In our independent editorial review of retail CRM solutions, learn about the top options along with their primary use cases.
Free CRM software refers to CRM tools that offer a free-for-life option and paid tiers you can upgrade into, but don't include CRMs with free trials only. While many free options are limited compared to paid alternatives, there are good free CRMs that provide pipeline tools, contact management capabilities, reporting dashboards, marketing features, and more. To identify the most robust and usable free CRMs, we evaluated the top CRM software to determine the best options.
Here are the six best free CRM software options and their primary use-cases:
While many CRMs offer a free trial for their paid services, we only considered CRMs with truly free-for-life tiers and paid upgrade options. To determine the best free CRM software, we identified six weighted scoring categories and scored each software in every category to determine an overall score out of five. Also identified were primary use-cases for each top option. Check out our specific evaluation criteria and weights below:
Note: All per-user pricing upgrades are with a one-year commitment unless noted.
While some may score high in one category, we found that the overall best free CRM option is HubSpot CRM with an overall score of 4.1 stars. Take a look below to see how each of our top CRM software scored across all six categories, including a summary of features, pricing, and more:
The best free CRM software provides salespeople with the essentials they need to help grow their client base — and in some cases can even scale along with a business. The six free CRM options on our list will suit the needs of small businesses seeking access to reliable sales or marketing software without breaking the bank.