9 Best Simple CRM Systems for 2023

• You need a free CRM with a built-in phone system: Freshsales’ free plan has a robust built-in phone system with a dialer and logging system that allows you to make, receive, record, and track calls. This is why it is one of our top-rated call center CRM software.
• You sell business-to-business (B2B) products & services: Freshsales includes built-in account and deal management modules that are particularly useful when selling to other organizations. You can also leverage its built-in phone system to centralize account management and cold calling activities in one platform.
• You want artificial intelligence (AI)-powered task automation: Freshsales offers the Freddy AI tool that lets teams do more with less. They can auto-engage prospects through live chat, deduplicate CRM data records, and discover insights into deals and forecasts using AI.
• You want to manage many parts of your business with one provider: Freshsales is just one of many products sold by the provider Freshworks. Users can also adopt and integrate with other native products of Freshworks to oversee functions like marketing, customer support, IT, and contact center operations.

• You need low-cost features for auto-updating contact data: Freshsales has an automated profile enrichment feature. However, it is not available until the Enterprise plan, which costs $69 per user, monthly.
  • Alternative: Pipedrive offers automated contact data enrichment on its Advanced plan for just $27.90 per user, monthly.
• You want to use your email in your CRM for free: While it has a free plan, Freshsales does not allow users to connect their Gmail or Outlook systems until the Growth plan, where they can keep email data in sync and send messages through the CRM.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM and EngageBay allow email sync and email marketing campaign management on its free-forever plan.
• You need project management tools in your CRM: Though great for lead and deal management activities and engaging with customers through various channels, Freshsales does not have any built-in project management tool to handle side sales projects or client service projects.
  • Alternative: ClickUp has work and project management templates that can be tailored to any operational needs—allowing users to manage leads and projects in one interface.

• You use an omnichannel approach for customer engagement: With EngageBay, you can interact with your leads and customers through email, live chat, social media, short message service (SMS), and video messaging all from a single platform. It also allows you to integrate your CRM with voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephone systems like RingCentral and Twilio.
• You need an affordable CRM with lead scoring features: EngageBay’s predictive lead scoring features are available even with its free plan.

• You’re seeking a CRM with low-cost proposal generation features: EngageBay’s proposal generation and management features are not available until the Growth plan, which costs $45.99 per user, monthly.
  • Alternative: Freshsales’ CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) feature is available with all of its paid plans, starting at $15 per user, monthly. Pipedrive also offers advanced proposal generation tools with its Smart Docs add-on, which starts at $32.50 per user, monthly. These tools are included for free starting with the Professional plan at $49.90 per user, monthly.
• You need free and affordable CRM options with more data capacity: EngageBay’s free tier has a 250-limit on contact storage.
  • Alternative: If you’re looking to build relationships with more than 250 leads and customers at no cost, try HubSpot CRM. Its free option allows you to store up to 1,000,000 contacts.

• You need a CRM solution with thorough database customization: Zoho CRM offers mass CRM customization options, most of which are free or cost $14 per user, monthly. This allows teams to alter data fields for specific information, create custom record views, change search layouts, and even build custom modules. This is why this provider is included in our list of the best customizable CRMs.
• You’re looking for a solid social CRM: Zoho CRM integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This allows users to monitor and interact with their followers, generate leads via social media campaigns, and engage directly with customers via comments and messages.
• You want a CRM with free or low-cost automation tools: Zoho CRM allows you to set workflow rules across all plans. You can also create new contact records, assign owners, and alter data fields based on triggers like deal status changes or interactions with contacts.

• You’re looking for a sales-focused CRM: Zoho CRM is an all-in-one platform with plans that include comprehensive tools for sales, marketing, and customer service.
  • Alternative: Freshsales and Pipedrive both offer specialized tools for sales. These include time-saving workflows, visual sales pipelines, and deal management. Alternatively, you can also check out or guide to the best sales enablement tools.
• You want a CRM with free telephone and email features: Zoho’s free-forever plan does not include communication tools for lead engagement.
  • Alternative: Freshsales and HubSpot CRM both offer free plans that allow access to lead engagement tools like a built-in phone system, email integrations, and meeting scheduling.

• Your sales agents need robust yet easy-to-use sales automation tools: This platform is one of our top recommended sales automation software. It lets you automatically assign or create sales tasks, update CRM records, and even send emails to prospects. Its smart Sales Assistant tool analyzes CRM data to provide suggestions on how you can prioritize deals and improve your performance.
• Your sales team uses Slack to collaborate on deals: Pipedrive is included in our top picks for CRMs that integrate with Slack. It features a Dealbot that notifies users via Slack whenever there are updates or changes on deals in their CRM.
• You use Microsoft Outlook for emailing and managing your work calendar: Pipedrive is among our best choices for CRMs that integrate with Outlook. It has a two-way integration for email, contacts, and calendar with Outlook, which keeps your data consistent between the two systems.

• You are a startup or freelancer looking for a free CRM: Unfortunately, Pipedrive does not offer a free plan.
  • Alternative: Consider using Freshsales or HubSpot CRM if you are looking for a free and easy to use CRM for beginners and small businesses. Both providers offer a free CRM with robust features that include deal management, marketing tools, and built-in calling. EngageBay is also an excellent alternative with a free plan that offers advanced features like predictive lead scoring, social integrations, and email tracking.
• You want a CRM with free or low-cost automation features: Pipedrive’s workflow automation tools are only available starting with its Advanced plan, which costs $24.90 per user, monthly.
  • Alternative: Subscribe to Zoho CRM if you need a CRM that offers basic workflow automation for free.

• You are a startup or small team looking for a free all-in-one CRM: HubSpot isn’t only free for unlimited users, but many of the sales, marketing, and service features that help a new business obtain and retain customers are included in those free plans. Some of these features include email campaigns, ads, list segmentation, deal and contact management, live chat, and prospects that identify companies visiting your website.
• You want to put marketing campaigns on auto-pilot: One of the top easy CRM tools for HubSpot is the email automation features. Many of the email features are free, and the automation uses a no-code format. This lets users at all skill levels deploy mass emails that automatically send or resend depending on contact segments or engagement activity, like opens and clicks.
• You function in a revenue operations structure: The HubSpot CRM Suite is a bundled product comprised of sales, marketing, content management, and customer service modules, which is great for overseeing revenue teams. Each product has a free option and excellent paid features to manage data, communications, and reporting for all those functions.
• You want to process payments with your CRM: HubSpot is one of the few CRMs on the market that can process payments in the system. Users can either integrate the platform with Stripe for credit card payments or use the automated clearing house (ACH) capabilities offered by HubSpot.

• You need scalable paid plans: Though it has excellent free tools, all of the paid plans, whether you bundle them or purchase them individually, are expensive and not cost-effective for fast-growing businesses.
  • Alternative: Freshsales and Zoho CRM offer easy-to-use CRM features and cost-friendly paid plans that start at $15 and $14 per user, respectively.
• You are a small business selling multiple product lines: HubSpot CRM’s free plan allows you to manage only one pipeline, while its Starter plan limits you to two. The Professional plan costs $450 per month for 15 unique pipelines.
  • Alternative: Zoho CRM allows five pipelines on the Standard plan for $14 per user, monthly, and then 10, 20, and 50 pipelines, respectively, on the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate plans. EngageBay’s paid plans also allow you to manage multiple deal pipelines starting at $11.95 per user, monthly.

• You want a CRM alternative for task and project collaboration: ClickUp is a highly customizable work management tool that allows users to create data fields and boards for managing personal relationships. You can store customer information, create high-level views of projects, and drill down into tasks with filters and groups.
• You’re looking for free software for managing business functions: ClickUp allows teams to create workspaces for managing any aspect of their business. You can customize boards, data fields, and processes on workspaces to track workflow for any industry, including sales, marketing, and customer service.
• You need free workflow automation tools: This platform has a free plan that lets you create up to 100 workflow automations per month. You can use it to automate task assignment and record creation.

• You prefer using a traditional CRM: ClickUp is technically a work and project management tool. Users who are not accustomed to this need some time to adjust to the process of tailoring the system to use it as a CRM.
  • Alternative: Zoho CRM is an excellent option for users who prefer traditional CRMs that offer prebuilt modules for sales and marketing automation.
• You’re looking for a solution with free email integration: With ClickUp, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan to access email tools and integrations with Gmail and Outlook.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM allows you to access Marketplace integrations and email tools on its free-forever plan.
• You want to engage with customers via phone: Unfortunately, ClickUp does not offer built-in phone capabilities.
  • Alternative: Freshsales has built-in telephonic features that include an inbound caller ID, call recording, and queue transfer. This is why it is our top recommended call center CRM software.

• You want to use AI assistance to write sales emails: Capsule CRM’s paid plans include an AI content assistant tool that helps you generate quality email drafts from within contact records. It gives you recommendations on the content, length, and tone of your email message.
• You run a project-based business: Capsule CRM offers tools for project management across all its plans. This makes it an ideal platform for consultants, software companies, and manufacturing agencies that require tools for tracking project timelines, onboarding processes, customer activities, support requests, and client deliverables.
• You are a solo user looking for a free CRM: Capsule CRM has a free option for up to two users. It includes basic CRM software features that freelancers need, such as contact management, opportunity management, and email marketing.
• You need a CRM for accounting and billing: Capsule CRM’s premium integrations include QuickBooks and Xero, which are available to paid plan users. These connections allow you to easily pull accounting information to your CRM to eliminate manual entry.

• You’re looking for a free CRM with more contact capacity: Capsule CRM’s free plan allows you to store only up to 250 contact records.
  • Alternative: HubSpot CRM has a free plan for unlimited users that allows you to store up to a million contact records in its database.
• You want a CRM that offers email tracking tools: Capsule CRM offers basic email marketing features with templates, but it does not have advanced features like tools for email tracking.
  • Alternatives: HubSpot CRM tops our list of the best CRM for email marketing because it offers advanced tools like mass email and performance tracking at no cost. Freshsales also offers excellent email marketing capabilities that include automated sales email sequences that complement its lead nurturing features.
• You need a CRM for managing your ecommerce business: Capsule CRM offers basic email marketing features with templates, but it does not have advanced features like tools for email tracking.
  • Alternatives: Zoho CRM is one of our top recommended ecommerce CRMs for small businesses. It offers various tools for online businesses, such as inventory management, marketing, analytics, and customer support.

• Your team uses Google Workspace: Copper CRM made it to our list of top Google CRMs because it is designed to integrate seamlessly with Google Workspace apps and has similar appearance. This connection makes it easy to update contact information based on customer interactions in Gmail.
• You generate sales leads from LinkedIn: Copper CRM also integrates with LinkedIn, allowing users to search for potential leads and enrich contact information from the social network. You can also sync and track all your LinkedIn interactions with potential leads.
• You’re looking for a CRM with robust collaboration tools: Copper CRM offers an excellent set of productivity and team collaboration tools across all plans. These include note-taking, file attachment, task management, activity logging, task assignment, and commenting on notes.

• You’re a small sales team seeking a free CRM: Copper CRM does not offer a free-forever plan. Starting at $23 per user, monthly, it is more expensive than most of its competitors in this guide.
  • Alternative: Some of the best free CRMs include Freshsales, HubSpot CRM, EngageBay, and Zoho CRM. These providers also offer paid plans that include basic contact and pipeline management tools, and are priced lower than Copper CRM.
• You need a low-priced CRM with lead scoring: While Copper CRM offers lead scoring features based on profiles and activity, it is quite expensive at $99 per user, monthly.
  • Alternative: Freshsales and EngageBay both offer lead scoring tools with their free plans.
• You’re a startup looking for free or low-cost CRM solution with marketing automation: Copper’s sales and marketing automation tools are only available with its Business plan, which costs $99 per user, monthly.
  • Alternative: Zoho CRM offers a lot of automation options across all of its plans, including those for sales and marketing. It also has a lot of scalable solutions that allow small businesses to grow, making it an ideal CRM for startups.

• You want a hassle-free CRM buying experience: Less Annoying CRM prides itself on a simple buying experience and offering an easy-to-operate platform. Rather than using a tier-based system or offering add-ons, users get one plan that includes all the CRM features.
• You need basic contact and task management tools: The main features of Less Annoying CRM are the data storage options to manage contacts and tasks. Within contact records, users can organize information on leads and customers, manage files, add notes, and track pipeline statuses. The system will also send a daily email agenda showing all events and tasks the user has in one day.
• You want an easy way to track sales activity: In addition to record management, Less Annoying CRM has simple reporting features that make it easy for sales managers to monitor the progress of all leads in the pipeline and see the last activity associated with them.

• You need to manage sales on-the-go: Less Annoying CRM does not have a mobile app. Instead, users must access the platform through a web browser on their mobile phone, where they can only view data records.
  • Alternative: Freshsales and HubSpot CRM are two alternatives that have great mobile capabilities, earning them top spots on our best mobile CRM apps list.
• You want to use AI to automate tasks: The persona of an easy sales CRM with basic features causes Less Annoying CRM to miss out on complex tools, such as AI for data insights and workflow automation.
  • Alternative: Freshsales’ Freddy AI is a smart sales assistant that helps sales teams find potential customers, compose personalized emails, and provides deal insights. Capsule CRM also has an AI Content Assistant that generates relevant sales emails for you based on contact information.

The easiest CRM depends on the user’s specific preferences. For example, while we rated Freshsales as the best CRM for its easy-to-operate phone and account management system, some users might prioritize other usability aspects. For instance, project-based business owners might say ClickUp is the easiest to use, while other small sales teams could classify HubSpot CRM as the simplest CRM.

ClickUp offers the most cost-effective CRM product that’s also easy to navigate and operate. It offers a free-forever plan and has the lowest starting paid price that begins at just $7 per user, monthly. In terms of value, however, Freshsales provides better features, like omnichannel communication and AI capabilities. It is also affordable, with plans that start at just $15 per user, monthly.

Yes, you can set up your own CRM using Excel or spreadsheets like Google Sheets. Start by identifying the data to be processed in your CRM. Then, create various tabs for process tracking and name your column headings. Lastly, you need to configure simple sales formulas and automations functions.