Whether you’re leading a startup or scaling a B2B operation, one thing is clear: managing customer relationships efficiently is non-negotiable. But investing in a full-scale CRM system can feel like overkill, especially when you’re trying to stay lean and agile.
Fortunately, you don’t need to sacrifice functionality just to stay on budget. A number of free CRM platforms offer a solid foundation for organizing contacts, tracking your sales pipeline, and integrating with the tools your team already relies on.
This guide highlights the 10 best free CRM options for early-stage companies and growth-minded teams. We focus on tools that strike a balance between usability and power, platforms that help you operate like a much larger organization without the overhead.
You’ll find comparisons across key criteria like:
Ease of use – so your team actually adopts the tool
Contact and Lead management – the heart of any CRM
Integrations – because disconnected data is wasted data
Scalability – start small, grow confidently
Mobile accessibility – for teams that aren’t always at their desks
1. Zoho CRM – Feature-Rich Platform (Free for 3 Users)
Zoho CRM tops our list as a powerful free CRM that can grow with your business. Its free edition supports up to 3 users and 5,000 records (contacts, leads, etc.) out of the box. This makes it ideal for small teams starting out.
Zoho CRM is known for a comprehensive feature set: you get contact and lead management, deal pipelines, task automation, and even sales forecasting and lead scoring (features often missing in other free plans).
Usability is enhanced by a clean interface and extensive customization options – you can tailor fields, workflows, and even automation rules to fit your sales process. It’s part of the larger Zoho ecosystem of 50+ integrated business apps, meaning it integrates seamlessly with tools like Zoho Books (accounting), Zoho Campaigns (email marketing), and more.
Dozens of third-party integrations are available through Zoho Marketplace, ensuring you can connect Zoho CRM to your existing toolset.
One of Zoho CRM’s biggest strengths is its scalability. As your business grows, Zoho CRM offers affordable paid tiers with advanced features – you can start free and upgrade to unlock inventory management, marketing automation, or AI-powered insights when needed.
Mobile access is also robust: Zoho CRM’s mobile app (for iOS and Android) allows you to update leads, view contacts, and log activities on the go. Additionally, Zoho provides an array of support resources and a large user community.
Overall, Zoho CRM’s rich features, integration capabilities, and growth path make it a top free choice for SMEs looking for an all-in-one solution.
As a Zoho CRM implementation partner, Plug&Play Technologies has firsthand experience helping Canadian and U.S. SMEs customize Zoho to their needs – from tailoring modules to migrating data, or integrations – ensuring they get maximum value from this platform.
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2. HubSpot CRM – Easy and Integrative (Unlimited Users)
HubSpot CRM is another leading free option widely used by startups and small businesses.
Renowned for its extreme ease of use, HubSpot’s interface is modern and intuitive. The free plan comes with a broad set of features across HubSpot’s Marketing, Sales, and Service hubs, giving you a bit of everything: contact management, deal tracking with a visual pipeline, email templates and tracking, meeting scheduling, live chat, basic reporting dashboards, and even limited marketing tools like forms and email marketing.
Notably, HubSpot’s free CRM allows unlimited users on the account, which is great for growing teams. It officially supports storing up to 1,000,000 contacts for free, though certain features may impose soft limits (e.g. marketing emails or list segmentation for very large contact lists).
Integration is a strong suit for HubSpot – the platform was literally described as the best free CRM “for integration with your other apps” by Zapier. HubSpot offers a rich app marketplace and native integrations (from Gmail/Outlook and Slack to Shopify and QuickBooks), so it can easily fit into your existing workflow.
Contact management in HubSpot is robust: you can store detailed contact records, track interactions (emails, calls, meetings), and even see website activity of contacts. Small businesses will appreciate the built-in sales tools like call logging and deal stage tracking, which help keep the sales process organized.
In terms of scalability, HubSpot CRM can grow with you, but be mindful: the paid tiers can become pricey as you add contacts or advanced features. Still, the free version is fully usable on its own for basic CRM needs, and many companies leverage it at no cost for a long time.
Mobile access is well-supported via HubSpot’s mobile app, enabling on-the-go contact updates and deal management. In summary, HubSpot CRM’s free offering is feature-packed, user-friendly, and highly integrative, making it an excellent choice for small businesses that want a no-friction start with CRM – especially those who might later benefit from marketing automation as they scale.
3. Monday CRM – Visual Sales Management (Free for 2 Users)
Monday.com is known for project management, but it also offers a capable CRM template through its Work OS platform. Monday Sales CRM (as the product is called) provides a free plan for up to 2 users, which small teams or partnerships can use to manage their customer relationships.
The standout aspect of Monday is its visual, customizable interface. You manage contacts and deals on boards with rows and columns, much like a spreadsheet but far more interactive.
The interface uses drag-and-drop and colorful status labels, making it one of the simplest CRMs to use for beginners. You can start with pre-built templates for sales pipelines or contact lists and tailor them to your process. This flexibility lets you track not only classic CRM data (leads, contacts, deal stages) but any workflow your business needs – Monday can adapt to different industries easily.
In terms of contact management, Monday’s CRM boards allow you to store contact details and company info, and link them to deals or tasks. While it may not look like a traditional contact database at first, it is quite effective for organizing information once you configure the boards. Monday’s free version supports a limited number of boards and items (e.g. contacts or deals) – currently up to 3 boards and a few hundred items – which is usually sufficient to start.
On the integration front, Monday.com shines by offering over 100 app integrations for popular tools. You can connect emails, calendars, Slack, Google Workspace, Dropbox, and many more, allowing data to flow between Monday and your other business apps.
Scalability with Monday is straightforward: if you outgrow the free plan’s limits or need more advanced CRM features (like email sync or automations), Monday offers paid plans that accommodate larger teams and feature sets.
Because Monday is a general Work OS, it’s highly scalable for project management, CRM, and marketing pipelines, all in one place.
Mobile access is also robust – Monday’s mobile app lets you update deals, respond to notifications, and collaborate with your team from anywhere. For small businesses that value ease of use and visual organization, Monday CRM is a compelling free choice. It’s especially suitable for those who prefer a more team collaboration-centric approach to CRM and might be managing projects alongside sales, given Monday’s all-in-one capabilities.
4. Bitrix24 – All-in-One Suite (Unlimited Users Free)
Bitrix24 is a multifunctional platform that combines CRM with tools for project management, team collaboration, telephony, and more.
It stands out by offering a free CRM plan with no user limit – you can have unlimited users on the free version, which is fantastic for larger small businesses or those planning to add many team members.
Bitrix24’s free tier also supports unlimited contacts and deals, meaning you won’t quickly hit a ceiling on the number of customer records you can manage. This makes Bitrix24 ideal for businesses that anticipate a high volume of leads or a big sales team even at the early stages. The CRM module itself covers all the basics: contact and company records, lead management, deal pipelines (with a Kanban view), quotes and invoice generation, and even marketing features like email marketing and web forms.
In fact, Bitrix24 includes hundreds of features across its modules – from sales automation to inventory management – providing an all-in-one business software for free.
With such breadth, usability can be a bit of a trade-off. Bitrix24’s interface is powerful but has a steeper learning curve than simpler CRMs, simply because there is a lot on the menu. However, small businesses willing to invest some time in setup will find they can run not just CRM, but also tasks, team chat, calendars, and more in one system.
Bitrix24 also offers unique flexibility in deployment: you can use it in the cloud or opt for on-premises hosting for more control (the self-hosted edition is free for small installations, just requiring your server).
In terms of integrations, Bitrix24 covers many needs out of the box (e.g., it has built-in telephony to make calls, integrates with Facebook for lead capture, and a contact center for multichannel communications). It also provides API and marketplace apps to connect with services like Mailchimp, Zapier, QuickBooks.
Scalability is one of Bitrix24’s strengths: if you require advanced CRM analytics, marketing automation, or expanded storage, there are paid plans (starting around $61/month for 5 users), still reasonably priced given how much functionality is included.
The ability to scale up to enterprise-grade features (sales intelligence, multiple sales pipelines, support for dozens of users) without switching platforms is a plus for growing companies.
Mobile access is fully supported via Bitrix24’s mobile app, where you can access CRM records, chat with your team, and even receive real-time notifications.
Overall, Bitrix24 is a top free choice for small businesses that want a unified platform – it’s particularly useful if you plan to manage many users or contacts, and if you appreciate having project management and CRM in one place.
5. Freshsales (Freshworks CRM) – User-Friendly Sales CRM (3 Users Free)
Freshsales, part of the Freshworks product family, is a CRM designed with small businesses in mind and is known for its clean, easy-to-use interface. The free plan allows up to 3 users at no cost, making it accessible for a small sales team. Despite being free, Freshsales includes a solid set of CRM features: you get contact and account management, a visual sales pipeline to track deals, lead capture forms, basic email integration (you can send/receive emails within the CRM), and even built-in phone capabilities (you can get a phone number to make calls from the CRM, though call costs may apply).
Small businesses often praise Freshsales for its intuitive design – it’s very straightforward to add contacts, qualify leads, and move deals through stages. The platform also provides nice touches like AI-powered lead scoring on paid plans, but even free users benefit from automatic lead assignment and deal insights to some extent.
One distinguishing factor of Freshsales’ free offering is the level of customer support provided. Unusually, the free plan includes 24/5 support via phone, chat, and email, which is something most free CRM tools do not offer. This is a big plus for small businesses that might need a helping hand while getting started. When it comes to integrations, Freshsales naturally connects with other Freshworks products (such as Freshdesk for customer support or Freshmarketer for marketing automation), which can create a nice unified ecosystem if you use those. It also offers integrations with Gmail/Outlook for email sync, and other popular apps via tools like Zapier. Freshsales has a Marketplace for extensions as well.
For contact management, Freshsales allows you to store an unlimited number of contacts on the free plan (subject to overall storage limits) and segment them with custom fields. You can track interactions on each contact’s timeline, attach files, and manage follow-up tasks and appointments easily.
Scalability with Freshsales is straightforward: as your needs grow, Freshsales offers higher tiers (Growth, Pro, Enterprise) that add advanced features like workflow automation, more advanced analytics, and AI features.
The pricing is competitive, and you can upgrade gradually. The good news is that even if you stick to the free plan, you are not cut off from the Freshworks ecosystem – you can add on a paid feature or two (like their marketing suite) as needed.
Mobile access is fully available via Freshsales’ mobile app, which lets you manage contacts, update deals, and even log meeting check-ins on the road.
6. EngageBay – All-in-One Marketing & CRM (15 Users Free)
EngageBay is a newer entrant that offers an integrated suite of marketing, sales, and service tools – often touted as an all-in-one alternative to HubSpot for budget-conscious businesses.
Impressively, EngageBay’s free plan supports up to 15 users and includes a blend of CRM and marketing features. However, the free tier does cap you at 250 contacts and companies, which is a limiting factor to consider if your contact list is growing. For small businesses just starting out or focusing on a narrow client base, 250 contacts might be workable, and EngageBay provides a lot of functionality around those contacts.
You get a unified contact view (marketing and sales data combined), deal tracking with multiple sales pipelines, email marketing, lead capture forms and landing pages, live chat support integration, and even predictive lead scoring to identify hot prospects. Essentially, EngageBay tries to pack as many tools as possible into the free plan to demonstrate value.
In terms of usability, EngageBay is noted for an excellent user experience and a clean, modern UI. It’s relatively easy to navigate between the Marketing Bay and Sales Bay within the platform, ensuring that even non-technical users can utilize both CRM and basic marketing automation features. The integrations available include common ones like Gmail and Outlook (for syncing emails), Stripe (for payments), Twilio (for SMS), and more via Zapier. EngageBay may not have as vast an app marketplace as HubSpot or Zoho, but it covers most essential integration needs for a small business.
Scalability is where EngageBay truly shines for small businesses: their paid plans are very affordable, and you can upgrade to increase contact limits and unlock advanced features at a fraction of the cost of some competitors. This makes EngageBay a safe starting point – you won’t be forced to switch platforms as you grow, because the upgrade path is budget-friendly.
7. Agile CRM – Sales & Marketing Combined (10 Users Free)
Agile CRM is a veteran in the small business CRM space, offering a free plan for up to 10 users – which immediately makes it attractive for growing teams on a tight budget.
Agile CRM positions itself as an all-in-one platform combining sales, marketing, and service features. In the free edition, you get the core sales CRM features (contact management, deal tracking with milestones, tasks and calendar integration) as well as some marketing tools like email newsletters, form capture, and even a landing page builder.
Specifically, the free plan includes contact management, lead scoring, appointment scheduling, custom data fields, and email marketing with templates. This breadth of functionality means a small business can manage a lot of customer engagement processes within Agile CRM without extra software. For instance, you could use it to send a monthly newsletter, track who opened it, and then follow up by moving those leads through your sales pipeline – all in the same system.
Usability is generally good, though Agile CRM’s interface is a bit more traditional compared to some newer CRMs. That said, it has a low learning curve; many users find it straightforward to navigate the pipeline, contacts, and campaign sections.
Agile CRM also provides a handy drag-and-drop workflow builder for marketing and service automation (available in paid plans) and a basic helpdesk/ticketing module for customer support.
On the integrations front, Agile CRM offers a decent array of native integrations and via plugins: it connects with Google Workspace (for calendar/email), Office 365, social media accounts, Twilio, QuickBooks, Shopify, and more. It also supports Zapier and has an open API, so connecting other apps is feasible.
Scalability with Agile CRM is solid – their paid plans are among the most affordable in the CRM market, and they expand the limits on contacts and add advanced features like marketing automation workflows, web analytics, and 24/5 support. This means you can stick with Agile CRM as your business grows without straining your budget, upgrading only when you need additional power.
Mobile access is provided via Agile CRM’s mobile apps for iOS and Android, allowing you to manage contacts, deals and even view basic reports from your phone scheduling and basic marketing automation integrated into your CRM at no cost.
8. Streak – CRM Inside Gmail (Great for Solo Users)
Streak is a unique CRM option that lives inside your Gmail inbox. For small businesses or solo entrepreneurs heavily reliant on Gmail or Google Workspace, Streak provides a lightweight CRM that adds deal tracking and contact organization right in your email interface.
The free plan of Streak is geared toward individual users and offers basic CRM capabilities embedded in Gmail. With Streak’s free version, you can create private pipelines to track things like sales leads, project progress, or any workflow that fits your needs. You’re allowed up to 500 “boxes” (records) in the free plan, which typically represent contacts, deals or cases.
This is sufficient for many freelancers or very small businesses managing a few hundred client interactions. Streak also provides useful email power tools to free users: for example, you get email tracking and 50 mail merge sends per day, which lets you send batch personalized emails from Gmail – great for small outreach campaigns.
In terms of usability, Streak is as simple as it gets for a CRM, since you don’t leave your inbox. It adds a sidebar and pipeline views to Gmail, and you can customize fields for your pipelines (e.g. stage, lead source, value) while continuing to use Google’s email compose, search, and other familiar functions. This design makes Streak a popular choice for individuals or very small teams who want minimal overhead.
Contact management in Streak is essentially handled via Gmail contacts and the boxes in pipelines – you can link emails to a box so all correspondence is organized, and you can attach notes or tasks to each contact/deal record. It’s not as full-featured as a standalone CRM’s contact module, but it covers basic needs.
While Streak doesn’t boast a huge integrations marketplace, it inherently integrates with Google apps (Calendar, Drive, since it’s part of Google’s ecosystem). It also offers an API and Zapier support for connecting to other services if needed.
Scalability for Streak is somewhat limited by its nature – it’s fantastic for a one-person or small team using Gmail, but if you grow and need more collaborative or advanced CRM features (like detailed reporting, team pipelines, permissions), you might need to upgrade to a paid Streak plan or migrate to a different CRM.
9. Capsule CRM – Simple and Limited Free CRM (2 Users)
Capsule CRM is a UK-based CRM platform that is popular among small businesses worldwide for its simplicity and focus on essential features. Capsule offers a forever-free plan which can be a good starting point for a micro-business or duo: it supports 2 users and up to 250 contacts at no cost. As expected, this free tier is quite limited in capacity, but it provides all the basic CRM tools you might need to get organized: you can manage contacts (with key details like emails, phone, address, and custom fields), track your sales opportunities with a visual pipeline, and keep a calendar of tasks and appointments.
Capsule’s design emphasizes ease-of-use – the interface is uncluttered, and you can learn it quickly. It has a straightforward contact list and sales pipeline view, without dozens of extra modules to confuse users. This makes usability a strong point.
Despite being lightweight, Capsule CRM does support useful integrations that matter to small businesses. For example, it connects with G Suite and Office 365 for calendar and email syncing, Mailchimp for email newsletters, Xero and QuickBooks for accounting, and Zapier for anything else not native. This means you can automatically pull in contacts from your email, or send new leads to Capsule from a web form, saving time on data entry.
The contact management in Capsule is solid: you can tag contacts, organize them into lists (using filters/tags), and see a history of communications and notes for each contact. With only 250 contacts allowed, Capsule’s free plan is best for a small client list – think of a consultant, a freelancer, or a small B2B company just starting who needs to track a few hundred relationships.
When it comes to scalability, Capsule’s free plan is clearly meant as an entry point. If you like the system and grow beyond 250 contacts or need more advanced features, upgrading is easy: their paid plans are reasonably priced and increase contact limits and add capabilities like sales analytics and custom activity types. Because Capsule keeps its focus narrow, even the paid plans remain straightforward and not overwhelming.
Mobile access is available through Capsule’s mobile app, which allows offline access as well – you can view and add contacts or update opportunities on your phone, even without network connectivity, and it will sync when you’re back online.
10. Odoo CRM – Modular and Open Source (Free Community Version)
Odoo CRM is part of the broader Odoo business suite – an open-source platform that offers modular applications for sales, marketing, accounting, inventory, and more. Odoo CRM stands out due to its flexibility, affordability, and extensibility. The Community version of Odoo is free and includes the CRM module at no cost when self-hosted.
This edition allows businesses to manage leads, pipelines, meetings, and opportunities without paying license fees. Alternatively, the cloud-hosted (Odoo Online) version offers the CRM app free for one app usage (one-app free model), making it suitable for businesses focused solely on CRM functionality.
Odoo CRM provides a modern and user-friendly interface, with a Kanban-style pipeline view, drag-and-drop stage management, and customizable dashboards. It supports contact and company management, activity scheduling (calls, emails, tasks), and reporting. While some advanced features (like automated workflows or multi-stage campaigns) are reserved for paid tiers or the Odoo Enterprise version, the free CRM app still covers essential sales and relationship functions.
Integration capabilities are a key advantage: because Odoo is modular, you can start with CRM and later add modules like Invoicing, Email Marketing, or Helpdesk as needed – either via free Community modules or through Odoo Apps. For businesses with technical resources, Odoo’s open-source nature allows deep customization and integration through APIs or custom development. You can tailor the CRM to your industry or internal process.
In terms of scalability, Odoo excels: if your business grows beyond CRM needs, you don’t need to switch platforms. Just add more apps. The Enterprise edition provides cloud hosting, mobile access, and advanced features, and pricing remains competitive for small and mid-sized businesses.
Mobile access, however, is a limitation in the free Community edition – mobile apps and certain usability enhancements are generally included in Odoo’s paid Enterprise version.
Automate, Innovate, Grow—With the Right CRM and the Right Partner
Choosing the right CRM is more than a budget decision—it’s a strategic move that can shape how effectively your team connects, sells, and scales. While each of the platforms in this list has its strengths, the best CRM is the one that fits your workflow, grows with your business, and empowers your team to focus on what matters most: building meaningful customer relationships.
If you’re considering Zoho CRM as your foundation, remember you’re not alone. As a certified Zoho implementation partner, Plug&Play Technologies is here to guide you through every step – from setup and customization to integration and scaling. We help startups and B2B teams unlock the full potential of Zoho’s ecosystem, making sure you get a CRM that works as hard as you do.
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