Pipedrive and Freshsales are both simple and feature-rich customer relationship management (CRM) software. Pipedrive’s edge is its visual sales pipeline feature that helps users move their deals easily through stages, as well as its robust reporting and extensive integrations. Meanwhile, Freshsales boasts of a free plan, an excellent in-app phone, and tools like sales forecasting and auto-profile enrichment—making it a superior choice for most small businesses.
In this guide, we take a look at each system’s essential features and identify their specific use cases:
- Pipedrive: Excellent for small businesses looking for a simple CRM tool with sales pipeline visualization tools, mobile apps, and key features like lead and deal management
- Freshsales: Ideal for businesses aggressive in lead generation activities due to its feature-rich in-app phone, lead gen bots, and lead qualification tools
Pipedrive vs Freshsales Side-by-Side Comparison
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
Expert Score | 3.88 out of 5 | 4.49 out of 5 |
Free Plan | ✕ | ✓ |
Annual Pricing ($/Month) | $14.90 per user, per month | $15 per user, per month |
Monthly Pricing ($/Month) | $19.90 per user, per month | $18 per user, per month |
Ease of Use | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly |
Lead & Contact Management | ✓ | ✓ |
Lead Scoring | ✓ | ✓ |
Mobile App | ✓ | ✓ |
Reporting & Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
Telephony | ✓ | ✓ |
Integrations | 275+ direct integrations | 30+ direct integrations |
If you think neither Pipedrive nor Freshsales fits your business needs, we recommend checking out our guide on the top six best small business CRMs or our guide on choosing the right CRM to learn more about your options.
When to Use Pipedrive
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Makes deal and opportunity tracking easy through its visual sales pipelines | Does not offer a free plan |
| Extensive native third-party integrations | In-app caller is only available in the two most expensive plans |
| Offers 24/7 chat and email support across all plans | Phone support is limited to the Enterprise plan |
We recommend Pipedrive for small teams that want a no-frills, affordable CRM that’s easy to navigate and use even for those with no previous CRM experience. Its cost-efficient, entry-level plan includes crucial features users need, like lead and deal management, rotting deals (identification of inactive or idle deals), a meeting scheduler, and a phone dialer. We also like its round-the-clock chat and email customer support, as well as accessibility via mobile apps.
When to Use Freshsales
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Offers a free plan that includes important features like opportunity, deal, contact, and account management | Multiple sales pipelines are only available in the two most expensive plans |
| In-app phone is feature-rich and includes functionalities like local and toll-free number purchase, call recording, call notes, and conference calling | Auto-profile enrichment is only available in the Enterprise plan |
| All plans include 24/5 technical support—even the free plan | Entry-level paid plan is slightly more expensive than Pipedrive |
We recommend Freshsales for sales teams that need a CRM tool but have no budget for recurring subscription costs. Freshsales offers many features that help users monitor and track the progress of their lead generation activities. Apart from its excellent in-app phone, it offers lead qualification tools that help teams identify hot leads, like lead gen bots that automate lead quality evaluation, as well as predictive contact scoring.
Most Affordable: Freshsales
| | |
|---|---|---|
Starting Monthly Price (Annual Contract) | $14.90 per user, per month | $15 per user, per month |
Starting Monthly Price (Month-to-Month Contract) | $19.90 per user, per month | $18 per user, per month |
Free Trial | 14 days | 21 days |
Free Plan | ✕ | ✓ |
Pipedrive pricing has four subscription plans that range from $14.90 to $99 per user, per month when billed annually. All plans include lead and deal management, customizable pipelines, a two-way inbox, deal rotting identification (inactive or idle leads), as well as data exports and imports. Users have the option to scale their lead management activities by purchasing the lead booster add-on, which includes additional features like chatbots, live chat, and web forms.
The following is a list of add-ons Pipedrive offers:
- LeadBooster (advanced lead generation tool set): Starts at $32.50 per month
- Web Visitors (web tracking and lead ranking): $4 per month
- Smart Docs (document management): $32.50 per month
Pipedrive lets users centralize their document management process by uploading all necessary files on their account through the Smart Docs add-on. (Source: Pipedrive)
On the other hand, Freshsales offers a Free plan for unlimited users, while its paid plans range from $15 to $69 when billed annually. All plans include fundamental features like contact, deal, and activity management, as well as a feature-packed in-app phone. Freshsales also lets you buy add-on tools like the CPQ (configure, price, and quote) feature, which allows you to create branded invoices, quotes, and contracts as well as additional workflows for repetitive tasks.
The following is a list of add-ons that Freshsales offers:
- Configure, price, and quote (CPQ) and billing: $75 per user, per month
- Additional bot sessions: $75 for 1,000 bot sessions per month
- Workflows: $5 per additional workflow
Freshsales lets users send invoices and track payments through its CPQ feature. (Source: Freshsales)
Winner: While Pipedrive’s entry-level plan is cheaper, Freshsales offers a feature-packed free plan, which includes crucial features, such as deal and opportunity management. Freshsales’ lower-priced plan also includes features that are not accessible to Pipedrive’s entry-level plan, such as a meeting scheduler and workflow automation. Lastly, Freshsales’ enterprise plan is more affordable than Pipedrive’s.
Best in In-app Telephony: Freshsales
| | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly Call Credits | Pre-loaded with $4 per month, after which users need to buy additional credits | All outgoing call credits need to be purchased Free plan has no incoming call credits; the 2,000 incoming call credits start at the Growth plan |
Cost per Minute | Not indicated | Starts at 1.6 cents per minute |
Call Recording | ✓ | ✓ |
Call Insights | ✓ | ✓ |
Call Queueing | ✕ | ✓ |
Conference Calling | ✕ | ✓ |
Pipedrive has a built-in caller that lets you make and record calls directly from the Pipedrive web app. Calls are auto-linked with deals and contacts so you can easily track conversation progress and refer to communication history with your customers. Calls are also automatically logged as activities and can be included when extracting customer activity reports.
Pipedrive’s caller lets users make online calls directly from their desktop. (Source: Pipedrive)
Freshsales’ in-app phone offers more advanced features. Apart from basic features, such as call recording, transfers, holds, and call insights, it has additional features like the ability to purchase local and toll-free numbers, non-business hours and holiday routing, and number porting. It has a session initiation protocol (SIP) connections feature that lets you connect an internet-enabled phone with your caller so you can forward your calls to your external phone.
Freshsales’ in-app phone makes it easy for agents to track their call history with their customers. (Source: Freshsales)
Winner: While Freshsales’ in-app caller doesn’t include free call credits, its features are more sophisticated than Pipedrive and are available for use even in the free plan with affordable per-minute call rates. We particularly find the purchase of local and toll-free numbers, as well as SIP connections, helpful tools when calling customers. Pipedrive, on the other hand, only provides access to this feature under its two most expensive plans.
Most Advanced Capabilities: Freshsales
| |
|---|---|
Offers easy-to-use CRM tools like workflow automation, revenue forecasts, and lead and deal management; has 270+ native third-party integrations, plus thousands of other integrations | Offers essential lead management and sales performance tools, a robust in-app phone, and direct integrations with 30+ native third-party integrations, plus thousands of other integrations via Zapier |
Pipedrive offers most of the crucial CRM features users typically require, such as lead, deal, and opportunity management, as well as customizable visual pipelines, two-way email sync, and workflow automation. It also offers users a reliable mobile app, so users can access their CRM data and communicate with their customers from anywhere.
Deals and opportunities can easily be moved through various sales stages within Pipedrive. (Source: Pipedrive)
Freshsales, on the other hand, provides almost the same set of fundamental functionalities. However, what we particularly liked about Freshsales is its robust in-app phone that lets users perform a wide range of activities—from chasing their leads via phone calls and recording their conversations to purchasing local and toll-free numbers and holding conference calls.
It also features lead-gen bots (bots that help set meetings and qualify visitors), an auto-profile enrichment feature, and time-based workflows. Freshsales also features helpful customer support tools, such as chatbots, to help users easily engage with their customers even beyond business hours.
Lead gen bots help engage with potential leads and automate tasks that can help agents reach out to prospects even outside business hours. (Source: Freshsales)
Pipedrive has 270-plus native integrations that include other essential business tools like social media marketing, project management, accounting, and email marketing. Meanwhile, Freshsales’ native integrations are limited to 30-plus. However, both providers’ integrations can be further expanded through Zapier—an application that connects various software with one another. Through Zapier, both can be integrated with thousands of other apps.
Winner: We declare Freshsales as the winner in this round. It provides users with access to highly sophisticated tools like customer enrichment profiles and time-based workflows. We also like the lead gen bots that help agents perform simple lead generation tasks, such as booking meetings and evaluating the quality of leads.
Best Customer Support: Tie
| | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | Free | Free |
24/7 Support | ✓ | ✕ (Only available 24/5) |
Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
Email Support | ✓ | ✓ |
Phone Support | ✓ (Available only in Enterprise plan) | ✓ |
Community Forums | ✓ | ✓ |
Pipedrive offers 24/7 email and chat support for all users. However, phone support is only available in the Enterprise plan. All users also have access to its online resources and community forums.
Meanwhile, Freshsales provides 24/5 chat, email, and phone assistance in all its plans—including the free version. Users also have access to community forums and the resource center on its website.
Winner: Both Pipedrive and Freshsales have their own strong points when it comes to providing technical assistance to their users. We like Pipedrive’s 24/7 email and chat support and Freshsales’ inclusion of phone support across all plans—even in its free plan.
Pipedrive vs Freshsales User Reviews
Apart from evaluating Pipedrive vs Freshsales on features, pricing, and ease of use, we also scoured available online reviews to see what users think about each provider. Check out the highlights of available user reviews below:
- Pipedrive: This software earned 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2 and 4.5 out of 5 stars on Capterra. Users like its intuitiveness and no-frills nature. They said that managing leads and tracking sales within the platform is easy. Users also commended the efficient customer support from the technical team.
- Freshsales: It has 4.6 out of 5 stars on G2 and 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra. Apart from its simplicity and ease of use, users like its integration with other business tools, such as project management and accounting software. They find the sales dashboard handy in understanding their current sales performance and noted that reports can be easily extracted from the system.
How We Evaluated Pipedrive vs Freshsales
To help you choose between Pipedrive vs Freshsales, we looked at the most crucial functionalities needed by small businesses owners. We looked at both providers when it comes to pricing, ease of use, general features, customer service, and expert scores.
Click the tabs below for more information on the criteria we used to evaluate each CRM provider:
30% of Overall Score
Pricing is typically one of the most important considerations when choosing a CRM system. We considered the availability of a free plan, the pricing range of available subscription options, and whether or not the provider offers month-to-month contracts.
20% of Overall Score
We looked through the overall set of CRM features, including lead and opportunity management, sales reports, availability of a mobile app, and analytics. We also assessed the extensiveness of available third-party integrations provided by each software.
20% of Overall Score
Simplicity and intuitiveness are two of our key considerations when looking into a software’s level of ease of use. In evaluating Pipedrive vs Freshsales, we analyzed what level of technical expertise is needed to get up to speed with using the system.
20% of Overall Score
Support is critical for running a CRM platform, especially for small businesses without in-house technical experts. We therefore analyzed the types of support provided by both Pipedrive and Freshsales via chat, email, and phone.
10% of Overall Score
We looked through existing customer reviews on credible sites to measure the level of satisfaction current users have, and any problems that they usually encounter. We also added our thoughts and expert opinion on key features, value for money, and popularity.
Best Alternatives to Pipedrive & Freshsales
Both Pipedrive and Freshsales are feature-packed CRM tools, but they may not be suitable for your business needs. For example, you may be looking for a CRM system with highly advanced analytics tools or strong email marketing features. If so, below are our top recommended alternatives to Pipedrive and Freshsales:
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For | Users who want a free feature-packed CRM with strong email marketing tools | Businesses that want an affordable CRM with excellent analytics tools | Companies that need advanced sales force automation and analytics tools |
Starting Price | Offers a free plan while paid plans start at $30 per month for two users | Offers a free plan while paid plans start at $14 per user, per month | No free plan available; paid plans start at $25 per user, per month |
Interested in learning how Pipedrive and Freshsales compare with other providers? If yes, check out our article on Pipedrive vs Salesforce or Freshsales vs Salesforce.
Bottom Line
Pipedrive and Freshsales are both easy to use, but also feature-rich. The user interfaces of both providers are simple to navigate, and new users are not expected to experience a steep learning curve. However, each has its own set of strengths. Pipedrive is better for users who prefer to monitor the progress of their leads using visual pipelines, while Freshsales, due to its in-app phone and lead gen bots, is best for users who are aggressive in their lead generation activities.
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