6 Best Lead Nurturing Software for Sales & Marketing 2023

Learn about the best lead nurturing software options, as well as their primary use cases, in our independent editorial review.

Lead nurturing software are typically CRMs or marketing automation software that help sales and marketers attract, qualify, and engage leads to turn them into customers. The top software offer features like contact management, pipeline management, automated follow-ups, and drip marketing campaigns to guide prospects through the sales funnel and optimize conversion rates. To help you choose the right one for you, we’ve evaluated the best available options.

Here are the six best lead nurturing software:

  • Zoho CRM: Best software for omnichannel lead nurturing (free starting price)
  • Freshsales: Best lead nurturing software for workflow automation (free starting price)
  • HubSpot CRM: Best free lead nurturing software with upgrades (free starting price)
  • ActiveCampaign: Best for automated email nurturing campaigns (14-day free trial)
  • monday sales CRM: Best for an easy-to-use, visual sales pipeline (free starting price)
  • EngageBay: Best lead nurturing software for user support (free starting price)

How We Evaluated the Best Lead Nurturing Software

In our evaluation, we first identified the top six weighted categories important to lead nurturing software and assigned each category key subcriteria. From there, we used the subcriteria to give each category a score out of five, and summed them all together to give each option an overall score out of five, including the identification of primary use-cases. Take a look at our specific evaluation criteria below:

Evaluation Criteria

We first looked at each option’s cost and core features such as pipeline management, lead management, and CRM analytics. Next, we reviewed ease of use, customization, and integrations. Customer support rounded out our scoring to ensure users have the information and help they need.

Cost:
25%
Core Features:
25%
Ease of Use:
15%
Customization:
15%
Integrations:
10%
Customer Support:
10%

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

All software we evaluated are good options for businesses looking to capture leads and convert customers. However, Zoho CRM emerged as the best lead nurturing software, scoring the highest for core CRM features and customization and tying for cost. Read on to see how each CRM performed in each category.

Zoho CRM: Best for Omnichannel Nurturing

Helps capture and nurture leads from multiple sources such as email campaigns and websites.

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

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

Pros:

  • Excels at lead generation
  • Easy and intuitive to use
  • Free and flexible pricing

Cons:

  • Setup process can be difficult
  • Limited customer services
  • Tutorials can be improved

Zoho CRM is sales software known for its multichannel marketing features that help generate and nurture leads. Its robust marketing integrations notify you when a lead engages with your social media, emails, or website, enabling you to respond immediately. You can identify leads who are most likely to convert using Zia AI, then build a relationship on their preferred platform, making Zoho CRM ideal for businesses that connect with leads via various online channels.

Although Zoho has robust core features and customization options, its user support isn’t top-notch. If you’re needing reliable customer service, check out EngageBay, which won in this category.

Zoho CRM Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports 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 days
  • Access to Zoho One Marketplace Apps

Zoho CRM Key Features

  • Omnichannel Marketing: Automate lead capturing and campaigns across all channels.
  • Qualify & Convert Leads: Identify and nurture the right leads across the sales funnel.
  • A/B Testing for Newsletters: Discover which emails resonate with leads for campaigns.
  • Lead Scoring: Assign numerical scores to leads based on your ideal customer profile.

Zoho CRM lead nurturing software

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Freshsales: Best for Workflow Automation

Allows businesses to engage, attract, nurture, and close leads using robust automations.

Price Range: Free to $69 per user, per month (21-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Very simple interface
  • Allows multiple pipelines
  • Low price points

Cons:

  • Lacks robust custom reporting
  • Limited dashboard customization
  • No 24/7 support

Freshsales is a contact management platform that helps improve lead nurturing by tracking and engaging leads throughout the sales pipeline. It allows companies to use automated workflows to create and send targeted lead outreach — these automated tasks, emails, call reminders, and notes make Freshsales a great option for salespeople and teams that want to consistently nurture their leads without having to manually reach out.

While Freshsales has powerful workflow automations, it lacks the advanced marketing features that other CRMs offer. If having a free plan with robust sales and marketing tools is important for your team, look into Zoho CRM.

Freshsales Pricing

  • Growth: $15 per user, per month (free for 3 users)
  • Pro: $39 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $69 per, user per month
  • Free Trial: 21 days
  • Integration with Freshworks’ free marketing and service platform tiers
  • Access to Freshworks Marketplace

Freshsales Key Features

  • Automation-Driven Lead Capture: Eliminates clunky, manual lead nurturing cadences.
  • Sales Sequences: Run and automate sequences of sales actions for a target audience.
  • Profile Enrichment: Use social and publicly listed info to enrich contacts and leads.
  • Auto-Assigning Leads: Ensure the right leads are directed to the right sales reps.

Freshworks CRM - Lead Nurturing Software

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HubSpot CRM: Best Free Option With Upgrades

Offers free sales and marketing tools to nurture leads with the ability to upgrade.

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

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Marketing and sales in one place
  • Powerful automation
  • Easy lead generation

Cons:

  • Limited reporting options
  • Harder option to customize
  • Premium tiers can be pricing

HubSpot CRM is a free marketing and sales software with robust contact management features. Qualify leads through calls, emails, and live chat, and set up chatbots to automatically ask website visitors discovery questions. Then track which channels drive the highest engagement with built-in analytics so you can optimize pages, offers, ads, and traffic sources. Upgrade to paid tiers for advanced features like predictive lead scoring and automatic lead rotation.

Even though HubSpot’s free plan is flush with sales and marketing tools, upgrading to higher tiers can be expensive and you’ll need to pay more for additional users. If you need a robust free version with affordable paid tiers, try Zoho CRM, which won for features and tied for pricing.

HubSpot CRM Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports unlimited users
  • Sales Hub Starter: $18 per month for 2 users
  • Sales Hub Professional: $450 per month for 5 users
  • Sales Hub Enterprise: $1,200 per month for 10 users
  • Additional users can be purchased for extra
  • Integration with HubSpot's free marketing, service, and other tools
  • Access to HubSpot App Marketplace

HubSpot CRM Key Features

  • Sales Qualified Leads: Ensures that leads are qualified before moving to the pipeline.
  • Pinpoint Lead Tracking: Monitor leads by identifying the most engaged prospects.
  • Lead Targeted Campaigns: Target and address a prospective customer’s pain points.
  • Email Marketing: Send bulk and optimized emails for different platforms and devices.

HubSpot CRM lead nurturing software

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ActiveCampaign: Best for Automated Email Nurturing

Features top of the line marketing tools for email nurturing campaigns and sequences.

Price Range: $29 to $149+ for 1,000 to 2,500 contacts (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Robust email marketing automations
  • Powerful drip campaign easily setup
  • Email analytics

Cons:

  • Limited custom reporting
  • Can become pricey with more contacts
  • Limited template designs

ActiveCampaign is a lead nurturing email marketing software with marketing automation in one interface. Businesses can run highly-effective, targeted email campaigns using templates and segmentation, which trigger automated, personalized emails to nurture leads. The platform also comes with built-in A/B testing so users can see what’s working in their campaigns, so ActiveCampaign is great for companies that nurture their leads largely through email.

While ActiveCampaign is a great automation platform and offers basic CRM functionality, it lacks the advanced features that true CRMs have. If your team needs a fully-featured option, try Zoho CRM, which is one of our top email marketing software.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

  • Lite: $29 per month for 1 user
  • Plus: $49 per month for 3 users
  • Professional: $149 for 5 users
  • Enterprise: Contact sales for quote
  • Free Trial: 14 days
  • Additional contacts can be purchased for extra

ActiveCampaign Key Features

  • Drag-and-Drop Email Builder: Create targeted content using flexible email templates.
  • Landing Page & Form Creation: Use pre-designed or custom templates and forms.
  • Email Marketing Automation: Design and send targeted email nurturing campaigns.
  • Custom Email Marketing: Optimize your email nurturing efforts with insights reports.

ActiveCampaign lead nurturing software

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monday sales CRM: Best for a Highly Visual Pipeline

Offers easy-to-use lead nurturing tools and a color-coded sales pipeline.

Price Range: Free to $24+ per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Intuitive interface
  • Unlimited customizable pipelines
  • Robust project management tools

Cons:

  • Free version only supports 2 users
  • Expensive plans for larger teams
  • Limited customer support

monday sales CRM is an easy-to-use and customizable software offered by monday.com. It features unlimited custom pipelines, which you can manage simultaneously to visually track the leads in your sales process. Edit deal stages and add multiple columns using its colorful kanban-style boards, and share them with your team. You can use its sales pipeline templates to forecast revenue, generate insights, and learn where to focus your lead nurturing efforts.

While monday sales CRM has highly-visual pipelines, its support solutions could be better. If you’re looking for a software with a visual pipeline and great customer service, check out Freshsales, which offers live chat, email, and phone support.

monday sales CRM Pricing

  • Free Version: Support for 2 users
  • Basic CRM: $10 per user, per month
  • Standard CRM: $14 per user, per month
  • Pro CRM: $24 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Contact for quote
  • Free Trial: 14 days
  • Access to app marketplace

monday sales CRM Key Features

  • Unlimited Pipelines: Customize and manage multiple pipelines to fit your sales cycle.
  • Visual Boards: Use color-coded kanban boards to manage your lead nurturing efforts.
  • Lead Management Template: Store your leads and contacts using ready-made guides.
  • Customizable Dashboards: Gain insights to your pipeline and forecasting in real-time.

monday sales CRM lead nurturing software

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EngageBay: Best for User Support

Provides reliable after-sales guidance via 24/7 live reps, plus phone and email support.

Price Range: Free to $73.59 per user, per month

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Robust free tier
  • Discount for 2-year subscription
  • Flush with sales & marketing features

Cons:

  • UI can be clunky
  • Higher tiers can be pricey
  • Not all tiers include phone support

EngageBay is an all-in-one software for sales, marketing, and service that offers stellar customer support for salespeople and teams. It has great reviews from real users for having a responsive support team that you can talk to via 24/5 live chat, email, and phone. It also provides onboarding assistance to new users and has a comprehensive knowledge base with detailed documentation, tutorials, and FAQs so you can troubleshoot common issues.

While EngageBay has support solutions, you need to upgrade to more expensive tiers to get the best of its lead nurturing tools. If you’re looking for a CRM with robust sales and marketing tools at a lower price point, consider Freshsales.

EngageBay Pricing

  • CRM & Sales Bay Free Version: Supports up to 15 users
  • CRM & Sales Bay Basic: $11.95 per user, per month
  • CRM & Sales Bay Growth: $45.99 per user, per month
  • CRM & Sales Bay Pro: $73.59 per user, per month

EngageBay Key Features

  • Free Social Suite: Engage with your leads via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
  • Pop-Ups & Form Builders: Create email capture forms for inbound lead generation.
  • Marketing Automation: Automated text message and email marketing for nurturing.
  • Sales Pipeline Features: Advanced sales functionality like call records and reporting.

EngageBay lead nurturing software

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Top 4 Lead Nurturing Software Features

The top CRMs for lead nurturing offer these features:

Account & Contact Management

Pipeline Management

Lead Scoring

Activity Tracking

Store, organize, and track your leads’ information in a centralized location so you and your sales team can access it anytime.

Track and manage every stage of the sales process using visual boards, a drag-and-drop interface, and custom deal stages.

Rank your leads automatically based on predefined criteria so you can direct your lead nurturing efforts on those with the highest potential for conversion.

Record your touch points with each lead, such as emails, calls, meetings, and social media outreach to optimize your drip campaigns or other content and to know when you last contacted each lead.

Bottom Line: Best Lead Nurturing Software

Lead nurturing is essentially customer relationship management, but businesses can’t afford to waste time focusing on the wrong leads. Lead nurturing software zeroes in on the right leads, then enables teams to engage their audience with tailored lead-to-customer journeys. The top six lead nurturing software to help you drive potential customers through the sales funnel. To know more about converting leads into customers, read our article on lead nurturing.

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