Best Business Account Management Software for 2022
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
Business account management software helps businesses continuously provide solutions and build relationships with their clients after a deal is closed. To streamline some of your account management activities, it’s essential to have tools to organize existing clients by market segment, handle customer support cases, and easily find and communicate with contacts of an account. We’ve reviewed dozens of account management customer relationship management (CRM) tools to arrive at the top six options.
Based on our evaluation, the six best business account management software platforms are:
- Freshsales: Best overall account management CRM for businesses looking for comprehensive features at a great value
- Zoho CRM: Excellent for businesses that want to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools for account management
- Apptivo: Great choice for startup retail or ecommerce businesses with its inventory, order, payment, and shipping management tools
- Zendesk Sell: Solid CRM for sales teams that need remote or mobile account management tools
- Salesforce Essentials: Best choice for customer support teams that need case management tools
- Bitrix24: Ideal sales account management tool for businesses looking for free account management tools
Best Business Account Management Software Compared
Provider | Free Plan | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Starting Price for Paid Plans | Special Features | Help & Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes, for unlimited users | 21 days | $15 per user, per month | Robust built-in phone system | Tier-based support via email, phone, and live chat |
 | Yes, for up to 3 users | 15 days | $14 per user, per month | Wide range of native integrations | 24/5 email, phone support on paid plans |
 | Yes, for one user | 30 days | $8 per user, per month | Customizable product catalogs | 24/7 email and live chat support on paid plans |
 | No free plan | 30 days | $19 per user, per month | Excellent collaboration features | 24/5 email, live chat, and phone support |
 | No free plan | 14 days | $25 per user, per month | Robust case-routing capabilities | Self-guided learning and ticket submission* |
 | Yes, for unlimited users | 30 days | $39 per month for 5 user seats | Ability to create recurring invoices | Chat and email support for paid plans |
*Premier success plan costs 30% of the subscription price and adds 24/7 phone support, developer support, training sessions, and coaching.
Freshsales: Best Overall Account Management CRM
Freshsales
Overall Score: 4.70
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Free plan available
- Built-in phone system
- Activity timeline for tracking all engagement history with account contacts
What's Missing
- Data deduplication not available on lower-priced plans
- Auto-profile enrichment only available on Enterprise plan
- Add-on required for invoicing, contracts, or quoting documents
Freshsales Pricing at a Glance*
- Free Plan: Free
- Growth: $15 per user, per month
- Pro: $39 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $69 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
Add-ons
- Additional workflows: $5 per flow
- Phone credits: Starts from $25
- Configure, Price, Quote: $19 per user, per month
*Pricing based on annual billing. Monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Freshsales is an excellent CRM option for both managing deal opportunities and accounts after deals are closed. The combination of the built-in voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone system and customizable product catalog makes it easy to call your clients from the CRM to discuss their needs and find additional solutions that can help them. Account managers can also take advantage of the account tagging and profile avatar features, making it easy to find account records.
Standout features of Freshsales include the deduplication capabilities that merge account records, so there are no unnecessary records in the system. There’s also sales team grouping that can be used to organize sales teams by a segment like product line or territory. These teams can then be auto-assigned accounts as new deals are closed.
Invoicing your clients is a crucial and frequent activity of account management, one that Freshsales doesn’t offer unless a user purchases their add-on. For an account management platform that allows you to generate and send invoices in its low-cost CRM subscription, we recommend Bitrix24.
Freshsales Plan Summary
Free | Growth | Pro | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Account Management for Viewing, Adding, or Updating Account Data | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Built-in Phone System | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Activity Timeline for Tracking Encounters With Leads or Accounts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Two-way Email Sync | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Account Profile Avatar | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Product Catalog | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Account Record Tagging | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Auto-assignment of Account Records | ✖ | ✖ | 50 per module | 100 per module |
Sales Teams That Can Be Assigned to Manage Market Segments | ✖ | ✖ | Limited to 50 | Limited to 100 |
Freddy AI Insights for Data Deduplication | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Auto-profile Enrichment | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Freshsales Features
- Built-in phone system: Allows users to make calls directly to contacts in account profiles
- Freddy AI insights: Deduplicates account data in multiple records
- Sales teams tools: Reps can be organized into groups based on territory or market segment then be auto-assigned accounts as they come in
- Account profile avatar: Gives each account record a visual representation, making it easier to spot in a crowded account list
- Team email inbox: Any sales rep can view and respond to assist with an account’s needs
Read our Freshsales review to learn everything need to make a sound purchasing decision, including CRM features, plan comparisons, and product usability.
Zoho CRM: Best Customer Account Management Software With AI Tools
Zoho CRM
Overall Score: 4.49
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Extremely cost-friendly and free plan for up to 3 users
- Native integrations for other functions like invoicing, customer service, social media management, project management, and bookkeeping
- Inventory management capabilities
What's Missing
- Account data enrichment only available on Enterprise and Ultimate plans
- Lacks a free plan for more than 3 users
- No quotes and invoices on free or Standard plan
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to 3 users
- Standard: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $23 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
- Free trial: 15 days
Add-ons and Native Software:
- Bigin: Free or $7 per user, per month
- Zoho CRM Plus: $57 per user, per month
*Pricing based on annual billing. Monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Zoho CRM is software to manage customer accounts that offers functionality in its platform for organizing client information. It enables users to segment accounts based on behaviors, territory, product or service line, or any other attribute of a client you want to sort into groups. Users can also manage their inventory from the CRM system to handle orders that come through so they can inform a client about order status or if something is unavailable.
Much of Zoho’s unique account management capabilities stems from the artificial intelligence (AI) feature, Zia. With Zia, account managers can auto-enrich account data through information found on online web pages or through email. AI can also help suggest which accounts should be assigned to whom, and the best time to contact a person of an account based on their availability history.
Zoho CRM does have a free plan, but only for up to three users. For an account management system that’s free for an unlimited number of users, we recommend Bitrix24.
Zoho CRM Plan Summary
Free | Standard | Professional | Enterprise | Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Account & Contact Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Team Direct Messaging | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Team Groups Setting | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Custom Products Catalog | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Quotes, Invoice & Purchase Order Generation | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Account Assignment Rules | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer Segmentation | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Data Enrichment Features | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
AI Best Time to Contact Customer Tool | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Zoho CRM Key Features
- Best time to contact feature: Powered by AI, shows the best times to reach out to an account contact
- Data enrichment feature: Uses Zia AI to update account information in a record found online
- Customer and client segmentation: Organizes accounts into modules based on account traits like territory, size, or product line
- Invoicing tools: Ability to send invoices through integration with Zoho Invoice
- Inventory management features: Used for tracking inventory levels, purchase orders, and order statuses
Our Zoho CRM review offers additional information on the features, plans, usability, and integrations of Zoho to see if it’s the right fit for your business.
Apptivo: Best Account Management Software for Ecommerce & Retail Startups
Apptivo
Overall Score: 4.36
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Customizable product catalog
- Relatively inexpensive to subscribe, even for the Ultimate plan
- Acts as a business management system that includes a CRM, contract management tools, invoicing features, a call center, and marketing and project management features
What's Missing
- Limited integration options
- Free plan does not include customer phone support or 24/7 live chat support
- Configure, price, quote tools only available on high-tiered plans
Apptivo Pricing at a Glance*
- Starter: Free for 1 user
- Lite: $8 per user, per month
- Premium: $12 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $20 per user, per month
- Enterprise: Contact for quotes
- Free trial: 30 days
*Pricing based on annual billing. Monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Apptivo is robust CRM software with account management capabilities well-suited for startup businesses in the ecommerce space or retail industry. All of its plans are priced relatively low, with their Ultimate plan being only $20 per user, per month and a free option to help a new business get started.
The account management features useful for a retail business include inventory management tools to monitor inventory count, track shipping statuses, and view purchase orders. Businesses that use Apptivo can also send invoices and accept payments while at the same time, easily segment customers into territories to organize which account managers are responsible for them.
Apptivo falls slightly behind compared to other CRMs on this list when it comes to the range of integration options it offers. For businesses that require a CRM that integrates with most of their favorite applications, we recommend Salesforce Essentials or Zoho CRM.
Apptivo Plan Summary
Starter | Lite | Premium | Ultimate | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contact Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contact, Lead, or Account Record Filtering | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Integration With RingCentral for Phone System | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
File Sharing & Adding | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Product Catalog | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Invoice & Payment Processing Integrations With PayPal, Stripe & Authorize.net | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Purchase Orders & Inventory Management | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Territory Management Rules | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Configure, Price, Quote Tools | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Apptivo Key Features
- Integrates with RingCentral: Allows for a phone system in the CRM for calling account contacts
- Invoicing capabilities: Invoicing options by integrations with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net
- Inventory management: tools Allows users to manage both inventory and purchase orders
- Account list filtering: Lists can be filtered by attributes like account name, contact name, contract type, or title of contact
Take a look at our in-depth Apptivo review to learn about its features, pricing, and overall usability.
Zendesk Sell: Best for Mobile Account Management
Zendesk Sell
Overall Score: 3.63
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Excellent mobile account management tools
- Company hierarchy features for managing accounts with multiple entities
- Solid team collaboration tools for working on tasks or getting answers to questions
What's Missing
- Requires technical skill to operate the features
- Expensive compared to competitors
- Product and price book feature is only available on the highest-priced plan
Zendesk Sell Pricing at a Glance*
- Sell Team: $19 per user, per month
- Sell Growth: $49 per user, per month
- Sell Professional: $99 per user, per month
- Sell Enterprise: Starts at $150 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Zendesk Sell is a sales-focused CRM system with prospecting and lead management features, such as email tools, SMS texting, and voice call communications. Users can also manage their accounts by storing data that also has duplication detections as well as a product and price book for managing your catalogs.
Businesses that require their account managers to be in the field or to work in a mobile environment especially gain value from what Zendesk offers. Teams can manage their accounts using the mobile application. The mobile app also has features for locating contacts on a map to provide directions and log client visits by tracking the account manager’s location.
Though Zendesk is a great solution for managing client and customer accounts, the platform is notoriously difficult when it comes to operating the features, especially for those new to using a CRM. Freshsales is an alternative to Zendesk Sell that offers useful features and is easy to use.
Zendesk Sell Plan Summary
Team | Growth | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Duplication Detection | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Custom Data Fields, Filters & Tagging | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Mention Tools to Notify Team Members of Questions or Task Collaboration | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contact Visit Tracking & GeoVerification | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Mobile Geolocation of Leads or Contacts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Round-robin Auto-account Assignment | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Company Hierarchy to Define Parent Company Relationships of Leads or Accounts | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Product & Price Book | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Zendesk Sell Key Features
- Companies hierarchy feature: Allows you to organize and visualize accounts based on parent-subsidiary relationships
- Account auto-assignment: Uses a round-robin rotation to assign new accounts to account managers
- Mobile visit tracking and GeoVerification: Tracks locations of reps and account managers during client visits
- Geolocation tool: Can be used in the mobile app to get directions to customer locations
Want to learn more about everything Zendesk Sell offers your business? Check out our comprehensive Zendesk Sell review to see if it’s right for you.
Salesforce Essentials: Best Account Management Software for Customer Support Operations
Salesforce Essentials
Overall Score: 3.55
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Customer case management queue and case routing features
- High-quality training resources for using the platform
- Integration capabilities with over 2,500 software applications
What's Missing
- No quotes, sales orders, or product catalogs on the Essentials plan
- No free plan
- 24/7 support not available on Essentials
Salesforce Essentials Pricing at a Glance
- Essentials: $25 per user, per month (billed annually)
- Free trial: 14 days
Salesforce Essentials is a small-business-focused CRM that combines features from its sales and service clouds into one platform. Within each account record is the ability to store contact information, view previous communications, track activity history, and communicate with other members of your organization on a particular account.
Arguably, the most valuable account management features Salesforce Essentials offers is the built-in system for managing customer cases that are submitted. Users can view the cases in the queue and then select which ones they want to assist next. Account managers can engage these customers through multiple channels, including phone, live chat, email, and even social media.
Even though Salesforce Essentials is great for managing customer case inquiries, it does not include features for managing sales orders, quotes, or catalogs without purchasing an add-on. As this type of function is important to many account managers, we suggest considering Bitrix24, which has catalogs on its free plan as well as quotes and sales order management on the paid plans.
Salesforce Essentials Plan Summary
Essentials Plan | |
|---|---|
Account & Contact Data Organization | ✔ |
Account Activity History | ✔ |
Account Organization of Key Contacts | ✔ |
Customer/Client Communications History Tracking | ✔ |
Internal Account Discussions | ✔ |
Data Duplication Detection | ✔ |
Customer Case Management & Case Routing | ✔ |
Salesforce Essentials Key Features
- Data management features: Account data organization with data duplication prevention tools
- Account history tracking: Stores information on previous account communications and internal discussions among sales and account management teams
- Customer case routing: Submitted customer service inquiries can be managed and routed to account managers
- Multichannel inquiry response: Capabilities to respond to customer inquiries via email, phone, chat, or social media
Read our in-depth review of Salesforce Essentials to learn more about its features, pricing, and best-for scenarios.
Bitrix24: Best Free Account Management Software
Bitrix24
Overall Score: 3.34
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Free for unlimited users
- Unlimited contact records on all plans
- Option for recurring invoices and deals for subscription for renewal businesses
What's Missing
- Lacks low-cost subscription plans
- Can be difficult to set up and operate
- Limited territory management and segmentation capabilities
Bitrix24 Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Free for unlimited users
- Basic: $39 per month for up to 5 users
- Standard: $79 per month for up to 50 users
- Professional: $159 per month for unlimited users
- Free trial: 30 days
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is available at a higher cost or pay every two years for the lowest cost.
Bitrix24 is the best free CRM option on this list because the free plan is available to an unlimited number of users. It provides essential account management tools, such as data deduplication, product catalog customization, and the ability to track activity history and contact information among accounts.
If a business does subscribe to a paid plan, they can take advantage of video calling with their clients and sharing their screen to present information. There’s also access to the built-in phone to call clients, and contact routing to agents or other account managers for live chat and phone calls from clients.
Relative to some of the other CRM products on this list, Bitrix24 is often found to be difficult to set up and operate without some prior knowledge of using a CRM. Apptivo is an alternative on this list that gives users some of the appealing invoicing and inventory management features of Bitrix24 without the product usability challenge.
Bitrix24 Plan Summary
Free | Basic | Standard | Professional | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
File Duplicate Detection | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Products Catalog | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Client Profiles With Contact Information & Activity Timelines | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contact Center Features | CRM forms, WhatsApp, and social media | Telephone, email, CRM forms, WhatsApp, and social media | Telephone, email, CRM forms, WhatsApp, and social media | Telephone, email, CRM forms, WhatsApp, and social media |
Video Calls With Screen Sharing | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Client Conversation Ratings | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer Live Chat & Call Routing | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Built-in Telephone | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
CRM Payment & Delivery Features | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Appointment Booking | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Recurring Deals | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Invoice Generation With Deal-to-invoice Conversion | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Quote Generation With Deal-to-quote Conversion | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Recurring Invoices | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
Bitrix24 Features
- Contact center feature: For communicating with contacts includes channels such as phone, email, live chat, and social media messengers
- Data storage and deduplication: Lead, contact, company, deal, and duplicate detection to find records that need to be deleted or merged
- Invoices and quotes: Can be generated from a deal or opportunity and set as recurring
- Product catalog: Built-in the CRM system and customizable
- Client conversation ratings: Customers can rate their account manager or customer service rep on their effectiveness after a live chat inquiry is resolved
Check out our Bitrix24 review to learn about its features, pricing, usability, and what other users say about the platform.
How We Evaluated the Best Account Management CRMs
To determine the best CRM system for account management activities, we evaluated customer relationship management product attributes, such as pricing, usability, and customer support. We also looked at features useful for managing sales processes and client accounts, such as invoicing capabilities, contact management tools, and account data management functionality like the ability to deduplicate account records.
We found that Freshsales is the best overall CRM for account management because of the value it provides to its users with the availability of a free plan and scalable subscription options. In terms of features, Freshsales provides account managers a built-in phone system to easily call clients, a customizable catalog to help organize potential solutions to offer customers, and tools for tracking activity history with each account.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process for choosing the best account management software:
40%
Pricing
20%
General Features
15%
Ease of Use
15%
Help & Support
10%
Expert Score
40% of Overall Score
Cost is typically among the most important criteria for decision-makers, so it was the most heavily weighted when evaluating the top account management CRM systems. We looked into account free plan availability, scalable pricing options, and the ability to pay monthly.
20% of Overall Score
15% of Overall Score
15% of Overall Score
Extensive support and service help prevent issues users may encounter while using any of these CRM products. Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experiences with these account management software products, we evaluated what other users are saying about each CRM. These criteria consider how customers feel based on their reviews to gain insight into platform popularity, ease of use, and overall value for the price.
*Percentages of overall score
