Best CRM for Small Business: Top 10 Platforms (2023)
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software lets businesses store contact data, manage leads, collaborate on sales activity, and run marketing campaigns in one system. The best CRMs for small business offer free and cost-effective subscriptions, a solid user experience through platform simplicity, and robust sales, marketing, and customer service features. We evaluated dozens of CRMs to identify the best CRM for small business teams.
- Best overall for free plan with unlimited users: HubSpot CRM
- Best built-in phone system: Freshsales
- Solid CRM for freelancers and individuals: Bigin by Zoho
- Recommended for excellent sales automation tools: Pipedrive
- Top CRM for project management and ecommerce: Bitrix24
- Best for multichannel campaigns: EngageBay
- Great platform for Google Workspace users: Copper CRM
- Excellent simple contact database: Really Simple Systems
- Best free operational CRM: ClickUp
- Best Facebook Messenger CRM: Kommo (amoCRM)
Best CRM for Small Business Compared
Provider | Starting Monthly* | Free Plan? | Our CRM Rating Out of 5 |
---|---|---|---|
$18 (for two users) | ✓ Unlimited users | 4.80 | |
$15 per user | ✓ Unlimited users | 4.80 | |
$7 per user | ✓ One user | 4.74 | |
$14.90 per user | ✕ | 4.73 | |
$49 per month (includes five users) | ✓ Unlimited users | 4.67 | |
$11.95 per user | ✓ One user | 4.64 | |
$23 per user | ✕ | 4.55 | |
$17 per user | ✓ Two users | 4.42 | |
$5 per user | ✓ Unlimited users | 4.33 | |
$15 per user** | ✕ | 4.27 | |
*Based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for slightly higher rates.
**Annual billing only.
Pro tip: Some CRMs focus on features for automating sales and marketing processes, while others are more collaborative in nature. Learn about the types of CRM systems to understand which products best suit your operation. Then, check out our other expert guides on CRMs for specific use cases:
Or, take our quiz to find out which CRM for small business works best for you.
Which CRM for small business is best for you?
HubSpot CRM: Overall Best Small Business CRM With a Free Plan for Unlimited Users
Pros
- Free plan for unlimited users for sales, marketing, and service tools
- Advanced marketing capabilities including A/B testing, online and social media ads management, and content creation tools
- Simple CRM to operate and navigate through its modern design
Cons
- Expensive to upgrade from Free plans to paid subscriptions
- Deal scoring, data duplicate tracking, sales forecasting, and product library management get expensive
- Payment processing not available on the Free plan
- You want free sales, marketing, and service modules: The most notable attribute of HubSpot is that it’s by far the best free CRM software available on the CRM market. It allows unlimited users to access sales, marketing, service, and content management features. HubSpot CRM also has unique and valuable capabilities on its free plan, like mass email, third-party integrations, ads management, and support ticketing.
- You need robust marketing features: HubSpot is a marketing automation platform and CRM system hybrid. This makes it a great option for marketing agency businesses and teams that need high-level marketing features. The platform includes mass email, ads management, landing page builder tools, social media management, A/B testing, and the ability to host a blog and on-demand video library.
- You need an intuitive CRM system for small business teams: HubSpot is a highly rated simple CRM system as users, even those new to the CRM world, can figure out quickly how to use the features. It uses a modern color scheme and intuitive navigation system, making it easy to go module-to-module and operate the tools.
- You need scalable, cost-friendly paid plans: While it has an excellent free plan, users ready to upgrade to the paid plans will need to look elsewhere for affordable options as the CRM Suite is quite expensive.
- Alternative: Freshsales, EngageBay, and Bigin by Zoho CRM are the best free CRM options with affordable paid plans.
- You want a free telephone system in your CRM: HubSpot does offer third-party telephone integrations and a built-in option. Those capabilities, however, require subscribing to a paid plan.
- Alternative: Freshsales is the best CRM for small business teams for offering a free, built-in telephone system.
HubSpot CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user, month breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
HubSpot CRM ads performance dashboard (Source: HubSpot)
Our Expert Opinion
Based on our scoring criteria, HubSpot CRM technically ties Freshsales for best overall. Where HubSpot separates itself, however, is the comprehensive free plan option that has sales, marketing, and customer service tools, as well as advanced marketing capabilities. It also supports an unlimited number of users. Moreover, this product exhibits excellent platform usability ratings—something crucial in customer relationship management for small business.
HubSpot’s marketing focus and free plan make it the best CRM for small businesses. Use our in-depth HubSpot CRM review for more details to see if it’s the best option for your organization.
Freshsales: Best CRM With Built-in Phone System
Pros
- Includes a built-in phone, quote and proposal, generation, deal and account management, and workflow automation
- Easy setup process with plenty of customization and intuitive CRM tools
- Great omnichannel communication tools through email, phone, text, chatbot, live chat, and messaging app integrations
Cons
- Expensive sales forecasting, deal teams, and auto-profile enrichment features
- Customer service tools and advanced marketing features require native integrations
- Ability to manage multiple sales pipelines requires the Pro plan and above
- You need free calling features in your CRM: Freshsales offers one of the best free-forever subscriptions available on the CRM market as it already includes a built-in phone system. This capability is a major value add as users can place cold calls and follow-ups, receive incoming calls, and record, mask, and transfer calls to the queue, all from the CRM platform.
- You sell business-to-business (B2B): Freshsales is one of our favorite B2B CRM systems because it includes features specifically useful when selling to other organizations. It offers an account management module, a built-in cloud phone system, and deal tracking with insights and rotting indicators. There’s also contact scoring, appointment scheduling, and document generation for quotes, proposals, and invoices.
- You use an omnichannel selling approach: Freshsales is one of our recommended CRMs for teams that want to market their brand and sell using a multichannel strategy. It allows users to engage prospects through direct and mass email, short message service (SMS) text, telephone, live chat, messaging app, and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
- You want to run more elaborate marketing campaigns from your CRM: Though it has omnichannel capabilities, Freshsales doesn’t let you create and deploy non-email campaigns, such as online ads, social media posts, or content marketing campaigns, unless you subscribe to its native Freshmarketer tool.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM is the best alternative for complete marketing and content management capabilities, including blog and video hosting, ads management, and the ability to publish posts on social media. EngageBay is also great for managing campaigns across multiple channels, including website, mobile, social media, call center, and email.
- You need a built-in case and ticketing management tools: Freshworks, the developer of Freshsales, offers excellent customer service software for small business through its native Freshdesk tool. Unfortunately, that’s a separate product, and users cannot manage service tickets in the Freshsales CRM system.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM and EngageBay can handle customer support operations in the CRM system.
Freshsales Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Freshsales logging call notes (Source: Freshsales)
Our Expert Opinion
Freshsales is a favorite choice for the best CRM software for small business. Its free and low-cost subscriptions give those on a tight budget an excellent solution for managing leads and client accounts. It’s also unique in that the system not only offers a built-in telephone system, but does so on the free-forever plan. Finally, we can’t overlook the platform usability that lets new CRM users easily set up and operate the features.
We love everything Freshsales offers to small business sales teams. See if it’s the right CRM for you by reading our full Freshsales review.
Bigin by Zoho CRM: Best for Freelancers
Pros
- Free and low-cost subscription options and includes a built-in telephone system
- Offers a basic system for freelancers for managing contacts and pipelines, emailing, and integrating with popular third-party apps
- Solid product customization for pipeline stages, data fields, automations, tabs, reports, and views
Cons
- Poor product usability ratings
- Mostly offers the basics and lacks advanced marketing, customer support, and sales tools
- Mass email not available for free
- You are a freelancer needing the basics: Bigin is Zoho’s product built for small businesses to get all the basics like contact data storage, pipeline management, direct and mass email, performance tracking, and workflow automation. Its simple feature arsenal pairs well with the free and affordable paid options. Its free plan for one user makes it stand out as a solid CRM for freelancers and solopreneurs.
- You need a free built-in telephone system: In addition to being a solid personal CRM for offering basic features, Bigin stands out for being one of a few products with a built-in phone system. Better yet, the telephone capabilities are available on the Free plan for a user to place, receive, and track phone calls from the CRM system.
- You want more sophisticated sales features: Because of the bare-bones focus, Bigin lacks advanced sales features like artificial intelligence (AI) analytics, proposal and invoice generation, and automated contact enrichment.
- Alternative: Freshsales and Pipedrive are powerhouse CRMs with more robust direct sales capabilities.
- You need omnichannel capabilities: Bigin is limited to communication outreach through telephone, email, and customer engagement on Twitter. Therefore, it’s not ideal for mass marketing or using a more general approach to outreach campaigns.
- Alternative: Freshsales and EngageBay are better alternatives with more communication options, including live chat, text, email, phone, and messaging app integrations.
Bigin by Zoho Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Zoho Bigin offers a 15-day free trial for paid plans. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Bigin by Zoho CRM creating new contact (Source: Bigin)
Our Expert Opinion
Based on our evaluation, Bigin by Zoho is a clear front-runner for smaller and solo-operated businesses. While it would be great for the product to have more advanced features than contact storage, pipeline management, and communication tools, that’s not the developers’ intention. When the business is ready, teams can easily upgrade to the native Zoho CRM for broader, more advanced capabilities.
Planning to upgrade from Bigin to Zoho CRM? Don’t forget to check out our guide on how to use Zoho CRM for tips on setting up an account, tailoring your system, importing data, and managing users.
Pipedrive: Best Sales Automation Tools
Pros
- Low-cost AI tools for analytics and performance recommendations
- Great operations CRM for boosting productivity and facilitating team and deal collaboration
- Offers end-to-end lead generation, deal management, and proposal creation capabilities
Cons
- No free plan
- Requires a slight learning curve, particularly for the more advanced sales features
- Expensive workflow automation and email tools
- You’re looking for a robust sales automation tool: Pipedrive is a sales CRM in that its value comes from the lead management software, deal tracking capabilities, sales collaboration features, and data management tools. Teams prioritizing direct outreach for growth benefit from features like business proposal management, deal rotting, auto-contact enrichment, team comments and mentions, and a built-in meeting scheduler.
- You submit many business proposals and bids: Another tremendous use case for Pipedrive involves its robust proposal features. It comes with auto-fillable templates that pull CRM data into sales documents for you for a quick generation process. There’s also a Smart Docs tool that allows users to auto-fill, send, and track sales quotes and proposals, which pairs nicely with the built-in e-signature capabilities.
- You need a free-forever plan: While it’s not necessarily an expensive system, Pipedrive does not offer a free plan for users to experience a risk-free test drive of the platform.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM, Freshsales, and Bitrix24 both offer free-forever plans that support an unlimited number of users.
- You want low-cost email features: Pipedrive’s email sync tools for sending, receiving, and tracking emails from the CRM are not available until the Advanced plan for $49.90 per user, monthly.
- Alternative: Freshsales and HubSpot CRM offer solid email tools for free.
Pipedrive Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Pipedrive deal management module (Source: Pipedrive)
Our Expert Opinion
Pipedrive offers a robust set of sales automation tools, which include its Smart Docs with auto-fill templates for sales documents. Its Smart Contact Data also auto-enriches profile records based on data from website pages and LinkedIn accounts. It also has an artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant that provides recommendations on tasks and deals. Its excellent pipeline and deal customization capabilities make it a great customizable CRM software.
Check out our Pipedrive review to see if it’s right for your business. We cover everything from features and integrations to use cases and usability.
Bitrix24: Best Project Management & Ecommerce Tools
Pros
- Free plan has an unlimited user allocation
- Robust project management tools
- Extensive ecommerce functionalities with invoicing and quotes
Cons
- Complex navigation and interface
- Document storage in CRM records not available for free
- Support is limited to live chat and email
- You’re seeking a CRM to manage your retail business or online store: All Bitrix24 users can access its robust set of ecommerce features. These include tools for building an online store as well as those for managing products, orders, payments, coupons, and inventories.
- You need free project management tools: Bitrix24 has a free-forever plan that supports unlimited users and offers project management tools. These include a project Kanban board that lets you manage unlimited projects with subtasks. You can also use these tools to manage your deliverables after closing a deal.
- You are looking for a CRM with accounting tools: This platform’s free tier includes features that accounting firms use, such as project management tools and product and service catalogs. Paid plans allow you to generate an unlimited number of invoices, while its Standard plan lets you create an unlimited number of quotes.
- You are looking for a simple CRM system: Bitrix24 offers robust CRM capabilities and customization options, making its interface difficult to set up and navigate.
- Alternative: Really Simple Systems and Freshsales both offer a simple interface that is easy to use, even for beginners.
- You seek a free solution for client document storage: While Bitrix24 allows all users to store unlimited signed documents, you need a paid plan to create CRM document templates. These include files used in CRM deals, such as invoices, quotes, and shipping manifests.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM’s free plan lets you store up to five sales documents per account. You can also share these documents with your prospects and get insight into the recipients’ engagement with your file.
Bitrix24 Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly and quarterly billing is available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Bitrix24 project and task management (Source: Bitrix24)
Our Expert Opinion
Bitrix24 comes with a highly robust set of tools for managing contacts, leads, deals, and workflows. It also lets you create an unlimited number of projects for free. Plus, it is one of our favorite CRM systems for ecommerce because it is equipped with tools for building an online store, as well as managing orders, product lists, processing payments, and managing inventories. Its main downside is its steep learning curve, which comes with a platform with a lot of customization options and feature inclusions.
Read our comprehensive Bitrix24 review to determine if this platform is the right fit for your business. We discuss its full feature set, pricing, pros and cons, and user reviews.
EngageBay: Best for Multichannel Campaigns
Pros
- Free plan allows 15 users and includes advanced tools like lead scoring, social media monitoring, live chat engagement, and project and task management
- All-in-one sales, marketing, and service tool
- Super scalable CRM solution that lets small businesses upgrade their feature and data requirements in a cost-scalable way
Cons
- Relatively limited number of contact records allowed on Free and Basic plans
- Poor user reviews for product ease of use
- Expensive proposal management, A/B testing, and trigger-based workflow automation
- You need a free, all-in-one sales, service, and marketing platform: EngageBay is an all-in-one solution for managing sales, marketing, and customer service activity. It includes numerous data storage, task management, automation, and communication capabilities. Many of these features allow teams to oversee deals and leads in the sales pipeline, email and content marketing campaigns, and service tickets at no cost.
- You want omnichannel capabilities in your CRM: A great attribute of EngageBay is its multi-channel focus for outreach, marketing, and support. Users can engage leads and customers via email, live chat, video message, social media, and short message service (SMS) text. There are options to integrate with popular voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephone systems like RingCentral, Twilio, JustCall, and CallHippo.
- You need a simple CRM system: While it’s cost-effective to invest in EngageBay, the platform isn’t the best-suited CRM for startups or teams new to operating a CRM tool. Users find the features tough to use and report difficulties in setting up a new system.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM and Really Simple Systems are our favorite CRMs for product ease of use.
- You send out a lot of sales proposals: While EngageBay does offer proposal generation and management capabilities, those features are not available until the Growth plan for $45.99 per user, monthly.
- Alternative: Freshsales includes quote and proposal generation tools on its Growth plan, which is $15 per user, per month. Pipedrive is another good option with highly sophisticated proposal generation tools, which start at $24.90 per user, monthly.
EngageBay Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost, and biennial billing for a lower cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
EngageBay marketing contact list (Source: EngageBay)
Our Expert Opinion
EngageBay has high-value potential in terms of return on investment compared to other CRMs on this list. It includes a solid free-forever plan and affordable paid tiers to manage sales, marketing, and customer service in one system. Users can also track and collaborate on customizable projects. Finally, EngageBay lets you communicate with prospects and customers through its wide range of channels like phone, email, text, live chat, and social media.
Copper CRM: Best Google Workspace Integration
Pros
- Easy-to-use report generation tools
- Features for automated contact enrichment
- Complete set of Google integrations with a Chrome extension that lets you access the CRM from Gmail or Calendar apps
Cons
- Does not offer a free plan
- Email and phone capabilities aren’t accessible on the Free plan
- No advanced AI tools
- You’re looking for a true Google CRM: Copper CRM is one of our top choices for a Google CRM because of its seamless integration with Google Workspace. It has an intuitive Chrome extension that lets you access and view your CRM data from within Gmail or Calendar apps.
- You want a CRM with robust collaboration tools: Copper CRM offers excellent tools for productivity and team collaboration. You can tag and mention colleagues in tasks or records, as well as log activities to monitor lead engagement.
- You are looking for a free CRM for your small sales team: Copper does not offer a free plan, and its packages start at $23 per user, monthly, which could be a bit pricey for small teams.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM, Bitrix24, Freshsales, and ClickUp offer free plans for unlimited users. Other providers in this list with free options are Bigin by Zoho CRM and Really Simple Systems.
- You need an ecommerce CRM to manage your online store: Copper CRM does not have the features, like product catalogs and order processing, necessary for managing ecommerce stores. Its marketing features do not come in until its Professional plan, which costs $59 per user, monthly.
- Alternative: Bitrix24 is our top-recommended ecommerce CRM as it has a free plan that offers a robust set of ecommerce tools. These include an online store builder, product catalogs, order processing, and inventory management tools.
Copper CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Copper CRM Chrome extension in Gmail (Source: Copper)
Our Expert Opinion
Copper CRM is built for Google and has a simple, intuitive design that looks and feels similar to Google apps. It is an ideal CRM for teams using Google Workspace because it integrates seamlessly with Google apps like Gmail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sheets, and Data Studio. You can also access it within Gmail and Google Calendar. It integrates seamlessly with Facebook Lead Forms, allowing you to auto-generate CRM contacts from submitted forms.
Head on to our Copper CRM review page to see if this provider is the right choice for you. We detail its pricing plans, general and niche features, ease of use, and summary of user reviews.
Really Simple Systems: Best as a Standard Contact Database
Pros
- Free-forever option with affordable paid plans
- Simple interface design with highly intuitive features
- Tons of CRM customization options for data fields, system pages, interface layouts, reports, and dashboards
Cons
- Marketing and customer support modules require an add-on for an additional cost
- No mobile application
- Expensive workflow automation, telephone integration, and quote generation capabilities
- You only need a simple contact database: Really Simple Systems is a great option if all you need is a digital Rolodex for contact and company data. It’s also an ideal contact management system that stores unlimited records for free. In addition to data and document storage, users can monitor pipeline statuses, track tasks and events, and link records to one another to indicate connections or hierarchical relationships.
- You want complete system customization: Besides affordability, usability, and great contact data management features, Really Simple Systems is an excellent customizable CRM. Teams can tailor data fields, dashboards, reports, automations, and pages to meet operational needs. The customization is easy for those who store specific information on their leads or use a unique sales process.
- You want marketing tools included in your small business CRM: Really Simple Systems’ default plan is entirely for sales functions. The provider requires users to purchase an additional add-on for marketing capabilities such as email design tools, campaign scheduling, template storage, and drip automation. These cost either $25 or $50 per month, depending on the add-on.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM is the best option that matches Really Simple System’s usability ratings but includes marketing capabilities in its main CRM product.
- You need a robust mobile CRM application: Currently, Really Simple Systems is limited to just offering a mobile-responsive web application and not an actual mobile application. It should be noted, however, that the provider has announced that a mobile CRM app is currently in development for release later this year.
- Alternative: Freshsales, HubSpot CRM, and Pipedrive are our favorite providers that have a mobile CRM app with robust features.
Really Simple Systems Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Really Simple Systems adding activity to a company record (Source: Really Simple Systems)
Our Expert Opinion
Really Simple Systems offers many solid attributes that provide value to a small business. As the name suggests, the platform is highly intuitive and has a minimal learning curve for those requiring a simple CRM system. It also can perform more contact management functions than most CRMs on this list, such as record linking, unlimited data storage capacity, and activity tracking within contact and company records.
Really Simple Systems is a simple solution for storing contact data and managing sales activity. See if it’s the right CRM for your business by reading our Really Simple Systems review.
ClickUp: Best Free Operational CRM
Pros
- Free plan and affordable paid plans
- Fully customizable and can be tailored for various use cases outside of sales
- Multi-view work management options and reporting capabilities
Cons
- Not a traditional CRM system; users must customize their boards to meet their needs
- Tough system to operate and navigate
- Limited number of workspaces and active automations allowed on the Free plan
- You need a free operational CRM system: ClickUp’s free plan supports an unlimited number of users and offers a robust set of tools for improving productivity. These include automations, task checklists, time tracking, file sharing, and work management dashboards.
- You prefer using a non-traditional CRM: ClickUp is a CRM alternative that allows you to manage work using tailor boards, work processes similar to a deal pipeline, and data records. It also offers a multi-view format for users who want to oversee various business functions, including marketing, service, and projects.
- You are used to traditional CRM systems: ClickUp may not be the right option if you are used to traditional CRMs. It would take a while to acclimate to a work management software that requires you to create your own boards and processes.
- Alternative: Freshsales, Pipedrive, and Bitrix24 are the best traditional operational CRMs that let you automate your business processes with ease.
- You’re looking for a simple work management tool: Unfortunately, ClickUp has a complex setup process and has various modular options, making it difficult to learn and navigate.
- Alternative: Really Simple Systems lives up to its name with its straightforward and highly intuitive interface that is easy to learn and use. Other options that are also recommended for usability are Freshsales and Pipedrive.
ClickUp Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
ClickUp dashboard for work management (Source: ClickUp)
Our Expert Opinion
ClickUp is recommended for those who like using CRM alternatives to manage business operations. It offers unlimited viewing options for sales leads, projects, and deals. Its strength lies in its comprehensive work management and collaboration tools offered for free. Moreover, it offers affordable paid plans starting at just $7 per user, monthly for those who need more storage space, automations, and integrations.
Kommo: Best for Messenger-based Sales
Pros
- Solid integration with Facebook Messenger, letting you engage contacts through the CRM and generate leads from conversations
- System lets users create live chatbots and email and text sequences for automated lead generation
- Includes Facebook Ads integration to manage ads from the CRM
Cons
- No free plan
- Substantial learning curve required to use the features
- No lead scoring until Enterprise plan
- You’re seeking a powerful Facebook Messenger CRM: Kommo allows users to engage with customers on Facebook from within the CRM. They can also deploy a live sales chatbot and manage all conversation channels (including Messenger, email, phone, and text) from a single place.
- You need a CRM for managing Facebook Ads: Kommo integrates seamlessly with Facebook Ads and lets you build and deploy ad campaigns on Facebook. This integration also allows you to auto-target leads based on their stage in the sales process.
- You want a CRM with free Facebook integration: While Kommo’s entry-level plan is not necessarily expensive at $15 per user, per month, it does not offer a free tier.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM has a free plan that offers Facebook Messenger integration. It also allows you to auto-generate leads from Facebook Ads campaigns.
- You’re looking for a CRM with more affordable AI chatbot tools: Kommo’s advanced chatbot features come with a price tag of $25 per user, monthly. Its AI-powered bot in Facebook Messenger is available with its Enterprise plan at $45 per user, monthly.
- Alternative: Freshsales Free plan allows you to add an AI chatbot for Messenger.
Kommo Pricing Plan & Overview*
*Pricing is based on semi-annual billing on a per user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Pricing is reflected at the time of this publication. We update pricing information regularly but encourage readers to check current pricing here.
Kommo’s unified sales inbox (Source: Kommo)
Our Expert Opinion
Kommo justifies its claim as a messenger-based CRM with its multichannel communication management features for emails, text messages, calls, and messaging campaigns. Its sales automation tools let you auto-engage leads on Facebook Messenger and use AI with your sales bot. Moreover, it offers valuable analytics tools for chat performance tracking, sales forecasting, lead scoring, and win-loss analysis.
How We Evaluated the Best CRM for Small Business
To determine the best CRM software for small business, we evaluated each platform in terms of overall affordability, feature capabilities, and the value an organization with a small sales, marketing, or service team can obtain from the software. We also looked at customer support options offered by the provider and how each CRM platform performs in terms of product intuitiveness and user experience.
The tabs below show our evaluation criteria for the best small business CRMs:
25% of Overall Score
General features refer to baseline capabilities we expect each CRM to provide to help a small business get value from their software. Robust system customization, for example, lets a team tailor their product to meet their unique operational needs. We also wanted the provider to offer a mobile CRM app for on-the-go sales, a wide range of integration options to extend the CRMs functionality, and solid reporting and analytics tools.
20% of Overall Score
Since small businesses and startups are usually on a tight budget, pricing was an important evaluation factor. This considered the availability of a free-forever plan and affordable pricing options that are cost-friendly and scalable for growing businesses. Finally, we looked at options for subscribers to pay monthly or save by paying annually.
20% of Overall Score
This criteria looked at advanced features that give a CRM provider a slight boost and stronger capabilities, but aren’t always a given in CRM software. Sophisticated marketing automation, for instance, allows you to create and deploy email, advertising, and social media campaigns to mass audiences. We also examined whether a provider offers built-in artificial intelligence (AI), revenue forecasting, and pipeline analytics features.
20% of Overall Score
Excellent customer support helps prevent poor user experiences or technical issues a small business may encounter while using any of these CRMs. This was evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support through phone, live chat, and email. We also looked at self-service resources users can access, like knowledge base articles, tutorials, user forums, or FAQ pages.
15% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experience with these CRM systems for small businesses, we looked into what actual users say about each provider according to online reviews from trusted sites. This category helps us better understand how users feel about the product’s features, platform ease of use, and value customers feel the gain from each CRM.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
All CRM solutions on our list offer free or affordable plans for small businesses. The CRMs, however, that offer both affordable plans and a free-forever option include Freshsales, Bigin by Zoho, Really Simple Systems, EngageBay, and Agile CRM.
Based on our evaluation, HubSpot CRM is the best overall small business CRM software—tied with Freshsales, which we considered the best CRM with built-in phone features. That said, however, certain CRMs may be a better fit depending on feature and product attribute requirements. Really Simple Systems, for example, is a great simple contact database, while Mailchimp CRM is an excellent email marketing solution.
Your small business CRM should include features that help your company stay organized and grow. At a minimum, it should have contact data storage, email and phone communication capabilities, pipeline tracking, and solid reporting tools. Additionally, you should be able to manage sales and marketing on the go through a mobile app and have the ability to customize your system’s data fields, pages, and modules to meet your operational needs.
Bottom Line
The best CRM for small business is affordable, easy to use, and includes solid features for storing data, managing sales opportunities, deploying marketing campaigns, and supporting customers. While Freshsales and HubSpot were our picks for the best CRM software for small business, other systems will better suit your business depending on your needs. Agile CRM, for instance, is great for lead management, while Bigin has useful tools for freelancers.