8 Best Construction CRMs for Contractors in 2024

• You need free sales tracking tools: If you have cash flow issues and experience problems paying subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and employees on time, Zoho CRM is a great choice. Zoho CRM offers free field sales tracking to monitor tasks, like a contractor visiting a prospective client to provide a free estimate for a bathroom renovation project.

Zoho CRM’s built-in account management system benefits contractors who work on a retainer, like those that work on condos and apartment buildings. For instance, you can set up a client’s account for progressive billing to get payment after reaching a specific milestone (e.g., finishing the stem wall foundation).

• You want to manage contracting services with your CRM: One of Zoho CRM’s most useful features is its inventory management module. This comes with tools for creating and tracking quotes and storing services with pricing in a digital catalog.Contractors can focus more on nurturing clients to close more deals. As deals are closed, you can assign tasks to users, schedule appointments for completion, track job progress, and send invoices.

• You need a simple CRM system: One common issue with Zoho CRM that could deter contractors new to using a CRM is its ease of use. Many subscribers find the interface tough to navigate because of its many features and say it has a steep learning curve.
  • Alternatives: HubSpot CRM is a great, simple, general-use CRM system, while JobNimbus is a solid industry-specific CRM that performs well in product usability.
• You want built-in project management: While Zoho CRM technically offers project management capabilities, they’re only available if you subscribe to its native Zoho Projects tool. This tool offers a free plan for three users and paid plans that start at $4 per user monthly, but you’ll have to integrate it with your CRM.
  • Alternatives: Capsule CRM and Insightly CRM are great alternatives with built-in project management features. These capabilities include customized pipelines, custom fields, and page layouts, making it easier for users to understand and navigate construction project details.

• You want a CRM with reliable payment processing tools: HubSpot CRM lets you create and share recurring or one-time payment links. With your Stripe account or HubSpot payments, customers can easily pay using debit or credit cards, electronic payments, money transfers, and other methods. Also, custom billing lets you automate manual tasks like collections for seamless revenue management.
• You need a free or affordably priced contractor CRM: HubSpot CRM is a construction CRM system that offers a robust free plan to access job and meeting scheduling, deal tracking, document management, and quote generation tools.

Its basic paid plan (Starter at $15 per user every month) already includes simple marketing automation and personalization tokens (e.g., values like names or total revenue associated with contacts in your HubSpot database). These capabilities promote smooth lead engagement and more personalized marketing efforts.

• You need robust project management tools: Construction firms deal with multiple projects like renovations and new construction. While HubSpot markets itself as having project management capabilities, the software is limited to just tracking tasks and subtasks in a list view. These are not ideal for complex construction, maintenance, or renovation projects that demand detailed viewing options and collaboration tools.
  • Alternatives: Capsule CRM and Insightly CRM have built-in project management and delivery capabilities. Alternatively, you may prefer an industry-specific CRM like Jobber, which also has solid project management features.
• You want less expensive digital signature capabilities: Construction projects are worth thousands or millions of dollars and involve any number of contractors and subcontractors, so projects must be crystal clear and agreements properly signed.While HubSpot offers electronic signatures directly on quotes to streamline the deal process, it requires the Professional Customer Platform plan for $1,170 for five users monthly.
  • Alternative: Jobber is a great trade contractor and home builder CRM with e-signature tools starting at $39 per month.

• You need a construction CRM with robust proposal management features: Optimize your entire sales process through its deal management module, available across all plans. Its Professional plan at $49 per user monthly includes a Smart Docs tool that lets you autogenerate, send, track, and get signatures on proposals. You can also add this tool to lower-level plans for $32.50 per company monthly.
• You prefer a general CRM with deal and project management features: Pipedrive offers deal management and project management tools—an add-on feature that comes free starting with the Power plan at $64 per user monthly. Additionally, its deal rotting feature notifies you when a deal stays idle. On the other hand, Kanban views and task tracking let you oversee client deliverables in the same system.

• You need free email marketing features: One downside of Pipedrive is that it has no free-forever plan, which isn’t ideal for contractors on a super-tight budget. The Advanced plan includes email templates, email tracking, and group emailing capabilities for email campaign management and team collaboration.
  • Alternatives: HubSpot CRM offers a great free CRM system and is the best CRM for contractors in terms of email capabilities, letting you send, automate, and track email marketing campaigns at no cost.
• You prefer an industry-specific CRM: Pipedrive is a general CRM that users must customize to tailor for their specific business. However, because the construction and contractor business is heavy on the operations side, many companies may prefer an industry-specific platform built to meet unique marketing, project, and finance management needs.
  • Alternatives: Depending on your vertical within contracting, several CRMs can meet your industry-specific needs. JobNimbus, for example, is the best CRM for small construction businesses doing exterior home remodeling. Jobber, on the other hand, is a solid option for trade specialists like electricians or plumbers.

• You need a contact database with relationship-linking capabilities: Insightly CRM offers relationship linking—a key feature especially useful for independent contractors. This CRM for contractors helps your team keep track of your clients’ relationships so that they can easily remember important details like job titles and employers.
• You’re seeking a CRM with built-in project management and delivery tools: With Insightly CRM, you can access project collaboration and task management tools like customized pipelines, custom fields, and milestones. You can also convert won contracts into projects without losing any data.

• You need multiple access to your CRM at no cost: Insightly CRM does not offer a free plan. Startup construction companies or independent contractors who are not ready to purchase a CRM system should consider alternative products with free-forever tools.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM the best free CRM for construction businesses. It has a robust plan that supports two users for the free plan and an intuitive lead management system with meeting scheduling and quote generation capabilities. Capsule CRM and Zoho CRM offer a freemium plan for two and three users respectively with account, client, and lead management features.
• You require an all-in-one construction management system: You can use Insightly CRM to manage your construction projects and deliveries. However, it lacks other industry-specific features like construction design management, workforce planning, project financials, and builder’s insurance.
  • Alternative: We recommend Jobber if you need an end-to-end solution for managing construction projects. It offers an all-in-one solution that includes features for job quoting and project management. This software also has job costing and expense tracking features for budgeting and profit forecasting.

• You are a remodeling or roofing business needing a mobile CRM: JobNimbus’ mobile app helps contractors manage construction projects while out in the field.With its scheduling feature, roofers and remodelers can see what tasks they have for the day and schedule appointments in the CRM roofing app for proper preparation. Users can also sign documents on the app and use the camera to take photos and annotate them.
• You need broad project management capabilities in your CRM: Project management in JobNimbus is top-notch. Teams can track repeatable workflows on project boards, mention team members to facilitate collaboration, and incorporate custom task types unique to different contracting jobs.There are also project budgeting features to track expenses and integrations to get order measurements for jobs.

• You need a free contracting CRM: While JobNimbus doesn’t offer transparent pricing, we know that the provider does not offer any free-forever plan to its users.
  • Alternative: Zoho CRM offers a free option with lead tracking, file management, and built-in account management tools.
• You want more robust sales and marketing tools: JobNimbus focuses more on the operations side of a contracting business. Its sales tools are limited to contact storage, lead tracking, quote proposals, signature tools, and appointment scheduling. Moreover, the marketing module is not yet available for users to manage ads, their websites, and search engine optimization (SEO).
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM can offer a wide range of sales, marketing, service, and content management capabilities. Users can use customizable templates, lead generation and scoring, email automation, and deal management tools for sales and marketing.

• You are a general contractor needing robust job quoting tools: Jobber’s key job quoting features include customizable templates, automated calendar reminders, and signature approvals. This software automates your quote follow-ups, sorts out job details, assigns work to contractors, and monitors progress for seamless project management.
• You need finance management tools in your CRM: Something that stood out about Jobber was its financial features. Jobber not only lets you send quotes and receive payments through invoices but also syncs that data directly with QuickBooks. Also, teams can do job costing to see the real-time profitability of each job based on all the costs involved.

• You need better and more cost-friendly marketing tools: Jobber’s built-in marketing tools are limited to a marketing dashboard and a website builder. If you want more advanced tools, such as marketing campaigns and referrals, you have to pay for its Marketing Suite add-on ($79 per user monthly).
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM includes built-in mass email marketing with automated campaigns, blog hosting, web forms, and website landing pages, all for free.
• You need lower-cost job assignment and routing features: With Jobber, work assignment capabilities are gated with the Connect plan, which costs $119 per user monthly. This is relatively costly compared to other providers.
  • Alternatives: Both Pipedrive (Advanced plan) and Insightly CRM (Professional plan) offer streamlined assignment routing at $49 per user monthly.

• You need affordable construction project management features: Capsule CRM offers project management tools starting in its free plan. It can help contractors seamlessly manage multiple new construction and renovation projects on customizable boards.You can quickly assign tasks and projects to field workers and subcontractors. It is best for construction firms and seasoned contractors handling multiple projects.
• You need an AI-powered CRM to generate content for client correspondence: Contractors must promptly respond to client inquiries to establish trust and confidence in their work. Contractors can use Capsule CRM’s AI Content Assistant to facilitate crafting emails quickly to ensure timely client response, informing them of any changes and updates on construction project timelines and budgets.

• You need an email tracker in a construction CRM system: Capsule CRM only has basic email marketing capabilities like email templates. Contractors handling several construction projects might miss important updates like a prospect asking for a quote or a remodeling timeline inquiry without an email tracker.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM lets you easily track emails from clients, prospects, suppliers, and subcontractors to avoid missing any important correspondence. Once the email tracker has been enabled, contractors receive real-time notifications when a prospect or customer opens your email.
• You need more affordable workflow automation in a construction CRM: Capsule CRM lets you automate workflows like assigning projects to field construction supervisors. It automatically converts a visitor who signed up on your construction website or filled out a free estimate online form into a lead. However, this feature starts in the second tier (Growth plan) at $36 per user every month.
  • Alternatives: Zoho CRM’s freemium plan allows you to set up 10 automated workflows per module (like for sales, marketing, and customer support) to streamline your operations.

Insightly CRM offers automated workflows, like potential client capture, on its basic plan ($29 per user monthly). It helps improve your efficiency and productivity, especially in implementing lead generation and sales tactics.

• You prefer a sales-focused industry-specific CRM: AccuLynx is equipped with AI-powered lead intelligence features, enabling roofing contractors to accurately predict how likely leads will convert. These include lead scoring and sales activity tracking, in addition to quote generation and appointment scheduling for closing more deals.
• You are a roofing business: In terms of operations management and service delivery, AccuLynx is designed for roofing contractors. It has unique tools like aerial measurements and the ability to order materials from suppliers directly in the CRM system. Teams can also store a materials library, manage labor resources, and process roofing work orders from the platform.

• You need free CRM software: AccuLynx does not post its pricing as it requires each business to be quoted separately. This provider also doesn’t offer users a free-forever plan.
  • Alternative: Zoho CRM is a great option with free, scalable, and transparent CRM subscription plans.
• You want mass communication tools: One downside of AccuLynx is that you can’t send bulk email or text messages to clients or leads. All messaging requires one-to-one communication or automated workflows, which can be used to send reminders or updates.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM is our favorite pick for overall marketing capabilities, which include mass email for leads and customers.