6 Best Free CRM Software for 2019

Free CRM software helps businesses manage relationships with customers and prospects, but typically includes limits on users or available features compared to paid options. We examined more than a dozen programs offering free plans with no time restrictions to identify the top six CRM options for startups and small businesses and the overall best.

Top 6 Free CRM Software Options for 2019

How We Evaluated the Best CRM Software Options

CRM software enables businesses to better manage customer and prospect relationships by helping them organize sales initiatives and manage customer activities in one place. When considering the best CRM for startups and small businesses available for free, we looked for solutions that are easy to set up and to use, save time, have affordable upgrade options, and make it easier to build relationships.

Here’s the set of specific criteria we used to identify the top six free CRM options:

• Ease of use: We looked at free CRMs comparing how easy the features are to set up and maintain.
• Automation tools and productivity tools: Automation and productivity tools were included in our criteria, looking at the level of sales productivity that can be achieved with the free tools.
• Mobile access: We looked at how easy it is to access information from mobile devices, as many salespeople and business owners perform their jobs on the road.
• Lead and contact management features: We evaluated the robustness of lead and contact management features to ensure they allowed small business owners to organize their contacts and leads and make them easily accessible.
• Sales activity management and tracking: We looked at how each option helped sales professionals and business owners perform essential sales tasks like sending emails and tracking results.
• Metrics and reporting tools: We looked at the metrics and reporting capabilities that help small businesses track the effectiveness of their sales efforts.
• Affordability of upgrades and paid plans: We considered the price ranges of paid plans or upgrades to help ensure a smooth transition for when small businesses are ready for more sophisticated features or more users.
• Customer support: We also looked at the level of support you receive with both free and paid versions for now and when you’re ready to upgrade.

Based on this criteria, we have determined Freshsales to be the overall best free CRM for small business. It’s easy to use, offers the free version for an unlimited number of users, and has differentiated CRM features like built-in phone capabilities and lead scoring. It also has a great mobile app, making it a viable option for salespeople and teams that spend a lot of time in the field.

Freshsales: Best Overall Free CRM for Small Businesses

Freshsales’ free version of their powerful CRM includes a built-in phone, a great mobile app, and supports an unlimited users and contacts. What makes its free plan unique is its lead scoring capability and generous 24/5 level of support by phone and email. It is a good option for sales organizations with a telephone-based outreach strategy and lots of contacts or prospects that want a high level of customer support.

Freshsales Ease of Use

Freshsales customers find it easy to use, with few complaints of features that are notably difficult to use or learn. The features are intuitive and allow point, click, and drag-and-drop user interactions, making the tool a great option for teams that don’t spend a lot of time in front of a computer. Setup is simple and is made even easier with email and phone support.

Freshsales Core Features

Freshsales’ free CRM offers key features to keep your contacts and deals organized. Key features include a built-in phone, lead scoring, and unlimited users and contacts. It also includes a mobile app that earned Freshsales our number one spot for best mobile CRM. What makes Freshsales different from the other free platforms covered here is that it offers both email and phone support, 24 hours a day, five days a week.

Freshsales’ key features as they compare to other free programs are as follows:

Lead & Contact Management

The Sprout Plan, which is the name of the free CRM version, offers a way to organize leads and contact details with the ability to filter by segment or search for specific results. Unlike other free plans, Freshsales does not place a limit on the number of users or contact records you can add. It also includes lead management functionality like lead scoring, which helps sales professionals prioritize leads, and web-to-lead forms to capture leads from your website.

Sales & Marketing Activity Tracking

The free plan also offers sales activity features that include basic email and a built-in phone. Basic email allows sales professionals to blind copy (BCC) a Freshsales email address that links emails to customer and prospect records. The built-in phone allows salespeople to make calls without leaving the CRM. You can also buy national and local phone numbers and even assign them to teams. It also allows you to record calls and link them to contacts and customers.

Opportunity Management & Reporting

Unfortunately, the free version does not include reporting features like sales forecasting or the ability to create a lead score based on email or web activity. It also lacks territory management functionality and the more robust sales pipeline management found in its paid version. However, deal management features are available with the free plan, allowing you to create and track deals within the CRM.

Freshsales deal management

Freshsales Customer Support

Freshsales offers 24/5 email and phone support for both free and paid customers, while other providers, like HubSpot, offer less robust and more low-touch support for their free customers. The generous customer support is one of the things that sets Freshsales apart from other free CRMs, and small businesses that are new to CRM should see this as an added benefit.

Freshsales Mobile App

With Freshsales’ free plan, users have access to the mobile app, which allows you to make and log calls on the go. It also allows you to schedule follow-up activities and add them to your calendar. You can even locate nearby contacts and arrange a ride with Uber to their location.

What Freshsales Is Missing

Freshsales’ free plan does not include the more advanced lead scoring and reporting functionality found in its paid version, or the ability to integrate with Freshchat, the company’s chatbot functionality. It is missing project management tools to help you engage with new customers once deals are closed. If these features are important to your business, consider an alternative CRM such as Insightly.

What Users Think About Freshsales

Freshsales users love the software because they find it easy to use, get great support, and it includes basic email features and built-in phone integration. Any dislikes fall under the category of minor glitches or that the system can sometimes be slow. For more information on reviews, see our Freshsales CRM review page.

Where to Find Freshsales

Sales teams that depend on outbound calling and need call recording features should try Freshsales‘ free CRM. Its call recording features are great for remembering conversations and for evaluating calling techniques. Visit Freshsales today to try these tools yourself by signing up for free here.

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HubSpot: Best Free CRM for Integrated Sales & Chat

HubSpot offers a user-friendly, free CRM for sales teams with tools that include contact management, live chat, conversational bots, and social media lead ads while also supporting an unlimited number of users. HubSpot gives users the option to build on its core free features with paid versions of additional products focused on marketing, sales, and service. This makes it a good option if you want a free CRM with built-in conversational chatbots.

HubSpot Ease of Use

Users find HubSpot easy to use, with a user interface that looks and functions much like Gmail. There is also no technical setup, and the pipeline has drag-and-drop features that make updates simple. In addition, HubSpot offers several tutorials in their online knowledge base, called the HubSpot Academy, to help users make the most out of the product.

HubSpot Core Features

HubSpot free CRM core features include lead and contact management, a visual drag-and-drop pipeline, and marketing features designed to support acquiring leads and developing relationships such as conversational chatbots. For more information on chatbot software, read our article on the best free live chat software. Other specific features include call integration, lead scoring, a mobile app, and automatic contact enrichment.

HubSpot conversation management

Below are highlights of a few of HubSpot CRM’s key features:

Lead & Contact Management

The free CRM includes automatic contact enrichment. HubSpot has a database of over 20 million businesses and uses this information to enrich or add contact information automatically to users’ contacts. This saves time from manual research and data entry. Like Freshsales, it also offers lead scoring, which allows salespeople to focus on the most important leads. These features are similar to other providers, but HubSpot uses its own data to enrich contacts.

Sales & Marketing Activity Tracking

HubSpot’s free CRM includes key sales features, including phone integration, email functionality, and communication tools like live chat and bots. Phone integration allows you to connect a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) or a desk phone to the CRM to make and log calls. However, the phone is not as robust as Freshsales’ built-in phone, which offers the ability to purchase and assign numbers and receive inbound calls.

Opportunity Management & Reporting

HubSpot’s free CRM offers visual, drag-and-drop pipeline management and, unlike Freshsales, offers basic reporting and forecasting using standard reports shown on a single dashboard. However, HubSpot only allows users to add up to five documents per account, which requires users to store critical documents related to opportunities, such as quotes, in a separate location or pay for the sales hub upgrade.

HubSpot Customer Support

Phone and email support are reserved for members of the products, while support through the HubSpot community is available for free CRM customers. Compared to Freshsales, HubSpot customer support for the free CRM is not as comprehensive, either. For example, Freshsales offers phone and email support to its free CRM customers. If high-touch customer support is important for your business, Freshsales may be a better option.

HubSpot Mobile App

The HubSpot mobile app is feature-rich, offering access to contacts, reporting, and analytics. It also offers access to email tracking features, which can give valuable insights if you need to respond to contacts and prospects in the field.

What HubSpot Is Missing

HubSpot CRM is missing key phone functionality found in some of its competitors, like being able to receive and log inbound calls. If this is important to your call strategy, Freshsales may be a better option, or include an integration with a provider like Aircall to add this functionality. It is also missing direct customer support via phone or email and the ability to add landing pages unless you upgrade to one of its paid plans.

What Users Think About HubSpot

HubSpot users like the software and find it easy to use. Dislikes include changes to site navigation and a relatively expensive transition to paid plans or upgrades to access advanced features. For more information on reviews, see our HubSpot CRM article.

Agile CRM: Best Free CRM for All-in-One Customer Management

Agile CRM offers an all-in-one platform for managing customer relationships. Within that platform, you can manage sales, marketing, and help desk activities. It’s free for up to ten users and includes contact, deal, and task management. It also supports custom data fields, email integration, and lead scoring. This bundle of features makes it particularly well-suited for software or service companies looking to manage everything with one platform.

Agile CRM Ease of Use

Agile CRM is easy to use, and has a consumer-grade user interface. It also does not require time-consuming technical setup. It includes integrations with Google and other productivity tools commonly used by small businesses, which makes it easy to sync email communications and calendar functions.

Agile CRM Core Features

Core features in the free version include contact management, email tracking, reporting, web analytics, and social media features. Also included are marketing and sales automation and activity management. You get one plugin or integration with a business productivity tool, like accounting software QuickBooks, and the plan covers you for up to 1,000 contacts.

Agile’s features as they compare to the other products we considered are as follows:

Lead & Contact Management

Agile’s lead and contact management features include the ability to easily add and manage up to 50,000 contacts across ten users. With built-in lead scoring, gain a more comprehensive view of your contacts when you access their records with information like conversation history and social profile updates. These features are comparable to other providers featured.

Sales & Marketing Activity Tracking

Agile’s free version supports two-way email integration, allowing users to send emails and automatically log both inbound responses and entire conversations within Agile. It also includes the ability to track email opens and clicks, further setting Agile apart from other providers, such as Insightly, which only offer similar features with paid plans.

Opportunity Management & Reporting

Agile’s free plan offers customization of deal stages and milestones, allowing you to monitor the progress of opportunities following your unique sales process until they close. The plan makes it easy to move your deals along with a drag-and-drop, Kanban-style pipeline. It also offers sales automation features that allow you to schedule and automate tasks that keep deals moving forward. Finally, an unlimited number of deals is also included with the free plan.

Agile CRM analytics

Agile CRM Customer Support

Agile provides direct customer support through email 24 hours a day, five days a week. Customer support is more direct than that provided by HubSpot, and is comparable to the support offered by Insightly. If you’re looking for more hands-on customer support, Freshsales may be a good option or Apptivo, which offers comparable email support and 24/7 live chat.

Agile CRM Mobile App

The mobile app offers a variety of contact management functions, including updating lead scores, adding deal and contact notes, and updating associated tasks. You can also easily schedule appointments on the go with Google two-way calendar sync.

What Agile CRM Is Missing

While Agile’s free CRM does include phone features that are helpful for sales teams managing a high volume of outbound efforts, it lacks the ability to create and store email templates. It also lacks the ability to capture web forms as leads. Small businesses that are looking to manage higher inbound traffic may see these as deficits and find that another CRM tool offers a better fit.

What Users Think About Agile CRM

Agile CRM users like that it’s easy to use and also like the number of integrations available. The negative reviews for this product were around glitches or features users felt could have been built out more. Some users have also expressed desires for email campaign management and advanced reporting. To read more from existing customers, see our Agile CRM reviews article.

Really Simple Systems: Best Free CRM for Forecasting

Really Simple Systems is a cloud-hosted CRM with the tools growing teams need to manage sales opportunities. Its free plan includes pipeline and task management, a products catalog, forecast reports, and free data storage. Of the featured CRMs, it is the only one that lets teams mark deals with a percentage probability without upgrading to a paid tier, making it the best for those who want to create weighted sales forecasts.

Really Simple Systems Ease of Use

Users report that Really Simple Systems is easy to use. They also share that it is not difficult to begin using and that integrations with Google Contacts, Outlook 365, and other productivity tools make the overall experience more enjoyable.

Really Simple Systems Core Features

Like the name suggests, Really Simple Systems covers the basics with contact, task, and pipeline management. However, its free plan also comes with a few distinguishing features, like forecasting, that set it apart from all of the other featured tools.

Below are a few key highlights of Really Simple Systems’ core features:

Contact Management

In addition to creating and updating contact records, users can associate them with activities, adding to a rolling activity history. The tool also includes a search feature that interprets natural language, making it easier for users to locate the right contacts quickly.

Task Management

Users can schedule future tasks with automated reminders, helping reps to remain proactively involved in deals. Additionally, integration with Outlook 365 and Google Calendar ensure that notifications are synced with individual calendars and do not go unmissed by assigned users.

Pipeline Management & Reporting

Really Simple Systems enables pipeline management with deal stages that reflect progression from identification to close. Built-in, percentage-based forecasting also allows teams to anticipate customer needs and to properly allocate resources.

Really Simple Systems Sales forecast summary

Really Simple Systems Customer Support

Free plan users of Really Simple Systems have access to chat and email support. Users also have full access to an online customer portal with how-to videos on various components of the platform and live webinars.

Really Simple Systems Mobile App

Really Simple Systems anticipates the release of mobile apps for Android and iOS in late 2019. Per the website, the platform is currently viewable from any browser on any device.

What Really Simple Systems Is Missing

The free plan from Really Simple Systems does not support email integration, nor does it enable lead and marketing campaign management. That said, the tool is better for teams looking to manage existing sales opportunities than for businesses looking to nurture new relationships.

What Users Think About Really Simple Systems

Our readers rate Really Simple Systems favorably, giving it an average of just over 4.5 stars out of 5. Users appreciate the layout and agree that it is user-intuitive. However, some say that additional resources would be helpful when getting started. Read more on our Really Simple Systems user review page.

Insightly: Best Free CRM for Project Management

Insightly CRM’s free version features contact, lead, and project management along with helpful features such as the ability to add voice memos and custom CRM fields, email templates, and web-to-lead forms. It can also help teams of one or two organize vendors as well as customer contacts. It is, therefore, best for businesses that want to build long-term relationships with their leads while managing projects.

Insightly Ease of Use

Insightly works within your browser window or can be used as an add-on in Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, making it easy to save contacts or create leads at the touch of a button. Users of Insightly find the user interface easy to use and like how it gives them the ability to link contacts to projects as well as to opportunities.

Insightly Core Features

Insightly’s free plan offers the same core set of tasks, leads, and relationships found in several other free CRMs, as well as project management functionality, which is a more unique feature. However, access to the plan is limited to two users, and there are a lot of restrictions, such as a limited number of records that can be imported and the size of data storage.

Insightly’s core features as they compare to other free CRM software are as follows:

Lead & Contact Management

Insightly gives users the ability to add contacts to the CRM with its Gmail plugin. Once in the system, Insightly then lets users link contacts to leads and displays an activity feed that shows recent interactions. Users can also create custom fields that can make it even easier to create segmented lists of leads and contacts. While neither of these features are unique to Insightly, they are uncommon compared to many free CRM plans, including Freshsales.

Sales & Marketing Activity Tracking

Insightly’s free plan includes the ability to send bulk emails as well as view the sales pipeline at a glance, which are features not offered in many other free CRM plans. Insightly also includes task management, which can help solopreneurs or teams of two stay on top of critical follow-ups related to leads and projects.

Opportunity Management & Reporting

Insightly gives users the ability to convert leads to opportunities and continue to track tasks long after a deal has been closed using its project management capability. However, the free plan does not include the more robust reporting and dashboard functionality found in its paid plans. It also does not include the ability to add lead assignments or sync tasks with a personal calendar.

Insightly dashboard

Insightly Customer Support

Insightly offers support to customers with its free product through their help center. More direct support via email is only offered to customers on the paid plan. This puts Insightly at a disadvantage to Freshsales, which offers direct phone and email support, providing their users with answers to their questions more quickly.

Insightly Mobile App

The Insightly mobile app gives you access to task lists on the go and keeps you up to date on items that are coming up or are overdue. You’re also able to add voice memos to deals or leads, reminding you or other team members to take action. Additionally, you can receive push notifications of important deal or contact information. The mobile app also allows you to create projects while you’re in the field, which is a unique feature.

What Insightly Is Missing

Insightly is missing free phone and email support. Also missing is the call integration, like what is offered by Freshsales, where calls can be made, received, and tracked right in the software. Additionally, its free version lacks the ability to scan business cards using the mobile app, which is a feature offered as part of its paid plan upgrades.

What Users Think About Insightly

Insightly users love the project management features. They like the fact that they can stay involved with customers even after a deal is closed, and love how it helps organize contacts and track opportunities. However, they think Insightly can improve both the onboarding and general user experience. For more from existing users, see our Insightly review page.

Apptivo: Best Free CRM for Invoicing & Order Management

Apptivo’s free CRM can empower up to three users with basic sales features, as well as tools for handling invoicing, purchase orders, work orders, and help desk tasks. Additionally, it offers the ability to store a product catalog and to issue quotes. All of this makes Apptivo a great option for startups and solopreneurs who do not want to use separate accounting software to manage orders.

Apptivo Ease of Use

Users find Apptivo easy to use and report that it doesn’t take a lot of technical skills to get started. The interface is user-friendly, requiring point-and-click or drag-and-drop interactions, which makes it easy to navigate.

Apptivo Core Features

The starter plan is free for up to three users. It includes basic features such as lead and contact management, opportunity management, invoicing and purchase order management, standard reporting, and activity management. However, in order to use any of its features on the mobile app, you’ll need to sign up for one of the paid plans.

The core features of Apptivo’s free plan include the following:

Lead & Contact Management

The free version gives you access to basic lead and contact management features that allow you to add and update contacts. More advanced features, like web-to-lead capture, are only included in the paid plans.

Apptivo lead management

Sales & Marketing Activity Tracking

The free plan strictly focuses on basic contact and lead management and does not offer any sales and marketing features. The paid plans offer marketing and sales features that include bulk emails, marketing automation, and email templates. Compared to the other providers featured, Agile CRM’s free plan focuses on customer, lead, and opportunity management instead of lead acquisition and customer engagement.

Opportunity Management & Reporting

Apptivo offers basic opportunity or deal management features that allow you to do things like update deal status and add tasks and notes, similar to what is offered by many other free CRM plans. You can also create deals easily with just a few clicks. However, Apptivo also allows you to manage the products associated with those deals from within the user interface, and process invoices and purchase orders.

Apptivo Customer Support

Apptivo has great customer support, offering email support eight hours per day and five days a week, which is similar to Freshsales’ support model. In addition to 24/7 live chat support, they also offer videos, webinars, and a knowledge base with answers to commonly asked questions.

Apptivo Mobile App

While Apptivo does offer mobile apps, access is exclusive to users of the paid version. This puts it at a disadvantage compared to other options like Freshsales and HubSpot, with free versions that fully support mobile compatibility.

What Apptivo Is Missing

Apptivo is missing the ability to filter data or add custom fields as part of its free plan. Its free plan is also unavailable for optimized usage on devices running Android, iOS, MacOS, and Windows operating systems. For this reason, small sales teams that need to be able to access their CRM from the road may be better off either upgrading to a paid plan or considering the alternatives in this guide.

What Users Think About Apptivo

Overall, users really like Apptivo. Most of the dislikes were due to minor systems errors, like time lags and occasional bugs. To learn more about what other people are saying about Apptivo and how they have been able to implement it as a part of their business strategy, check out our Apptivo review article here.

Alternative to the Best Free CRM: Open Source

Open source CRMs are also a good option for budget-conscious businesses looking for customer relationship management software. Some of these tools require additional monthly service fees for customer support. Some are better for users with advanced technical skills, but they are free to download and offer the same benefits as traditional CRMs. For teams looking for a free, cloud-hosted open source CRM with compatible mobile apps, we recommend vTiger.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a CRM?

A CRM is a tool that helps you manage customer and prospect data in one place. CRMs make it easy for sales, service, and other teams to access key information to close deals or resolve service issues. It can be cloud-based or hosted locally.

What is your definition of a free CRM?

We defined free as a functional customer relationship management (CRM) software that you can use in your business without any associated costs. Free trials were not included.

Is there free CRM software for specific industries like real estate?

Yes, there are free CRMs for real estate. However, while most industry-specific CRMs offer some form of free trials, only larger industries or niches like real estate offer free CRM options for the most part. That said, many of the best general-purpose CRMs can be customized for industry-specific needs.

What are some examples of the features included with paid plans?

Paid CRM plans typically include features like customized dashboards, advanced user permissions, advanced reporting, and territory management, all of which can help businesses better analyze how well activities are impacting individual and team performance. Some paid plans include features that support channel partner engagement, like deal registration, or premium resources like a dedicated customer service representative.

Are there paid CRMs we should consider?

Researching and committing to the implementation of a CRM is a serious undertaking, especially for small businesses. There are many considerations, such as price, customization, ease of use, integrations, and customer service. That is why we evaluated dozens of tools and compiled a list of the ten best CRM options for small businesses.

Bottom Line – Free CRM Software

The best free CRM is easy to use, comes with few restrictions, and is robust enough to help you achieve predefined goals. Whether you’re looking for a free CRM with marketing, sales, and service features, or one that is relatively simple that will keep you organized, one of the six providers featured is bound to meet your needs.

Freshsales offers a very generous free CRM that provides access to unlimited users and contacts, and offers phone and email support. What makes it even better is that it is feature-rich, with a built-in phone and lead scoring. Give Freshsales a try by signing up for free today.

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