What Does CRM Software Do?
By Amy Yang |
Customer Relationship Management is when you organize and analyze your customer interactions and the data you've compiled during their...Read More >
Best CRM Software 2021
CRM software, or customer relationship management software, is technology that helps individuals, SMBs, and enterprises manage relationships with their potential and existing customers. This involves obtaining data about customers and analyzing that data to drive business growth.
CRM software is most commonly used by business-to-business (B2B) companies. The benefits of CRM software include saved time, improved deal close rates, and faster closed deals.
CRM platforms offer key features for lead capture, contact and deal management, workflow automation, and insights reporting. The best CRM solution for you will depend heavily on the number of customer relationships you have to manage. Some platforms are also better for marketing and team collaboration. You will also need to decide if you want an all-in-one solution or have a CRM that integrates with the software you are currently using.
Research Led By:
Junior Research Analyst
Highest Rated CRM Software
Different software vendors build solutions for freelancers, small businesses, and larger businesses. All the tools we've reviewed are industry-agnostic, meaning that they're relevant for businesses of all types.
Starting Price: $50 per month
HubSpot is a feature-rich CRM software solution used by over 114,000 customers. It's ideal for those who need an advanced, all-in-one platform with high-quality marketing tools.
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Starting Price: $20 per month
Zoho CRM is a CRM platform that is used by over 150,000 customers. It's ideal for those who need a more affordable, advanced solution and currently use other Zoho products.
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Starting Price: $35 per month
Freshsales is a CRM platform with over 40,000 customers. It's ideal for small businesses with a slightly larger budget and that need a strong set of communication channels and digital marketing tools.
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Starting Price: $29 per month
Copper is a CRM software solution that is used by over 25,000 customers. It's ideal for SMBs that only need a basic CRM and currently use Google Workspace.
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Starting Price: $18 per month
Pipedrive is a basic CRM software tool used by over 95,000 customers. It's ideal for individuals and SMBs who mainly need a solution to visually manage their deals and pipelines.
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Starting Price: Free
Vtiger is a popular CRM solution with over 300,000 customers. It's best for smaller businesses who need a reliable, all-in-one solution with multiple communication channels.
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Starting Price: $25 per month
Salesforce is an advanced CRM software tool used by over 150,000 customers. It's ideal for those who have a large budget and are looking to scale their business to enterprise-level. We highly recommend having assistance from a Salesforce representative when it comes to customizing your platform.
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CRM Software Prices
CRM software can range from free to upwards of $30,000 per month. Here are some details that will help you compare prices for the most popular CRM platforms.
| Software Vendor | Starting Monthly Price | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | $50 | Yes |
| Salesforce | $25 | Yes |
| Zoho CRM | $20 | Yes |
| Copper | $29 | Yes |
| Pipedrive | $18 | Yes |
| Freshworks CRM | $35 | Yes |
| ActiveCampaign | $15 | Yes |
| SugarCRM | $52 | Yes |
| Vtiger | Free | Yes |
CRM Software FAQs
CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management. CRM software helps individuals and businesses manage relationships with potential and existing customers. It supports marketing, sales, ecommerce, and customer service functions.
Most customers pay $50 to $150 per month for CRM software. The cheapest plans range from free to $20 per month. The most expensive plans can cost as much as $4,000 per month.
The best CRM software depends on your budget and the features you need. Salesforce is the most advanced platform, but also one of the most expensive. Zoho CRM and HubSpot are both feature-rich, high-quality, middle-tier solutions. Copper and Pipedrive are two of the most affordable solutions, but are also more basic in terms of features.
Salesforce is the most popular CRM software in the market. It has more than 150,000 customers.
There are many benefits to using CRM software. This includes:
- Providing a safe, centralized storage space for your contacts, deals, activities, and files
- Allowing your salespeople to optimize time spent with leads and customers
- Closing a higher percentage of prospective deals
- Improving communication and your customer experience
- Saving time through workflow automation
- Reducing the risk of human error
The most common CRM features are:
- Lead capture
- Contact profiles
- Marketing communication channels
- Lead scoring
- Tasks
- Pipelines
- Workflow automation
- Reporting
- Integrations
- Mobile CRM
CRM Software Research & Advice
Best Free CRM Software
By Amy Yang |
Looking for the best CRM software? We’ve researched the market and listed the four top free solutions below. Read More >
Freshworks CRM Competitors & Alternatives
By Amy Yang |
Are you considering using Freshworks CRM manage your potential and existing customer relationships? Before choosing a software, it’s...Read More >
Salesforce Competitors & Alternatives
By Amy Yang |
Are you considering using Salesforce manage your potential and existing customer relationships? Before choosing a software, it’s important...Read More >
Pipedrive vs. HubSpot
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Pipedrive and HubSpot? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to help...Read More >
HubSpot Competitors & Alternatives
By Amy Yang |
Are you considering using HubSpot manage your potential and existing customer relationships? Before choosing a software, it’s important to...Read More >
Freshworks CRM vs. HubSpot
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Freshworks CRM and HubSpot? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to...Read More >
Vtiger vs. HubSpot
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Vtiger and HubSpot? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to help you...Read More >
Copper CRM vs. HubSpot
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Copper CRM and HubSpot? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to help...Read More >
Zoho CRM vs. Salesforce
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Zoho CRM and Salesforce? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to...Read More >
Salesforce vs. HubSpot
By Amy Yang |
Are you deciding between Salesforce and HubSpot? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best CRM tool to help...Read More >
Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations
The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including 5 in the CRM category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of CRM software that we analyzed. The specifics of our CRM category research process are outlined below.
Amy led our analysis of CRM software. She has spent more than 400 hours evaluating leading CRM software systems. To test the tools, she set up trials of each tool, created customer relationship flows, and tested their overall usability. She also spoke with several users of each solution to hear their input and personal experiences.
In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.
How We Selected the Best CRM Software
We selected the best CRM software tools to review based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool.
There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in CRM software. We prioritized analyzing features in these key categories in our analysis:
- Lead Capture
- Contact Management
- Communication Channels
- Deal Management
- Workflow Automation
- Insights Reporting
How We Evaluated CRM Software
We used the same rigorous process to evaluate CRM software as all other software categories. For the CRM category, Amy invested several weeks researching, testing, and writing about the tools.
Amy interviewed the teams of the software companies listed above. Our conversations involved discussing each company’s product, customer base, pricing, customer support, and business strength. Amy was also able to participate in product demos led by each company, which gave her the chance to ask detailed questions about each CRM software’s features and functionality.
Amy was also able to interview actual users of each CRM tool listed above. Our conversations here included discussions about each product’s features, advantages, disadvantages, customer support, and usability. These interviews gave Amy the opportunity to ask detailed questions about each solution’s functionality.
Amy also obtained a free trial of each software tool listed above. She spent several hours testing the major and unique features of each CRM. This allowed us to validate the features offered by each product, and to gain an understanding of the software’s usability.
In addition to conducting conversations with the software companies and hand-testing every platform, Amy also spent dozens of hours interviewing real customers of the software tools listed above.
CRM Software Customers
- Sandeepan Jindal: Sandeepan is the founder of the SaaS-based product, BidFortune. He currently uses Pipedrive.
- Eden Cheng: Eden Cheng is the founder of WeInvoice, an invoicing software company. She currently uses Pipedrive.
- Robert Soares: Robert Soares is the founder of Provided.io, a company that provides development solutions. He currently uses HubSpot.
- Alina Clark: Alina Clark is the co-founder of CocoDoc, a PDF editor software company. She currently uses Zoho CRM.
- Caroline Lee: Caroline Lee is the co-founder of CocoSign, an electronic signature software company. She currently uses HubSpot.