Admit it: you love free stuff. Who doesn’t, right? A free Starbucks on your birthday, those free samples at Costco, free tickets to an NBA game. The appeal of free things also applies in business, especially if you’re a small operation with a tight budget. CRM software is one of the pillars of a successful company, so if you can find a free CRM, that’s a win-win.
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| Product | User Sentiment Score | Free Trial | Company Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM | 85%Great | Yes |
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| Freshsales | 93%Excellent | Yes |
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| Insightly | 81%Great | Yes |
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| HubSpot CRM | 87%Great | Yes |
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| Bitrix24 | 82%Great | Yes |
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But as you’ve probably experienced, free often (ironically) comes at a cost — subpar quality. Sure, you may not be paying anything, but the software’s capabilities don’t add much, if anything, to your business. In fact, it may even create a tangled mess that’s not worth the free price tag.
That said, there are some solid free CRM options on the market, and finding one that fits your needs can be a huge asset, helping you reduce your costs while improving your contact management and customer relationships.
We’ve dug through the chaos and marketing jargon to find the top solutions, so you know where to start. We’ll also look at the pros and cons of using a free solution, as well as some tips on how to choose the best free CRM software for you. Here’s the cheat sheet:
Best Free CRM Software Systems
So, what’s the best free CRM software in the market? The CRM experts here at SelectHub have compiled a top-five list, so you don’t have to do the guesswork yourself. Let’s see what each of them has to offer.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is a cloud-based solution that supports up to three users, with the ability to set up two profiles and user roles. Its free version offers limited functionality, making it a better fit for small businesses that don’t have complex or extensive needs.
The leads source dashboard in Zoho CRM. Source
Free features include the basics like lead management, contacts, marketing campaigns, deals, a document library, standard reports and 10 email templates. The option to integrate with Zoho’s extensive suite of tools, while not free, is also a major plus if you need extra capabilities or need to scale at some point.
It comes with 1 GB of storage and 5,000 records. And the free version has GDPR compliance baked in. There are also iOS and Android apps, so you can conduct business from anywhere.
What You Get
Here are the main features included in the free package, in addition to the ones mentioned above:
- Kanban View: The Activities and Deals modules include this visual layout for easy data views.
- Activities: The system lets you track your calls, tasks and events.
- Calendar: Zoho CRM includes a calendar view.
- Forms: You receive one web form per module that you use, which you can set up to generate leads.
- Social Media Integration: Connect the system to your company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Zoho Integrations: The free version provides greater functionality through the Zoho product suite. Integrate with Zoho Projects, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Forms, Zoho Desk and Zoho Survey.
What You’ll Have to Live Without
Some of the features not offered in the free plan include:
- Dashboards: The free version doesn’t have either standard or custom dashboards. It also doesn’t provide visual charts.
- Mass Email: If sending email blasts is a must-have, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
- Custom Fields: It doesn’t have the option to add fields beyond what’s already built in.
- Tags for Records: Tagging records is a quick and easy way to keep everything organized, and Zoho’s free CRM lacks this feature.
- Inventory Management: The software doesn’t provide features like invoices, purchase orders and products.
- Sales Force Automation Software: Zoho CRM has some capabilities here, but it doesn’t provide forecasting, calendar booking, scoring rules or reminders. You also can’t do business in multiple currencies.
Platform:
Company Size Suitability: S M L
HubSpot CRM
This one’s no surprise. HubSpot is widely regarded as one of the best systems out there and is one of the most well-known companies in the marketing industry. The solution consists of four hubs or modules that give you capabilities for core CRM, marketing, sales and support.
One benefit is that it supports unlimited users, so any number of people can use the system. Even better, perhaps, is the storage capacity — up to a million contacts.
A contact profile in HubSpot CRM. Source
However, the range of functionality is where HubSpot CRM really sets itself apart from many free CRM options. It’s a fully-featured system offering contact management, forms, email marketing and templates, tickets, task tracking, and live chat.
What You Get
For a freemium solution, HubSpot CRM has an impressive array of features. So many that we had to narrow it down to the top handful. Besides the ones mentioned above, you get:
- Deals: You can keep track of everything related to leads in the pipeline.
- List Segmentation: Segment your contacts into different lists for more effective marketing and better data organization.
- Reporting Dashboards: You gain access to one dashboard that houses 10 prebuilt reports.
- Ad Management: Connect your ad accounts to HubSpot and create audiences using CRM data. View and pinpoint which ads are turning leads into customers.
- Website Activity: It lets you track the path contacts take on the company’s website to better understand their intent.
- Integration With Gmail and Outlook: Connecting HubSpot with your email provider lets you send emails from the CRM.
- Team Tools: You can define user roles, set up a shared inbox that every user can access and create a team email address.
What You’ll Have to Live Without
Although HubSpot CRM has a lot to offer, here are some things it doesn’t include:
- Custom Dashboards: The free version doesn’t let you build dashboards based on your activities.
- Email Sequences and Scheduling: Non-paying users can’t set up email sequences and schedule emails.
- Record Customization: You won’t have the option to customize your contacts to match your processes.
- Landing Pages: Capabilities to create landing pages are only available with paid versions.
- Automation: With Hubspot’s free CRM system, you’ll have to manually complete tasks related to email marketing, ads and customer service activities.
- Surveys: You won’t be able to send surveys or gather information from customers about their experience and the customer service help they received.
- Unlimited Email and Call Minutes: HubSpot CRM limits emails to 2,000 per month and call time to 15 minutes every month.
Platform:
Company Size Suitability: S M L
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is another well-known solution that caters to small businesses and has the option to deploy in the cloud or on-premise. It offers a free platform that will cover the bulk of your basic needs for CRM, marketing, sales and service. You can add up to 12 users.
Task Tab in Bitrix24. Source
There’s no limit to the number of deals, contacts and leads you can add. However, you can only send 1,000 emails every month, and it has a max storage of 5 GB.
One major bonus of using Bitrix is its data import feature. You can bring in lead and contact data from other sources, including CSV files, another CRM, and email clients like Gmail and Outlook.
What You Get
Here are the main features included in the free package, in addition to the ones mentioned above:
- Pipeline: Bitrix24 provides one pipeline for monitoring and managing your leads via a Kanban layout.
- Customizations: You can configure the system to add stages and deal statuses based on your company’s processes.
- Website: Create your own website using Bitrix24’s website builder capabilities. It comes with templates, unlimited pages, CRM forms, Google Maps integration and live chat.
- Card Scanner: You can use your smartphone to scan business cards and upload that information to the CRM.
- Group Chats: Team members can converse with one another from within the platform rather than going to an external tool like Slack.
- Social Media Integration: The system’s contact center can connect with social channels.
- Built-in Telephony: The solution has a native calling system, so you don’t have to use a third-party tool. It offers call routing, transfers, unlimited lines, extensions and caller ID for outbound calls.
What You’ll Have to Live Without
These are the top areas where Bitrix24 falls short:
- Bulk Communication: Bitrix24’s free CRM software doesn’t support bulk emails, SMS texts and instant messages.
- Analytics: The software doesn’t offer any reporting or analytics capabilities unless you pay.
- Automation: You can’t set up marketing and sales workflows that trigger tasks automatically.
- Email and CRM Integration: There’s no option to integrate Bitrix24 with email platforms to send emails from the CRM.
- User Permissions: You can’t define user roles to specify what each user can access inside the platform.
Platform:
Company Size Suitability: S M L
Insightly
Next up, we have Insightly CRM, which supports two users before you have to pay. While its free version has less robust features than some of the products on our list, you may find it meets your needs, especially if you’re a small operation that isn’t looking for a lot of bells and whistles.
Home Tab in Insightly. Source
Even so, you’ll have basics like lead management and contacts. And you can access the platform from any device connected to the internet.
What You Get
Here are a few features you can use:
- Contacts: Sales reps can capture lead and client info. It even lets them connect the person’s profiles from social media, keeping all the necessary data in one place.
- Tasks: Insighlty provides capabilities to track and manage tasks.
- Project Management: These tools let you stay on top of important details like milestones and contact communication.
What You’ll Have to Live Without
Some of the features not offered in Insightly’s basic CRM include:
- Email Templates: The free version doesn’t come with templates you can use to quickly create emails.
- Collaboration Tools: There isn’t support for integrations that aid communication and collaboration, such as Google G Suite, Slack, Outlook and MS Office 365.
- Custom Sales Processes: There isn’t support for designing processes in the CRM that fit your current sales flow.
- Kanban View: This visual layout with drag-and-drop functionality comes only with paid plans.
- BI Platform: You won’t have access to any analytics or reporting tools, such as dashboards and insight cards.
- Automation: The system doesn’t offer automation for emails, workflows, data entry and other tasks.
Platform:
Company Size Suitability: S M L
Freshsales
Rounding out our list is Freshsales. While not as prominent as the likes of HubSpot or Bitrix24, it’s a reliable option if you’re looking to get basic CRM capabilities without spending an arm and a leg. The free version comes with lead management, tasks and a mobile app for iOS and Android. You can also create accounts for any number of users.
The deal pipeline view in Freshsales. Source
One perk of Freshsales is that it’s one product in a suite of tools from Freshworks. If, in the future, you need to scale or move to a paid plan that includes more functionality, there’s a lot of room for growth within the product itself and the larger product suite.
Another benefit is the support. Even free accounts receive round-the-clock support via phone, email or chat, Monday through Friday.
What You Get
Let’s take a look at what Freshsales offers:
- Unlimited Contacts: Create, store and manage contacts without worrying about the database outgrowing any limits.
- Data Import and Export: You can seamlessly transfer data into or out of the system.
- Mobile Capabilities: You can manage your leads, deals, contacts and accounts via mobile devices. Mobile features also include voice notes, a calendar, personal settings, Google Maps and filters.
- User Roles: Grant or limit access to different areas of the system based on each user’s role.
What You’ll Have to Live Without
These are the top limitations you’ll find:
- Sales Pipeline: The platform lacks capabilities to track and monitor deals in the pipeline.
- Email: The email functionality is highly limited and doesn’t include scheduling, bulk emails, a team inbox, two-way sync, templates, tracking or metrics.
- Integrations: Freshsales doesn’t integrate with popular tools like Zapier, Gmail, Google Calendar, Office 365 Calendar, SMS or other Freshworks products. You also won’t have API access.
- Collaboration Tools: There’s no ability to create teams, automatically assign leads, and add or share files.
- Customizations: You won’t be able to create custom fields that fit your processes or make more complex customizations like renaming default fields.
- Workflows and Automation: There’s no ability to set up workflows or rules that automate repetitive tasks.
- Reports and Analytics: The free version doesn’t have a way to track performance through things like dashboards, and it doesn’t provide any type of reporting capability (custom or standard).
- Phone: The built-in phone system only comes with paid versions of the software.
Platform:
Company Size Suitability: S M L
How We Choose Products
Our team of writers and analysts at SelectHub is committed to giving you the best recommendations based on our data. To make our list, products had to meet two criteria:
- Closely match the topic
- Earn a top-5 analyst score in our selection platform
Our analyst scores are based on an in-depth research process using primary and secondary sources. This includes SelectHub Analyst Briefings, direct communication with vendors, and reviewing materials such as user reviews, product brochures, specification sheets, case studies, user manuals, and technical documentation.
Our platform’s Scoring Engine processes the research and computes the analyst score. The score also factors in platform settings such as industry and company size.
Learn more about our research methodology and editorial standards
Primary Benefits
Don’t think all those fancy benefits are for large companies who can pay for advanced systems. Free CRMs can help improve revenue by targeting specific pain points and providing a range of dynamic features.
Basic CRMs can help you:
Manage Contacts Faster and Better
It’s time to ditch complicated spreadsheets and seamlessly create tasks and deals at a minimal cost. Free CRMs come with great contact management capabilities that allow you to create, organize and store customer data. It helps manage data in a centralized platform, enabling teams to collaborate and communicate better.
Optimize Lead Management
Sales teams can capture and track all prospect and customer interactions. Free CRM systems let you store data from online channels, build lasting customer relationships and monitor sales cycles effortlessly. You can also attract leads through personalized marketing campaigns and communication.
Retain More Customers
Free CRM software helps streamline customer management functions like client outreach and deal management. It helps reduce customer churn and bottlenecks in the process, leading to increased client retention rates.
With a complete view of each contact, sales teams can focus on the leads that are most likely to convert. This way, basic CRMs save sales reps time and increase their productivity.
Save Money and Increase Revenue
Sales and marketing teams can leverage contact and lead management functions to drive revenue and make the most of every business opportunity. This is especially helpful if you’re an SMB with limited expenses. As the company grows and your needs evolve, you can scale to a paid version. And starting out with a free CRM helps avoid the hassle of training and data migration later on.
Challenges
While free CRMs provide insight into a solution’s capabilities for a minimal cost, you won’t have access to advanced features and customizations. Free CRM systems are technically “free,” but they can come at a cost to your operational efficiency.
Some challenges you may face with free CRMs are:
Fewer Integrations: Basic CRM systems don’t provide as many integrations as their paid counterparts. All free CRMs can’t integrate with the apps you use daily, affecting your teams’ collaboration and data collection and storage processes.
Incomplete Reports: You may not gain as many valuable data insights from free CRM software compared to paid versions. Its reports, analytics and dashboards aren’t as robust, hindering transparency and informed decision-making.
Insufficient Customizations: Free CRMs have limited functionality and don’t have an extensive range of customization options. This means companies and teams cannot tailor the solution to their unique needs.
Some solutions have a clunky interface and tricky navigation that can quickly undermine the benefits of having a free CRM in the first place.
Less Scalability: With basic CRMs, it’s harder to scale as they restrict the number of users and leads you can work on. You have to pay extra to access more complex and advanced features. You’ll also have storage, email and record limits to work around.
Limited Customer Support: Free CRMs usually don’t offer robust training or customer support. It may take a lot of time to resolve issues, putting you at risk of losing out on important deals.
Weak Automation: Automating tasks saves a ton of time and reduces human error and faulty data entries. Free CRM software has limited automation and may not automate critical sales tasks, ultimately affecting the sales team’s efficiency.
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How To Choose the Right Free CRM System
How can you know whether the benefits of getting a free CRM outweigh the drawbacks? Consider the following aspects to help you understand what can truly benefit your business.
Do You Really Need a Free CRM?
Do you honestly not have the budget to invest in a CRM system, even if it means compromising on features or usability? If you’re a:
New business or startup: You probably need basic CRM capabilities to promote growth, so a free version may be worthwhile. Teams won’t need all premium features, and cutting costs is always a factor when you’re starting.
Small Business: You can also greatly benefit from free CRM software. Assuming you don’t need many users — you can get by with one marketer and one sales rep accessing the system. A free version should cover all of the basic features that you need. And if you outgrow the capabilities of the free version, you can always upgrade.
Mid-Sized or Large Business: Your business may exceed the requirements for the number of users, contact records, daily emails, document storage capacity and so on. Not to mention, by the time you reach this threshold, you’ll need some of the more robust CRM features available.
What CRM Requirements Should You Consider?
Preferred Features: It’s vital to explore the “why” behind getting a free CRM system. Why exactly do you need it? What problems are you trying to solve (e.g., you’re tired of managing a messy spreadsheet and want a streamlined way to stay organized)?
Your best free CRM software options should excel in:
- Contact management
- Sales tracking and automation
- Lead management
- Reporting and forecasting
- Pipeline management
- Scheduling capabilities
The Number of Users: Since free CRMs have user limits, you need to decide how many people in your company will get access to the solution. But most importantly, who will get to use it? The answer depends on what you’re hoping to achieve from the CRM. If you’re heavily leaning towards improving sales processes, it makes sense for more sales reps to use the system over other departments.
Mobile Platform: CRM applications that you can access anywhere are useful if you have remote or hybrid teams. However, with free CRMs, you’ll have limited access to features and may run into difficulties in managing data.
Type of CRM: You can read our article on the various types of CRM to fully grasp the topic. In a nutshell, there are three main types of CRM in the market — collaborative, operational and analytical. Companies that need free CRMs, like small businesses or startups, can benefit from collaborative or operational systems. Analytical CRMs are meant for larger firms and cost more.
Deployment Model: On-premise systems are expensive to install and need a dedicated IT team for maintenance. If you’re looking to cut costs, cloud CRMs are your best bet.
Integrations: Your ideal free CRM software should integrate with your preferred apps, enabling you to streamline communication. Systems that sync with your calendar, email, social media handles and other communication channels are handy.
Scalability: It helps to invest in a scalable solution so the system can accommodate your technical needs as your business grows.
Vendor Support: Free CRM vendors don’t always offer robust customer support. But a few things to look out for are their data privacy and security measures. It also helps if they have a self-service portal, so you can resolve technical issues on your own.
User Experience: Basic CRMs are notorious for clunky interfaces and slow navigation. However, you can try to find a solution with the most intuitive UI, easily understandable icons, customizations and automation out of the bunch.
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Next Steps
If you get a paid CRM solution and it doesn’t work out, there’s the whole sunk cost fallacy of you investing time and money in user training, data migration and learning curve. With free CRMs, however, you can easily shift to another system and make a final decision only when you’re completely satisfied. So don’t stress! And you’ll be good to go after a little trial and error.
Still feeling confused? Our analysts compiled a CRM comparison report that helps you decide which solution (out of the hundreds in the market) will suit you best.
Have you tried a free CRM? What did you like or not like? Share your experiences in the comments below!
2 comments
Join the conversationJacko - November 14, 2017
None of what you wrote applies to most popular free CRM, like Bitrix24 or SuiteCRM. They are fully featured, unlike free versions of Zoho or Insightly, which are, frankly total crap. Writing a post about free CRM and not talking about leading two leading free CRM is a total sham.
Alex Jaumann - November 16, 2017
Thanks for your feedback! We just updated the article to include more information about these systems.