Productivity
CRM tools
CRM (customer relationship management) software is a shared record of the people and companies a business sells to. It stores contacts and deals, logs emails, calls and meetings against them, moves each deal through the stages of a pipeline, and reports on what is likely to close. Most now sync your inbox and calendar, automate follow-up tasks and summarise records or draft emails with AI.
HubSpot
CRM platform with free tools plus paid marketing, sales and service hubs
Pipedrive
Pipeline-based sales CRM for tracking leads and deals
Attio
Customisable CRM with email sync, enrichment, workflows and AI agents
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Sales CRM with lead, opportunity and forecasting tools in five editions
Zoho CRM
CRM with a free plan for three users and four paid editions
Freshsales
Sales CRM from Freshworks with three paid plans and a 21-day trial
Close
CRM for sales teams that work by phone, email and text
monday CRM
Board-based CRM from monday.com with plans from Basic to Ultimate
Copper
CRM built to work inside Google Workspace
Capsule CRM
CRM with a free plan for two users and four paid tiers
Less Annoying CRM
Single-plan CRM for small businesses at one price per user
Nutshell
Small-business CRM with five tiers and AI outcome allowances
Side by side
How to choose
- 1
Is it priced per user, and which features (automation, forecasting, custom fields, reports) are only on the higher plans? Price the plan your team would actually need, not the entry tier.
- 2
Does it sync two ways with the email and calendar you use, Gmail or Outlook, and log calls and meetings without manual entry?
- 3
Is it built around a sales pipeline, or do you also need marketing email, a help desk or projects in the same tool?
- 4
How easy is it to get your data in and out: import from spreadsheets, an API, and integrations with your accounting, forms and automation tools?
Guides
Questions
What are CRM tools?
CRM (customer relationship management) software is a shared record of the people and companies a business sells to. It stores contacts and deals, logs emails, calls and meetings against them, moves each deal through the stages of a pipeline, and reports on what is likely to close. Most now sync your inbox and calendar, automate follow-up tasks and summarise records or draft emails with AI.
Which CRM tools have a free plan?
Of the 12 listed here, 4 have a free plan: HubSpot, Attio, Zoho CRM and Capsule CRM. Free plans are limited; each tool's page lists the limits.
Which of these CRM tools costs least to start?
Of the tools here with a published price, the lowest entry price is HubSpot's Starter Customer Platform plan at $7/seat/mo, as published on its pricing page on 7 November 2026. The cheapest plan is not always the best value: check what each plan includes.