Personal customer relationship management (CRM) software gives solopreneurs and single business owners the ability to organize, track, and automate outreach for their network of personal and professional contacts. We compared a variety of intuitive, easy to use, and affordable personal CRM systems to identify the top six and the best overall.
Personal CRM | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best overall) Sales pros who want an all-in-one CRM with advanced social media features | |
Business owners and freelancers who want a highly customizable CRM with built-in phone features | |
People who want a no-frills CRM integrated directly within their Gmail inbox | |
Sales professionals who want an easy-to-use visual pipeline layout | |
Individuals or solo entrepreneurs who want an easy-to-use, free CRM with marketing tools | |
Solopreneurs who want a reporting dashboard with valuable customer insights |
Evaluating the Best Personal CRM for Solo Users
Solopreneurs and freelancers require a customer relationship management software that offers reliable customer support and robust contact management systems for every sales opportunity. The ideal CRM software should also offer easy setup, as well as mobile apps, customization options, and integrations with other business apps. Naturally, the CRM solution should also be affordable for small businesses and self-employed professionals.
Additional criteria we used to evaluate and score personal CRM systems on a 5-point scale include:
- Availability of customer support with all service plans
- Whether the solution includes a budget-friendly forever-free plan
- How easy the CRM is to use and maintain, regardless of technical aptitude
- Whether the system offers cloud storage for easy access to documents from anywhere
Zoho CRM: Best Overall CRM for Personal Use
Zoho CRM’s sales pipeline
(Source: Zoho)
Fit Small Business score: 4.63 of 5
Zoho CRM features a variety of integrated modules such as invoicing so you don’t have to use a separate program like QuickBooks to manage your invoices. It also offers social media integrations, which let you create custom lead generation filters based on comments, mentions, and engagements.
Zoho CRM Pros | Zoho CRM Cons |
|---|---|
Advanced metrics and reporting | Lacks a built-in phone dialer |
Email tracking | No bulk email option with free plan |
Call logging | Limited pipeline views |
Zoho CRM Pricing
- Free: Supports three users
- Standard: $12 per user, per month
- Professional: $20 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $35 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $45 per user, per month
Zoho CRM Features
- In-app integration with Twitter and Facebook
- Check email status and monitor email campaign results
- Sales automation tools for logging calls, managing deals, and more
- Advanced SalesSignal dashboard to automate lead scoring
Freshworks CRM: Best Personal CRM for Phone-based Sales & Outreach
Built-in email and phone in Freshworks CRM
(Source: Freshworks CRM)
Fit Small Business score: 4.49 of 5
Freshworks CRM, which tops our list of the best CRMs for small business, offers a feature-rich integrated calling system with all service plans, including its forever-free tier. The phone allows users to make, receive, and track calls without leaving the platform. Freshworks CRM narrowly missed being our top pick because important solo user features like call logging and email tracking are only available with paid plans.
Freshworks CRM Pros | Freshworks CRM Cons |
|---|---|
Highly customizable | Limited free marketing tools |
Integration with Uber and Google Maps | No bulk email included with free plan |
Dedicated local or toll-free phone number | No email tracking with free plan |
Freshworks CRM Pricing
- Free: Supports unlimited users
- Blossom: $12 per user, per month
- Garden: $25 per user, per month
- Estate: $49 per user, per month
- Forest: $79 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 21 days
Freshworks CRM Features
- Lead, contact, account, and deal management
- Track tasks and appointments
- Two-way email sync and response prioritization tool
- Inbound and outbound calling features
- Mobile app for calling, lead management, and sales activity tracking
Streak: Best Personal CRM With Built-in Gmail Inbox Integration
Streak’s native Gmail integration
(Source: Streak)
Fit Small Business score: 4.20 of 5
Streaks CRM is integrated into a user’s Gmail account and includes the ability to manage deals, sales pipeline, contacts, and emails right in your inbox, so everything is consolidated in one place. Advanced features with paid service plans include reporting, email filters, and email management tools. While Streak may have scored in the middle of a pack of standalone CRMs, this is one of the best browser-based solutions on the market.
Streak Pros | Streak Cons |
|---|---|
Unlimited personal pipelines in free plan | Most business app integrations only available with paid version |
Integrates with all Google Workspace apps, including Drive and Calendar | No customer support for free tier |
Automatic email and call tracker | Lacks cloud document storage |
Streak Pricing
- Free: Supports one user
- Solo: $15 per user, per month
- Pro: $49 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $129 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 14 days
Streak Features
- Multiple custom pipelines for sales, support, partnerships
- Unlimited private pipelines with unlimited data
- Email tracking, mail merge, schedule send, and email templates
- Permission controls to restrict view and edit access to selected users
Pipedrive: Best Personal CRM With a Visual Pipeline & AI Features
Pipedrive’s deal dashboard
(Source: Pipedrive)
Fit Small Business score: 3.93 of 5
Pipedrive is a user-friendly CRM that offers a highly visual, customizable pipeline allowing you to see all your deals at a glance. It also has an artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant that helps you uncover information about deals and advanced reporting that makes it easy to run reports by product. Pipedrive is a multi-use type of CRM that shines in many environments, but it lost points because it lacks a free service plan.
Pipedrive Pros | Pipedrive Cons |
|---|---|
Visual sales pipeline | Lacks a free version |
Advanced reporting tools | No email templates with entry-level plan |
AI sales assistant | Email sync only available with upper-tier plans |
Pipedrive Pricing
- Essential: $12.50 per user, per month
- Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
- Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
Pipedrive Features
- Unlimited customizable pipelines
- AI sales assistant for personalized recommendations
- Customizable product catalog
- Advanced mobile shows addresses of nearby contacts
HubSpot: Best Forever-free Personal CRM for Single Users
HubSpot customer activity history
(Source: HubSpot)
Fit Small Business score: 3.76 of 5
HubSpot is a powerful, free, and intuitive CRM. The company’s feature-rich free version offers extensive customization options, and a simple, easy-to-learn interface. Though HubSpot is one of our top recommendations for best free CRM solutions, we docked points for its limited mobile––a critical feature for busy solo business owners.
HubSpot Pros | HubSpot Cons |
|---|---|
Robustly featured free version | Does not provide direct customer support |
Extensive tutorial library | Limited document storage with free plan |
Easy to set up and use | Upgrading to paid plans adds up quickly |
HubSpot Pricing
- Free: Supports unlimited users
- Sales and Marketing add-ons: From $50 per month
HubSpot Features
- Website tracking to identify contacts visiting your website
- Live chat with several channel options
- Integration with over 300 popular business apps
- Mobile app to get a complete overview of contacts, conversations, deals, and activities
Salesflare: Best Personal CRM With Advanced Customer Insights
Salesflare accounts dashboard
(Source: Salesflare)
Fit Small Business score: 3.36 of 5
Salesflare is an intuitive CRM with time-saving features like automated collection of contact details and contact suggestions so you can reach out to potential leads. It also offers link and website tracking so you know when customers access your site and what they do while they’re there. Salesflare has a lot to offer sales professionals but did lose some points for its lack of a free plan and limited customization options.
Salesflare Pros | Salesflare Cons |
|---|---|
No-nonsense pricing plan | No free plan |
Drag-and-drop visual pipeline | Limited customization options |
Email automation tools | No built-in dialer or calling tool |
Salesflare Pricing
- $30 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
Salesflare Features
- Contact management unifies emails, social profiles, phone calls, and document storage
- Mobile app to track tasks and upcoming meetings
- Integrates with Gmail, Office 365, and Exchange to streamline communications
- Reporting dashboard displays robust sales insights
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