6 Best CRMs for Freelancers & Solopreneurs in 2022

CRMs for freelancers are software that help solopreneurs and independent contractors keep track of leads and clients, including managing their projects effectively. The top CRMs for freelancers incorporate core sales pipeline features as well as time tracking, appointment scheduling, and task automation. To help freelancers choose the right one, we evaluated the best options and their use cases.

Here are the six best CRMs for freelancers:

• HubSpot CRM (Overall Winner): Best free CRM with premium upgrades (free starting price)
• Zoho CRM: Best CRM for invoicing and billing (free starting price)
• Pipedrive: Best for highly visual sales pipelines ($14.90 starting price)
• Capsule: Best CRM for task and calendar management (free starting price)
• Copper: Best for Google Workspace integration ($25 starting price)
• Insightly: Best CRM for ongoing project management (free starting price)

How We Evaluated the Best CRMs for Freelancers

We took a quantitative approach to our freelancer CRM evaluation by first defining six weighted categories important to freelancers and solopreneurs. Then, we assigned each category key subcriteria to determine how each option performed in that category. Finally, we totaled the weighted scores to give each CRM software an overall rating out of five, including primary use cases.

Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.

The CRMs we evaluated are all good options for freelancers, but HubSpot CRM emerged as the overall best CRM for freelancers. Below, read about each option’s primary use case and its score in each category.

HubSpot CRM: Best Free CRM With Upgrades

A leading CRM with a free plan and upgrades that offer even more robust functionality as freelancers grow their client base.

Price Range: Free to $1,200 per month (Sales Hub)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Excellent customer support
• Plenty of free tools

Cons:

• Lacks adequate flexibility
• Paid plans can be expensive
• Limited reporting

HubSpot CRM is a free marketing and sales software with available upgrades. The robust free plan helps freelancers manage their leads and clients, schedule client meetings, and monitor project tasks from their desktop or via HubSpot CRM’s free app. As their client base grows, freelancers can upgrade to a Sales Hub plan for automation to cut down on manual tasks. This makes HubSpot CRM a great choice for those who want a CRM that will grow with them.

HubSpot CRM Pricing

• Free Plan: Support for unlimited users, up to 1 million contacts
• Sales Hub Starter: $45 for 2 paid users, per month
• Sales Hub Professional: $450 for 5 paid users, per month
• Sales Hub Enterprise: $1,200 for 10 paid users, per month

HubSpot CRM Key Features

• Scalable Solution: HubSpot CRM covers important business bases under one roof with scalable, modular solutions.
• Freemium Model: Its free forever plan provides core CRM functions for free with options for add-ons with upgrades.
• Digital Marketing Expertise: Integrates with other apps and provides dynamic personalization and branding tools.
• Incredibly Comprehensive: Tools can be used across sales, marketing, and service teams in a variety of segments for different uses.
• Excellent Customer Support: HubSpot is renowned for its top-notch support services.

Visit Hubspot CRM

Zoho CRM: Best for Invoicing & Billing

A classic full-stack CRM with a free plan and features that help freelancers handle customer billing cycles effectively.

Price Range: Free to $52 per user, per month (15- to 30-day free trial)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Impressive set of features
• Omnichannel outreach capabilities
• Comes with a free plan

Cons:

• Analytics only in Enterprise tier
• Integrations can be complicated
• Forms not great for conversions

Zoho CRM is a cloud-based CRM with affordable functionality for customer invoicing and billing. It allows freelancers to automate recurring billing by setting up billing frequencies and payment reminders, and it makes creating and sending tax-compliant, professional-looking invoices easy through forms. For this reason, Zoho CRM is great for freelancers who need help managing timesheets, invoices, and quotes for a high number of clients or ongoing projects.

Zoho CRM Pricing

• Free Plan: Free for up to 3 users
• Standard: $14 per user, per month
• Professional: $23 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
• Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
• Free Trial: 15- to 30-day free trial

Zoho CRM Key Features

• Manage Invoice Life Cycles: Freelancers can create and send invoices from projects and effectively track them from draft to payment.
• Subscription Billing: Allows businesses and freelancers to customize their billing process by setting up proration and billing cycle frequencies.
• Powerful Sales and Marketing Features: It integrates both social and marketing features to find the best time and channel to reach client prospects.
• Powerful Marketing Automation: Plenty of marketing strategies, from targeted email campaigns to real-time analytics, pre-built emails, and templates.
• Affordable Pricing: Zoho CRM is affordable, with a free version and a 30-day trial period for paid plans.

Visit Zoho CRM

Pipedrive: Best for Highly Visual Pipelines

An easy-to-use CRM equipped with a visual sales pipeline to track leads through the sales process.

Price Range: $14.90 to $99 per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Easy to use
• More visual than many CRMs
• 24/7 customer support

Cons:

• Limited functionality for the cost
• Limited customization features
• No marketing features offered

Pipedrive is a CRM with an easy-to-use pipeline to track leads and clients. Its clear, visual interface helps freelancers stay in control of their sales process and monitor emails, calls, and projects. Pipedrive’s drag and drop feature makes it easy to move potential clients through different stages of the pipeline and see all contacts at once. It’s great for visual freelancers who prefer to stay organized by easily seeing their sales cycle and current projects.

Pipedrive Pricing

• Essential: $14.90 per user, per month
• Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
• Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
• Free Trial: 14 days

Pipedrive Key Features

• Visual Sales Pipeline: Pipedrive allows you to start simple and customize your pipeline in stages to visualize your sales process.
• Deal Management: Provides a complete picture of each deal, allowing freelancers to manage opportunities better.
• Track Communications: Emails are automatically linked to associated deals and measure performance against set goals.
• Workflow Automation: Save time and avoid repetitive tasks like follow-up emails.

Visit pipedrive

Capsule: Best for Task & Calendar Management

A simple CRM built for freelancers with task and calendar features to manage meetings and to-dos.

Price Range: Free to $54 per user, per month (30-day free trial)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Simple to use
• Integrates with Google apps
• Clean user interface

Cons:

• Lacks marketing features & integrations
• A bit too simplistic and sparse
• Lacks social media features

Capsule is an easy-to-use, cloud-based CRM great for freelancers and small business. Users can create tasks to remind them about upcoming meetings and project deadlines, client calls they need to make, and more. Then, they can receive occasional notifications or a task reminder email every morning, or integrate their calendar (Capsule supports certain calendars), making it a good fit for freelancers who have lengthy to-do lists or strict deadlines.

Capsule Pricing

• Free Plan: Support for 2 users and 250 contacts
• Professional: $18 per user, per month
• Teams: $36 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $54 per user, per month
• Free Trial: 30-day free trial

Capsule Key Features

• Task Management: Create repeating tasks, link tasks to contacts, and get reminders.
• Visual Pipeline: Freelancers can see all opportunities in one pipeline and use sales milestones to tailor the pipeline to their workflow.
• Task Automation: Automate tasks and apply notifications to deals, contacts, and cases to better understand what needs to be done.
• Customized Reporting: Freelancers can create filtered lists to show specific activities.

Visit Capsule CRM

Copper: Best for Google Workspace Integration

A simple CRM that seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace, with no coding required.

Price Range: $25 to $119 per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Google Workspace compatibility
• Reduces data entry
• Simple and easy to use

Cons:

• Some features are missing
• Not as useful outside of Google
• General lack of features

Copper is essentially a Google Workspace CRM. It integrates with Workspace apps and helps freelancers add leads, track emails, and manage tasks. You can attach Docs and Sheets to contact records and have clients book meetings with you directly through Calendar, and Copper also finds and updates contact information automatically. It’s ideal for Google-driven freelancers looking for simplicity along with the look and familiarity of Google products.

Copper Pricing

• Basic: $25 per user, per month
• Professional: $59 per user, per month
• Business: $119 per user, per month
• Free Trial: 14 days

Copper Key Features

• Google Workspace CRM: With Copper, freelancers can leverage Google’s vast ecosystem to manage emails, contacts, and deals in one place.
• Simplicity and Ease: Simply complete tasks, such as mass uploading contacts from apps like Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, and LinkedIn.
• Automated Tasks: Saves freelancers from spending too much time with data entry by automating recurring tasks.
• Lead Management: Allows you to set up pipelines and new leads from incoming calls.

Visit Copper

Insightly: Best for Project Management

Insightly offers the core CRM features you expect along with advanced project management functionality for client work.

Price Range: Free to $99 per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating Cost Key Features Ease of Use Integrations Customizations Customer Support

Pros:

• Integrated project management features
• Kanban-style sales pipeline
• Milestone tracking & calendar sync

Cons:

• Can be difficult to use
• Free plan can be limited
• Premium tiers can be pricey

Insightly is a leading CRM known for its core sales features and robust project management capabilities. Integrate ongoing project management into your workflow using milestone and task tracking, calendar sync, and even customize your project processes to your needs. This makes Insightly a good CRM choice for freelancers or solopreneurs who manage ongoing projects for their clients.

Insightly Pricing

• Insightly Free-for-Life: Supports up to two users
• Plus: $29 per user, per month
• Professional: $49 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
• Free Trial: 14 days for all paid plans

Insightly Key Features

• Kanban-Style Sales Pipeline: Manage contacts, leads, prospects, and customers using their intuitive pipeline
• Project Milestone Tracking: Track ongoing client projects and customize your project management workflows to fit your needs.
• Integration & Customization: Integrate with over 250+ business apps, including G Suite and more, in order to customize the CRM for your needs.
• In-App Calling: Premium tiers offer an in-app phone dialer so you can make business calls without using your personal device.

Visit Insightly

Bottom Line: Best CRM for Freelancers

Freelancers often only have themselves to lean on, so they need a CRM that helps them effectively handle client relationships and administrative tasks. Their CRM should help free them from repetitive work through workflow automation and third-party app integration. The top six CRMs we evaluated provide industry-specific lead generation and customer management functionality to allow freelancers to stay on top of their work and find and nurture new clients.