Insightly is customer relationship management (CRM) software with business tools for tracking leads, communicating with contacts, and managing projects. It does, however, lack some desired CRM functionality, such as social media integration and low-cost sales automation tools. To find the best Insightly alternative, we evaluated dozens of popular CRMs with similar attributes as well as tools that fill feature gaps to arrive at the top six options.
Here are the six best Insightly alternatives for a small business CRM:
- Really Simple Systems: Best overall, and best Insightly alternative for product usability
- Freshsales: Excellent pick for sales teams wanting an Insightly alternative with a built-in phone
- Pipedrive: Solid Insightly alternative with low-cost sales automation tools
- Zoho CRM: Great choice for businesses that want an Insightly alternative with social media integrations
- HubSpot CRM: Ideal for small businesses that want a free CRM option
- Bitrix24: Best Insightly alternative for teams that need built-in project management features
Are you looking for more information on the best CRM options for your small business? Check out our top picks for the best CRMs for small businesses to learn more.
Best Insightly Alternatives Compared
Provider | Free Plan | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Starting Price for Paid Plans | Special Features | Help & Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes, up to 2 users | 14 days | $14 per user, per month | Intuitive, user-friendly platform | Email, chat, and phone support during business hours |
 | Yes | 21 days | $9 per user, per month | Robust built-in calling system | Tier-based support via email, phone, and live chat |
 | ✕ | 14 days | $14 per user, per month | Excellent sales automation tools | 24/7 live chat, and Enterprise phone support |
 | Yes, up to 3 users | 15 days | $14 per user, per month | Robust social media capabilities | 24/5 email and phone support on paid plans |
 | Yes, unlimited users | 14 days | $30 per month for 2 users | Free supplemental marketing tools | Tier-based support via email, chat, and phone |
 | Unlimited users | 30 days | $39 per month for 5 user seats | Excellent project management tools | Chat and email support for paid plans |
Really Simple Systems: Best Insightly Alternative for Product Usability
What We Like
- Robust system customization for data fields, tables, drop-down lists, dashboards, pages, and charts
- Platform is easy to navigate; tabs are divided into sales, marketing, or service functions
- Free plan available
What's Missing
- Most marketing features require an add-on
- Integration with social media platforms
- Mobile application
How It Compares to Insightly
- Really Simple Systems offers more affordable pricing compared to Insightly; it starts at $14 per user, per month compared to Insightly, which starts at $29 per user, per month
- Both CRMs require add-on costs for marketing features
- Really Simple Systems has optional add-on features for managing customer service cases while Insightly does not
- Insightly has project management tools not offered by Really Simple Systems
Really Simple Systems offers a more cost-effective CRM solution compared to Insightly. It also provides some of Insightly’s missing product attributes, such as customer service desk features, extensive system customization, and quote generation capabilities on the lower-priced tiers. Conversely, Insightly provides its users with project management tools and a mobile application not available with Really Simple Systems.
Unfortunately, Really Simple Systems does not offer many marketing tools commonly included in CRM software, such as email marketing automation or lead segmentation, without separate add-on costs. If your business needs a CRM platform with built-in marketing tools, we recommend HubSpot CRM and Freshsales as solid options.
Really Simple Systems Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to two users
- Starter: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $30 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $46 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
- Simple Marketing Add-on: $22 per month (free on Enterprise plan)
- Advanced Marketing Add-on: $46 per month
- Service Desk Add-on: $46 per month (free on Enterprise plan)
*Pricing is based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Really Simple Systems Usability
The most substantial product attribute of Really Simple Systems, making it not only a viable Insightly alternative but our overall best alternative to Insightly, is its usability. The platform’s clean, simple color scheme and minimal buttons give the user a more intuitive experience by not intimidating or overwhelming them with a myriad of options.
Really Simple Systems dashboard with vertical tab menu (Source: Xero)
Freshsales: Best Insightly Alternative With Telephony Capabilities
What We Like
- Online web forms for lead capture
- Artificial intelligence (AI) tools for predictive contact scoring, lead generation bot, and answer bot
- Free option available with a built-in phone system
What's Missing
- No native social media integrations
- Automated workflows require an add-on
- Lacks sales forecasting tools on lower-priced tiers
How It Compares to Insightly
- Freshsales telephone system is built-in whereas Insightly Voice requires an integration at an additional cost
- Insightly offers contact profile enrichment on lower-priced plans while Freshsales only has it on the Enterprise tier
- Freshsales’ artificial intelligence (AI) features have broader overall functionality compared to Insightly’s AI tools
In terms of features, Insightly and Freshsales are fairly similar. Both offer telephone systems within their customer relationship manager (CRM), artificial intelligence (AI) features, automatic contact enrichment, and quote generation tools. Most differences have to do with which pricing tier these features are available on. Freshsales is more cost-effective and offers a broader free plan option and lower-priced paid plans.
Like Insightly, Freshsales software lacks native social media integration capabilities. If your small business needs a CRM with social media functionality and integrations, we recommend Zoho CRM and HubSpot CRM as excellent options.
Freshsales Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: up to three users
- Growth: $9 per user, per month
- Pro: $39 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $59 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
*Pricing is based on an annual billing option. Monthly subscriptions are available as well for those who prefer shorter-term contracts.
Freshsales Built-in Telephone
Freshsales’ built-in telephone system for dialing and receiving calls is included in their free plan. Insightly also has a phone system, but it requires integration with Insightly Voice (native Insightly software) for an additional cost of $35 per user, per month. Both phone systems are similar in terms of telephone capabilities, but only after Freshsales users subscribe to its Pro plan.
Check out our comprehensive Freshsales review to learn more about its rich feature set.
Pipedrive: Best Insightly Alternative With Low-cost Sales Automation Tools
What We Like
- AI sales assistant tool for automating sales tasks and offering sales advice
- Built-in document management features for sending quotes, proposals, contracts, and electronic signatures
- Subscription plans are relatively inexpensive
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Lacks project management tools
- Social media functionality is limited to Facebook Ads
How It Compares to Insightly
- Pipedrive includes sales automation tools on lower-priced plans while most of Insightly’s automation tools require Enterprise plan subscription
- Pipedrive quote generation and e-signature tools are available on the Professional plan; Insightly only provides these at the Enterprise level
- Insightly has built-in project management tools while Pipedrive does not
- Pipedrive allows for customizable products catalog on their Essentials plan while Insightly only does so on the Enterprise plan
Pipedrive and Insightly share a similar product deficiency in the lack of social media capabilities. For the most part, however, the standout features both CRMs have, like sales automation, document management tools, AI insights, and product catalogs, are offered at a more competitive price with Pipedrive, making it a noteworthy alternative to Insightly.
Though Pipedrive’s subscription plans have lower prices than Insightly or the best Insightly alternatives, there is no free-forever plan available. If your team is looking for free CRM software to test the waters, we recommend HubSpot CRM and Bitrix24 as CRM products that both offer a free plan for unlimited users.
Pipedrive Pricing at a Glance*
- Essentials: $14 per user, per month
- Advanced: $34 per user, per month
- Professional: $49 per user, per month
- Power: $64 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month (10-user minimum)
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing is based on an annual billing option. Monthly plans are available as well.
Pipedrive’s Sales Automation Tools
Pipedrive’s sales automation features, such as the AI Sales Assistant, workflow automation, and smart contact data tools, are all available on the Essential and Advanced subscription plans. This is far more cost-effective than Insightly, which includes most of its sales automation features only on its high-priced Enterprise plan.
Learn more about this CRM system and explore the other features it offers in our in-depth Pipedrive review.
Zoho CRM: Best for Insightly Alternative for Social Media Capabilities
What We Like
- Advanced features for sales analytics, marketing, and lead management through AI and automation capabilities
- Cost-effective Insightly alternative with a low cost-per-user
- Social media integrations with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn
What's Missing
- Lacks prompt customer service response times and support availability outside of business hours
- Free plan is only for up to 3 users and has limited features
- Lack of customization capabilities on lower-tiered plans
How It Compares to Insightly
- Zoho CRM integrates with social media platforms while Insightly does not
- Zoho CRM paid plans start at $14 per user, per month while Insightly starts at $29 per user, per month
- Workflow automation is available on Zoho’s free plan while Insightly requires a Professional plan subscription for workflow automations
- Zoho CRM offers customer support features for managing cases while Insightly does not
Zoho CRM offers a wider range of marketing, sales, and customer service features within their platform compared to Insightly. For instance, Insightly does not have service desk tools and requires add-on costs for marketing functionality like email marketing, customer segmentation, and web forms, which are all included in Zoho CRM software.
Many of the customization features on Zoho are only available on its higher-priced plans. If your business wants robust system customization capabilities included in a free or low-priced package, we recommend Really Simple Systems as a cost-effective and highly customizable CRM option.
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to three users (limited features)
- Standard: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $23 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
- Zoho CRM Plus: $57 per user, per month
*Pricing is based on an annual subscription. Monthly billing is available as well.
Zoho CRM Social Media Integrations
The most notable functionality that makes Zoho CRM a great alternative to Insightly is the platform’s social media capabilities. Unlike Insightly, Zoho integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Businesses can publish content, monitor brand discussions, communicate with customers, and generate leads through social media ad forms, all from the Zoho CRM system.
Read our comprehensive Zoho CRM review to learn more about its features and how it helps small businesses thrive.
HubSpot CRM: Best Free CRM Alternative to Insightly
What We Like
- Free for unlimited users
- Integrates with native software for marketing, customer service, and content management system (CMS) functions
- Highly intuitive interface
What's Missing
- Lacks project management tools
- Paid plans get expensive
- Lacks customer support on the free plan
How It Compares to Insightly
- HubSpot offers a free plan for unlimited users while Insightly’s free option is limited to 2 users
- Insightly has built-in project management features while HubSpot does not
- HubSpot includes free, supplemental marketing tools not offered by Insightly for building online forms, creating landing pages, generating blog ideas, and developing marketing plans
- Quote generation tools are free with HubSpot but require the Enterprise plan for Insightly
- HubSpot has social media management capabilities while Insightly does not
HubSpot CRM provides businesses robust features including social media management tools, payment processing through Stripe, and a free plan for unlimited users. Where it falls short compared to Insightly, however, is the lack of built-in project management tools and that HubSpot’s paid plans are slightly more expensive. Nevertheless, it is an excellent Insightly alternative for businesses looking for a free CRM.
Though HubSpot CRM has a free option for an unlimited number of users, businesses may find they need additional or advanced functionality that requires a paid plan. Unfortunately, HubSpot’s paid plans get expensive, especially at the Professional and Enterprise levels. Pipedrive and Zoho CRM serve as solid Insightly CRM alternatives if your business is looking for low-priced paid plans with more advanced features.
HubSpot Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited number of users (limited features)
- Starter: $30 per month (two users included, then $23 per additional user)
- Professional: $450 per month (five users included, then $90 per additional user)
- Enterprise: $1,200 per month (10 users included, then $120 per additional user)
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing above is based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available at slightly higher prices.
HubSpot Free Supplemental Marketing Tools
In addition to general CRM features, HubSpot has live chatbots, quote generation, email scheduling, limited voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone capabilities, and contact management functionality. HubSpot’s free supplemental marketing tools—most of which are not matched by any CRM product on this list—are incredibly useful for creating brand awareness and generating inbound leads.
Explore the feature set of this CRM platform to decide if it’s the right choice for your small business by reading our full HubSpot CRM review.
Bitrix24: Best Insightly Alternative for Project Management
What We Like
- Free version available for an unlimited number of users
- Integrates with payment processing platforms that can be linked to CRM invoices
- Robust project management features
What's Missing
- Lacks an intuitive user interface
- No customer support outside of business hours
- Limited lead storage capabilities on the free and Basic plans
How It Compares to Insightly
- Bitrix24 has a free plan for unlimited users while Insightly’s free option is limited to 2 users
- Project management tools are available on the Bitrix24 free plan while Insightly requires a paid plan
- Bitrix24 offers free customer case management tools while Insightly does not
- Invoicing and payment processing capabilities are offered by Bitrix24 through its CRM system but not by Insightly
For businesses looking for a CRM alternative to Insightly that also offers project management tools,Bitrix24 is the best option. In addition to project management tools, Bitrix24 also has system capabilities for managing customer cases and the ability to process payments for CRM-issued invoices through integrations with PayPal, QuickBooks, and Authorize.net.
Bitrix24 is known to require a steeper learning curve compared to other CRM alternatives on this list because it has a lot of features and a complex interface full of button options and pages to navigate. If your business is looking for a CRM system that is easy to operate and navigate, we recommend Really Simple Systems or HubSpot CRM.
Bitrix24 Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited number of users (limited features)
- Basic: $39 per month (up to five users)
- Standard: $79 per month (up to 50 users)
- Professional: $159 per month (unlimited users)
*Pricing above is based on annual plans. However, you may also pay monthly, quarterly, or biannually.
Bitrix24 Project Management Features
The Bitrix24 project management tools are free while access to comparable Insightly tools requires a paid plan starting at $29 per user, per month. With Bitrix24, businesses manage projects on GANTT and Kanban views and have the option to track project expenses and monitor responsible parties of the project.
Check out our comprehensive Bitrix24 review to explore the full feature set this CRM system offers.
How We Evaluated the Best Insightly Alternatives for Small Businesses
To determine which are the best top Insightly alternative CRMs, we evaluated CRM systems with elements comparable to Insightly’s. These include useful CRM features like project management tools, telephonic capabilities, and features for managing sales opportunities. We also identified key product feature gaps of Insightly that are offered by its alternatives.
Based on our evaluation, Really Simple Systems is the best alternative to Insightly. We chose this CRM because of its similarity to Insightly, with comparable lead and opportunity management tools while also standing out from Insightly because of its ease of use.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process for choosing the best CRM alternatives to Insightly:
40% of Overall Score
Cost is typically among the most important criteria for any small business and is a favorable attribute of Insightly, which offers a free plan, subscription scalability, and optional feature add-ons. So we weighted price most heavily when reviewing the best Insightly alternatives.
20% of Overall Score
We looked at overall features we feel are necessities in CRM software, including reporting and analytics capabilities, tools for managing sales pipelines, customization options, and the ability to organize and communicate with contacts. We also evaluated each CRM’s mobile application and third-party integrations.
15% of Overall Score
Insightly alternatives were also evaluated on product usability. This was analyzed in terms of the expertise needed to set up and integrate the CRM with other applications, the skill required to operate the platform, and the intuitiveness of navigating the system’s interface.
15% of Overall Score
Extensive support and service can prevent issues a user may encounter while using any one of these Insightly alternative CRMs. Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours, accessible tools for platform education, and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experiences with the best Insightly CRM alternatives, we evaluated what other users are saying about each option. These criteria consider how customers feel, based on their reviews, to gain insight on platform popularity, ease of use, and overall value for the price.
