Customer database software helps businesses organize customer data and manage interactions. There are standalone database solutions, but it can also be incorporated as a feature of customer relationship management (CRM) software. This secondary option also lets you access customers’ sales and marketing data from a single place. We’ve compared several options to narrow it down to the six best customer database software, including the best overall.
The top customer database software solutions and their best use cases include:
- Freshworks CRM: Best overall customer database software for sales teams
- HubSpot: Great fit for growing teams looking for a free customer database solution
- Zendesk: Excellent option for companies looking for a customer database software with support suite options
- Airtable: Recommended for creative agencies or project-based firms that need to organize data into customizable spreadsheets
- monday.com: Ideal for teams that want multiple ways to visualize data, including Kanban, charts, and calendar views
- Shopify POS: Built for entrepreneurs and store owners wanting a database with built-in ecommerce tools
How We Evaluated the Best Customer Database Software
Excellent customer database software must be able to streamline data recording, storage, search, access, as well as import and export data. The best solutions include additional features like behavior analysis, lead and pipeline management, email marketing, and reporting.
We found that Freshworks CRM is the best overall choice for businesses looking for a customer database software because it offers the best value considering the combination of its pricing, data storage and management features, and reliable customer service. It also comes with excellent data storage, file storage, data import and export, and data migration capabilities.
We selected the best customer database software by considering the following factors:
- Pricing: The costs per user and any upfront costs like software customizations, onboarding, and maintenance fees were considered. We also factored in the availability of a free plan and monthly billing option to determine the best value for your money.
- General features: We evaluated the overall set of features, including access to real-time data, workflow automation, customization options, reporting, analytics, mobile app, and third-party integrations. The quality of its contact and account management capabilities were among our main deciding factors.
- Ease of use: The best customer database software should not require technical skills to understand and use, and it should also have an intuitive interface. Each solution in this list was evaluated on how easy it is to set up and operate.
- Help and support: Business owners looking for customer database solutions prefer those that come with 24/7 customer service via phone, live chat, and email. We assessed each provider in this article to see the quality of help and support they offer to their users.
- User feedback: We checked customer reviews on reputable sites to evaluate how satisfied their customers are. We also noted common issues that the users had. Apart from online reviews, we weighed the core CRM features that stood out, their value for money, and their popularity to narrow down the best contact management software.
Freshworks CRM: Best Overall Customer Database Software
Freshworks CRM
What We Like
- Easy import and export of data
- Multichannel communication via phone, email, and chat
- Automatic profile enrichment
What's Missing
- Does not support unlimited contacts
- Has limited third-party integrations
- Offers limited dashboard customization options
Freshworks CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Growth: Starts at $19 per user, per month
- Customer-for-Life Cloud: Ranges from $35 to $149 per user, per month
- Sales Cloud: Ranges from $35 to $119 per user, per month
- Marketing Cloud: Ranges from $25 to $119 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Freshworks CRM streamlines your customer data management needs by organizing all your customer information and interactions in a single access point. Its event tracking feature keeps you informed about your customers’ activities to help you decide on your next step and ensure that no deal falls through the cracks. This platform also allows you to collaborate with your teams on tasks using its appointment scheduling, calendar sync, and notes.
Some of Freshworks CRM’s weak points are its limited email integration options and cap on per-user file storage. It does not offer a free tier, unlike HubSpot CRM, Airtable, and monday.com. Still, Freshworks CRM is the best overall customer database software on this list because of its affordability, scalability, ease of use, excellent support, and data management features. It also offers rich built-in phone features like call masking, recording, voicemail, and conferencing.
Freshworks CRM Features
Freshworks CRM contact list (Source: Freshworks CRM)
- Has a user-friendly interface
- Contact and account management features include customizable lifecycle stages, marketing lists, basic segmentation, and auto-profile enrichment
- Customized workflows, fields, and product catalog
- Email marketing campaign and tracking tools
- Create desktop and mobile responsive landing pages with a drag-and-drop builder
- Sales pipeline management and sales forecasting capabilities
- Built-in phone has inbound caller ID, call masking, call recording, conference calling, holiday routing, and voicemail features
- Freddy, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant, provides insights, predictive contact scoring, and sales forecasts
- Engage with website visitors in real time using embedded chat widget
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- 24/5 customer support via phone, chat, and email, plus a dedicated account manager for Enterprise users
Read our Freshworks CRM review to discover how this software can benefit your growing business.
HubSpot: Best Free Customer Database Software
HubSpot
What We Like
- Free plan supports 1 million contacts and companies
- Has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface
- Includes lead generation tools, such as smart forms and chat
What's Missing
- Limited support options with the free tier
- Plan upgrades can add up quickly
- No advanced project management and operational CRM features
HubSpot Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Supports an unlimited number of users
- HubSpot for Startups: Ranges from $40 to $89 per month
- Marketing Hub: Starts at $45 per month
- Sales Hub: Starts at $45 per month
- Service Hub: Starts at $45 per month
- CMS Hub: Ranges from $270 to $900 per month
- Operations Hub: Free or starts at $45 per month
- CRM Suite: Starts at $68 per month
- Free trial for CMS and Operations Hub: 14 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM that offers modules for sales, marketing, customer service, content management, and operations for an unlimited number of users. It is an excellent choice for teams looking for a cost-free customer database solution because it has a free CRM that comes with robust contact management, website activity tracking, deal management, and task management capabilities.
While HubSpot offers a free plan, its main drawback lies in its costly pricing model. Plan upgrades like adding sales automation and multiple deal pipelines could get even more expensive. Freshworks CRM offers more features in one plan for a lower price. Nevertheless, HubSpot’s freemium plan propels it to the top spot among free customer database solutions.
HubSpot Features
HubSpot Contacts tab (Source: HubSpot)
- Easy to set up and operate
- Contact management, website activity tracking, deal management, tasks, and meeting scheduling
- Deal pipelines, simple automation, custom properties, and quotes
- Landing pages, live chat, conversational bots, forms, contact website activity, list segmentation, and email marketing
- Marketing features include optimized content, social media tools, A/B testing, website traffic analytics, and campaign reporting
- Bulk email sending, email tracking, and templates
- Track and improve customer experience using ticketing, canned responses, surveys, and insights
- Help center includes community support, a knowledge base, and video training; paid tiers offer email, chat, and phone support
Check out our HubSpot review to know more or to find out if it is the right fit for your business.
Zendesk: Best Client Database Software for Customer Service
Zendesk
What We Like
- Includes a built-in dialer
- Robust reporting and analytics features
- Omnichannel support suite options
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Lead generation tools cost extra
- Steep learning curve
Zendesk Pricing at a Glance*
- Sell Team: $19 per user, per month
- Sell Professional: $49 per user, per month
- Sell Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Sell Elite: $199 per user, per month
- Suite (Zendesk for service): Ranges from $49 to $215 per agent, per month
- Reach (lead generation add-on): Ranges from $27 to $81 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Zendesk offers two types of products for businesses of all sizes: Zendesk Sell for sales and Zendesk Suite for service. Its full-service CRM includes lead management, productivity, sales automation, and deal management tools. It provides a ticketing system that integrates with all your communication channels, making it perfect for companies looking for a customer database software with support suite options.
One of Zendesk’s major setbacks is its steep learning curve, making it inferior to Freshworks CRM in terms of ease of use. Its pricing scheme is also complicated and could get quite pricey for those who want to add more capabilities like lead generation or customer support. However, its comprehensive Suite plans make it ideal for companies wanting a customer database solution with customer support options.
Zendesk Features
Zendesk Sell lead management tab (Source: Zendesk Sell)
- User interface is suited for intermediate-level users
- Account management features include document storage, data imports, duplicate entry detection, and automated lead distribution
- Sales tracking functionalities include customizable sales pipelines, custom data fields and filters, lead and deal scoring, and product and price books
- Task automation, appointment setting, and calendar integration
- Email tracking, bulk email, and unlimited email templates
- Built-in dialer, call tracking and recording, and text messaging
- Customizable sales dashboards, sales forecasting, activity reports, goal tracking, performance dashboard, and advanced sales insights
- Service tools include email, live chat, social integration, voice and text messages, help center, AI-powered chatbots, community forums, and automated workflows
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Customer support via Help Center, Community, and live chat within the account portal
Find out more about what this platform can do for your business by reading our Zendesk Sell review.
Airtable: Best Customer Database for Organizing Data by Spreadsheet
Airtable
What We Like
- Extensive data tracking system
- Visual interface makes it easy to use and implement
- Adjustable data views and 3D modeler
What's Missing
- Limited collaboration and integration capabilities
- Has a costly pricing model, especially for larger teams
- Lacks advanced reporting features and customizable automations
Airtable Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Includes unlimited bases
- Plus: $10 per seat, per month
- Pro: $20 per seat, per month
- Enterprise: Contact sales support for pricing
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Airtable is a collaboration and project management software with a spreadsheet-based user interface that helps users define relationships between sets of data. Its centralized database serves as a unified location for your team’s records, projects, and ideas. You can transform your spreadsheet data into a Kanban board or a calendar. It also has an extensive tracking system that lets you follow all the edits done to your records.
Airtable lacks the customizable automation feature that monday.com has. The software could also be more costly on a per-user basis. Its greatest strength is its Blocks function, which offers powerful collaboration tools that you can use to design web pages, invoices, organization charts, documents, and even 3D representations.
Airtable Features
Airtable customized fields (Source: Airtable)
- Visually appealing interface makes it easy to use and implement
- Rich field types include attachments, checkboxes, and drop-downs
- Grid, calendar, form, Kanban, and gallery views
- Native apps include tools for chart visualization, pivot table, CSV (comma-separated values) file import, page designer, time tracker, SMS and email sending, and org chart
- Customized formatting, calendar, and forms
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Email support, self-serve knowledge base, priority support response, dedicated success manager, and individualized onboarding and training
monday.com: Best Customer Database With Multiple Data Views
monday.com
What We Like
- Offers free plan for up to 2 seats and unlimited seats for paid plans
- Customizable automations
- Excellent support options and in-app walk-throughs for on-screen tasks
What's Missing
- Limited third-party integrations
- No 3D model option
- Does not include social media scheduling
monday.com Pricing at a Glance*
- Individual: Free for up to 2 seats
- Basic: $8 per seat, per month
- Standard: $10 per seat, per month
- Pro: $16 per seat, per month
- Enterprise: Contact sales support for pricing
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
monday.com is a highly customizable collaboration and internal project management tool that allows team members to work on tasks and projects together even when working remotely. It organizes data and displays them using Gantt charts, calendars, Kanban views, maps, and calendars. This software is recommended for teams—like those in the service, retail, IT, and small manufacturing industries—that want to visualize data.
In contrast to Airtable, monday.com does not have a 3D model option and only offers board views of organized data. It also has simpler project management tools and fewer third-party app integrations. However, it gains an edge with its customizable task automations, 24/7 customer support, and in-app walk-throughs.
Monday.com Features
Gantt view of tasks on Monday.com (Source: monday.com)
- Intuitive user interface, simple setup, and easy navigation
- Unlimited number of seats and data rows for paid plans
- Essential features include file storage, activity log, unlimited data boards, and more than 200 templates
- Collaboration tools include embedded documents, collaborative whiteboard, updates section, Zoom integration, and guest access
- Productivity tools include shareable forms, automations, time tracking, and formula column
- Kanban, timeline, calendar, map, and chart views of tasks and projects
- Enterprise plan features work performance insights, dashboard email notifications, and pivot analysis and reports
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Self-serve knowledge base, daily live webinars, and dedicated customer success manager (Enterprise plan)
- 24/7 customer support via email and phone
Shopify POS: Best Customer Database for Ecommerce & Retail
Shopify POS
What We Like
- Offers 24/7 customer support
- Smooth data import and export
- Bulk customer profile editing
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Limited inventory features in lower tier
- Customizations require HTML knowledge
Shopify POS Pricing at a Glance*
- Lite: Included in all Shopify plans (for on-the-go sales)
- Pro: $89 per month, per location (for brick-and-mortar sales) or free with Shopify Plus
Regular Shopify Plans*
- Basic Shopify: $29 per month
- Shopify: $79 per month
- Advanced Shopify: $299 per month
- Shopify Plus: Starts at $2,000 per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on monthly billing. Annual and biennial rates are also available at 10% and 20% discount, respectively.
Shopify POS is a point-of-sale (POS) system that allows Shopify ecommerce subscribers to manage sales, monitor inventory, track payments, and improve customer loyalty. Unlike similar POS systems like Square, you cannot use Shopify POS for free. Its customer management tools, unlimited file storage, and reporting capabilities make it an excellent customer database tool for entrepreneurs and store owners.
Shopify POS Features
Shopify’s customer management tab allows you to save and edit customer details (Source: Shopify)
- Easy-to-use interface and quick account setup
- Omnichannel selling features include automatic discounts, email carts, and product recommendations
- Payment and checkout
- Staff management features include roles and permissions, sales attribution, manager approvals, and QR code login
- Product and inventory management
- Customer profiling includes orders, shipping details, marketing preferences, and loyalty rewards
- Email marketing, product reviews, social media integration, and Google Ad credits
- Customer support via help center, discussion forums, video tutorials, webinars, and access to Shopify-approved ecommerce designer, developer, or marketer
- Dedicated support team is available 24/7 via email, live chat, and phone
Go to our Shopify POS review page for more details on its features and to see if it is a good fit for your business.
