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Best Free CRM Software 2025

Written by Paddy Stobbs

Co-Founder & CEO

Edited by Steph Leung

Product & Operations Lead

Updated onApr 15, 2025

Finding the right free CRM is tougher than it looks. Too many startups end up with clunky tools that waste time and don’t deliver.

We’ve tested the best free options so you don’t have to. Whether you’re just starting out or upgrading from spreadsheets, this guide breaks down the top free CRMs that actually work for growing teams.

Best CRMs for different use cases

For value:

Attio product logo

Attio

Stackfix Rating:

8.1 / 10

Attio is one of the most exciting new CRMs on the market – especially for startups and small teams that want serious functionality without spending big. Its free plan is generous, supporting up to 3 users with access to features that many competitors lock behind paywalls.

The interface is a standout – fast, clean, and beautifully designed. Pages load quickly, data is color-coded for clarity, and subtle touches like emoji indicators make it feel modern and intuitive. One-click data enrichment is particularly useful, pulling in details like ARR and funding rounds automatically.

Attio also nails flexibility. You can build fully custom data objects, pipelines, and reports – whether you’re tracking sales, fundraising, recruiting, or something in between. The Chrome extension is another highlight, letting you add contacts from LinkedIn, X, or Gmail in a single click.

There are some limitations. The free tier has limited integrations, and features like native calling and lead scoring aren’t included. But for teams that value customization, speed, and a polished experience, Attio delivers impressive power – especially at the free tier.

Jump to product

For tech-driven teams:

Streak product logo

Streak

Stackfix Rating:

6.6 / 10

Streak takes a refreshingly different approach to CRM – it lives entirely inside Gmail. For tech-savvy teams who spend most of their day in their inbox, it’s a seamless way to manage pipelines without switching tabs or tools.

For a Gmail plugin, it’s surprisingly powerful. You get built-in data enrichment, workflow automations, an AI co-pilot, and custom reporting – all without leaving your inbox. Setup is quick (less than 10 minutes), and its export capabilities are strong, making it easy to work with your data outside the platform.

There are trade-offs. Streak only works with Gmail and Chrome, so it’s a no-go for teams on Outlook or other browsers. And while the free plan is solid for solo users, team features like shared pipelines and permissions are locked behind pricier tiers than many competitors.

Still, for teams working deeply in the Google ecosystem who want a CRM that feels like part of Gmail – not an add-on – Streak is a clean, convenient choice that keeps your workflow simple.

Jump to product

For simplicity:

Relate product logo

Relate

Stackfix Rating:

7.1 / 10

Relate is a modern sales platform built for B2B teams that want simplicity without sacrificing capability - and a reasonable free plan. Launched in 2019, it offers a clean, fast, and intuitive experience – even for users who usually avoid CRMs. The free tier covers all the basics, making it a strong starting point for small teams.

The interface is one of the best things about Relate. It’s lightning fast, beautifully designed, and clearly built with early-stage B2B workflows in mind. The dedicated ‘Prospect’ feature is a highlight – giving teams a focused space to qualify leads before handing them off to sales.

Pipeline automation is another smart touch. You can link pipelines together so, for example, once a deal hits ‘closed won,’ it automatically moves into your onboarding flow. It’s the kind of lightweight automation that most free CRMs don’t offer.

There are limitations. The free plan caps you at 25 open deals, integrations are minimal, and email sequencing is restricted. But for small teams that want a fast, modern CRM that feels easy from day one, Relate gets the job done without the usual CRM bloat.

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For phone calling:

Bigin product logo

Bigin

Stackfix Rating:

6.3 / 10

For small businesses seeking a free CRM with robust phone calling capabilities, Bigin is a good option. In our testing, Bigin earned an 8/10 rating for its phone calling functionality, allowing users to make and track calls directly from their browser. The system manages calls seamlessly and supports routing automation for inbound calls, which is valuable for teams that rely heavily on phone communication with clients.

Bigin’s integration of calling with other CRM functions is practical for phone-focused teams. Users can track call metrics alongside other activities, view comprehensive contact histories, and automate follow-up tasks after calls. While Bigin lacks some advanced features found in premium CRMs (such as call coaching), its straightforward interface makes it accessible for small teams transitioning from spreadsheets. A significant limitation is the absence of a mobile app, which might be inconvenient for teams needing to make calls on the go.

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For inbound marketing:

HubSpot Sales Hub product logo

HubSpot Sales Hub

Stackfix Rating:

5.8 / 10

For businesses focused on inbound marketing, HubSpot Sales Hub is a solid free CRM. While much of the real power sits behind a paywall, the free tier gives you 2,000 email sends per month (with HubSpot branding), simple lead capture forms, and a personal meeting link to help turn inbound interest into booked calls.

The main drawback – beyond the fact that most of the good stuff lives in the paid plans – is the learning curve. HubSpot scored just 3/10 for ease of use and setup in our testing. It’s not the most intuitive tool out of the box.

Overall, HubSpot is best seen as a strong starting point for teams planning to grow into the full platform over time.

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PS

Meet your expert: Paddy Stobbs

Stackfix Co-Founder & CEO

I've spent over a decade deep in the world of business software - personally managing more than $2M in purchases across companies I've built and led. From intimate 10-person teams to organizations of 150+, I've developed a particular obsession with Sales and HR tools – testing, implementing, and scaling them at every stage of growth. My journey started at Cambridge University, led me through Google, and most recently culminated in selling my previous venture to TikTok. Now, I'm channeling all of that hands-on experience into helping others navigate the complex landscape of business software.

Attio logo

Attio

Streak logo

Streak

Relate logo

Relate

Bigin logo

Bigin

HubSpot Sales Hub logo

HubSpot Sales Hub

Our rating
Functionality
7

Functionality

7/10

<p>Attio offers simple, intuitive CRM functionality that ticks the boxes for most SMBs. Beyond the essentials like contact and pipeline management, it stands out with some standout features: a slick Chrome extension for effortless one-click contact addition from LinkedIn/X, impressive data enrichment, and AI-powered workflow automation. They’ve even recently added email sequencing and phone calling (via an integration) into the mix.</p><p>That said, there are a few missing pieces that sales teams might notice - like native lead capture from website forms.</p>
6

Functionality

6/10

<p>For a CRM that operates within your Gmail inbox, Streak offers a surprisingly robust set of features. In addition to managing contacts and pipelines, it provides email sequences, data enrichment, an AI co-pilot, and custom reporting.</p><p>However, it lacks some advanced features, such as tracking web visitors, capturing contacts via webform and ability to create custom objects.</p>
6

Functionality

6/10

<p>Relate delivers the core functionality early-stage B2B startups need. It excels in prospecting, sales pipeline management, data enrichment, sequencing, LinkedIn contact imports, and customizable reporting.</p><p>However, it’s missing several features that larger teams rely on, such as workflow automation and robust third-party integrations.</p>
6

Functionality

6/10

<p>Bigin offers essential features for small teams, like flexible contact and pipeline management, built-in phone, email sequencing, workflow automation, and analytics—all at an affordable price. However, advanced features like email marketing campaigns and data enrichment require add-ons or integrations.</p>
9

Functionality

9/10

<p>HubSpot offers all functionality that most companies will need, besides functionality required by the largest/ most sophisticated companies. For example, HubSpot's reporting functionality and ability to build highly customised workflows aren't on par with Salesforce's.</p>
Ease of Use
8

Ease of Use

8/10

<p>Attio offers one of the best-in-class user experience for its core functionality. Key workflows such as creating pipelines, adding contacts to Attio via its extension and moving contacts to lists are highly intuitive, and available via keyboard shortcuts.</p><p>However, we found Attio's automation and reporting modules less intuitive and complex, since they're more powerful and flexible than the average CRM.</p>
7

Ease of Use

7/10

<p>As a CRM that sits on top of your Gmail inbox, Streak is easy to set up and use.</p><p>Key workflows are also intuitive. In particular, you can easily add contacts to your pipeline from your email threads via a sidebar and easily enrol contacts into an email sequence.</p><p>Some of the more advanced features like automation however, has a bit of learning curve to them.</p>
9

Ease of Use

9/10

<p>If you’re an early-stage B2B startup, you’ll likely find Relate intuitive and closely aligned with how your processes already work. Getting up to speed is quick and straightforward.</p><p>However, if you’re familiar with traditional CRMs, you might experience a learning curve. Relate introduces some unique concepts, like connecting pipelines through “processes,” which may take a little time to adjust to.</p>
7

Ease of Use

7/10

<p>Navigating Bigin is straightforward and intuitive, and should take about an hour for most SMB users to get comfortable. Its "spreadsheet views" for contacts and pipelines are especially great for teams transitioning from spreadsheets. However, be aware of confusing terms like "touched records," and note that setting up email sequences can be cumbersome.</p>
3

Ease of Use

3/10

<p>HubSpot is so packed with features and customisation options that it will take an average SMB employee at least a week to learn how to navigate the platform. Even if you're only using HubSpot CRM, you'll see irrelevant modules and fields form other products in its suites everywhere, which can get quite confusing. But once you're past the initial learning curve, most key processes can get quite intuitive.</p>
Look and feel
10

Look and feel

10/10

<p><span style="color: rgb(9, 9, 11);">Attio is one of the most visually appealing CRMs we've come across. We love the clean and blazingly fast UI, and page loads are +20% faster than the majority of other CRMs on the markets. Its pages are also beautifully colour-coded and accompanied by emojis, making it a joy to use.</span></p>
5

Look and feel

5/10

<p>We find Streak visually acceptable, though its layout is a bit cluttered at times. Our main gripe however, is that Streak loads slowly e.g. when you login, it takes at least 5-6 seconds before Streak loads.</p>
8

Look and feel

8/10

<p>Relate’s modern, minimalist design will appeal to tech startups, but it might come across as too plain for others. That said, the platform shines with its blazingly fast page loads—easily some of the fastest we’ve seen, which offers a seamless user experience.</p>
5

Look and feel

5/10

<p>Bigin loads quickly, but its interface feels plain and uninspiring.</p>
4

Look and feel

4/10

<p>We find HubSpot's interface to be tired and overwhelming compared to the newer CRMs on the market. There is often an overwhelming amount of actions you can take on a single screen, which makes it difficult to locate key information at times.</p>
Customisability
9

Customisability

9/10

<p>Attio is a highly flexible CRM designed to meet the needs of any teams. It allows you to create custom data objects (on top of the standard "people" and "companies"), fully customisable pipelines, automation flows, highly customisable reports, and workspaces for any and all kinds of use cases (e.g. marketing, recruiting, project management).</p>
7

Customisability

7/10

<p>Streak allow you to customize most things, from fields, pipeline stages, reports, saved reports and workflows.</p><p>However, it lacks the ability to add custom objects, which allows you to track items besides contacts and companies, which may limit Streak's useful to build more complex workflows.</p>
6

Customisability

6/10

<p>Relate offers strong customizability for early-stage B2B startups. You can tailor pipelines and reporting to match your workflows. However, it’s not as flexible as more general-purpose CRMs (like Folk and Attio). The platform is firmly sales-focused, with pipelines designed exclusively for tracking deals and reporting geared entirely toward sales metrics.</p>
7

Customisability

7/10

<p>You can customize Bigin by setting up pipelines, adding custom fields, and saving filters. Its standout multi-team, flexible pipelines help track deals, projects, and support tickets. However, it lacks custom objects and advanced automation workflows.</p>
9

Customisability

9/10

<p>HubSpot offers the highest degree of customisability out of all CRMs besides Salesforce.&nbsp;You can create complex workflows via code, and fully customise fully customize the design of client-facing assets, such as emails and webpages.</p>
Ease of Setup
8

Ease of Setup

8/10

<p>Attio offers a generous, self-serve free tier —up to 3 users and fully self-serve. Thanks to Attio's familiar spreadsheet-like layout, we found the initial setup to be extremely simple. It took less than 5 minutes to set up, and connecting our email was as simple as a few clicks, with all our contacts syncing automatically.&nbsp;That said, if you want to dive deeper and fully customize the platform, expect to spend 1-2 days exploring Attio’s incredibly flexible automation and reporting tools.</p>
9

Ease of Setup

9/10

<p>Streak offers a self-serve free trial. It takes almost no time to get started with Streak, which is simply a Chrome Extension that sits on your inbox. Fully customising the platform with workflow automation and reports is still straightforward, and can be done within 1 business day.</p>
8

Ease of Setup

8/10

<p>Relate offers a self-serve free trial. Thanks to Relate's familiar spreadsheet-like layout, we found the initial setup to be extremely simple (taking &lt;10 mins). The only nit is that unlike other modern CRMs (e.g. Attio, Folk), connecting your email doesn't sync your contacts automatically. For B2B sales team, Relate's thoughtful set up out-of-the-box means it's easy to fully customise the platform, and should be largely done within 1-2 business days.</p>
8

Ease of Setup

8/10

<p>Bigin offers offers a simple, self-serve free trial for their platform. When tested, we found the initial setup to be straightforward (taking ~10 mins). Fully customising the platform can take 1-2 days given Bigin's breadth of features and integrations e.g. setting up call functionality, payment links, advanced automations.</p>
3

Ease of Setup

3/10

<p>HubSpot's free trial is available without having to speak to sales. Basic setup - importing contacts and creating pipelines - takes about 10 minutes. However, its extensive features and complex settings mean full customization can take weeks, especially for advanced settings like custom objects, chatbots, and automation. Many users we've talked to ended up hiring a HubSpot consultant for implementation. HubSpot's pricing structure adds another layer of complexity, with multiple plans and bundles to navigate during upgrades.</p>
Customer Support
10

Customer Support

10/10

<p>Attio offers in-app live chat with live, human agents who are very quick to respond (within a few minutes) and always goes above and beyond with personalised screenshots and explanations!</p>
7

Customer Support

7/10

<p>Streak offers live chat with human agents who are helpful and quick to respond. However, note that they are online only during US business hours.</p>
8

Customer Support

8/10

<p>Relate provides in-app live chat support during US business hours with a friendly team that usually responds in around an hour. The help center is another strong point—it's well-written, thorough, and easy to follow.</p>
3

Customer Support

3/10

<p>Support is available via phone and email. Although there's a "Chat with Us" button, it was non-functional during testing. Online resources are limited and not very helpful.</p>
6

Customer Support

6/10

<p><span style="color: rgb(9, 9, 11);">HubSpot's support team responds via live chat/ email in less than 3 minutes, 24/7. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(9, 9, 11);">That said, you don't get access to their phone/ video support, unless you pay for Professional/ Enterprise, and now if you're signed up to their discounted startup plan. We also find their support sometimes frustratingly bureaucratic - you can only speak with the assigned rep in your territory.</span></p>
Integratability
4

Integratability

4/10

<p>Attio has a few pre-built integrations with a handful of the most common software tools (e.g. Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Mailchimp). But, in the main, Attio pushes you to build your own integrations using Zapier, Make or its API. ‍</p>
3

Integratability

3/10

<p>Streak only offers a few pre-built integrations: Google Voice, Calendly, Typeform, Google Sheets, and Slack.</p><p>However, it does have an API &amp; Zapier integration.</p>
1

Integratability

1/10

<p>Integrations are a major weak spot for Relate. It only connects with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Slack, and basically pushes you to build you own integrations entirely through Zapier. There’s no API for custom integrations.</p>
6

Integratability

6/10

<p>Bigin integrates with key third party tools like Google and Outlook Calendar, Mailchimp, Shopify, and over 100 telephony vendors. It has a marketplace for third-party plugins like Slack, Twilio, and Eventbrite. While it integrates well with Zoho products, it lacks key integrations with major customer support vendors like Zendesk and Freshdesk. An API is available for custom integrations.</p>
10

Integratability

10/10

<p>HubSpot offers native integrations with the overwhelming majority of 3rd part products a company will want to connect their CRM with, plus an ever-growing marketplace of more than 350 free and paid-for apps.&nbsp;&nbsp;The chances are that if you need a particularly integration and HubSpot don't have it, it will unlikely be provided by a competitive product.</p>
Ease of Migration
8

Ease of Migration

8/10

<p>Attio allows users to export key data data via self-serve. Export of most other data are also available via API or on request.</p>
8

Ease of Migration

8/10

<p>Streak allows users to export key data data via self-serve. Export of most other data are also available via API or on request.</p>
6

Ease of Migration

6/10

<p>Relate allows you to export key contact, organization, and deal information through its reporting module. The process is self-serve, but limited to basic data.</p>
9

Ease of Migration

9/10

<p>You can easily export key information such as contacts, deals, and reports from dashboards. All data can also be exported via API.</p>
8

Ease of Migration

8/10

<p>HubSpot allows users to export key data data via self-serve. Export of most other data are also available via API or on request.</p>

Best for value

Attio product logo
Attio

Stackfix Rating:

8.1 / 10

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Starting at

$0

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Updated onApr 15, 2025

Attio is one of the most exciting new CRMs on the market – especially for startups and small teams that want serious functionality without spending big. Its free plan is generous, supporting up to 3 users with access to features that many competitors lock behind paywalls.

The interface is a standout – fast, clean, and beautifully designed. Pages load quickly, data is color-coded for clarity, and subtle touches like emoji indicators make it feel modern and intuitive. One-click data enrichment is particularly useful, pulling in details like ARR and funding rounds automatically.

Attio also nails flexibility. You can build fully custom data objects, pipelines, and reports – whether you’re tracking sales, fundraising, recruiting, or something in between. The Chrome extension is another highlight, letting you add contacts from LinkedIn, X, or Gmail in a single click.

There are some limitations. The free tier has limited integrations, and features like native calling and lead scoring aren’t included. But for teams that value customization, speed, and a polished experience, Attio delivers impressive power – especially at the free tier.

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Attio's features and pricing.

Pros

  • Fast pace of product iteration

  • Excellent Customer Support

  • Highly Customizable Platform

  • Efficient LinkedIn Integration

  • Powerful Contact Data Enrichment

  • Outstanding User Interface and Performance

Cons

  • Automation Limitations

  • Complex Reporting Interface

  • Basic Marketing Capabilities

  • Limited Core Sales Features

  • Limited Integration Capabilities

Compare all CRMsRead the full review

Best for tech-driven teams

Streak product logo
Streak

Stackfix Rating:

6.6 / 10

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Starting at

$0

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Updated onApr 15, 2025

Streak takes a refreshingly different approach to CRM – it lives entirely inside Gmail. For tech-savvy teams who spend most of their day in their inbox, it’s a seamless way to manage pipelines without switching tabs or tools.

For a Gmail plugin, it’s surprisingly powerful. You get built-in data enrichment, workflow automations, an AI co-pilot, and custom reporting – all without leaving your inbox. Setup is quick (less than 10 minutes), and its export capabilities are strong, making it easy to work with your data outside the platform.

There are trade-offs. Streak only works with Gmail and Chrome, so it’s a no-go for teams on Outlook or other browsers. And while the free plan is solid for solo users, team features like shared pipelines and permissions are locked behind pricier tiers than many competitors.

Still, for teams working deeply in the Google ecosystem who want a CRM that feels like part of Gmail – not an add-on – Streak is a clean, convenient choice that keeps your workflow simple.

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Streak's features and pricing.

Pros

  • Easy to set up and use

  • Excellent Email Sequence Management

  • Strong Data Export Capabilities

Cons

  • Gates key functionality behind more expensive tiers

  • Only works with Chrome and Gmail

  • No Custom Objects Support

  • Basic Lead Management

  • Poor Integration Capabilities

Compare all CRMsRead the full review

Best for simplicity

Relate product logo
Relate

Stackfix Rating:

7.1 / 10

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$0

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Updated onApr 15, 2025

Relate is a modern sales platform built for B2B teams that want simplicity without sacrificing capability - and a reasonable free plan. Launched in 2019, it offers a clean, fast, and intuitive experience – even for users who usually avoid CRMs. The free tier covers all the basics, making it a strong starting point for small teams.

The interface is one of the best things about Relate. It’s lightning fast, beautifully designed, and clearly built with early-stage B2B workflows in mind. The dedicated ‘Prospect’ feature is a highlight – giving teams a focused space to qualify leads before handing them off to sales.

Pipeline automation is another smart touch. You can link pipelines together so, for example, once a deal hits ‘closed won,’ it automatically moves into your onboarding flow. It’s the kind of lightweight automation that most free CRMs don’t offer.

There are limitations. The free plan caps you at 25 open deals, integrations are minimal, and email sequencing is restricted. But for small teams that want a fast, modern CRM that feels easy from day one, Relate gets the job done without the usual CRM bloat.

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Relate's features and pricing.

Pros

  • Powerful and intuitive pipeline automation

  • Excellent lead management for B2B sales

  • Exceptional ease of use for B2B startups

  • Responsive customer support

  • Efficient contact enrichment and LinkedIn integration

Cons

  • Severely Limited Integration Capabilities

  • Primitive Workflow Automation

  • Restrictive Email Sequencing Limits

Compare all CRMsRead the full review

Best for phone calling

Bigin product logo
Bigin

Stackfix Rating:

6.3 / 10

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Updated onApr 15, 2025

For small businesses seeking a free CRM with robust phone calling capabilities, Bigin is a good option. In our testing, Bigin earned an 8/10 rating for its phone calling functionality, allowing users to make and track calls directly from their browser. The system manages calls seamlessly and supports routing automation for inbound calls, which is valuable for teams that rely heavily on phone communication with clients.

Bigin’s integration of calling with other CRM functions is practical for phone-focused teams. Users can track call metrics alongside other activities, view comprehensive contact histories, and automate follow-up tasks after calls. While Bigin lacks some advanced features found in premium CRMs (such as call coaching), its straightforward interface makes it accessible for small teams transitioning from spreadsheets. A significant limitation is the absence of a mobile app, which might be inconvenient for teams needing to make calls on the go.

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Bigin's features and pricing.

Pros

  • Superior Data Export Capabilities

  • Efficient Contact Management

  • Flexible, Intuitive Pipeline Management

  • Solid calling capabilities

Cons

  • Poor Customer Support

  • Limited Email Sequence Functionality

  • Lackluster Interface Design

  • Missing Critical LinkedIn Integration

Compare all CRMsRead the full review

Best for inbound marketing

HubSpot Sales Hub product logo
HubSpot Sales Hub

Stackfix Rating:

5.8 / 10

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$0

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Updated onApr 15, 2025

For businesses focused on inbound marketing, HubSpot Sales Hub is a solid free CRM. While much of the real power sits behind a paywall, the free tier gives you 2,000 email sends per month (with HubSpot branding), simple lead capture forms, and a personal meeting link to help turn inbound interest into booked calls.

The main drawback – beyond the fact that most of the good stuff lives in the paid plans – is the learning curve. HubSpot scored just 3/10 for ease of use and setup in our testing. It’s not the most intuitive tool out of the box.

Overall, HubSpot is best seen as a strong starting point for teams planning to grow into the full platform over time.

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of HubSpot Sales Hub's features and pricing.

Pros

  • Integrated CRM suite for sales, marketing & support

  • Powerful customization

  • Robust Workflow Automation

  • Best-in-class marketing automation capabilities

  • Superior lead management functionality

  • Extensive integration capabilities

Cons

  • Complex Pricing with Steep Increases

  • Cluttered and Dated Interface

  • Difficult to Learn and Navigate

  • Bureaucratic Support System

Compare all CRMsRead the full review

How we test products

With so many CRM platforms on the market, we focus on identifying the best options for small and midsize businesses. Our evaluation process is built around real-world usage, prioritizing functionality, ease of use, and overall value. Here’s how we do it:

Functionality

A CRM should help businesses manage relationships, not complicate them. We start by identifying key use cases—contact management, pipeline tracking, automation, and reporting—then test how well each platform supports these needs. CRMs that offer essential features without unnecessary complexity score highest.

User Experience & Onboarding

A CRM should be intuitive enough for teams to adopt quickly. We test each platform’s interface by navigating core features without prior training and track onboarding time—from account setup to first data import. CRMs that require extensive customization or technical knowledge to function properly lose points.

Automation & AI Capabilities

Automation is key to scaling sales and customer management. We evaluate each CRM’s automation features, such as lead scoring, email sequencing, and workflow automation. We also assess AI-driven insights to determine whether they provide meaningful improvements or just add complexity.

Integrations & Compatibility

A CRM rarely works in isolation—it needs to sync with email, marketing tools, and Sales Engagement platforms. We test how well each CRM integrates with essential business tools, prioritizing native integrations over third-party connectors.

Pricing & Value

We compare pricing across competitors, analyzing what each plan includes and whether critical features are locked behind paywalls. Hidden costs—such as per-user fees, premium automation features, or required onboarding services—are factored into our assessment. CRMs that offer strong core functionality at a fair price perform best.

Stackfix’s Fit Score

All of these factors contribute to Stackfix’s Fit Score, a proprietary ranking system that measures how well each CRM aligns with a buyer’s needs. It combines two key elements:

  • Requirements Met – How many buyer requirements the CRM fulfills
  • Stackfix Rating – Our expert assessment of the software’s overall quality, usability, and value

The result? A clear, data-driven recommendation that helps businesses choose the right CRM—without hours of trial and error.

FAQs

What is a CRM?

Put simply, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a platform that helps you manage and analyze your interactions with customers, both potential and current. It’s essentially a centralized place to store customer data, and help you forge and build stronger relationships with these customers. The key features of a CRM usually include:

  • Contact Management: Helping you store customer information, including their name, contact information, key information like whether they’ve bought from you in the past, and any communication history.
  • Sales Pipeline Tracking: This helps you track potential deals from the initial contact up until closing, which helps your sales team stay on top of opportunities and forecast revenue.
  • Analytics and reporting: Most CRMs also generate reports and insights based on your aggregated consumer behaviour, sales performance, and trends across the business.

What should I consider when buying a CRM?

Choosing the right CRM can make or break your sales and customer management process—so it’s essential to find one that fits your business needs, tech stack, and budget. Here are the key factors to consider before making your decision.

  1. Your requirements. It's important to first define what you need the CRM to accomplish. Consider your current sales needs and growth plans – a smaller startup focused on personal relationships may need different features than a larger startup managing thousands of leads at once.
  2. Ease of use. Look for an interface that your team will actually like and use. A cluttered or overly complex interface can overwhelm less experienced teams - meaning all those fancy features go to waste. That’s why Stackfix gives every CRM an ‘Ease of Use’ rating - so you can quickly see which ones are intuitive and user-friendly. Click into each product above to find the right fit for your team.
  3. Technical infrastructure. Take stock of your current tech stack. Do you need seamless integrations with your existing tools (e.g. Email, Scheduling and Customer Support software)? If you’re migrating from another CRM, can this new one handle your data volume and user count without breaking a sweat?
  4. Cost. When choosing a CRM, look beyond the headline price-per-user. Factor in setup costs, workflow limits, and how pricing scales as your team grows. The last thing you want is to lock into a “cheap” CRM that gets expensive fast when you actually start using it.
  5. Customer support. This is one of those things you don’t think about—until you really need it. If something goes wrong during setup or day-to-day use, will the vendor be there to help? Look at response times, availability (24/7 or just business hours?), and self-serve resources like help centers or community forums. To make this easier, Stackfix rates every CRM on customer support. Click into each product above to see how they stack up.

What are the common mistakes to avoid when buying CRM software?

Avoiding common pitfalls when choosing a CRM can save you time, money, and headaches down the line. Here are some of the biggest mistakes startups make—and how to avoid them.

  1. Buying based on features instead of quality. Many businesses buy comprehensive CRMs (often the big players like HubSpot and Salesforce), without considering whether all the features are crucial functionalities that they really need. Don’t be wowed by extensive features lists, if these features don’t align with your actual business processes.
  2. Not planning data migration. Many startups fall into the trap of buying a CRM without thinking about how they’ll move all customer data in the new system – keep in mind that this includes cleaning up old data, and ensuring all new fields are mapped correctly.
  3. Failing to think about scaling. Startups frequently select a CRM that fits their current needs, without thinking about their growth trajectories. Make sure to ask yourself: where do you want to be in 5 years? Does the CRM offer advanced features which you might need later, or will you have to make another switch? Consider the vendor’s frequency of updates, and ensure the CRM will continue to serve your needs as you grow.
  4. Not checking the adequacy of integrations. Integrations are particularly important for apps like email – make sure you verify that integrations are sufficient for your needs (e.g., if a CRM integrates with emails, does it sync custom fields for you? Make sure to test each integration before committing.)

How much does CRM Software typically cost?

Most CRM solutions range from $12-300 per user monthly, with entry-level options starting around $12-30 and premium solutions exceeding $150 monthly. Most vendors structure pricing in tiers based on features and scale, so be sure to enter your requirements as accurately as possible in our pricing calculator.

Many providers offer free plans with core functionality for very small teams but restrict users (typically 2-5), contacts, or available features. HubSpot, Zoho, and Freshsales all provide capable free tiers for businesses just getting started.

For enterprise plans and above, you can expect to speak to sales for a bespoke price. These custom quotes typically factor in implementation costs ($1,000-$60,000+), data migration, and specialized training. To skip the demo calls, be sure to check out our pricing calculator.

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