Best CRM for Outlook: 7 Top Integration Platforms in 2023
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
Microsoft Outlook is productivity software that comes with email communications, contact management tools, and a digital calendar to schedule and track events. Customer relationship management (CRM) software products that integrate with Outlook let users send emails from either system while keeping email, contact, and calendar data in sync with one another.
Based on our expert evaluation of dozens of CRM platforms’ pricing, features, and user experience, the seven best CRMs for Outlook users include:
- Best CRM for Outlook with free email tools: HubSpot CRM Suite
- Excellent option for syncing sales meeting data: Pipedrive
- Ideal platform for managing CRM records in Outlook: Zoho CRM
- Best Outlook plugin for all business functions: Apptivo
- Simplest Outlook CRM: monday Sales CRM
- Great specialty CRM with Outlook integrations: eWay CRM
- Best CRM for Microsoft 365 integrations: Microsoft Dynamics 365
Best CRM for Outlook Integration Compared
Provider | Starting Monthly Price per User* | Free Plan? | Our CRM Rating Out of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $30 (up to two users) | ✓ | 4.80 |
 | $14.90 | ✕ | 4.79 |
 | $14 | ✓ | 4.66 |
 | $8 | ✕ | 4.48 |
 | $10 | ✕ | 4.35 |
 | $18 | ✓ | 4.35 |
 | $65 | ✕ | 4.28 |
*Based on annual billing on a per user, per month basis; monthly billing is also available for slightly higher rates.
HubSpot CRM: Best Free Outlook Integration With Email Tools
Overall Score:
4.80 / 5
Pros
- Offers free CRM Outlook integration that can be used in its Sales, Marketing, Service Hubs
- Users find the interface easy to navigate with a simple integration process for Outlook
- Ability to use HubSpot in Outlook for CRM data and template access, meeting scheduling, and email logging
Cons
- Paid plans get expensive as you upgrade to higher tiers
- Managing email sequences from either HubSpot or Outlook for automated outreach and follow-ups requires the Professional plan
- Free plan only lets you store and sync five email templates in HubSpot or Outlook
- You need a free Outlook CRM with broad features: HubSpot is the clear winner for best CRM Outlook integration thanks to its ease of use while connecting the products and freemium option. Starting on HubSpot’s free-forever plan, teams can use Outlook email from the CRM system for direct or mass marketing campaigns and data sync. They can also manage and sync email templates, meeting data, and contacts for free.
- You want to access CRM data in both systems: HubSpot offers a great CRM Outlook plugin that enables users to access CRM and Outlook data in either system. They can view emails sent from the CRM in Outlook and pull CRM data records in Outlook from a HubSpot window. There’s even the ability to pull or manage email templates, meetings, and automated sequences created in HubSpot from Outlook.
- You want a cost-scalable Outlook CRM: HubSpot, while it offers an excellent free plan with a full range of syncable data between the CRM and Outlook, isn’t ideal for fast-growing teams. The higher-tiered plans for the HubSpot CRM Suite spike up from $30 per month to $1,600 per month when you need additional features such as email sequences, A/B testing, record duplicate detection, and e-signatures on quotes.
- Alternative: Zoho CRM is the best alternative in terms of cost-scalability. It has plans starting for free and capping out at just $52 per user, monthly.
- You need more affordable email sequence tools: The one Outlook integration feature not included in HubSpot CRM’s free plan is email sequences. Creating an automated sequence of introduction, outreach, and follow-up deployments and accessing those sequences in Outlook or the CRM requires the Professional plan for $1,600 per month.
- Alternative: Apptivo offers email sequences on its Ultimate plan for $20 per user, monthly.
HubSpot CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-month breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
**Pricing uses the monthly CRM Suite costs for individuals and small teams. The provider also offers Enterprise-level products for larger teams for a higher cost. The CRM Suite includes sales, marketing, customer service, content management system (CMS), and operations software in one product. Individual modules can be purchased for lower prices.
Outlook-HubSpot email and meeting sync (Source: HubSpot)
Our Expert Opinion
HubSpot CRM Suite offers easy-to-use and broad Outlook functionality. We like that nearly all the Outlook-CRM capabilities are available for free. Users can send, track, and log Outlook emails in the CRM, schedule and sync events to the calendar, and import contact records to and from both systems. Additionally, the free plug-in offers expanded use cases like accessing email templates, canned snippets, and CRM records in Outlook from a HubSpot sidebar.
Pipedrive: Best for Syncing Sales Meeting Data With Outlook
Overall Score:
4.79 / 5
Pros
- Includes built-in project management
- Offers excellent meeting and video conference scheduling with calendar sync to Outlook
- Data sync to Outlook expands to deals and activity in addition to contacts, calendar events, and emails
Cons
- No free plan
- Does not offer a CRM Outlook plugin; users cannot access Pipedrive from the Outlook system
- Relatively expensive CRM Outlook integration; email sync not offered until Advanced plan
- You need robust calendar syncing: Pipedrive is the best Outlook CRM for monitoring sales activity and calendar tracking. The platform lets you schedule generic and video conference meetings, track the events on a calendar, and sync event data to an Outlook calendar so you can monitor sales meetings in both systems. Users can also add deal activity data, like calls or proposal details, in Pipedrive, which also syncs to Outlook.
- You want an Outlook CRM with project management: Compared to other CRMs compatible with Outlook, Pipedrive is unique in that you can manage both the sales process and activity after a closed deal. It now includes built-in project management to oversee service deliverables associated with a client. Business consultants, content creators, and trade contractors can especially benefit from these tools.
- You need a free Outlook CRM: Pipedrive does not offer a free-forever plan. Therefore, you cannot access Outlook services like email, calendar management, or contact sync for free. Additionally, the email sync to Outlook is relatively expensive—starting at $27.90 per user, monthly.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM Suite is the best alternative in terms of offering a free-forever plan with Outlook integrations.
- You want to access Pipedrive from Outlook: While Pipedrive comes with a Gmail plugin to access the CRM, manage deals, and edit CRM records from the Gmail interface, this does not extend to Outlook.
Pipedrive Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Pipedrive-Outlook syncable calendar (Source: Pipedrive)
Our Expert Opinion
Pipedrive is an excellent sales CRM for managing leads and closing deals. The built-in meeting scheduler pairs well with the robust calendar sync features available using the Outlook integration. Teams not only can monitor their upcoming client appointments in either Pipedrive or Outlook, but also synchronize sales activity and deal information to help stay up to date on opportunity details regardless of the primary system used.
Zoho CRM: Best for Managing CRM Records in Outlook
Overall Score:
4.66 / 5
Pros
- Free and affordable plans available
- Outlook add-in available on the free plan for accessing Zoho CRM, managing leads and deals, and adding notes in the Outlook interface
- Highly customizable CRM to meet any industry-specific need
Cons
- Poor product usability ratings for navigating the interface
- Using Outlook email features in Zoho isn’t available on Free plan
- Meeting scheduling with calendar sync to Outlook requires Standard plan
- You want to manage CRM data from Outlook: Zoho CRM has a unique Microsoft Outlook add-in feature available starting on the Free plan. This enables teams to access Zoho, create leads or contacts, add record notes, and store sales activity data all from Outlook. Users can also use the add-in to monitor CRM campaigns, convert leads, and associate leads, contacts, or deals with one another in Outlook.
- You need to customize your Outlook CRM for a specific need: Whether it be for a specific industry or a unique sales operation, Zoho is the most customizable Outlook CRM available. Teams can tailor data fields, automations, and pipelines all to meet their particular needs, such as if you were an insurance agency and needed specific lead fields to track policy types. Zoho also offers thousands of integration options outside of Outlook and customizable modules to create your own applications in your CRM.
- You need a free CRM to use Outlook email: While Zoho CRM has an excellent free-forever plan that offers the Outlook add-in tool, users cannot access Outlook email features in Zoho at no cost. This capability requires the Standard plan for $14 per user, per month.
- Alternative: For the best freemium CRM Outlook integration, we recommend HubSpot CRM Suite.
- You want a simpler CRM for Outlook: One notable downside of Zoho that’s apparent based on our evaluation and user reviews is product usability. There is a decent learning curve required before users get fully comfortable with the system navigation and tools.
- Alternative: We recommend monday Sales CRM as the most simple Outlook CRM. HubSpot CRM is another good alternative if you need an easy-to-use option that’s also free.
Zoho CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Zoho CRM comes with a 15-day free trial for the paid plans. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Zoho CRM managing a record in Outlook (Source: Zoho)
Our Expert Opinion
Zoho is a highly customizable CRM that provides cost-effective Outlook capabilities, some of which are available or free. The most notable is the Outlook add-in that gives users who spend most of their day in the Outlook interface an easy way to manage CRM data without actually being in the CRM. With the plugin, you can easily create CRM records, add notes, update deal statuses, and associate records with one another all from Outlook.
Apptivo: Best for Managing All Business Functions
Overall Score:
4.48 / 5
Pros
- Cost-friendly CRM for all plans
- All-in-one business management system that lets you handle all functions through premade modules and robust customization
- Solid low-cost Outlook plugin for accessing the CRM modules from Outlook
Cons
- No free plan
- Limited number of available third-party integrations
- Tricky system to operate; users find the interface outdated
- You need a multifunctional Outlook plugin: While mostly marketed as a CRM system, Apptivo is a full business management platform. It offers tailorable modules for sales, finance, customer support, marketing, supply chain, project management, ecommerce, human resources, and product management functions. With the plugin, users can access any of these modules and their data in Outlook for just $8 per user, monthly.
- You want to white label your Outlook CRM: Some businesses using Outlook may prefer a white label CRM option to rebrand the system as their own. Apptivo is the only product on this list with white labeling capabilities. Users can custom-tailor the brand palette, modules, and domain to either resell or have access to an organization’s specific system that can sync all email, calendar, task, and contact data to Outlook.
- You want a more modern, intuitive interface: While system customization isn’t necessarily a difficult process with Apptivo, many users find it tricky to navigate and tough to learn some of the tools as the interface is outdated compared to other providers.
- Alternative: monday Sales CRM is our pick for the best simple Outlook CRM for those prioritizing usability.
- You need a free CRM for Outlook integrations: Apptivo is a cost-friendly Outlook CRM that offers its plugin for just $8 per user, monthly. However, startups and wary users may want a free-forever plan to give them a risk-free experience with their CRM.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM Suite comes with some of the all-in-one capabilities of Apptivo, such as sales, marketing, and service functions, but with a robust freemium plan.
Apptivo Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 30-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Apptivo Outlook plugin (Source: Apptivo)
Our Expert Opinion
Apptivo has the best CRM software Outlook integration if you want to use the connection for all business use cases. Since it’s a cloud business management solution, users can tailor their modules to meet any data and process needs including sales, marketing, finance, service, projects, supply chain management, and many others. The Outlook plugin lets users view and pull data from any CRM module while in the Outlook system for complete functionality.
monday Sales CRM: Best Outlook CRM for Product Usability
Overall Score:
4.35 / 5
Pros
- Excellent user experience through a simple integration process with Outlook and familiar spreadsheet-style format
- Great automation features for incorporating sales workflows into Outlook
- All-around affordable paid plans
Cons
- No free plan and has some misleading pricing; paid plans require a minimum of three users
- Calendar sync with Outlook requires Microsoft 365 Business Premium license for an additional $22 per user, monthly
- Relatively expensive to store email templates and track email engagement
- You need a highly intuitive Outlook CRM: monday Sales CRM prides itself on product usability. The platform is a simple CRM system that leverages a spreadsheet-style format for data management, one-click tabs to quickly change data views, and drop-down options for creating workflow automations between the CRM and Outlook. All that said, monday Sales CRM is the easiest to learn and operate thanks to its intuitive design.
- You want to create Outlook automations in your CRM: The automation in monday Sales CRM is both easy to use and flexible. Users can create various workflows between the CRM and Outlook. For example, you can set it where if a lead status changes, then Outlook will automatically send an email to that contact. Another example is if an email is received in Outlook, then that event is added as an update in the CRM.
- You want more affordable calendar sync tools: One of the downsides of monday Sales CRM is for calendar data sync to Outlook. Users must also subscribe to the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan for an additional $22 per user, per month on top of the $14 per user, per month required for the CRM subscription.
- Alternative: Apptivo works with all the Outlook and Microsoft 365 subscriptions to synchronize event and task data between both system calendars.
- You need a free Outlook CRM: While a cost-friendly option for integrating with Outlook, monday Sales CRM no longer offers a free-forever plan for no-cost tools.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM has the best overall Outlook integration primarily because of its robust free-forever plan.
monday Sales CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a monthly per-user breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. There is a 14-day free trial for the paid plans. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
monday Sales CRM Outlook automation (Source: monday.com)
Our Expert Opinion
monday Sales CRM offers the best solution for those prioritizing user experience and product simplicity. We mostly like how easy it is to manage data records and create automated workflows between the CRM and Outlook. Whether it’s sending Outlook email follow-ups, updating a lead record, or creating a new contact from an Outlook email, monday Sales CRM gives anyone the power to boost connectivity between their sales and email systems.
eWay CRM: Best Specialty Outlook CRM
Overall Score:
4.35 / 5
Pros
- Free and cost-scalable plans available
- Specialty CRM built specifically for Outlook for syncing email, calendar, and contact data plus accessing Office 365 apps like Word and Excel
- Includes built-in CRM modules for company and contact management, project management, email marketing, and sales pipeline management
Cons
- Poor usability ratings
- Word and Excel add-ins for managing files from the CRM aren’t available until the Enterprise plan
- Relatively limited number of direct integrations outside of Microsoft tools
- You want a specialty-built Outlook CRM: eWay is unique in that it is designed specifically for Outlook users although it’s not built by Microsoft. Its tools and syncing capabilities are built for Microsoft-using teams to store, sync, and manage contacts, calendars, email, companies, projects, and pipeline information. There’s even CRM access from Outlook and direct add-ins to use Word and Excel while in the CRM.
- You need a cost-scalable CRM: While most industry-specific or specialty CRM systems tend to be more expensive than generic products, eWay sticks out as cost-friendly. It includes a free plan for unlimited users, one view per module, event sync to one Outlook calendar, and one active automation. Additionally, the paid plans aren’t too expensive—capping out at just $36 per user, per month for the Enterprise plan.
- You are steering away from Microsoft products: Some users may prefer using different productivity tools such as Google Workspace or are slowly migrating away from Microsoft products. If that’s the case with your business, you should look elsewhere, as eWay’s biggest value-add is the CRM integration with Microsoft tools.
- You need a CRM with better usability ratings: Although eWay CRM has excellent features like contact and company storage, project management, pipeline tracking, and email campaigns, users find the product very difficult to set up and navigate as the interface is clunky in certain modules.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM and monday Sales CRM are the best Outlook CRMs in terms of product usability.
eWay CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user, per month breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost as well as 3-year billing for a lower price. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
eWay company record with deal tracking (Source: eWay)
Our Expert Opinion
Those considered loyal adopters of Outlook can use eWay CRM as their ultimate solution for managing sales, client projects, and email campaigns. As a specialty-built product, eWay integrates with the Outlook applications to sync email, calendar, and contact data, plus it allows you to manage and save Word and Excel files in the platform. We also like how the CRM interface seamlessly works within Outlook to access CRM data from one system.
Microsoft Dynamics 365: Best for Complete Microsoft Integrations
Overall Score:
4.28 / 5
Pros
- Highly advanced CRM with intelligent tools for lead scoring, pipeline analysis, forecasting, uncovering customer sentiment, and finding relationships between leads
- Native Microsoft product that integrates with Outlook and other software like Exchange, Excel, Teams, OneDrive, OneNote, Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate
- Robust integration with LinkedIn Sales Navigator for accessing LinkedIn tools in the CRM and syncing lead, account, contact, and activity data
Cons
- Expensive overall with no free option
- Advanced features make it difficult to operate, especially for new CRM users
- Only includes sales features; marketing, service, and project management tools require separate Microsoft products for an additional cost
- You are a full Microsoft software user: Dynamics 365 Sales is Microsoft’s native CRM system. It not only offers excellent integration with Outlook for email, calendar, and contact data sync and plugin capabilities, but also other Microsoft products for embedded use of tools with the CRM and expanded synchronization. These include Exchange, Excel, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, OneNote, PowerBI, and Power Apps.
- You want highly advanced sales insights: As a sophisticated CRM system, Dynamics 365 has robust analytics tools that offer insights other CRMs on this list lack. For example, there’s predictive lead scoring, relationship analytics to find connections with leads, and detailed forecasting. There’s also pipeline analysis to see how efficient your sales process is, brand and competitor analysis, and customer sentiment intelligence.
- You need broader use cases outside of sales: Dynamics 365 Sales is one of many business software products offered by Microsoft. Their Dynamics 365 platform can also extend to customer service, marketing, and project management uses for separate purchases.
- Alternative: HubSpot CRM is a great option for those who need all-in-one sales, marketing, and service capabilities in one subscription. You can also look at Pipedrive as a combined sales and project management solution. Finally, Apptivo is tailorable and has modules to support all business management needs.
- You need a more affordable CRM solution: Dynamics 365 Sales, unfortunately, is an expensive CRM option that starts at $65 per user, per month and has no freemium plan.
Dynamics 365 Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Costs shown use the Sales-specific product. Dynamics 365 also comes with unique software modules for finance, marketing, supply chain, service, project management, and human resources for additional costs. Dynamics 365 comes with a 30-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
Dynamics 365 Sales plugin for Outlook (Source: Microsoft)
Our Expert Opinion
Dynamics 365 is the best Outlook CRM for teams fully committed to using Microsoft products and with the budget for advanced sales tools. Users can access the CRM as a plugin within Outlook to complete CRM functions like lead and deal management in Outlook while ensuring their data remains in sync between both systems. Additionally, sales managers can get value from the insights tools to better understand their brand, pipeline, customers, and competitors.
How We Evaluated the Best CRM for Outlook
To determine the best Outlook CRM system, we evaluated the specific features available once users connect the CRM to Outlook applications. For example, email access from the CRM, two-way calendar event data sync, and Outlook contact import to and from the CRM are vital capabilities. We also looked at other critical product attributes, including price and user experience ratings per product, ease of use, and customer support availability.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best Outlook CRMs:
25%
General Features
20%
Pricing
20%
Niche/Advanced Features
20%
Help & Support
15%
Expert Score
25% of Overall Score
Because most Outlook integration capabilities are standard across CRM products, we first looked at overall features crucial to any CRM system, regardless of its primary use case or industry. For instance, a mobile application lets you handle sales activity while on the go. We also looked at the availability of third-party integrations outside of Outlook, system customization, and the sophistication of the reporting and analytics tools.
20% of Overall Score
Pricing and affordability considered the subscription costs, billing flexibility, and the costs specifically for accessing the Outlook features. We wanted each provider to offer a free-forever plan and various scalable pricing options businesses could afford as they grow. We also looked at the number of available billing options, such as monthly or annual subscriptions, and the product value in terms of costs to use Outlook tools in the CRM or vice versa.
20% of Overall Score
Niche features were the specific capabilities associated with the Outlook CRM integration. For example, an Outlook plugin lets users access their CRM from the Outlook interface. We also looked at information sync capabilities to keep email, contact, and calendar data consistent throughout both platforms. Finally, we looked at the email features like sending, receiving, and tracking Outlook emails in the CRM and managing email templates in either system.
20% of Overall Score
Extensive support prevents poor user experiences and outcomes users may encounter while operating these Outlook CRMs. This was evaluated in terms of channel availability via phone, email, live chat, and self-service resources like a knowledge base or community forum. We also looked at hours of service operations and whether the provider offered 24/7 support access.
15% of Overall Score
Expert score considered what other users felt about each Outlook CRM based on online reviews. We wanted to see if they liked the features and found value in the platform for the money spent. Additionally, we evaluated what they said about each product in terms of ease of use while setting up the CRM, operating the tools, and navigating the interface.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Outlook is a business productivity tool that comes with contact storage, email, and calendar tools. That said, it can act as a CRM system for teams to track sales activity, engage leads and customers via email, and schedule sales appointments. While not classified as a CRM, Outlook can integrate with many popular CRMs like HubSpot and Zoho CRM, as well as its native Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales platform to get Outlook functions from your CRM.
Yes, Microsoft offers its Dynamic 365 Sales product, which lets you handle CRM functions such as lead management, deal tracking, quote generation, and campaign deployment. While robust, it’s not necessarily a great CRM for small businesses due to its cost and steep learning curve required to operate—and so we recommend a CRM that integrates with Outlook, like HubSpot or Pipedrive.
Bottom Line
A CRM for Outlook lets you access Outlook tools in the CRM while keeping email, contact, and calendar data synchronized between both systems to improve work centralization. Depending on your budget and feature preferences, various Outlook CRMs could better suit your business than others. For example, while HubSpot CRM is a great generic CRM with free integration, eWay CRM is best for those who want a specialty-built product meant for Outlook.
