7 Best Free CRM Software Tools for Small Business (March 2023)
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
Free customer relationship management (CRM) software offers users specific features, often basic ones for limited users, at no cost. Free CRMs are generally used to get users comfortable with the CRM features until they are ready to upgrade to a paid plan for more users, data storage capacity, and modular capabilities. We evaluated dozens of free CRM software to assess which ones offer the best value. The seven best options include:
- Best overall: HubSpot CRM
- Best built-in phone system: Freshsales
- Best for ecommerce: Bitrix24
- Best for lead qualification: Agile CRM
- Best for simple contact management: Really Simple Systems
- Best operations CRM: Zoho CRM
- Best mass marketing features: Mailchimp
Best Free CRM Software Compared
Provider | Starting Price of Paid Plans (Monthly)* | Max # Free Users | Our CRM Rating out of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $45 for two users | Unlimited | 4.80 |
 | $15 per user | Unlimited | 4.50 |
 | $49 for five users | Unlimited | 4.44 |
 | $14 per user | 10 | 4.40 |
 | $14 per user | 2 | 4.39 |
 | $14 per user | 3 | 4.38 |
 | $13 for three users | 1 | 4.34 |
*Based on annual billing. Monthly billing is also available for slightly higher rates.
**Free plan accommodates lead management, deal management, and/or pipeline management features.
***Free plan includes email, text, chat, or telephonic tools and/or allows users to design and execute marketing campaigns.
Pro tip: Once you remove free-plan availability from your required product attributes, the list of available CRM systems expands drastically with highly sophisticated sales management platforms. See which products made our list of the best CRMs for small business.
HubSpot CRM: Best Overall
Overall Score:
4.80 / 5
Pros
- Free plan allows unlimited users
- Highly intuitive CRM to set up, navigate, and operate, even for new users
- Offers no-cost tools for sales, marketing, service, and content management
Cons
- Built-in meeting scheduler, live chat widget, and direct email messages have HubSpot branding until upgraded to paid plan
- Free plan caps users at only five stored sales documents and email templates per account
- Plans get expensive when users are ready to upgrade
HubSpot CRM’s free plan is the best free CRM for small businesses. The platform is known for its clean, modern interface and intuitive CRM features—offering an excellent user experience while operating the system. Additionally, the free plan is available for unlimited users and applies to all of the product’s Hubs to let businesses manage sales, marketing, customer service, and content management in one platform. Finally, HubSpot’s no-cost solution includes unique features to any CRM, especially free plans, like contact tracking on your website and automated chatbots.
- Basic content management for developing and managing web forms, landing pages, marketing emails, and a blog
- Contact management, ability to track those visiting your website, and monitor up to one deal pipeline per account
- Mass email marketing capabilities with up to one automated action and five message templates
- Document storage with customizable quote generation capabilities
The main issue with the HubSpot CRM free option is that when business users are ready to expand features and data storage needs, all the paid plans are expensive. The first tier starts at $45 per month for two users, then jumps to $450 for the Professional plan. Zoho CRM and Freshsales are the best alternatives for cost-friendly, scalable plans.
HubSpot CRM Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-month breakdown; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 14-day free trial.
**CRM Suite includes sales, marketing, customer service, content management system (CMS), and operations software. Individual modules can be purchased for lower monthly costs.
HubSpot company prospects visiting web pages. (Source: HubSpot)
Learn more about this CRM solution in our in-depth HubSpot CRM review, which includes full insights on features, pricing, and integration options.
Freshsales: Best Free Built-in Phone System
Overall Score:
4.50 / 5
Pros
- Free plan includes unlimited users
- Deal, tasks, and account management modules available
- No-cost communication capability through a built-in phone, live chat, and chatbot
Cons
- Two-way email requires Growth plan and above
- Visual sales pipelines aren’t available until paid plan
- Minimal system customization and third-party integration options on Free plan
Freshsales is the CRM and sales tool offered by Freshworks to manage leads and deals, communicate with customers, and automate tasks. The no-cost option includes capabilities especially valuable to a business, such as account and deal management, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to automatically engage contacts as a chatbot. There’s also a live chat feature to communicate with website visitors. Ultimately, however, the built-in telephone to place and receive calls from the CRM is the top feature—one that most CRMs do not offer for free.
- Account management software, with contact data storage, activity timelines, tasks, appointments, and record notes
- Built-in phone system with inbound caller ID and the option to place calls from contact records
- Live chat engagement and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to build automated conversations, detect buying intent, hand over leads to agents, and answer FAQs
The most significant downfall of a free Freshsales account is that users cannot sync, send, or receive emails from the CRM, nor can you deploy automated sales email sequences. HubSpot is the best alternative for free email capabilities and includes mass marketing email campaigns, automations, and email template storage.
Freshsales Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Freshsales communicates with contacts on the telephone. (Source: Freshworks)
Both the free and paid plans of Freshsales offer excellent features to help a business grow its revenue. Find out how this platform streamlines tasks and sales activity in our comprehensive Freshsales review.
Bitrix24: Best for Ecommerce Capabilities
Overall Score:
4.44 / 5
Pros
- Free plan for unlimited users
- Built-in project management
- Includes ecommerce tools like a storefront builder, inventory management, sales orders, and payment processing
Cons
- Poor usability ratings for operating and navigating CRM
- No leads management until paid plans
- Does not allow free email capabilities
In addition to overseeing sales activities and organizing contact data, the free Bitrix24 software has two specific capabilities worth noting. The first is the built-in project management for small businesses and freelancers to track internal or client projects, assign related tasks, and collaborate with team members. The other is the ecommerce CRM tool, which is especially great for running a small online store. It has web page designer tools, free web hosting capabilities, inventory management, order and payment processing, and live chat to engage site visitors.
- Built-in projects and tasks management that includes unlimited projects, project owners, and commenting for team collaboration
- Unlimited deals and contact management plus up to one sales pipeline
- Ecommerce capabilities with product catalog, order and payment processing, inventory management, coupon creator, and website storefront builder
While users can manage unlimited deals and contacts on the free Bitrix24 system, lead management requires a paid plan. Agile CRM is the best free lead management software—offering contact data tracking, lead scoring, and appointment scheduling features.
Bitrix24 Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly and quarterly billing are also available for a higher cost.
Bitrix24 creating website storefront (Source: Bitrix24)
In addition to typical sales and marketing capabilities, Bitrix24 offers a range of features like project management, ecommerce store management, and tools for monitoring employees and human resource activities. Learn more about other key use cases this platform offers in our comprehensive Bitrix24 review.
Agile CRM: Best Lead Scoring Tools
Overall Score:
4.40 / 5
Pros
- Up to 10 users allowed on free plan
- All-in-one sales, marketing, and customer support solution
- Excellent lead management features, even on free plan
Cons
- Two-way email sync requires paid plan
- Only one CRM integration or plugin allowed on Free plan
- No free campaign automation features
Agile CRM has a solid set of no-cost features. Aside from the contact, company, and lead management features, which include lead scoring, appointment scheduling, and deal milestone tracking, this free CRM system also has built-in marketing and customer service modules. Users can design email campaigns, build web forms, create landing pages, and analyze contact events and web engagements. Additionally, there’s the service product that acts as a centralized help desk to receive and manage support tickets, which is also available for free.
- Lead management software with contact storage, deal tracking, lead scoring, and appointment scheduling
- Customer service module with help desk management, ticketing groups, and canned responses
- Marketing module with campaign designer, web engagement analytics, form builders, templates, and up to 5,000 email sends
Agile CRM, unfortunately, does not allow any kind of marketing automation capabilities on its free plan. HubSpot is the best alternative for those particular functions. Like Agile CRM, users can adopt HubSpot for sales, marketing, and customer service management. Additionally, the free option of HubSpot allows for basic automations for email and ad deployments.
Agile CRM Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Agile CRM contact record with lead score (Source: Agile CRM)
Like the all-in-one capabilities of Agile CRM and want to learn more? Our Agile CRM review tells you everything you need to know to discover if it’s right for your business.
Really Simple Systems: Best for Basic Contact Management
Overall Score:
4.39 / 5
Pros
- Free option offers robust system customization capabilities
- Highly acclaimed for product simplicity and usability
- Contact and pipeline management includes sales-closing probability, product line management, and tasks and events
Cons
- Marketing and customer support features requires paid add-on
- Email integrations not available until paid plan
- Does not allow any communications or marketing outreach capabilities until paid plans
- Really Simple Systems is the best free sales CRM for businesses that only need basic contact and opportunity management. The platform is highly intuitive to operate and comes with record management features not often included at no cost. For example, users can oversee opportunities in the pipeline and quickly get revenue forecasts based on closing probabilities and deal values. There’s also the option to manage product lines from the CRM and link company records to individual contacts.
- Contact management with search and filter, record merge, timelines, one-page views, linked accounts, and document storage
- Pipeline tracking that includes opportunity history logs, associated tasks and events, and weighted probabilities of closing to help forecast sales
- Integration with Google Maps, allowing users to view the geographic locations of contacts or companies in the CRM through the Maps application
- While it offers communications capabilities on the paid plans, Really Simple Systems can only handle data management and sales activity tracking on the free-forever option. Users needing data management and built-in communications for free can look to HubSpot or Freshsales as the best alternatives.
Really Simple Systems Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
News alert: Though Really Simple Systems hasn’t had a mobile application, we are excited to announce one is currently in development. In a collaboration project with Rareloop, Really Simple Systems will offer on-the-go sales management later this year. Check out the full story.
Really Simple Systems company record (Source: Really Simple Systems)
Really Simple Systems offers a no-frills solution to small business sales data management and pipeline activity tracking. To learn more, check out our Really Simple Systems review to see if it’s right for your team.
Zoho CRM: Best for Optimizing a Sales Operation
Overall Score:
4.38 / 5
Pros
- Free plan includes workflow and process automation capabilities
- Includes contacts, leads, deals, and accounts management
- Users can track sales activity such as calls, meetings, and tasks for free
Cons
- Platform requires some technical skill to set up and operate
- No third-party integrations allowed until paid plans
- Does not offer no-cost mass email
Zoho CRM is the best free option for organizations that want to improve their sales operation efficiency. Its CRM automation options are far more elaborate than any other free CRM on this list. Users can customize workflows to have actions, such as updating a record or assigning a lead, any time a trigger takes place, like a deal stage changing. Zoho also has excellent activity and task management features. Reps can view tasks, like calls or meetings, in a list or individual records associated with a contact or deal.
- Complete record management for contacts, leads, deals, and accounts
- Activity tracking for calls, emails, tasks, and meetings with recurring activities and task reminders
- Workflow and task automation with up to 2,000 active rules, five active rules per module, and five email notifications per action
While Zoho CRM offers plenty of sophisticated features available for free, its product usability ratings struggle. Users commonly report the setup process is difficult, and the CRM tools don’t come intuitively. Really Simple Systems is a great alternative for simple contact management. Sales teams can also look to HubSpot, which has excellent reviews for product ease of use and offer advanced capabilities like marketing automation.
Zoho CRM Pricing Plans & Overview*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Zoho CRM activity and task record (Source: Zoho)
Want to learn more? Read our detailed Zoho CRM review to learn about all the features available, pricing plans, integrations, and best-use cases.
Mailchimp: Best for Digital Marketing Features
Overall Score:
4.34 / 5
Pros
- Great and easy-to-use email, ads, social media, and survey marketing features
- Comes with campaign engagement and behavioral tracking insights for how contacts interact with campaigns
- Basic email templates in the system plus creative assistant feature to help design campaigns
Cons
- Only one user for Free plan
- Users can’t track sales opportunities as it doesn’t have lead, deal, or pipeline management features
- Only allows up to 500 contacts
Another excellent CRM alternative is Mailchimp, a popular marketing automation tool that lets businesses deploy campaigns through email, social media, and online ads. It is easy to use with many templates users can access to design messages. In addition to managing campaigns, you can store contact data records with tags, useful for audience segmentation and creating email lists. Finally, free campaign automations allow up to a single-step workflow, where users can auto-deploy another message after a trigger, such as a contact clicking the previous link.
- Email campaign designer with single-step automation, basic templates, creative assistant tool, and content engagement tracking
- Contact data management with basic segmentation and record tags
- Ability to create and deploy Facebook and Instagram ads, landing pages, and social media posts
Because it’s not a traditional CRM, sales teams can’t use Mailchimp to manage sales opportunities. For example, while there are contact management capabilities, there aren’t any tools for tracking deals or leads on a sales pipeline. Agile CRM and HubSpot are the best free alternatives for sales opportunity tracking.
Mailchimp Monthly Pricing*
*Pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Mailchimp basic email templates (Source: NetHunt.com)
Mailchimp is a great tool for creating and executing digital marketing campaigns. Check out our guide on how to use Mailchimp for email marketing with step-by-step instructions to start developing customer relationships via email channels.
How We Evaluated the Best Free CRM Systems
To determine the best free CRMs for small business, we considered products that offer a free-forever plan with access to no-cost sales, marketing, and data management tools. Reporting and analytics tools, third-party integration options, and system customization were some of the baseline features we specifically evaluated in terms of free availability. We also considered access to extended free sales CRM capabilities, like lead generation, client management, and team collaboration features.
We found HubSpot offers the best overall free CRM. Not only is it one of the most intuitive CRM systems on the market to navigate and operate, but its free-forever option is available to unlimited users. Additionally, its no-cost plan includes excellent tools, many of which are difficult to find in most CRMs, such as blog management, email automation, prospects website tracking, and a chatbot designer for lead engagement.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best free small business CRMs:
25%
General Features
20%
Pricing
20%
Niche/Advanced Features
20%
Help & Support
15%
Expert Score
25% of Overall Score
We looked at the availability of non-negotiable features we find crucial to any CRM system, regardless of its primary use case. A mobile application, for example, lets teams operate on the go—something common when reps attend networking events, trade shows, or client meetings. We also wanted to see an extensive range of third-party integration options, customization capabilities, and solid reporting features.
20% of Overall Score
While we only looked at providers that offer CRM platforms for free, we also considered other pricing attributes important to startups or businesses on a tight budget. For example, low-cost and scalable pricing options give organizations cost-effective solutions to upgrade as they grow. We also looked at the availability for a subscriber to either pay monthly or save by paying annually, and the value of features that were specifically available for free.
20% of Overall Score
In addition to general features, we evaluated advanced capabilities within the free CRM tools for small businesses to get extended, no-cost functionality. Lead generation features, for example, let sales teams automatically obtain and access lead data to begin direct outreach campaigns. Additionally, client and sales calendar management modules are solutions that add value to these free CRM applications.
20% of Overall Score
Extensive support and service help prevent poor user experiences and outcomes users may encounter while using any of these free CRMs. Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email, specifically free availability. We also looked at no-cost help center resources users can access, like tutorials, forums, or training modules for self-servicing.
15% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experience with these free CRM systems, we evaluated what actual users say about each product according to reviews. These criteria consider how customers feel to learn more about the value of the free CRM tools, popularity, ease of use when operating and navigating the CRM, and how users feel about the overall features.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Free CRM software is a specific subscription plan by the CRM provider that gives users access to certain features within the product at no cost. In contrast to a free trial, which offers access to paid features within a specific time, a free CRM doesn’t have a set end date. Because there’s no cost to the capabilities, however, free plans often limit the number of users and data storage capacity, and only offer basic features.
Because startups are often on tight budgets, a free CRM that can help with basic contact management, deal tracking, and marketing is valuable. When it comes to the best CRM for startups that are free, however, it depends on use cases and feature needs. HubSpot is great for simplicity and has all-in-one sales, marketing, and customer service modules. Other products have other unique strengths. Bitrix24, for example, has free project management and ecommerce features, while Freshsales includes a built-in telephone system.
Bottom Line
Free CRM tools enable small businesses to manage sales and revenue operations without any cost. While HubSpot is our pick for the best overall free CRM system, other systems could be a better fit depending on primary use cases. Agile CRM, for example, has free lead scoring—a tool that often isn’t included in a CRM free-forever plan. There are also alternative products like Mailchimp, which has a specialty feature, like offering a wide range of mass, digital marketing tools.
