Smart marketing and business operations require stellar organization. That's the only way to gain the data-driven insights you can act on for ultimate success. An excellent customer relationship management (CRM) software suite offers a single spot to store vital customer data, create profiles, and gain actionable insights that can increase sales, improve customer experiences, and boost retention.
Not every business can afford to pay for CRM software. This is particularly true for startups and small businesses. In other cases, you might want to start with free CRM software suites to explore their benefits and how they could impact your business. But there’s good news. Keep your business running smoothly without paying a single penny with one of these free CRM options.
1. Freshsales
Unlimited users, unlimited contacts, a mobile app for iOS and Android alike, and 24-hour support available five days a week make this one of the greatest free CRM software suites available. Its competitive features include integrated customer-facing chat, email, and one-click phone calls. You can also integrate Freshsales with WhatsApp, Apple Business, and your chosen short message service (SMS) provider to do more right from the CRM. You can also set tasks, create reminders, log calls and emails, manage contacts, and stay abreast of deal statuses. This CRM software has limited lead generation and no workflow automation. In addition to the free version, Freshsales offers three paid options with more advanced features like artificial intelligence (AI) forecasting, sales sequences, and bot sessions.
2. HubSpot CRM
Another free option that offers unlimited users, HubSpot CRM, provides one of the most feature-packed free CRMs on the market. Although it lacks email, phone, or chat support and limits calls, contacts, and bulk emails, this CRM still offers incredible value. Some core features include sales tracking, deal management, reporting, website marketing, contact list segmentation, ad retargeting, and landing page creation. Using this software, you can track sales activity and analyze performance, attract more website visitors, effectively manage leads, manage customer communications, automate administrative tasks and boost productivity across the board.
3. EngageBay
This alternative to HubSpot offers all-in-one CRM capabilities with marketing, sales, and service functions. It’s completely free for up to 15 users and doesn’t require a credit card to get started. If you need to add users later or upgrade the plan, EngageBay makes it easy to do so. You receive space for 500 contacts, with 360-views of each record. You can also customize multiple pipelines for different aspects of sales, track personalized and automated emails, score leads, and more. This helps you boost web engagement, target customers better, create attractive landing pages, and manage your brand and business more effectively. Features include marketing automation, sales workflows, deal management, a landing page builder, appointment scheduling, and contact management.
4. ZohoCRM
If you’re looking for a CRM with workflow automation, ZohoCRM is a great free option. It's also a good option for scaling your business because it allows you to get started with the free CRM and upgrade incrementally as you and your team grow. The CRM integrates with the full suite of Zoho apps, covering everything from e-commerce to human resources (HR), finance, and more. Features included in the free CRM include 5,000 records, deal management, tasks, and integration with SalesIQ, which gives you live chat and website visitor tracking. It doesn’t have bulk emailing, but you can work around this by using Zoho Campaigns, which allows you to send 12,000 bulk emails for free every month. The capability of setting workflow rules is particularly helpful in freeing up time that can be spent cultivating relationships and automating tasks like triggering emails upon changes in deal status.
5. Insightly
Insightly is difficult to top among free CRM options for project management. Although it can also be used for sales, this CRM truly shines when used for end-to-end project management. It includes opportunity management, task assignments, bulk email marketing, project tracking, and sales pipeline management. Its focus on productivity comes from additional features like a built-in calendar, customizable reports, and task completion status updates. You can use the CRM to create custom contact fields or restrict access to deals or contacts to specific team members. The free version is only good for two users, making it ideal for small businesses or startup owners. Insightly also offers three paid versions with more features and access for more users.
