6 Best Lead Scoring Software for Sales & Marketing 2022

In our independent editorial review, learn about the best lead scoring software and their use cases to upgrade your lead management.

Lead scoring software is a tool that autoscores leads for businesses so they can uncover the viability of sales opportunities and nurture the prospects most likely to convert. The top scoring software are typically CRMs or marketing software that have built-in scoring functionality based on specified demographics and customer behavior. To help you choose the right one for you, we’ve ranked the top options and what they each do best.

Here are the best lead scoring software, however, some tiers listed do not include scoring features:

  • Zoho CRM: Best overall option for multi-channel lead scoring (free starting price)
  • Freshsales: Best software option for scoring sales pipeline leads (free starting price)
  • HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best for advanced marketing features (free starting price)
  • ActiveCampaign: Best lead scoring software for email marketing (14-day free trial)
  • Salesforce Essentials: Best for third-party lead scoring integrations (14-day free trial)
  • Pipedrive: Best lead scoring software with a la carte upgrade options (14-day free trial)

Most of the above lead scoring options also offer additional lead management features like lead distribution that can effectively route qualified leads to sales reps. If you'd like to read more, check out our article on the best lead distribution software.

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        How We Evaluated the Best Lead Scoring Software

        Lead scoring software is a feature of many top CRMs and marketing automation software, so every option we reviewed had lead scoring at minimum. To determine the best, we based our scoring on six weighted evaluation criteria important to lead scoring software. The lead scoring software with the highest aggregate score across the six categories was deemed the overall winner and best value. Also determined were primary use cases every top-scoring option.

        Evaluation Criteria

        We first assessed general and advanced features for both sales and marketing, plus the price of each option. We also looked at ease of use and customization to ensure it can fit your industry or specific need, as well as customer service support offered.

        Pricing:
        25%
        General Features:
        25%
        Ease of Use:
        20%
        Advanced Features:
        15%
        Customization:
        10%
        Customer Service:
        5%

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

        Even though some options scored highly in one category or another, overall, we found that Zoho CRM offers the best overall value for those seeking a way to score and manage leadsCheck out how each scored regarding pricing, features, and primary use cases.

        Zoho CRM: Best for Multi-Channel Lead Scoring

        A well-rounded CRM with powerful marketing features and lead management tools to help companies close deals quickly.

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

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

        Pros:

        • Has a free forever plan
        • Sales & marketing automations
        • Multi-channel lead scoring

        Cons:

        • Beginners may need training
        • Customer service can be slow
        • No lead scoring in free plan

        Zoho CRM is a sales and marketing CRM that helps generate leads from multiple channels and score them for further nurturing. Users can reach out to leads via email and social media campaigns and set scoring rules based on their demographics and engagement, like email opens, clicks, and bounces; Facebook likes, comments, and messages; and website visits. For this reason, Zoho CRM is a fit for those who attract leads through multi-channel marketing.

        While Zoho CRM is our top-rated lead scoring option, its user interface can be hard to learn and it may be missing some sales CRM features. If you need a sales-forward lead scoring option, visit Freshsales instead.

        Zoho CRM Pricing

        • Free Forever: Support for 3 users (doesn’t include lead scoring)
        • 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 days; 30 days for Ultimate tier

        Zoho CRM Key Features

        • Email Marketing: Custom fields pull tailored customer information into email templates.
        • Lead Management: Auto-score leads and and track them throughout your pipeline.
        • Analytics: Turns lead data into insights that you can use to focus on priority deals.
        • Task Management: Create tasks, track conversations, and view history for each lead.
        • Sales Operations Features: Create product catalogs, price quotes, invoices, and more.

        Zoho CRM - Lead Scoring Software

        Visit Zoho CRM

        Freshsales: Best for Scoring Sales Leads

        Top-rated CRM with sales and lead generation features like AI-powered lead scoring for scoring sales leads in your pipeline.

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

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

        Pros:

        • Full suite of reports
        • Sort & filter deals in pipeline
        • Clean & easy-to-use mobile app

        Cons:

        • Cumbersome to export data
        • Growth plan lacks forecasting
        • Fewer integrations than most

        Freshsales is a leading CRM that uses powerful AI for lead scoring, lead prediction, and deal management. Its AI assistant, Freddy, scores sales leads based on characteristics and behavior so you can rank prospects in your pipeline. Along with this predictive scoring, Freddy supplies analytics for sales forecasting and triggers follow-ups to keep deals moving. This makes Freshsales good for those wanting to score, prioritize, and nurture top leads in their pipeline.

        Freshsales is the best option for scoring sales leads, however, it may be missing some marketing features. For a more robust marketing lead scoring option, try Zoho CRM for an inexensive option or HubSpot Marketing Hub for an enterprise-level marketing tool.

        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

        Freshsales Key Features

        • AI Assistant: AI-driven CRM functions provide actionable insight for better engagement.
        • Predictive Scoring: Identify leads in your pipeline that are most likely to close.
        • Lead Management: Drag-and-drop pipelines help track leads through the sales process.
        • Customer Support: Available 24/7 by live chat or 5 days a week by phone.
        • Free Chat & Web Forms: Generate inbound leads via live chat and online email forms.

        Freshworks CRM - Lead Scoring Software

        Visit Freshsales

        HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best Marketing Features

        Access robust marketing automation and management features for SEO, social media, blog posting, and more.

        Price Range: Free to $3,200 per month

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

        Pros:

        • Free tier available
        • Integrates with sales & service hub
        • Advanced marketing automation

        Cons:

        • Scoring only in premium tiers
        • Can be pricey for some
        • Learning curve can be steep

        HubSpot Marketing Hub is an all-in-one marketing automation and management platform offered by HubSpot. Not only does it offer lead scoring, but also offers advanced marketing features such as blog and SEO management, social media management, paid ad management, email marketing automation, and more. It even integrates seamlessly with HubSpot's CRM and service platforms, both of which offer a free tier.

        However, lead scoring is only available in their paid tiers starting at $800 per month. If you need a more inexpensive lead scoring option with marketing features, check out Zoho CRM.

        HubSpot Marketing Hub Pricing

        • Free: Support for unlimited users (doesn't include lead scoring)
        • Starter: $45 per month for 1,000 marketing contacts (doesn't include lead scoring)
        • Professional: $800 per month for 2,000 marketing contacts
        • Enterprise: $3,200 per month for 10,000 marketing contacts
        • Additional marketing contacts can be purchased for an extra fee

        HubSpot Marketing Hub Key Features

        • Blog Management: Write, optimize and publish content directly to your website.
        • SEO Tools: Plan your content strategy and optimize your blog posts for SEO.
        • Ad Management: Manage social media and search ad campaigns directly in the platform.
        • Social Media Management: Manage your organic social media efforts.
        • Lead Scoring Automation: Use bots to qualify and distribute leads at scale.

        hubspot marketing hub dashboard

        Visit HubSpot Marketing Hub

        ActiveCampaign: Best for Email Marketing

        A robust email marketing automation tool offering lead scoring and a CRM for lead generation and ongoing nurturing.

        Price Range: $9.00 to $149+ per month (14-day free trial)

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

        Pros:

        • Multiple tools for sales and marketing
        • Robust email marketing automation
        • Personalized email messaging

        Cons:

        • CRM not as robust as standalones
        • Custom reporting limited
        • No separation of leads and contacts

        ActiveCampaign is a top email marketing tool with a built in CRM. With this setup, you can use marketing automations and send targeted email campaigns to segmented lists, then score generated leads using AI based on behavior. Using the scores, over 500 prebuilt workflows can then be triggered to send highly personalized, effective messages. ActiveCampaign works for marketing-focused companies that want to automate email marketing based on lead scoring.

        Even though ActiveCampaign offers a native CRM, there are better CRM options available with lead scoring capabilities. If you need a more robust CRM, check out Freshsales.

        ActiveCampaign Pricing

        • Lite: $9.00 per month for 3 users and 500 contacts (doesn’t include lead scoring)
        • Plus: $49 per month for 25 users and 500 contacts
        • Professional: $149 per month for 50 users and 500 contacts
        • Enterprise: Contact for quote
        • Additional contacts can be purchased for an extra fee

        ActiveCampaign Key Features

        • Email Marketing: Build intelligence-driven, professionally designed, personalized emails.
        • Automation Builder: Design marketing automations with a drag-and-drop visual editor.
        • Deal Manager: Create deals based on customer activity and manage them in your pipeline.
        • Lead Scoring: Identify who is ready to talk to sales based on AI-powered insights.
        • Customizable Dashboard: Easily navigate between straightforward menu options.

        ActiveCampaign - Lead Scoring Software

        Visit Activecampaign

        Salesforce Essentials: Best for Integrations

        Tracks leads from start to close, routes them quickly, and offers robust reporting for effective lead management.

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

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

        Pros:

        • Large catalog of business integrations
        • Highly customizable pipelines
        • Robust reporting dashboards

        Cons:

        • Add-ons can get expensive
        • Interface can be hard to use
        • Customer service gets poor reviews

        Salesforce Essentials is the small business CRM created by Salesforce offering multiple pipeline views and robust reporting dashboards good for those with longer or more complex sales processes. While Essentials doesn't include native lead scoring, it offers an extensive app marketplace with multiple lead scoring integration options that lets you tailor-pick the best scoring software for you. Upgrade into its enterprise-level Sales Cloud for native lead scoring.

        Salesforce Essentials is a robust sales CRM with a vast marketplace of lead scoring integrations, but it doesn't offer native lead scoring unless you upgrade into their enterprise tiers. If you want a powerful sales CRM with native lead scoring, try Freshsales instead.

        Salesforce Essentials Pricing

        • Essentials: $25 per user, per month (lead scoring requires AppExchange integration)
        • Free Trial: 14 days

        Salesforce Sales Cloud Upgrade Pricing

        • Professional: $75 per user, per month
        • Enterprise: $150 per user, per month
        • Unlimited: $300 per user, per month
        • Free Trial: 30 days

        Salesforce Essentials Key Features

        • Lead Tracking: Dynamic timeline lets you see updated activity and customer records.
        • Third-Party Integrations: Customize the CRM with apps in the AppExchange.
        • Lead Routing: Sales leads can be scored and sent to the right salesperson automatically.
        • Team Conversations: Communicate with team members directly from within the CRM.
        • Contact Management: Create contact records with advanced data the team can see.

        Salesforce dashboard

        Visit Salesforce Essentials

        Pipedrive: Best for Add-On Upgrades

        Leading sales pipeline CRM known for its ease of use and add-on upgrades that let you choose the features you want.

        Price Range: (14-day free trial)

        Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Pricing star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full General Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Advanced Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Service star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

        Pros:

        • A la carte upgrades available
        • Solid sales pipeline features
        • Easy-to-use interface

        Cons:

        • Lead scoring costs extra
        • Custom reporting limited
        • Missing some native features

        Pipedrive is a sales pipeline CRM offering standard sales features as well as add-on upgrades you can purchase for an additional fee. These a la carte upgrades allow you to choose features most important to you, such as robust document management, email marketing, website visitor tracking, and lead generation capabilities. Included in its LeadBooster add-on is lead scoring along with a lead database and inbound marketing features like web forms.

        Pipedrive offers robust a la carte upgrades but is missing some native, features including lead scoring. If you're looking for a sales CRM with more out-of-the-box features, try Freshsales.

        Pipedrive Pricing

        • Essential: $14.90 per user, per month (plus LeadBooster add-on)
        • Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month (plus LeadBooster add-on)
        • Professional: $49.90 per user, per month (plus LeadBooster add-on)
        • Enterprise: $99 per user, per month (plus LeadBooster add-on)
        • LeadBooster: $32.50 per company, per month
        • Free Trial: 14 days

        Pipedrive Key Features

        • Sales Pipelines: Customizable pipelines that turn leads into deals automatically.
        • A La Carte Upgrades: Add lead generation and management tools for sales and marketing.
        • B2B Lead Database: LeadBooster add-on includes a searchable B2B lead database.
        • Document Management: Manage documents and sign contracts electronically.
        • Email Marketing: Add on email marketing features not found in most CRMs.

        Dashboard in Pipedrive

        Visit Pipedrive

        Bottom Line: Best Lead Scoring Software

        Having good lead scoring software as a part of your CRM is an excellent way to get salespeople focused on qualified leads and using the right tasks to convert them into wins. In fast-paced sales departments, time can’t be wasted chasing uninterested prospects. This is when a CRM with lead management software becomes an essential sales tool. Our list will show you the ways lead scoring can help you reach sales goals using the latest in intelligence and automations.

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