Top 7 Cheap CRM Systems in 2023

What makes a free CRM plan generous, do you think? Is it unlimited users? Features for boosting your sales, marketing, and customer service automation efforts, perhaps? Or is it being able to store up to one million contacts? Whatever your definition of the perfect cheap CRM looks like, HubSpot is close to it. And yes, while it is one of the more expensive CRMs to upgrade, the fact is that you may not even need to – especially because HubSpot works so seamlessly with G Suite, Outlook, and most of the tools your team already uses every day.

As with most free and cheap CRM software, though, there is a catch. If you use HubSpot’s free CRM product in conjunction with its Marketing Hub, any contacts you add to the free version will automatically end up in the database of your paid marketing tool. Unsurprisingly, this can lead to costs quickly ballooning (HubSpot charges you for extra contacts – go figure!), so it’s worth making a mental note of.

A free plan and a free trial? Sign us up. As well as boasting one of the most user-friendly, eye-catching, and dynamic interfaces around, Zoho’s CRM is also one of the cheapest. For just $12 per user, per month, Zoho’s ‘Standard’ plan sets the standard – offering everything its free plan does, plus workflows, lead scoring, and mass email capabilities. Add in multiple pipelines and custom dashboards, and Zoho emerges as a CRM that’s equal parts style and substance.

What’s better than a CRM system that can help maximize your profits? A CRM that’s cheap. We're talking £12 per user per month cheap. Freshsales (also known as Freshworks CRM) fits this mould – in fact, it’s our top CRM pick for sales teams, period. Here’s why.

Firstly, lead scoring. You can prioritize new opportunities by their potential value to your business, and manage contacts, deals, and accounts hassle-free – all from a customizable visual pipeline. Secondly? Integrations. Whether it’s your existing email provider, your SMS marketing tool, or over 100 of the apps your small business uses every day, Freshworks CRM has you covered. Thirdly? 24/5 email, chat, and phone support, included with all plans. Need we say more?

monday.com is a slick, drag-and-drop-powered software for visualizing your business’ workload. monday.com is cheap – so cheap, in fact, that we couldn’t find anything that does as much for the same price. monday.com starts at just £5 per user, per month. For that, you’ll get three users and unlimited viewers, plus a system that’s cloud-based, and fully compatible with iOS and Android.

Best in class analytics, 24/7 phone-based support, and pricing that starts from £20 per user, per month? We like the sound of that. Offering thousands of app integrations, unlimited contacts, and just about every feature a business could ask for, Salesforce is one of our top CRM selections. Be warned, though – Salesforce does come with a fairly steep learning curve, and beyond its cheapest tier, it gets expensive – and fast. We’d recommend small businesses stick to the ‘Essentials’ plan, to keep costs down!

With robust modules for sales and customer service, Zendesk is a versatile CRM offering plenty of value for small businesses. You can get started with a monthly fee of just £5 per user, and benefit from some of the highest quality help and support we came across during our research. Zendesk’s contact management features are a breeze to use, as is calling people through their profiles (pictured). That said, Zendesk – perhaps more than any other small business CRM here – ails from freemium software’s biggest weakness; that you’ll need to upgrade to the most expensive plans to enjoy its finest features.

Pipedrive is a new face on the CRM scene, but that doesn't mean they should be disregarded. In fact, they're one of the stronger CRM platforms on offer, bring highly streamlined and usable, having loads of integrations, and having the best organizational functionalities of any platform we've looked at.

Likely inspiring its name, PipeDrive's signature aspect is its pipeline builder. It's an easy (or even fun) to use drag-and-drop system that allows you to automate workflows and pipelines to be as efficient as possible.

Pipedrive is available at four different pricing tiers. You can start with its ‘Essential’ plan ($14.90 per user, per month), although it’s fairly sparse when it comes to features. We recommend springing for at least Pipedrive’s ‘Advanced’ plan ($24.90 per user, per month), to benefit from its excellent email marketing and sales automation capabilities.