While all types of businesses benefit from customer relationship management (CRM) software, startups need a CRM that is far more flexible and customizable than required by more established businesses. Startup businesses also need a CRM with a minimal learning curve, low-cost options, and scalable subscription plans that make it easy to add features as they grow. They also need automation tools for generating new business and growth planning.
Based on our research, here are the six best CRMs for startups:
- HubSpot CRM: Best overall, and best solution for startup businesses wanting an easy-to-use CRM
- Zoho CRM: Great CRM for startups looking to use social media as a marketing tool
- Agile CRM: Excellent for new businesses that want a range of free sales tools
- Pipedrive: Best CRM for startups that need to schedule a lot of sales meetings
- Streak: Solid CRM option for startups using Google Workspace applications
- Insightly: Great for startups that want project management tools within their CRM
How We Evaluated the Best CRMs for Startups
To determine the overall best CRM for startups, we evaluated the basic CRM features and attributes a newly founded business needs. For example, startups often face budget constraints and need tools to help promote new (and potentially unique) business offerings, so they need a CRM with robust system customization and the availability of low-cost or free plan options.
We found that HubSpot CRM is the best CRM for startups. It has a free forever plan and delivers the best user experience with easy-to-learn features and an intuitive interface. Additionally, HubSpot Academy gives startup businesses access to tons of free learning resources, including sales, marketing, and software video tutorials for optimizing the HubSpot CRM system.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process for choosing the best CRMs for startups:
40% of Overall Score
Cost is typically among the most important criteria for any business, especially for startup businesses that typically have tight budgets, so it was the most heavily weighted when evaluating the best CRMs for startups. Pricing took 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
10% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experiences with the best CRMs for startups, we evaluated what other users are saying about each product. These criteria consider how customers feel based on their reviews to gain insight on platform popularity, ease of use, and overall value for the price.
HubSpot CRM: Best Overall CRM for Startups & Best User Interface
HubSpot CRM
What We Like
- Free for unlimited users
- Integrates with Stripe for payment processing
- Great user experience, easy-to-use features, and a friendly navigation interface
What's Missing
- No sales forecasting in free or Starter plan
- Plans get exponentially more expensive after free and Starter options
- Lacks unlimited e-signature capabilities
HubSpot Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited users (limited features)
- Starter: $45 per month (up to two users, then $23 per additional user, per month)
- Professional: $450 per month (up to five users, then $90 per additional user, per month)
- Enterprise: $1,200 per month (up to 10 users, then $120 per additional user, per month)
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing based on annual billing, monthly billing is also available for a higher cost
If a startup business is investing in a CRM for the first time and is looking for an easy-to-learn option, HubSpot CRM is the best choice. Its clean interface clearly identifies available features, making it easy to navigate through and operate its built-in tools such as workflow automation, email tracking, and e-signature.
HubSpot CRM can be used free, forever, by an unlimited number of users. Upon scaling up to the Starter plan, users gain access to the Stripe payment integration, goal tracking, and Slack integration features. Additionally, the HubSpot Academy offers free courses, videos, and learning tutorials—some of which offer HubSpot certifications for sales, marketing, service, and HubSpot software products.
The sales forecasting tool, which is particularly useful to view growth potential as part of startup business planning, is only accessible on the Professional and Enterprise plans. Zoho CRM is a great alternative for those who want sales forecasting capabilities on a less expensive plan.
HubSpot CRM Plan Summary
Free | Starter | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Deal Pipeline | One pipeline per account | Two pipelines per account | Up to 15 pipelines per account | Up to 100 pipelines per account |
Meeting Scheduler Tool | One meeting link | 1,000 personal and team meeting links | 1,000 personal and team meeting links | 1,000 personal and team meeting links |
Document Storage | Up to five per account | Up to 5,000 per account | Up to 5,000 per account | Up to 5,000 per account |
Simple Task Automation | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Payment Processing Integration With Stripe | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Goals and Quota Monitoring | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
E-signature | ✕ | ✕ | 10 signatures per user, per month | 30 signatures per user, per month |
Quotes Generation | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customizable Record Layout | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Sales Forecasting | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Predictive Lead Scoring | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
HubSpot CRM Key Features
- Built-in quote generation tools for project estimating
- Sales forecasting capabilities
- Document management features, including e-signatures
- Simple task workflow automation for recurring tasks in all paid plans
- Customizable system for data fields, reports, dashboards, and record layouts
Not sure if HubSpot is the best CRM for your business? Check out our comprehensive HubSpot CRM review to gain insights on its features, best-for scenarios, and what other users are saying about their experience with HubSpot.
Zoho CRM: Best Startup CRM for Social Media Marketing Tools
Zoho CRM
What We Like
- Extremely cost-friendly—free plan for up to three users and relatively low cost per user
- Sales forecasting tools included in the Standard plan
- Social media management tools
What's Missing
- No artificial intelligence (AI) tools on lower-priced plans
- Lacks a free plan for more than three users
- No quotes or invoices on free or Standard plan
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to three 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: 30 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 for a higher cost
Businesses just starting out often want to use social media to engage with potential customers or clientele. Zoho CRM offers integration with popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, enabling you to monitor conversations, generate leads, and share content.
The Zoho CRM add-on, Zoho Bigin, is a simple CRM created by Zoho for small and micro-sized businesses that has basic deal, contact, and product management features. Zoho also has a free option that allows startups to manage leads and collaborate through direct messaging and syncing team calendars. Once a startup wants features for social media management and sales forecasting, however, they will need to upgrade to the Standard plan.
Zoho CRM has a free plan option but it limits you to three users. If you need a free CRM that supports more than three users, we recommend HubSpot CRM, which allows an unlimited number of users on their free forever plan, or Agile CRM, which allows up to 10 users.
Zoho CRM Plan Summary
Free | Standard | Professional | Enterprise | Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lead and Contact Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Deal and Opportunity Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Team Collaboration Through Direct Messaging and Calendar Sync | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Email Templates | 10 | 100 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Sales Forecasting | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Social Media Lead Generation, Data Enrichment, and Interaction Tools | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Custom Products Catalog | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Quotes, Invoice, and Purchase Order Generation | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Conversational AI Features | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer Segmentation | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Zoho CRM Key Features
- Social media tools for monitoring and engaging with leads on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
- Zia AI feature for automatic chatbots, profile searching, insights, and sales predictions
- Native software options to integrate the CRM system with Zoho Calendar, Zoho Workspace, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Social
- Sales forecasting tools for sales estimates and reporting
- Team collaboration tools with direct chat features and calendar syncing
Zoho CRM has robust features and plenty of subscription plans to choose from. 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.
Agile CRM: Best CRM for Startups With Free Sales Tools
Agile CRM
What We Like
- Free option for up to 10 users
- Lead scoring and appointment scheduling are included in the free plan
- Unlimited deals, tasks, and document storage
What's Missing
- Can be challenging to use, especially for beginners
- Lacks a phone system on low-tiered plans
- Automation rules and triggers are limited on all plans except Enterprise
Agile CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to 10 users
- Starter: $9.99 per user, per month
- Regular: $39.99 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $64.99 per user, per month
*Pricing based on annual billing, monthly billing is available for a higher cost and bi-annual billing is available for a lower cost
Agile CRM stands out for the sales and marketing features it offers, especially since many sales features that you would expect to require a paid plan are available in their free plan. Examples of sales features offered in Agile CRM’s free version include a lead scoring tool, a built-in appointment scheduler, up to 1,000 contacts or company records, and custom deal milestones.
Once users need access to marketing automation tools and email integrations features, they will need to upgrade from the free version to the Starter plan. However, for the telephonic capabilities through a built-in, two-way phone or by integration, users will need to subscribe to the Regular plan.
Because it’s not particularly user-friendly, Agile CRM may be a poor fit for newer or non-tech-savvy users. For a CRM that offers an intuitive user experience with easy-to-operate tools and a clean interface (and also has a free-forever plan), check out HubSpot CRM as a viable solution.
Agile CRM Plan Summary
Free | Starter | Regular | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Unlimited Deals, Tasks, and Documents | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contacts and Company Records | Up to 1,000 | Up to 10,000 | Up to 50,000 | Unlimited |
Appointment Scheduling | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Email Tracking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Lead Scoring | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Email Campaigns | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Web-to-Lead Functionality | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Two-way Email Integration | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Marketing Automation | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Two-way Telephone | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Automated Voicemail | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Call Recording | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Agile CRM Key Features
- Built-in, two-way telephone or option for integrating with voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) providers and Twilio
- Lead scoring tools for contact and lead profiles
- Built-in appointment scheduling tools
- Mobile marketing functionality with simple message service (SMS) text campaigns
- Up to 5,000 branded emails can be designed and deployed
Is Agile CRM the best CRM for your business? Find out by reading our Agile CRM review to see if the features, pricing, and best-for scenarios align with your CRM needs. You’ll also get information on who Agile CRM is not suited for and how other users feel about the platform.
Pipedrive: Best CRM for Startups With Built-in Appointment Scheduling Tools
Pipedrive
What We Like
- AI sales assistant available on Essentials plan for insights and sales tips
- Highly customizable system with options to personalize data fields, pipelines, email templates, and email signatures
- Built-in meeting scheduling tool
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Lacks phone support for customer service on low-tiered plans
- No lead generation tools in CRM plans
Pipedrive Pricing at a Glance*
- Essentials: $12.50 per user, per month
- Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
- Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
Add-ons
- LeadBooster: Starts at $32.50 per month
- Website Visitors: Starts at $41 per month
*Pricing based on annual billing, monthly billing is also available for a higher cost
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM platform that enables users to customize and manage sales pipelines, leads, and deals. While it doesn’t offer a free version, these features are included in the lowest-tiered plan, as is the artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant. Upon the first upgrade to the Advanced plan, users can also begin scheduling meetings and automating workflows.
Starting with the Advanced plan, Pipedrive offers built-in tools for scheduling and managing appointments with sales contacts to help startups looking to make great first impressions. Teams can even integrate the scheduling features with video conferencing tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom to use as a sales communication channel.
Pipedrive also has optional add-ons including LeadBooster, which allows users to engage with and generate inbound leads via chatbot, live chat, and online web forms, and to find leads using a prospecting tool. The Website Visitors add-on allows users to see which organizations are browsing their website and which pages they viewed.
Startups that choose Pipedrive as their CRM provider have access to some cost-effective options but not to a free-forever plan. If you prefer to start off with a free plan before committing to a paid one, we recommend checking out HubSpot CRM or Agile CRM.
Pipedrive Plan Summary
Essentials | Advanced | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Deal and Lead Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customizable Pipelines | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Products Catalog | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
AI Sales Assistant | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Workflow Automation | ✕ | 30 | 60 | 100 |
Meeting Scheduler | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Video Conferencing Scheduler | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Smart Docs for Fending Invoices, Proposals, and Quotes | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
E-signatures | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer Service Phone Support | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Pipedrive Key Features
- AI sales assistant for insights and sales tips to increase performance
- Document management features for sending proposals, contracts, and invoices as well as obtaining e-signatures
- Customizable products catalog
- Built-in meeting scheduler with video conferencing option
- Solid lead and deal management features for customizing and monitoring sales pipelines
See if Pipedrive is the best fit for your business by checking out our Pipedrive CRM review. In this article, you will learn the ins and outs of the features Pipedrive can offer your business, in addition to the usability and integration capabilities of the platform.
Streak: Best for Google Workspace Integration Capabilities
Streak
What We Like
- Integration with Google Workspace apps
- Pipeline processes can be managed for non-sales activities like operational procedures or hiring processes
- Deal management directly from Gmail inbox
What's Missing
- Lacks reporting features on low-priced plans
- Higher-level plans get expensive
- No phone customer support
Streak Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: One user
- Solo: $15 per user, per month for up to one user
- Pro: $49 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $129 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing based on annual billing, monthly billing is also available for a higher cost
Streak is the CRM for startups looking for a solution that integrates with Gmail and other Google Workspace products like Calendar, Drive, Sheets, and Chat. Deal pipelines, projects, and tasks can be monitored through Gmail and teams can collaborate on sales activities by sharing pipelines with one another.
The free plan allows you to customize your pipelines, integrate with the Google applications, and send a limited number of emails per day. Upgrades add capacity. For example, after upgrading to the Solo plan, users can send up to 800 mass emails per day. They also can add up to 5,000 data rows and have the ability to validate certain data by setting rules of when certain fields need to be updated.
Contrary to most CRM systems that include basic reporting features on their free and low-tier plans, Streak only begins allowing reports to be generated on its Pro plan. For low-cost CRM options that include report generation, we recommend Zoho CRM, which offers basic reporting on its free plan and custom and scheduled reporting on its Standard plan.
Streak Plan Summary
Free | Solo | Pro | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pipeline Customization for Business Processes, Sales, Deal Flow, and Hiring | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Google Workspace Integrations | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Data Row Limits | 500 | 5000 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Automation and Mass Emails | 50 per day | 800 per day | 1,500 per day | 1,500 per day |
Shared Pipelines | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contact Enrichment | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Reports Generation | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Data Validation | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Streak Key Features
- Deal management from within Gmail
- Contact enrichment tools from data acquired on Google applications and online
- Pipelines for managing sales, operational, hiring, and project processes
- Pipeline linking to easily navigate between related items of a pipeline
- Auto-boxing feature that automatically categorizes emails and adjusts pipeline
Streak is also a great CRM option for solopreneurs looking for a personal CRM system. Our Streak CRM review dives into why this is true and other best-use scenarios while also evaluating what other users feel about the platform.
Insightly: Best for Project Management Features
Insightly
What We Like
- Project management capabilities
- Built-in event management tools
- Mobile app with business card scanner, data sync, and voice notes
What's Missing
- Lacks quote generation and products catalog on low-tiered plans
- Higher-tier plans get expensive
- Customer service available only during business hours and only by phone or email
Insightly Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to two users
- Plus: $29 per user, per month
- Professional: $49 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 day
*Pricing based on annual billing, monthly billing is also available for a higher cost
When starting a new business, tons of projects come up for kick-starting marketing initiatives, implementing technology, or completing a cluster of activities before launching a product. Insightly allows you to manage projects like these through milestone and task tracking, and also provides the ability to convert opportunities into projects and sync them with your calendar.
On Insightly’s free plan, users get sales management features like contact and lead management as well as project management tools with task tracking and calendar syncing. With the first upgrade to the Insightly Plus plan, mass emailing, file sharing, and lead capture through web forms becomes available.
Unfortunately, features for generating quotes and customizing product catalogs are only available on Insightly’s Enterprise plan, which is not ideal for many small startup businesses with limited budgets. Pipedrive is an excellent alternative that allows users to manage a product catalog on their Essential plan and generate quotes from its Professional plan.
Insightly Plan Summary
Free | Plus | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Project Management Features with Milestones, Task Tracking, and Calendar Syncing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Contact and Lead Management with Kanban View | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Mass Emailing with Customizable Templates | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
File Attachment From Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Web-to-Lead Capture | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Auto-Profile Enrichment | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Workflow Automation | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Insightly Voice Phone Integration | ✕ | ✕ | $35 per user, per month | $35 per user, per month |
Price Books and Product Catalog | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Quote Generation | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Insightly Key Features
- Email template customization with bulk email deployment features
- Lead generation tools including a web form for lead capture
- Built-in project management features, dashboards, and views
- Contact organization with a comprehensive view of a record including history, prior communications, and links to other deals or opportunities
- Auto-profile enrichment using online data to ensure profiles are up to date
Insightly project management activity view (Source: Insightly)
Insightly dashboard (Source: Monday.com)
Insightly is one of the best CRMs for startups, small businesses, and businesses like real estate agencies based on our in-depth Insightly CRM review. Check it out to learn more about the features, subscription plans, and overall usability of the CRM system.
