Best Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

LACRM also aims to make collaboration less of a headache with in-depth user controls and the ability to add as many users as you want at any time for the same monthly price of $10 per user.

The web-based interface is especially helpful for teams who collaborate on-the-go. It remains fully functional even when accessed on a mobile device, so any sales reps out in the field or marketing managers attending a conference can still check contact details.

Though it comes in at a lower price point and offers several third-party integrations paired with a few in-house integrations, Less Annoying CRM doesn’t quite match the robust features Salesforce offers. Additionally, some users complained that its reports lack certain customization options, so it’s worth testing the reporting function if you give the 30-day trial a go.

Even so, Less Annoying CRM brings multiple features to the table that make it an easy pick for small businesses looking for a way to streamline customer management and company collaboration.

Every Pipedrive plan includes access to a live dashboard that monitors deal progress, products sold, sales activity, and revenue forecasting. And the Professional plan and up gives your teams access to unlimited live dashboards with customized metrics, plus the ability to measure performance against set goals.

If email is a big part of your sales strategy, you’ll need to sign up for at least the Advanced plan. Unfortunately, the Essential plan is missing some key email features like custom templates and signatures, as well as tracking for email open and click-through rates.

And for companies who build and manage multiple email distribution lists, Pipedrive requires you to sign up for the Professional plan to create distribution lists and send group emails.

One potential issue for small businesses is that Freshsales doesn’t include workflow automations or automatic removal of duplicate leads in its Blossom plan. That means some of the manual lifting is still on your employees’ shoulders. And while that may not seem like a huge deal for small companies that are likely managing a smaller set of leads, don’t forget that fewer employees mean there are more hats for everyone to wear—and more tasks to juggle.

Additionally, if you want advanced reporting capabilities that highlight sales activity, conversions, and revenue forecasts (to name a few metrics), you’ll need the Garden plan or better. And upgrading to the Garden plan gives larger teams access to more robust user controls, including the creation of up to 10 teams, territory assignment, and permissions.

Despite a few drawbacks, Freshsales brings additional capabilities other CRMs might be lacking thanks to its integrations with other Freshworks platforms. That includes a Freshcaller integration that lets your sales team engage with prospects and customers right through the Freshsales software.

Of course, the sheer number of potential CRM solutions can make choosing the right Salesforce package feel overwhelming. And once you select a package, setting it up and learning how to navigate the numerous features also requires a steep learning curve.

But it’s this high level of customization that makes Salesforce perfect for growing companies—even ones already at the enterprise level. Its Sales Cloud CRM allows your teams to track sales activity, close deals, and log calls. Its Marketing Cloud CRM enables you to build data-driven advertising campaigns, engage with customers and prospects on social media, and A/B test email campaigns.

And Salesforce isn’t calling it quits on innovation. Its Einstein AI feature comes in multiple add-on formats, such as Einstein Analytics, to allow you further automation, data analysis, and personalization. We also like that Salesforce includes small-yet-thoughtful features like the Color-Blind Palette on Charts option.

With Salesforce, it feels like the sky’s the limit. Of course, that extreme number of features and customization options come at a price—one of the highest prices out there. But if your company and teams are growing quickly, Salesforce is the best CRM for scaling right along with your needs.

With Zoho, you can import, add, and update all of your contacts, and then quickly and easily analyze data on the success of various touchpoints like email campaigns, sales calls, and even social media interactions.

Zoho’s robust reporting abilities let you compare the success of different campaigns, users, teams, or even territories. Similarly, the reports track critical information such as email bounce rates, brand mentions on social media, the average amount of time specific prospects spend on your website, and even how current sales trends compare to your projections.

The only downside is you’ll need to purchase a higher CRM tier to access all of these features, which can boost your monthly price to a maximum of $45 per user per month for the Enterprise tier, or $100 per user per year for the Ultimate tier.

Zoho CRM offers scalability in features for your business as it grows, meaning you won’t need to install and relearn a whole new CRM software if you outgrow your old one.

The free version of HubSpot CRM allows you to have unlimited users and up to one million contacts, but there are restrictions. You only get one team, your customizations are limited, and the included analytics may not dig deep enough to inform critical decisions. But as your company scales and your teams grow, you can upgrade to HubSpot’s paid marketing, sales, service, or CMS products, which start at $50 a month.

Despite some limitations, the free tool offers quite a bit of functionality for the cost. Your sales, marketing, and customer service teams will have access to reports and real-time dashboards that highlight detailed information about almost anything from sales activity to how long it takes to close customer tickets.

The free HubSpot CRM includes analytics that cover email open rates, website traffic, and conversions. It also allows sales teams to schedule meetings and develop detailed contact records. We also think the chatbot builder and real-time notifications for prospects are excellent features, especially considering the price.