The best free CRM for small business: Free and open source CRM software: What is the difference?
We have two categories: free but limited CRM (also known as freemium) and open source (Open Source). Freemium versions limit the number of users, contacts, storage, and additional functions (or some combination of them).
The Open Source systems provide CRM free unlimited and fully functional for users. The disadvantage? Your company will need a person (or team) who can install and configure the CRM. Free open source CRM systems are extremely customizable, and most of the companies that own free open source CRM offer a preconfigured version and installation and support, for a certain price.
Best Free CRM for Small Business for You
Free open source CRM software is ideal for companies with technical knowledge who want to customize the software code for themselves without the need for external technical support.
- 1. Bitrix24 – Best Free online workspace for your business
- 2. Capsule CRM – Best Simple CRM
- 3. Hubspot CRM – Best Free CRM Software for Businesses
- 4. Agile CRM – Best affordable CRM
- 5. Freshsales – Best Sales Software For Your Business
- 6. Raynet CRM – Best CRM software for customer relations
- 8. Really Simple System – Best CRM Software for Small Business
- 9. Suite CRM – Best Open Source CRM Software
- 10. Zoho CRM – Best rated CRM Software by Customers
However, if you lack technical knowledge or do not want to hire a programmer, and still, you need a free CRM system, it is best to keep a freemium software.
Free and Open-source CRM for Small Business
Where can you find these free or open-source CRMs? In this list! To be included in our list, we decided that the best free CRM for small business had to meet minimum requirements. The systems must be free forever (without trial periods), register at least 100 contacts, and have no limit on the number of emails you can Send.
1. Bitrix24
Features
- Project management with a homework assignment, Gantt charts, and time tracking (Bitrix is one of our favorite free CRM software solutions).
- Integrated email marketing
- Telephony functions (such as call recording and outgoing call from the CRM)
- Sales Automation
- Sales funnel and reports
- Billing
- Sales Team Management
Considerations
Bitrix24 is another best free CRM for small businesses. With a completely free account, you have access to twelve users and 5 GB of storage. The provider also offers an installation option of payment, which allows you to have a CRM on your local server (valid for 50 – 500 users). If you need a system that has telephony and project management, that is intuitive, and has a simple user interface, Bitrix24 is highly recommended.
2. Capsule CRM
Featured Features
- Email marketing through integration with MailChimp, Mad Mimi, MPZ Mail, and E-goih
- Integrates with at least 33 other software programs
Considerations
This best free CRM for small businesses, but we wanted to include it for its international fame. However, the free version is lower compared to other solutions on the list, and it should be noted that the so-called “premium” integrations such as Xero, FreshBooks, MailChimp, and Wufoo are only available for users who update.
The free CRM plan includes two users with 10 MB of storage and 250 contacts. Capsule’s top plan costs / user / month, and includes 2 GB of storage, 50,000 contacts and premium integrations. The limited system contacts and the lack of integrations in the free plan make it a useful option just to test it but not in the long term.
3. Hubspot CRM
HubSpot CRM is the only 100% free cloud solution. This means that it offers you everything you need to organize, track, and nurture your potential customers and customers without paying and without restrictions of any kind. That is why it is our preferred solution for small businesses.
You can count on all the contacts and users you need without mentioning that it provides tools to track contacts and execute email marketing software campaigns. Besides, it can be integrated with the “Marketing Automation” software of your choice.
Its weak point, its functionalities are basic, and there will come a time when you must move to a payment account that is not exactly cheap.
Its strong point, HubSpot CRM is the most popular free system on this list; it has thousands of users and a user satisfaction rate of 98%. This CRM highlights its ease of use and marketing and email automation functionalities.
Featured Features
- Email Marketing Features
- Up to 200 real-time notifications to open, click and track email
- Five email templates
- Unlimited users and accounts for free
- 15 minutes per user, per month, call tracking
- Email programming
- Score of potential customers
Considerations
You have to pay for user/mon, and this is the most expensive option on our list in case you want a higher plan. In the free version, the number of unlimited users that can use the CRM system, and the possibility of storing up to one million contacts should be highlighted.
4. Agile CRM
Agile is a free CRM for small businesses, based on the cloud with excellent features and email support in the free plan. It gives access to up to 10 users, manages 50,000 contacts, and allows an unlimited number of offers, tasks, and documents.
Featured Features
- Customizable data fields
- Score of potential customers
- Email and click tracking
- Zapier integration
- Landing Pages Builder
- Email programming
Considerations
Agile CRM is a good option if you need a lot of storage (5GB) and are willing to sacrifice the mobile experience. If you decide to hire a higher plan, it also offers the lowest rate among the alternatives we will see.
5. Freshsales
Freshsales offers a free plan for your company that is a pass. It includes functions for the user of small businesses that can only be valued as excellent. It will help you with the daily management of contacts, customers, and sales, allowing the automation of key aspects of the sales force.
It has integrations with Zapier, Freshdesk for support services, Mailchimp and Google Apps. The confidence of the users with this CRM is high, reaching 98 points in the satisfaction index.
It stands out for its great flexibility, low learning curves, and ability to climb when your business needs it thanks to the Freshdesk suite.
6. Raynet CRM
Featured Features
- The initial screen shows most of the relevant information about a customer at a glance, including the revenue it provides.
- You can continue using Gmail or any other email provider
Considerations
The Raynet interface is intuitive and easy to use. The free CRM plan includes two users, 150 accounts, 50 MB of storage, and full customer support. You can upgrade to a higher plan with 20,000 accounts and 1 TB.
Raynet is an excellent option if you don’t want full integration with email, but prefer to choose which emails CRM should track for free. However, its limited number of free accounts and storage implies that it is not a viable long-term solution.
8. Really Simple System
Featured Features
- Fully customizable control panel; just show the information that interests you
- Sales Channeling Management
- Task management
- It integrates with Xero
Considerations
Really Simple Systems offers a free CRM for two users that include up to 2 users, 100 accounts (businesses you deal with), unlimited contacts within those accounts, tasks, and 100MB of storage, along with full and free customer support. If you want to upload the plan, the price/ user/month.
If you need a simple and intuitive interface with excellent customer service, even for free users, Really Simple Systems is ideal. But if you need reporting functions and track more than 100 accounts, it won’t satisfy your needs.
9. Suite CRM
SuiteCRM is the pretty girl of Open Source CRM. This application rivals in performance with giants of the likes of Salesforce and is capable of exceeding in functionalities historical sector such as SugarCRM.
Also, thanks to its recent development, it is very easy to configure in any installation due to its modular “plug and play” design. With a single click, it is capable of activating hundreds of functionalities. It is easy to handle by users. It has a great customization capacity for computer experts.
Featured Features
- Ticket sales functionality included
- Invoices and budgets
- Flexible workflows
- ROI calculator
- Marketing Automation Functionality
Considerations
SuiteCRM is a free open source CRM system that offers an intuitive user interface and free support in the forum. SuiteCRM has many features, all free, to which those businesses that have the necessary experience to install, update, host, and customize can take advantage of.
10. Zoho CRM
Zoho is a very popular free CRM for small business. Its free version includes three users and 1 GB of storage in which to include up to 25,000 data. If at any time you want a higher plan, you can hire it per month.
Featured Features
- The free CRM system in the cloud
- SalesForce Automation
- Flexibility in customization
- Graphs and standard reports
- Integration with social networks
- Native applications and responsive website
- Numerous integrations, including HubSpot, Constant Contact and Zapier
- You can automatically import contacts from LinkedIn
- Sales Forecast
Considerations
The biggest disadvantage is that the integration of Zoho CRM with email requires payment per user.
If you’re looking for a ton of features, including the ability to import LinkedIn contacts and forecast sales automatically, Zoho is a great option, especially if you don’t mind a slightly poor user interface.
What are the types of CRM?
There are two types of free CRM software:
- Open source CRM
- CRM in the cloud in Freemium version
What is the difference between both models of Free CRM?
Well, usually when we talk about CRM Freemium, it is necessary to know that they are free versions of CRM systems in the cloud that have a free plan where they establish some type of restriction such as:
- The limited number of users.
- Reduced contacts
- Storage capacity.
- Advanced features limited.
The advantage of this type of Free CRM is that they are operational from minute one, and you will avoid any additional task of unlocking or configuration.
They are, therefore, the most transparent, easy, and quick option to start. The clear disadvantage is that you will eventually realize that you need more resources and will have to opt for a paid version.
On the contrary, open-source systems provide unlimited and fully functional CRM for users.
The problem? In this Software option, you take care of everything. So you will need at least one person on your computer who can install and configure the CRM on your servers.
Therefore, here the cost is associated with the hours and resources you will need to configure these solutions.
The advantage of open-source systems is that they are incredibly customizable, and most open source CRM companies offer a preconfigured version.
How to Choose low-cost CRM
For us, everything depends on your situation. That is why we usually make this recommendation:
- Freemium version: for companies with few users, e.g., Autonomous, Mircopymes, and Startup.
- Open source CRM: Large companies with lots of users.
CRM open-source software is an excellent option for companies with technical resources that will need to adjust the software and, of course, have several tens or hundreds of users.
This is the best way to save hundreds of thousands of euros in subscription payments per user each month.
However, for companies with few resources, without access to a talent developer, and with few users (usually the smallest), the best option is to opt for a free CRM model of the Freemium version.
Conclusion
Most of the CRMs that we have just shown you are excellent solutions to manage your customer relationships without putting your finances at risk. However, within the world of free CRM, some alternatives stand out from the rest as you have already been able to check.
For us, the best CRM for small businesses is Hubspot CRM or some similar Freemium version.
This CRM allows you to have more than 1 million contacts and use all the accounts you need. Best of all, you will have full access to its functionalities. You will have a user interface., and you will just have to configure anything to start working with it.
Also, it syncs with your Gmail account and allows you to capture contacts from the web automatically. Another of the great options for small teams and companies is Freshsales, Workbooks, and Agile CRM.
If we talk about large and medium-sized companies that seek to save costs in the release of this type of solution, what we recommend is to use an open-source CRM solution.
With these solutions, you can save the monthly subscription per user. In this case, SuiteCRM is the best alternative as a Free CRM for companies because of its ease of deployment on your servers and low learning curves. And of course, we also recommend Odoo CRM for all organizations that need to integrate ERP and CRM on the same platform.
Sure, among these solutions is the one you are looking for. And you, what free CRM do you use? Hubspot, Freshsales, SuiteCRM? Share it with us and tell us in the comments.