Written by Zara Chechi Reviewed by James Macey Updated on 16 January 2023 On this page Zoho Freshsales Salesforce SugarCRM Zendesk Our Methodology Our Expert Verdict Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. Scoring a 4.7/5 in our research, Zoho CRM is our number one pick for CRM systems in Canada.Our independent research team compared 11 different CRM systems to find the best on the market. Each system was scored against various categories including, pricing, features, and customer support.If you want to jumpstart your CRM search, you can use our free quote comparison tool. With just a few brief details about your business, we can match you with trusted providers that will contact you with obligation-free quotes. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Zoho CRM Freshsales Zendesk Salesforce Sugar CRM 4.7 4.7 3.9 3.8 3.4 Best for Ease of use Best for Sales automation Best for Businesses looking for customer service solutions Best for Automation and analytics Best for Medium-sized businesses Price Range $14 – $52 per user per month Price Range $15 – $69 per user per month Price Range $19-$150 per user per month Price Range $25 – $300 per user per month Price Range Sell: $49 per user per monthServe: $80 per user per monthMarket: $1,000 per month Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Try Zoho Try Freshsales Try Zendesk Try Salesforce Try SugarCRM Note Keep in mind that all the prices here will be listed in USD. While some CRM platforms do charge in Canadian dollars, some only charge in USD. For the sake of comparison, we're keeping every price here in USD. ZohoBest for small and new businesses Zoho CRM 4.7 Pricing Free – $52 per user per month Quick overview Zoho is one of the most affordable CRM softwares on the market, but it more than holds its own against more expensive packages. Sure, the interface isn’t as jazzy, but it gets the job done. If email is your main use for CRM, Zoho will really come into its own. Free for up to three users, with paid plans starting at $14/user/month (billed monthly). Read more + Read less - Strengths Free for up to three users Easy to use and to set up Great email marketing tools, plus web forms for collecting lead info Weaknesses Mobile app has quite limited functionality Reduced customer support Pricing See more See less TiersPrice Free Free Standard $14 per user per month Professional $23 per user per month Enterprise $40 per user per month Ultimate $52 per user per month Gallery See more See less Click to expand Zoho’s free version contains all the basic features a small or new business needs, such as contact and lead management and customization. Its paid versions are suitable for small to medium-sized businesses in a range of industries. Zoho CRM is customizable and scalable, which means it can grow alongside your business. In fact, you can customize any layout on the platform to suit your business needs. But this level of customization can be tricky for those who aren’t super techie – so it can be limiting for businesses without much expertise. Zoho CRM offers integrations with third-party apps such as Office 365, PayPal and Slack. However, on the free plan the integrations are limited to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Tasks. These integrations provide a seamless CRM experience and let you carry out your operations from one platform. Zoho reportedly has poor customer service, with users complaining that response times are slow and they’re unable to get adequate help. For some small businesses this isn’t too much of an issue, especially if the system will be used for fairly basic processes. But if you want to customize the system or carry out more complex processes, the poor customer service could be a major con. Zoho's Pricing:Keep in mind that all of the following prices are in USD!Outside of a free tier, pricing starts at the Standard package's $14/month for the Standard package, if billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. The Professional package is $23/month (annually) or $35 (monthly) and the Enterprise package is priced at $40/month (annually) or $50 (monthly). Finally, the Ultimate package is priced at $52/month (annually) or $65 (monthly). Pros Simple, easy-to-use software Free version Monthly subscription Mobile app Extensive customization Cons Customer service can be poor Can get expensive on the higher tiers Some problems with lagging Customer service support changes for each package FreshsalesBest for businesses on a limited budget Freshsales 4.5 Pricing Free – $69 per user per month Try Freshsales Quick overview If you’re a small business looking for a good, affordable CRM system without all the bells and whistles, Freshsales will be right up your street. Get up and running in next to no time with an easy, useful dashboard, packed full of features you’ll actually use. Freshsales is popular across the board, but it’s the small businesses that sing its praises the loudest. Paid plans start at $15/user/month. Read more + Read less - Strengths Great for automating tasks such as logging phone calls A simple software that’s easy to pick up, and won’t require much training Free trial available Weaknesses Offers fewer third party integrations than competitors such as Zoho and Salesforce Pricing See more See less TiersPrice Free Free Growth $15 per user per month Pro $39 per user per month Enterprise $69 per user per month Gallery See more See less Click to expand Freshworks has divided its offerings into Freshdesk, Freshsales and Freshmarketer. Each platform provides customer service, sales, and marketing tools to boost your business’s efficiency and productivity. The platforms are customizable to suit your business needs and boast unique features such as the ability to choose from more than 10 languages and over 100 different currencies. Freshdesk provides great collaboration tools to cut down on wasted resources and deal with customer queries quickly and efficiently. Using Freshworks, you can automate admin and repetitive tasks, such as following up with leads or sending welcome emails. There are also third-party integrations that provide a seamless experience – although compared to its competitors, Freshworks offers less of these.Freshsales' Pricing:Freshsales' pricing starts at $15/user/month for the Growth plan, $39/user/month for Pro, and $69/user/month for Enterprise. Freshdesk starts at $15/user/month for Growth, $49/user/month for Pro, and $79/user/month for Enterprise.There’s a discount on the Omnichannel packages, which bring several Freshworks tools and solutions together. They start at $29/user/month for Growth, $59/user/month for Pro, and $99/user/month for Enterprise. Pros Simple, easy-to-use software Free version Great ticketing features Mobile app Cons Customer service can be poor Less third-party apps than other CRM systems Not as comprehensive as some competitors SalesforceBest for large and multi-layered businesses Salesforce 3.8 Pricing $25 – $300 per user per month Try Salesforce Quick overview There’s a reason why, when googling CRM systems, you’ll find plenty of articles with titles such as ‘7 Best Alternatives to Salesforce’; it’s really set the bar high when it comes to CRM systems, and seems to have a plan to suit everyone. But when it comes to affordability and value for money, how does it stack up? Plans start at $25/user/month. Read more + Read less - Strengths Good range of features that make it well-suited to medium-large businesses Huge number of integrations available, including a number of Salesforce’s own. This makes it a really robust tool for marketing as well as sales Free trial available Weaknesses One of the pricier systems around Not the easiest to get to grips with quickly Very small businesses should opt for a cheaper, easier product Pricing See more See less TiersPrice Essentials $25 per user per month Professional $75 per user per month Enterprise $150 per user per month Unlimited $300 per user per month Gallery See more See less Click to expand Salesforce is the most comprehensive and popular CRM system in Canada. Salesforce can be used by businesses of any size, although it’s better suited to larger businesses as you’ll need to invest time and money to make the most of the software. At first glance the pricing seems fairly affordable. However, the initial pricing only covers basic features. Extra features such as the Einstein AI tool will cost you $50 per user, per month. Choosing to pay only for the features you actually want is great, as you don’t need to pay for features you won’t use, but it does mean that extra costs can quickly add up. The annual billing can also be limiting for some. We love Salesforce because of how customizable it is – and after all, it is the most popular CRM on the market for a reason. It boasts tons of great features needed for any business to run smoothly. In fact, its extensive customization might even be unnecessary for your business, in which case you should take a look at other CRM systems that are less comprehensive than Salesforce.Salesforce's Pricing:Salesforce starts at $25/user/month for its Essentials tier, $75/user/month for its Professional tier, $150/user/month for Enterprise, and $300/user/month for its Unlimited tier. Pros Most comprehensive and advanced CRM Customizable Workflow automation Mobile app Tons of third-party integrations Cons Can be expensive to purchase more features Steep learning curve 24/7 support only available for the highest-paying users No free version SugarCRM Best for medium-sized businesses SugarCRM 3.7 Pricing $49 per user, per month - $1,000 per month Compare quotes Quick overview Predictably by now, SugarCRM splits its pricing out into three packages, based on the type of team they’re designed to support. There’s Sugar Sell (for sales teams, from $49 per user, per month), Sugar Market (for marketing teams, from $1,000 per month), and Sugar Serve (for customer service teams, starting at $80 per month). All are cloud-based, billed annually, and ideal for the needs of fast-growth businesses. Read more + Read less - SugarCRM is split into various platforms including Sugar Serve, Sugar Sell, and Sugar Market. You can opt for the platform best suited to your business needs. Sugar Serve provides great customer service solutions, including a streamlined omnichannel service to help communicate with customers efficiently. It also boasts features such as Service Console, a tool that allows your customer support team to find information quickly and resolve cases efficiently. Other features include AI technology, which helps provide accurate insights and forecasts based on historical customer journeys to make accurate predictions for the future. Predictive analytics is another feature that can save you time and resources and help you to make better business decisions. Sugar Market helps you to build automated marketing campaigns. You can easily create campaigns using drag-and-drop tools or, if you’re tech-savvy, you can even code your own. You can plan campaigns in advance and set up communications to be released based on triggers you choose.SugarCRM’s software can be difficult to integrate without an in-house tech team. If you have some tech-savvy individuals, you’ll be able to integrate it more easily, but this is something to keep in mind when comparing CRM systems.SugarCRM's Pricing:Sugar Serve and Sugar Sell both start at $49/user/month, while Sugar Market starts at $1,000 per 10,000 contacts. Annual billing means this software can be a little out of reach for small businesses or those with a limited budget. Pros No hidden fees or costs AI tech Tools to create marketing campaigns easily Automation to reduce repetitive or admin tasks Mobile app Cons Complex integration process No free version Sugar Market is extremely pricey Annual billing can be inflexible Zendesk Best for businesses looking to provide great customer service Zendesk 3.8 Pricing $19 - $150 per user, per month Try Zendesk Quick overview Despite being the only CRM provider on this list not to offer a marketing product, Zendesk makes up for it with affordable, effective solutions for sales and service teams. ‘Sell’ starts from just $19 per user, per month, while ‘Support’ – Zendesk’s product for service teams – is available at the mouth-wateringly low price point of $5 per user, per month.Upgrading to Zendesk’s ‘Growth’ tier ($49 per user, per month) adds reporting dashboards and advanced call analytics, plus sales goals and forecasting. The ‘Professional’ plan ($99 per user, per month) adds skills-based routing to your customer service team’s armory, while your sales hotshots will benefit from lead scoring, task automation, and extra sales pipelines. Read more + Read less - Pricing See more See less TiersPrice Team $19 per user per month Growth $49 per user per month Professional $99 per user per month Enterprise $150 per user per month Gallery See more See less Click to expand Zendesk is a feature-rich and flexible CRM system that provides simple, straightforward solutions for customer service and sales. Zendesk offers great features such as customizable answer bots that lift a lot of the burden off your customer service teams, and enable your business to offer 24/7 support to your customers. A unique feature of this software is the ability to create a knowledge base for your customers to empower them to help themselves. You can also use it to troubleshoot common problems or answer popular questions. Zendesk Sell, Zendesk’s dedicated sales platform, has been developed to provide a no-fluff system for your sales team. The mobile app for this platform gives your sales agents the ability to log closed deals and other information on the app – even when offline. Zendesk’s pricing is clear and transparent, and its prices are typical for what you get, with the lower-priced tiers being well suited for small or new businesses. This system’s simple and customizable features make it a great choice for small and medium-sized businesses who need customer service tools. Many small businesses may not have the resources at this point to have a consistent customer service team, and Zendesk’s features can be used to provide adequate customer support instead. Zendesk's Pricing:Zendesk starts at $19/user/month for Sell Team, its lowest-priced Zendesk Sell Package. Sell Professional is priced at $49/user/month and Sell Enterprise at $99/user/month. Its top plan, the Elite plan, costs $150/user/month.Zendesk’s customer service platform is offered as a suite that makes up several Zendesk products. Pricing starts at $49/user/month for Suite Team and ends with Suite Enterprise at $150/user/month. Pros User-friendly interface Simple features Features are easy to customize Automated answer bots to increase customer support Available in 40+ languages Cons Customer service can be poor Advanced features only available for highest-paying users Some problems with lagging No free version Annual billing can be quite limiting How Did We Find the Best CRM Software?Our team of independent researchers looked at a selection of the best and most popular CRM software. After finding all the information we need, the researchers then compare each software against its competitors, allowing us to find the cream of the crop. The criteria we look at include:Price: Simple enough – the platform with the lowest price tag scores the bestCustomization: What does the platform allow you to toy with in order to make it suit your business?Features: Again, fairly easy to assess. Whichever platforms offer the best variety of features are given a better placement than those that have a more skint collection of tools.Team Infrastructure: How does the platform allow you to manage large sales teams?Customer Support: Again, easy enough – look at the options available and see what each platform offers its customers when it comes to their support resourcesScalability: How much does each software allow your business to grow over time?After factoring in all this information, alongside the scores they received, we were able to calculate a final overall score for each CRM platform. Expert Verdict We love Salesforce for its comprehensive platform. But because it's so customizable, you can certainly run into issues getting the customizations up and running, which is why it is best for large and multi-layered organizations who have the necessary tech resources. Price-wise, it’s more suited to larger businesses. For medium-sized businesses we recommend SugarCRM. Its marketing automation, AI tech, and integration with third-party apps make it a great system, but its pricing makes it a little out of reach for new or small businesses with a limited budget. For small businesses, we recommend Zoho for its free version, which is packed with all the basic features a small business needs. As your business grows, you can then scale up to a paid version. The flexible, monthly subscription means that you don’t need to make a risky financial commitment. If you’re still not convinced, you can use our free quote tool to get matched up with trusted suppliers. All you need to do is give us some brief details such as the size of your business and your current CRM provider and you’ll receive no-obligation quotes. Written by: Zara Chechi Business Services Expert Zara is a Payments Expert, specialising in writing about Point of Sale systems. With a Law Degree from City University of London, she has used her legally-honed research and analytical skills to develop expertise in the Business Services world. Featured in FinTech Magazine, she quickly became an expert in payroll, POS systems, and merchant accounts. Reviewed by: James Macey Senior Business Software Researcher James thinks all businesses can improve if they use the right technology. At Expert Market, he utilises his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialised advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management.