The Top 10 CRM Software for 2024
Introduction
The greatest CRM software will
interface with nearly every facet of your company, enabling you to monitor
customer connections, optimize workflows, and increase revenue. However, many
now provide ancillary services like email marketing and helpdesk, driven by the
development of AI.
But it might be challenging to choose the best CRM for your company when there
are so many options available. After testing the top CRMs available for
purchase for hundreds of hours, we have put together this guide to assist you
in selecting the one that best suits your requirements.
Our specialists have dissected the
salient characteristics and advantages of every platform we've examined and
have listed the top options available for every kind of business. We thus have
what you're looking for, whether you're looking for the best free CRM or the
finest CRM for small businesses.
Top 10 Best CRM Software in 2024
Here are the top 10 best CRM software in 2024.
1. Salesforce
Salesforce leads the CRM market worldwide with its cutting-edge, adaptable features, slick interface, and superb reporting capabilities. Impressively, they boast on their website that "98% of customers meet or exceed their ROI goals."
Features
1. Salesforce Sales Cloud is the primary CRM component. It may be combined, among other things, with Marketing Cloud for email automation or with Einstein Analytics for business insight driven by AI.2. Salesforce Sales Cloud is easy to use and concentrates on closing deals with prospects; however, a large portion of the interface, including dashboards, reports, and contact forms, may be tailored to your team's specifications.
3. Features of higher level plans include Sales Teams, which can assign team members to work on a specific sale, and Workflow Approval and Automation, which can automate routine company operations.
4. In addition, Enterprise plans and higher provide extensive reporting and prediction, app development, a full sandbox, sophisticated process automations, and web services APIs for external system connections in addition to pipeline management, call and email logs, and configurable contact management.
5. By allowing teams in large enterprises to customize workflows and permissions across client verticals, regions, and sales funnel stages, the app development and sandbox features can assist increase team productivity even further.
Plans and prices
Because there are so many options and modules to take into account, it might be difficult to summarize Salesforce pricing. There are two pricing tiers for the Salesforce Sales Cloud core plan, one geared toward SMBs and the other at enterprises.SMB price provides access to a basic CRM suite for $25 per person per month. You must subscribe to the Pro Suite plan, which costs $100 per user per month, if you want access to an improved CRM suite with more features for sales, marketing, and commerce.
There are three plans available to enterprise users. The first "Enterprise" subscription, which gives additional freedom and a Web API, costs $165 per user per month. If you choose the 'Unlimited' option, which costs $330 per user each month, you will receive integrated developer support and sophisticated automation. If you choose the 'Einstein 1 Sales' plan, which costs $500 per user per month, you will receive all the benefits of the 'Unlimited' plan in addition to Einstein Copilot driven by generative AI.
Summary
Due to the fact that each user is charged separately, Salesforce can grow pricey at higher tiers. Although there isn't a free tier either, we do value the 30-day free trial that can be accessed without a credit card and doesn't involve downloading any software. An further advantage is the clear and upfront price, which includes a comprehensive feature list categorized by plan for convenient comparison.2. Hubspot
In fact, Salesforce wins the top spot in our list of the best CRM for startups, with HubSpot coming in at number two. Nevertheless, HubSpot is a strong rival that outperforms Salesforce in a few crucial areas. The platform's strong free plan, which gives startups a free option to implement a CRM in their early stages, is the main reason it deserves the top rank in this list for startups.Features
Although a number of CRM vendors
give free plans, none of them are as feature-rich as the HubSpot CRM plan.
Contact management, email and call logs, deal pipeline, and connections with
Slack and Gmail are just a few of the fundamentals that are thoroughly covered.
It also has Facebook Messenger connectivity and email scheduling—features we
did not anticipate at this level.
Paid plans add HubSpot's Marketing, Sales, and Service Hub features to the core
CRM, which then work well together across these many products. You may create
chatbots, pop-up forms, and ad retargeting on your website, as well as automate
and monitor email campaigns, with the marketing feature. Intelligent lead
scoring, customisable reports, and deal assignment automation are examples of
premium features that help concentrate the efforts of your team in sales.
The largest barrier is that, with
the exception of Enterprise, which has a 10,000 contact cap, all plans only
allow you to market to 2,000 contacts (for instance, through bulk emails or
advertisements). On the other hand, up to a million prospects can be tracked
and stored.
Plans and prices
HubSpot offers remarkable combined sales and marketing functionality, but at a
high cost. We can upgrade from the free tier to the $450/month Professional
tier. That pricing point might be prohibitive for smaller firms, even if it
does handle five people at that price, features forecasting and a product
library, and supports eSignatures. .. We consider it a lost chance that there
aren't more plan tiers available with suitably reduced entrance costs.
Summary
HubSpot is a feature-rich, intuitive CRM with many integrations. The very generous free plan is the ideal choice for new businesses. The primary drawback is the abrupt increase in paid plans from free to rather pricey; start-ups should take this into consideration when estimating their future requirements.
3. Zoho CRM
We believe that most people searching for a sales management solution would find Zoho CRM to be a good fit.
Features
The fundamentals of contact and
pipeline management, communications tracking, workflow automation, and
reporting are all expertly handled by ZoHo CRM. Its image is further enhanced
by the fact that about 250,000 companies worldwide, like Purolite, Bose, and
Suzuki, trust it.
However, its real value lies in its integration with other apps from the Zoho
suite of tools for project management, sales, and marketing. These apps,
including Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Invoice, can provide vital prospect data to
your pipeline. Furthermore, Zoho CRM is a potent lead-generation tool because
it can scan business cards and extract contact information from social media
platforms.
The program offers a great degree of
customization when used: you can add fields to contact records, establish lead
assignment guidelines, and even alter the appearance and feel of your CRM
interface to optimize internal use. Strong reporting and analytics options are
also included, such as tools for visualization and configurable performance
reports.
Plans and prices
Although there isn't a free tier, there is a 15-day free trial available. You can try any of the tiers, and while a credit card is not needed, you will need a working email address and phone number. Sales forecasting, numerous pipelines, advanced filters, different currencies, and advanced capabilities are all included in the entry-level Standard plan ($14/user/month). The Zia AI tool is available on higher levels, the Enterprise ($40/user/month) and Ultimate ($53/user/month) subscriptions. It suggests which leads to prioritize, what emails to write, and how to assign workflow. Additionally, there is financial flexibility—you may choose to pay monthly or, at a discount, annually.Summary
Zoho provides a wide range of effective business solutions at affordable costs. Selecting the Zoho CRM is a simple choice if you already use other Zoho technologies. However, even when used as a stand-alone platform, this CRM is highly recommended.
4. Freshsales
For small to medium-sized
enterprises that choose usability above complex customisation, Freshsales is
the ideal solution.
Features
Its user-friendly desktop and mobile interfaces provide drag-and-drop Kanban-style boards for sales pipeline management, as well as rapid access to contact details and messages. If you provide it with enough historical data to work with, its intelligent assistant tool, Freddy AI, can also assist in making recommendations on which deals to complete and how.Deal closing and sales team productivity are its primary concerns. You may send mass emails to prospects, create email templates, and keep track of incoming and outgoing messages by integrating your email client, such as Gmail or Microsoft Outlook, into the platform. For a more efficient process, it is also made to interact with other programs like PayPal, DocuSign, Slack, and Intuit Quickbooks.
Additionally, there is a built-in calling tool with a recording feature that updates customer communication records automatically. The fact that there is a direct email address and toll-free number for support in case you need assistance is something else we appreciate.
There aren't many lead creation technologies available in Freshsales CRM, such business card scanners. It does, however, provide configurable web forms that automatically allocate sales leads and collect lead data from your website. Additional features include Contact Lifestyle management, a visual sales pipeline, and up to several thousand Bot sessions per month, depending on the package.
Plans and prices
Three paid tiers and a free tier make up the four plans. Even though the free plan has limitations, it nevertheless offers a mobile app and round-the-clock service. A dedicated account manager, audit logs, and AI-based forecasting insights are among the capabilities that are gradually added to the higher-end Enterprise plan through the paid tiers of Growth ($9/user/month), Pro ($39/user/month), and Enterprise ($59/user/month).Summary
Freshsales provides small businesses with all the necessary tools to monitor and oversee their customer connections. Freshsales is also surprisingly inexpensive in comparison to other major competitors like Salesforce, which makes it a more sensible choice for small enterprises on a tight budget.
5. Workbooks
Offering tools for teams in charge
of operations, sales, marketing, and customer care, Workbooks is a great CRM
for midsize companies.
Features
Its Shared Success program, which offers clients free advising hours and yearly workshops to make sure Workbooks stays in line with their business objectives, is its main point of differentiation.Unlike rivals like Salesforce and HubSpot, Workbooks does not have a vibrant developer community or a varied third-party app marketplace. As such, it might not be the ideal option for those who need a lot of customizations from third parties.
Furthermore, its free edition has fewer capabilities and is restricted to two users, which may turn off extremely tiny enterprises. To sign up, you'll need to provide a business email address and phone number; a credit card is not needed.
Plans and prices
There are three stages to plans. The entry-level "CRM" plan includes all the standard CRM capabilities and is available for $43/user/month. For an additional $88 per user each month, you may upgrade to the "Business" plan to access additional services including invoice/credit notes, supplier purchase orders, and sales order management. The 'Events' package, which starts at $183 per user per month, includes features exclusive to events, like online event registration, ticket sales and sponsorships, and check-ins.
It's crucial to remember that the costs listed above are only the beginning; each choice has a number of extras that can be purchased separately.
Summary
We observe that competing services offer a month-to-month price with an annual discount, but this service does not give a volume discount for several users. Additionally, the pricing structure is rigid, with only an annual payment option. Although the 30-day free trial is appealing, bear in mind that there are a ton of other options available, each with a monthly fee. If multiple features are selected, the cost can soon mount up. Multilingualism, multicurrency, online analytics and intelligence, audit trails, and many more capabilities are included in these extra-cost extras.6. Apptivo
With a CRM tool built in, Apptivo is a full-featured platform for business administration and collaboration. The scalability and simplicity of the Apptivo CRM are well known.
Features
Navigating the Apprivo CRM is made simple by its simple, uncomplicated layout. Additionally, it is very configurable; you may make your own custom fields, views, and layouts to streamline business processes. The majority of modification happens via a drag-and-drop procedure, which facilitates implementation.You can manage your sales leads while on the go with this CRM's mobile app. With your smartphone, you can accomplish this from anywhere, especially if using your workstation is difficult, such during a commute.
Apptivo offers numerous tool integrations to assist users in streamlining their processes. For instance, sending invitations to clients or potential clients outside of a business is made simple by its interface with Microsoft Office 365 and Google's G Suite. However, we have seen comments from users regarding how challenging it is to set up and use Apptivo's integrations.
You can easily generate and manage
leads for your company using this CRM. The activity monitoring tool can also be
used to keep track of your regular duties and make sure that neither you nor
your coworkers forget any crucial ones. A thorough summary of all of your notes,
emails, calls, planned meetings, follow-ups, etc., is available to you. With
the help of the contact management tool, you can keep track of every contact on
one convenient dashboard and get in touch with them as needed. You can also do
the same for your clients.
Plans and prices
'Lite' at $20 per user per month, 'Premium' at $30 per user per month, 'Unlimited' at $50 per user per month, and 'Enterprise' with customized pricing are the four plan options that Apptivo provides.Limits on features like the quantity of apps, custom fields for each app, processes, and custom dashboards rise with each tier.
Summary
Apptivo is more than just a CRM application, which is a big benefit of using it. It offers a tonne of other helpful solutions for companies, like tools for email marketing, billing and invoicing, procurement management, etc. These products aren't free, though; you'll have to pay for them on top of your CRM payment.
7. Keap
Keap isn't like other CRM programs.
With native payment, appointment scheduling, and email marketing features built
on top of a core contact and pipeline management system, its feature set blurs
the distinction between sales and marketing.
Features
Keap automates workflows and integrates payments to help you save time while converting leads through sophisticated marketing campaigns. Features include email and SMS marketing, sales funnel and analysis, and lead and client management. Even the most inexperienced CRM users will find Keap to be quite approachable because to its simple design and abundance of assistance options.Plans and prices
Although there is a 14-day free trial available, it is not as long as some of Keap's competitors. Sadly, Keap does not provide a free tier.Pricing is kept straightforward by Keap, which completely does away with feature-based programs. Pricing is determined by the quantity of users and contacts you have; two users and up to 1500 contacts can be had for $249 per month.
Summary
With Keap, there is no significant learning curve and you can start using email campaigns and automated triggers right immediately.8. Pipedrive
Founded in 2010, Pipedrive is a
cloud-based CRM solution, making it more recent than many other tools on our
list. However, in a comparatively short period of time, it has gathered over
100,000 global businesses as users. Being "designed by salespeople, for
salespeople" is a claim made by the platform.
Features
With Pipedrive, creating a sales funnel for your goods and services and tracking each step of the pipeline to seal a deal is simple. If you want to make things easier, you can use an existing template or design the steps for your pipeline yourself. Deals can be added to the pipeline or imported from an external CRM or spreadsheet.Pipedrive's integration of
artificial intelligence (AI) makes it stand apart. An AI-driven sales assistant
can automate repetitive chores and assist you in making decisions about how to
close prospects. For instance, the assistant can evaluate your sales activities
and provide ways to improve the efficiency of your workflow. It keeps tabs on
email opens, community conversations, and action reminders to help you stay
informed about your bargains.
Plans and prices
The lack of a free version of Pipedrive is a significant disadvantage. Nevertheless, before deciding to buy it, you can test its features during the 14-day free trial period. Furthermore, compared to competitors like Salesforce, which start at $25 for the same period, Pipedrive is one of the most reasonably priced CRM applications, starting at just $10 per user every month.Summary
Pipedrive can be the greatest choice for you if you're searching for a CRM that's simple to use. It also has a solid pricing strategy, providing entry-level plans at a significantly cheaper cost than many of its rivals.9. Insightly
With the ability to personalize
contact data fields, sales funnel phases, and other features, Insightly is an
excellent CRM solution for managing intricate sales pipelines.
Features
Workflow automation can save a lot of time and redirect team efforts toward cultivating connections. This includes scheduling emails as sales stages change.Its ability to integrate is another good point. Posts from social media may be integrated into contact sheets, and communications can be pulled in from Mailchimp, Microsoft Outlook, and other applications.
Furthermore, you can measure and plan your sales productivity with the aid of Insightly's reporting feature, which can be integrated with Microsoft Power BI to generate sophisticated custom dashboards and reports.
However, Insightly's lead generation
features are limited. Although it has a mobile business card reader, it cannot
scrape the internet for fresh leads. We appreciate how well-integrated the
Insightly mobile smartphone apps are with capabilities like the previously
stated mobile business card scanner and mobile voice notes. You also don't get
a lot of help: phone support is an extra fee for Insightly's plans, which only
cover email and knowledge base support.
Plans and prices
There are three premium tiers in the CRM offering; there isn't a free tier. The 'Plus' plan includes all of the standard CRM capabilities at a starting monthly cost of $29 per user. Upon upgrading to the 'Professional' plan, which costs $49 per user per month, you can access more features including personalized page layouts and workflow automations. If you choose the premium "Enterprise" plan, which costs $99 per user each month, you will also receive thorough audit tracking and sandboxes.Summary
All things considered, Insightly is a fantastic CRM choice for companies looking to save time and money by automating important business procedures. Because of the platform's very inexpensive options, companies of all sizes can use it.
10. Monday.com
Monday.com is a specialized project
management tool made to provide you with an open and adaptable approach to work
organization.
Features
Monday.com's highly visual scheduling interface and configurable workflows allow it to adjust to the different ways that different team members handle their tasks. It offers all the capabilities you would expect from a CRM, like email management, performance tracking, automations, data organization, and more, with an emphasis on making things straightforward and uncomplicated.Plans and prices
Monday.com membership is available in four distinct tiers: Basic ($12/user/month), Standard ($17/user/month), Pro ($28/user/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing).The cheapest memberships only let you add two users, while the most expensive choices offer more than 200 accounts. Prices vary based on how many user accounts you need.
Summary
If you want a project management
platform that is both accessible and your team will really utilize, Monday.com
is the best choice. Unfortunately, its more expensive subscriptions are the
only way to access some of its most useful features, like calendar views.
Nevertheless, Monday.com is notable for its sophisticated layout and flexible
third-party integrations.