new deal creation process (Source: HubSpot)
Our Expert Opinion
HubSpot CRM takes everything good about the product and extends it to B2B use cases. Its Free plan is a frontrunner in the CRM market when it comes to deal tracking, managing decision-maker data, mass emailing, document storage, and meeting scheduling at no cost. The product simplicity also guarantees a positive user experience with easy-to-use features, which ultimately help with CRM adoption.
Freshsales: Best B2B CRM With Free Account Management Tools
Pros
- Robust, easy-to-use account management module to oversee business clients at no cost
- Free plan includes a built-in phone, custom fields, sales dashboards, quote generation, and workflow automation
- Offers omnichannel capabilities through phone, live chat, email, text, messaging apps, and AI chatbots
Cons
- Only three users can access the Free plan
- Automated profile enrichment for keeping decision-maker and contact data up-to-date requires Enterprise plan ($59 per user, monthly)
- Creating deal teams to have multiple users responsible for a deal gets expensive (locked in with Enterprise plan)
- You need solid account management features for free: Freshsales stands out as our top-rated account management software. Overseeing business accounts is crucial in the B2B world for tracking contact data, prior communications, transactions, and support activity to help better assist and upsell clients. On top of having an account management module, Freshsales has a built-in phone system to engage clients.
- You want to utilize an omnichannel engagement approach: A wide range of communication options lets businesses support clients, engage leads, and keep stakeholders up to speed when it comes to goal tracking. Freshsales responds well to this need by offering a built-in phone system, direct and mass email, and live chat. There are also AI chatbots with software development kits (SDKs) for mobile customization.
- You need low-cost tools for auto-updating decision-maker data: Keeping contact data automatically up-to-date ensures account managers and sales reps are always using current information. Unfortunately, the automated data enrichment tools in Freshsales for CRM profiles are not available until the Enterprise plan at $59 per user, monthly:
- Alternative: Pipedrive starts data enrichment features on the Advanced plan for $29 per user, monthly.
- You use multiple team members to support sales deals: It’s common in B2B for multiple people to be working together on a single deal if there are various requirements, such as underwriting, quoting, or technical review, which require specialty support. Freshsales does offer a deal team feature, but not until the Enterprise plan ($59 per user, monthly):
- Alternative: ClickUp’s Free plan gives you the option to turn on the Multiple Assignees functionality. This comes in handy for projects, tasks, or deals that take more than one person to finish.
Freshsales Pricing Plan & Overview*
Freshsales Pricing Add-ons:
- Workflows: $5 for 10 workflows (paid plans only)
- Phone credits: Starts at $5 (all plans)
- Configure, price, quote (CPQ): $19 per user, per month
- Freshbots (chatbot session packs): $100 for 1,000 Freshbot sessions
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Freshsales offers a 21-day free trial and optional paid add-ons for additional workflow automations and phone credits starting at $5. The figures above reflect pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Freshsales account hierarchy in a record (Source: Freshsales)
Our Expert Opinion
Freshsales is the ultimate CRM solution that is easy to use, is affordable, and has relevant features for B2B sales teams. While its dedicated account management module and built-in phone system are highly commendable, we also like the system’s AI analytics tools and multi-channel communication options. Overall, it is a powerful tool for tracking opportunities and client activity, as well as engaging directly with leads.
ClickUp: Best for Data View Customization
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited users, unlimited tasks, and custom views
- Has more than 15 project view options, including Gantt charts and Mind Maps
- A complete work management system with highly customizable workflows, views, and dashboards
Cons
- Steep learning curve due to high customizability
- File storage under the free plan is limited to 100MB
- Not a traditional CRM system; requires adjustment for users not accustomed to a work management tool
- You need a highly customized work management system with various data view options: ClickUp is designed to let users customize their boards to meet their unique business operations, including sales, marketing, and customer service. You can also customize your views to display lists, boards, calendars, workloads, and even mind maps.
- You’re looking for a CRM alternative for task and project collaboration: ClickUp is included in our list of the top CRM alternatives because it is an excellent all-around project management and collaboration tool. All of its tiers not only allow you to store customer data but also let you comment on task-related threads, deploy project templates, chat with teammates, and track time spent on projects.
- You want to use a traditional CRM system: Users who are not accustomed to a work management tool will have to adjust to the process of tailoring ClickUp to use it as a CRM:
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM is a great option if you want a traditional CRM with prebuilt modules for automating sales and marketing processes.
- You need built-in phone capabilities for lead engagement: Unfortunately, ClickUp does not come with built-in phone features:
- Alternative: Subscribe to Freshsales to get access to a free CRM with built-in telephonic features like an inbound caller ID, queue transfer, and call recording. You can also explore other similar options by reading our guide to the best call center CRM software.
ClickUp Pricing Plan & Overview*
ClickUp Pricing Add-on:
*Pricing is based on annual billing, though monthly billing is available for a higher cost. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
ClickUp CRM template with preloaded client task information (Source: ClickUp)
Our Expert Opinion
ClickUp is a great fit for users who need a highly customizable system for organizing and managing their sales processes, workflows, account data, and customer interactions. Its free version for unlimited users and affordable options make it ideal for solopreneurs and small teams looking for an easily scalable work management solution. Aside from that, it has advanced team collaboration tools such as in-app chat and whiteboards.
monday CRM: Best for Interface Usability
Pros
- Spreadsheet-style data entry makes it easy to store sales and project data, as well as customize boards
- Data management has no-code automation design tools to build trigger-based sales automations
- Multiple board views to track sales processes via kanban, timeline, map, calendar, or chart views
Cons
- Misleading pricing; paid plans require a minimum of three users
- Expensive lead scoring tools
- Module for post-sales management, which includes account management and client project tracking, requires Enterprise plan
- You need an intuitive business-to-business software: monday CRM is renowned for its simplicity and usability in managing data and processes through its spreadsheet-style format, which is familiar and intuitive to most users. Teams can adjust their board views to their liking easily through options like calendar, kanban, and timeline to gain unique data insights.
- You want to leverage no-code automation: monday CRM utilizes a no-code automation system that allows teams to use premade workflows, recommendations, and dropdown menu options to design automations. This design makes it easy for anyone to construct trigger-based sales automation, like updating a record, sending an email, or assigning a lead based on triggers such as deal changes.
- You want a more cost-effective project and account management solution: monday CRM has a dedicated set of features for post-sales management. This allows users to manage accounts, client projects, and accounts receivable after the deal is finalized. Unfortunately, those advanced tools are not available until the custom-priced Enterprise plan, which will get relatively expensive:
- Alternatives: Freshsales is the best free account management software with extended features for client nurturing. Insightly CRM also offers free tools for project management and delivery.
- You need AI-powered tools for analytics and automation: With monday CRM, you can access AI features only via third-party app integration:
- Alternatives: HubSpot CRM’s Free plan includes a basic AI blog generator, while paid plans (starting at $15 per user, monthly) include an AI assistant for automatic content generation. Pipedrive’s Essential plan ($14 per user, monthly) and Copper CRM’s Basic plan ($23 per user, monthly) also include AI insights and recommendations for deals, contacts, and productivity.
monday CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a monthly per-user breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. There is a 14-day free trial for the paid plans. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
An example of monday CRM board in table view (Source: monday.com)
Our Expert Opinion
monday CRM is touted for its product usability. Its spreadsheet data formatting and no-code automation design functions as a work management tool and extends to CRM use cases. We love that it’s not only highly intuitive to operate and navigate but comes with tremendous value from its affordable plans and high range of system customization capabilities.
Pipedrive: Best for Monitoring Products & Retail Pricing
Pros
- With product catalog for monitoring merchandise and identifying cost and retail pricing
- Solid all-around direct sales CRM with robust lead and deal management tools
- Excellent proposal generation and deployment features with auto-fillable documents, open tracking, and e-signatures
Cons
- No free plan
- Viewing full contact timelines and obtaining revenue forecasts gets expensive at $49 per user, monthly with the Professional plan
- Workflow automation capabilities not included until the Advanced plan ($29 per user, monthly)
- You’re looking for a CRM with a robust product catalog: Pipedrive has a built-in product catalog for creating a custom list of product offerings, making it one of our top choices for the best ecommerce CRM solutions. This tool allows you to add descriptions, prices, costs, tax rates, ID numbers, and notes seamlessly, which helps monitor sales of specific products and incorporate the data into your contact records.
- You want robust proposal features: Pipedrive separates itself by offering tremendous value for business proposal management activities—a common bottleneck in the B2B sales process. The platform includes Smart Docs, which lets you send trackable quotes and contracts directly from the system. Teams can also autofill their proposals with stored CRM data and obtain digital signatures on those documents easily.
- You need a free CRM for B2B operations: While Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial, it does not provide users with a free-forever option to test drive the CRM features in a limitless capacity:
- Alternatives: Freshsales and HubSpot CRM offer free CRM systems for users to access features at no cost.
- You want low-cost revenue forecasting tools: B2B companies often need solid revenue forecasting tools to help with capacity planning and creating growth strategies. Pipedrive, while it has lots of reporting tools on the Essentials plan, does not start offering forecasting until the Professional plan for $49 per user, monthly:
- Alternative: monday CRM begins offering sales analytics with revenue forecasting starting at just $28 per user, monthly under the Pro CRM plan.
Pipedrive Pricing Plan & Overview*
Pipedrive Pricing Add-ons:
- Projects
Tooltip request
Copy: Project management tools; free in the Power and Enterprise plans : Starts at $6.70 per user, monthly - Campaigns Customizable email campaigns : Starts at $13.33 per company, monthly
- LeadBooster Lead generation tool set (chatbot, live chat, prospector, web forms, and appointment scheduler) : Starts at $32.50 per company, monthly
- Smart Docs Trackable quotes, proposals, and contracts; free with Professional, Power, and Enterprise plans : Starts at $32.50 per company, monthly
- Web Visitors Web tracking and lead ranking : Starts at $41 per company, monthly
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown, though monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Adding product details in Pipedrive’s product inventory catalog feature (Source: Pipedrive)
Our Expert Opinion
Pipedrive’s powerful tools give B2B sales teams a major productivity enhancer. Aside from the solid data management capabilities for storing and enriching information on key decision-makers, Pipedrive supplies tools to help you manage your product inventory. It is also an excellent tool for tracking purchases and outlining crucial details for operations, such as product costs, pricing, tax rates, and ID numbers.
Copper CRM: Best for Google Workspace Teams
Pros
- Interface is similar to Google products
- Seamless integration with popular Google apps like Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Sheets
- Solid pipeline management features like deal tracking, custom sales processes, and opportunity slippage monitoring
Cons
- No free plan
- Expensive lead scoring tools locked in with the Business plan ($99 per user, monthly)
- Non-Google integrations require at least the Professional plan ($59 per user, monthly)
- You are a Google Workspace team: Copper CRM is built as a CRM for Google teams. It offers direct integration with popular apps like Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Drive, and Sheets. Plus, it has a Chrome extension for users to access the CRM directly from Gmail and Calendar interfaces to manage and pull data. These features and the interface design, similar to Google apps, make it one of the best Google CRMs available.
- You need solid deal management tools: A standout feature that makes Copper a pick for best CRM for B2B sales is pipeline management. Users can create custom sales processes to track opportunities per their unique operation. They can also automate tasks as deal stages change or users are assigned deal ownership. It also comes with an opportunity slippage tool that lets teams monitor deals that are losing traction.
- You want to integrate with many third-party, non-Google tools: Outside of Google apps, Copper CRM is relatively limited in terms of third-party integration options. On top of that, users can’t make direct integrations until the Professional plan or above:
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM offers hundreds of popular third-party integration options that begin allowing connections for free.
- You need a dedicated CRM for wholesale and retail management: Copper CRM does not have built-in features that wholesale businesses need, such as account and logistics management, as well as direct ERP integrations:
- Alternative: Prospect CRM is a specialty CRM designed to help wholesale and retail businesses manage new accounts and logistical processes.
Copper Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown, though monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Copper CRM lead management feature in Gmail (Source: Copper)
Our Expert Opinion
Businesses using Google Workspace products should consider Copper CRM. Its seamless integration with Google apps, similar feel to Google interfaces, and unique Chrome extension give users the closest thing they’ll find to a Google-made CRM. B2B teams can also get tremendous value from the in-depth collaboration features and pipeline management module that enable them to work with one another seamlessly on long sales deals.
Insightly CRM: Best for Project Management & Delivery
Pros
- Includes built-in project management features across all plans
- Robust contact management tools with relationship linking, data storage, and activity tracking, including from third-party tools
- Highly customizable sales workflows
Cons
- Marketing and customer service modules require a separate product for an added cost (starting at $29 per user, monthly)
- Telephony solution (Insightly Voice) costs extra ($35 per user, monthly)
- Expensive for price books and product management ($99 per user, monthly with the Enterprise plan)
- You manage a startup or project-based business: All of Insightly CRM’s tiers offer robust features for project management and delivery that are ideal for project-based companies like marketing agencies and software developers. You can assign teams to collaborate on project tasks, build workflows, and track project milestones.
- You need record-linking capabilities for referral marketing: Insightly CRM lets you link contact records together to indicate B2B relationships, starting with its Plus plan at $29 per user, monthly. This way, you can track which of your leads and customers know each other or are connected to certain companies in your records.
- You need a CRM for revenue operations: Insightly CRM does not have built-in customer service features and advanced marketing tools needed for a revenue operations team. These tools are available as add-ons starting at $29 per user, monthly:
- Alternative: We recommend HubSpot CRM if you need a CRM that offers comprehensive features for marketing and service automation in a single platform.
- You’re looking for a CRM with solid social media capabilities: Unfortunately, Insightly CRM does not offer tools for social media management, social engagement, and social profile enrichment:
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM, Freshsales, and Copper CRM are among the best social CRM options in this guide. These providers allow you to interact with customers and generate leads on social media without having to leave your CRM.
Insightly CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
Insightly CRM Pricing Add-ons:
*Pricing is based on annual billing, though monthly billing is available for a higher cost. It comes with a 14-day free trial. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Insightly CRM converting a won deal into a project (Source: Insightly CRM)
Our Expert Opinion
Insightly CRM has excellent task and project management features that you can access across all plans, even the Free tier. These tools enable users to convert won deals into projects and automatically copy relevant records and tasks to the newly created post-sale project. Larger teams and businesses can also leverage its Enterprise plan ($99 per user, monthly) to track the pricing of their products and services.
Prospect CRM: Best for Wholesale Businesses
Pros
- Direct CRM integration with numerous ERP tools like SAP and Sage 50
- Specialty product built to help wholesalers and manufacturers manage new business, accounts, and logistical processes
- Excellent system customization and customizable integrations to configure the CRM to any operational requirements
Cons
- No free option and relatively expensive with paid plans starting at $200 per month
- Poor product usability ratings
- Lacks useful B2B sales tools like lead scoring and prospecting credits
- You are a wholesale or manufacturing business: Prospect CRM has tools for account management and products and inventory tracking designed for the manufacturing industry. It also integrates with tons of ERP software for front-and-back-end operations. These specialty features help a wholesaler or manufacturing company that sells to retail businesses—giving an all-in-one solution to facilitate purchases, support customers, and deliver products.
- You need built-in operations management tools in your CRM: Besides helping companies with new business and customer management, Prospect CRM is loaded with tools for helping oversee the day-to-day delivery of products and services. For instance, there are tools for calculating future stock and inventory to help with capacity planning, equipment registering capabilities, and delivery date tracking on logistical processes.
- You need a more affordable CRM system: Because it’s an industry-specific CRM system, Prospect CRM tends to be far more expensive than the other business-to-business CRMs on this list—starting at $200 per month:
- Alternative: ClickUp and Freshsales are the best affordable CRMs, offering a free-forever plan.
- You work outside of the manufacturing or wholesale space: The specialty design and use cases of Prospect CRM make the product less appealing if you are a B2B company outside of manufacturing or wholesale operations. The pricing isn’t ideal, and teams find the product challenging to use:
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM is our pick for the best CRM for B2B software as a service (SaaS) and small companies with plenty of use cases. These include marketing agencies, business management consultants, and content producers.
Prospect CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Prospect comes with a 14-day free trial. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Prospect CRM showing missing orders alerts (Source: G2)
Our Expert Opinion
Prospect CRM is a clear pick as the best CRM business-to-business companies can choose because of its specialty modules for account, inventory, and quote management. You can also integrate it with popular accounting and ERP software solutions, such as QuickBooks and NetSuite. While fairly expensive overall, Prospect CRM can help manufacturing and wholesalers develop new business relationships and scale their operations.
How We Evaluated the Best CRM for B2B Sales
To determine the best CRM for B2B sales, we evaluated the specific features needed when selling to other organizations. For instance, deal tracking, account management, and proposal generation are common use cases of a CRM product for B2B users. We also looked at other critical product attributes, including price, product ease of use, and customer support availability.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best CRM for B2B small business:
25% of Overall Score
When evaluating CRM solutions, we assessed essential CRM features, such as contact/lead management, sales pipelines, reporting and analytics tools, extensive third-party integration options, and robust system customization. Therefore, this criterion was the most heavily weighed when comparing the best B2B CRM systems. We also looked at workflow automation, email management, data import/export, and mobile capabilities.
20% of Overall Score
To assess the ease of use, we checked if the provider has built-in templates or automations. We also searched reputable review sites to gauge general user sentiment regarding its learning curve and ease of setup. In addition, we considered its plan options to see if it is easily scalable.
15% of Overall Score
Pricing is crucial when evaluating all types of software products. In addition to the free plan or trial period, various pricing options for a growing business were considered. We also looked at billing choices for a subscriber to either pay monthly or save by paying annually and the costs specific to B2B-essential features like account and deal management.
10% of Overall Score
We evaluated niche features relevant to B2B sales teams. These include email campaigns, contact segmentation, and lead tracking features. We also considered the availability of team collaboration tools, such as internal messaging, file-sharing, task management, shared calendars, and gamification.
15% of Overall Score
User support and customer service help prevent unfavorable experiences and outcomes teams may encounter while using these CRM products. We evaluated this criterion in terms of customer service hours and channel availability via phone, live chat, and email. We also looked at self-service or help center resources users can access, like tutorials, user forums, or training modules.
15% of Overall Score
We tested the CRM products on the list—some of which we used regularly in the past for lead management and customer retention efforts. Aside from our first-hand experience, we evaluated what actual users say about each software according to real online reviews. We looked carefully at customer perception, particularly on the value for the price paid, ease of use when operating the features and navigating the CRM interface, and how users feel about the CRM’s features.
Frequently Asked Questions
A CRM system is crucial to any B2B provider as it simplifies and centralizes the sales process—from lead generation and client communication to customer data analytics and retention strategies. The right CRM software should align with your business goals by providing key tools for revenue operation teams, such as deal and account management attributes.
A B2B CRM system should have capabilities for pipeline tracking, account management, document storage, proposal generation, and team assignment and management for multiple users on one deal. These key features help B2B businesses establish deeper relationships with customers, complex sales processes, and increased collaboration among multiple sales reps.
By having a CRM built for B2B with team communication tools, a system for monitoring deals in a long sales process, and account data storage and tracking abilities, B2B teams can improve collaboration and organization in their sales operation. They can also stay more productive through workflow automation, lead scoring, and proposal generation tools so they can focus more on building relationships, generating leads, and closing more deals.
Bottom Line
Businesses that sell to other businesses can benefit from using B2B CRM software to improve productivity, organization, and collaboration. Teams will have access to relevant features like deal tracking, proposal generation, appointment scheduling, and account management tools. HubSpot CRM takes the cake for being the best B2B CRM, but other systems might suit your business better depending on feature priorities, such as affordable prices or ease of use.
