Salesforce is one of the most popular customer relationship management (CRM) software platforms on the market. While it offers a number of core features small businesses find beneficial, its base price of $25 for a limit of 10 users, lack of a free plan, and steep learning curve leave some companies seeking alternatives to Salesforce. We evaluated a number of solutions to find the best top six and learn which CRM alternative is best overall.
- Zoho CRM: Best overall Salesforce CRM alternative for small businesses
- Freshworks CRM: Best suited for teams that require an easy-to-use solution without user limits on the free plan
- Insightly: Ideal for organizations that require a feature-rich CRM with automatic social profile enrichment
- HubSpot CRM: Best for businesses seeking a forever free plan that includes marketing and service desk tools
- Pipedrive: Designed for sales professionals wanting customizable pipelines and dashboards
- Apptivo: Well-suited for solopreneurs and small teams seeking a Salesforce alternative with a free plan and affordable paid plan upgrades
How We Evaluated the Best Salesforce CRM Alternatives
The best CRM alternatives to Salesforce address common pain points small businesses encounter when evaluating Salesforce CRM service plans for purchase. They include the lack of a free plan, a base plan limited to only 10 users, and a dearth of features it either doesn’t offer or are only available on its upper-level service plan, such as customizable dashboards and social media integration.
I evaluated a range of popular CRMs and recommend Zoho CRM as the best alternative to Salesforce. It features two free plans to serve small businesses looking for either a standard CRM or one with a focus on sales pipelines and fully integrated mobile apps. Paid plans range from $12 to $45 per user, per month with a variety of core CRM features small businesses need.
Click through the tabs below to learn more about how we evaluated the best alternatives to Salesforce CRM.
25% of Overall Score
Salesforce Essentials, the company’s base CRM plan, is priced at $25 per user, per month and limited to a total of 10 users. The alternatives we recommend include plans that offer lower pricing, unlimited users, or both.
25% of Overall Score
Each recommendation on our list includes core CRM features most small businesses and sales teams look for in a CRM. They include email management, mobile apps, business app integrations, and social media tools.
25% of Overall Score
The CRMs we recommend include features that Salesforce lacks, or tools only found on its more expensive service plans, like product catalogs, invoicing tools, and customizable dashboards.
25% of Overall Score
In addition to our objective scoring methods, I reviewed each Salesforce alternative for its ease of use, user reputation, and overall value for the money.
Zoho CRM
PROS
- Customizable invoices
- Generates auto-populated invoicing
- Product catalog management
CONS
- Lacks unlimited quotes
- No opportunity management tools
- No business phone integration
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Zoho CRM includes many core features of Salesforce, but offers two types of free plans and several affordable paid plans for small businesses to choose from. Invoicing and product catalog functionality are also available with lower-priced service plans than Salesforce offers, which also helps make Zoho CRM the best overall alternative to Salesforce.
Zoho CRM Pricing
- Bigin for Small Businesses: Free for one user to $7 per user, per month
- Zoho CRM 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
- Free trial of paid plans: 15 days
Zoho CRM Features
Zoho CRM social integration
(Source: Zoho CRM)
- Feature-packed mobile apps
- Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- Customizable dashboards
- Email marketing tools
- Social media integration
Freshworks CRM
PROS
- Free plan supports unlimited users
- AI-powered assistant to deliver personalized insights
- Supports product catalogs
CONS
- Lacks advanced invoicing tools
- Additional feature add-ons like workflow automation cost extra
- Base paid plan more expensive than Salesforce’s entry-level plan
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert score | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Freshworks CRM is a customizable Salesforce alternative that offers contact management, business phone integration, and robust mobile apps. Where Freshworks CRM really shines is its free service plan that supports unlimited users, unlike Salesforce’s entry-level plan that supports only 10 users.
Freshworks CRM Pricing
- Free: Supports unlimited users
- Growth: $29 per user, per month
- Pro: $69 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $125 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 21 days
Based on annual billing.
Freshworks CRM Features
Freshworks CRM sales pipeline
(Source: Freshworks CRM)
- Customizable dashboards
- Automated workflows
- Free forever startup plan supports unlimited users
- Does not limit number of users before requiring an upgrade on paid plans
- Third-party integration with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter through Freshdesk
Insightly
PROS
- Integrated project management features
- 40+ chart types
- Opportunity management across pipelines, stages, and custom fields
CONS
- Free plan limited to two users
- Lacks deal management capabilities
- No invoicing functionality
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert score | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Insightly is a great Salesforce alternative for small businesses that need social media integration to enhance selling strategies. Automatic profile enrichment adds social network profiles to contact records, giving users more insight into customer behavior and needs. Insightly also features opportunity and lead management tools with all paid plans.
Insightly Pricing
- Free: Supports up to two users
- Plus: $29 per user, per month
- Professional: $49 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 14 days
Based on annual billing.
Insightly Features
Insightly dashboard
(Source: Insightly)
- Accounting functionality
- Email management and sync support
- Automated workflows
- Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 integration
- 250+ business app integrations
HubSpot CRM
PROS
- Unlimited users on free plan
- Free invoice generator
- Simple-to-use setup and interface
CONS
- Add-on module costs add up quickly
- No vendor-based support on free plan
- Lacks product catalogs
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 2.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert score | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
HubSpot CRM is a forever free contact management application and CRM that also includes marketing and service desk functionality. It supports ad management, landing pages, ticketing, and live chat, which are rare finds with a completely free CRM for unlimited users.
HubSpot CRM Pricing
- Free: For unlimited users
- Starter: $45 per month, starts at two paid users
- Professional: $450 per month, starts at five paid users
- Enterprise: $1,200 per month, starts at 10 paid users
Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
HubSpot CRM Features
HubSpot CRM deal management dashboard
(Source: HubSpot CRM)
- Team email
- Reporting dashboards
- List segmentation
- Rep productivity reports
- Email tracking and notification
Pipedrive
PROS
- AI sales assistant
- Visual sales pipeline to organize sales process
- 24/7 customer support
CONS
- No free plan
- No opportunity management and lead scoring
- Lacks social media integration
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 2.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert score | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Pipedrive is a competitively priced CRM with a simple drag-and-drop interface. It features unlimited customizable pipelines with a Kanban view, unlimited custom fields, and customizable reporting features. Like Salesforce, Pipedrive lacks a free plan. However, its entry-level plans are priced at or below what Salesforce has to offer.
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 of paid plans: 14 days
Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Pipedrive Features
Pipedrive sales dashboard
(Source: Pipedrive)
- In-app calling
- Product catalog
- Deal management
- Google Drive integration
- Reminders and notifications
Apptivo
PROS
- Mobile app to manage leads and send invoices
- 24/7 live chat support
- Extensive invoicing capabilities
CONS
- Free plan limited to three users
- Lacks lead scoring, business phone integration, and sales forecasting
- No social media integration or customizable dashboard
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 3.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 2.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert score | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Apptivo CRM is a comprehensive Salesforce alternative with affordable paid plans for small businesses. Though its free plan is limited to three users, paid service plans begin at a mere $8 per user, per month and top out at $20 per user, per month for the top-tier plan. All tiers come with a product catalog, project management tools, estimates and proposals, and standard reporting.
Apptivo Pricing
- Starter: Supports up to three users
- Lite: $8 per user, per month
- Premium: $12 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $20 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 30 days
Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Apptivo Features
Apptivo task management
(Source: Apptivo)
- Work orders and field service tools
- Web-to-lead capture
- Email integration and sync
- Deal and opportunity management
- Mobile app manages contacts, invoices, and time sheets
Helen Armour
Thanks for the review of Really Simple Systems. However, you have omitted any details of our Enterprise plan which includes the features most comparable to Salesforce. This plan includes more advanced features for workforce collaboration and other advanced features. The Enterprise plan costs $46 per user per month.
Allison Potts
Hi Helen,
I am glad you found my review. This article is intended for small business teams who do not need an enterprise-level solution which is why I did not include that level of plan, offered by any provider, in my comparison. Thank you though for pointing out that Really Simple Systems does offer a plan for teams needing enterprise features as well as the information about its costs.
Patryk
Some great info & insights.
I found Livespace CRM (www.livespace.io) to be the best for our company’s needs. It’s like Pipedrive but with more automation and better insights / analytics. And more available space.
Marcin Stańczak
Thanks for your kind words Patryk! 🙂
These are 6 great tools, but I’m sure that Livspace is an interesting competitor. Especially if you need to manage a B2B sales process – then you should definitely test Livespace!
Allison Potts
Thanks, Marcin,
While Livespace.io did not make our list due to the base plan’s price and limited features, it is a product we will continue to keep in mind for future updates.
Nate White
Bitrix24 is great recommendation. I didn’t know that there are free full featured CRM that really do have almost all features that Salesforce. Keep up the great work.
Jeremy Marsan
Hi Nate,
Thanks for reading and dropping in! Bitrix24 is a surprisingly feature-packed system, considering there is no cost. However, I will warn that some CRM functions acted somewhat buggy last time I tested them.
Dane
I am really impressed by Bitrix24 and don’t understand why you did not put it as #1 option. Are you being compensated for sending traffic to Insightly?
Jeremy Marsan
Hi Dane,
I was also very impressed by the social & collaboration tools on Bitrix24, but was not impressed by their CRM. For one, it’s very basic (no workflow automation, mass emails, Facebook/Twitter integration). It’s also somewhat buggy – For example, like most CRMs, you can link an individual to a company and vice versa. But with Bitrix, linking one won’t automatically link the other – you have to go to the company page and link the individual contacts manually. It also runs slower compared to other CRMs and takes a bit more scrolling to navigate through menus.
To answer your second question, we do form a relationship with some our top picks after we write a review, and Insightly is one example. This has no affect on the content of our reviews, however, since we also enter research as a neutral 3rd party. You can read more about this process on our about us page, which is linked to at the bottom of every page.
Hope this clears it up!
Best,
Jeremy
Aaron Flynn
Some great info! I’ve used a few of them in the past (mostly Zoho), but some I had never heard of and I was intrigued. After some testing, none of them quite fit my needs though. Over the last few months, I’ve been using a new system that’s not on this list, called SuiteDash (https://suitedash.com) that I’ve been really satisfied with. It has CRM, project management, invoicing, and a ton of other useful features. Everything is really intuitive, and their support team has been incredibly helpful and responsive, sometimes even adding new features just for us! We’ve switched all of our business management over to SuiteDash now, and there’s no signs of us going back.
Check them out at https://suitedash.com if you’re in the market for a reasonably priced and easy-to-use alternative to Salesforce.
Jason Rueger
Aaron,
Thanks for the heads up and the comment. We will check out suitedash next time we update the guide.
Jason