The Best Free CRM Software (And Where Each One Falls Short)

Looking for free CRM software? Good news: there are legitimate options. Bad news: every "free" CRM has catches you should know about before you invest hours setting one up.

I've tested the major players and I'll tell you exactly what you get for $0, where you'll hit limits, and when you'll realistically need to upgrade. Let's cut through the marketing fluff.

Quick Verdict: Which Free CRM Should You Choose?

Here's the short version:

If you need a full-featured CRM and have budget, check out our best CRM software guide or CRM for small business roundup.

HubSpot Free CRM

HubSpot is the most popular free CRM, and for good reason-the interface is genuinely excellent. But the free plan has gotten significantly worse recently.

What You Get Free

The free CRM includes contact management, email tracking with Gmail/Outlook integration, deal pipeline visualization, and basic reporting. You can send up to 2,000 marketing emails per month across your entire account. The platform also includes live chat, forms, and landing pages-though everything carries HubSpot branding.

Email integration lets you connect Gmail or Outlook directly to the CRM, so you can track opens, clicks, and replies without leaving your inbox. The meeting scheduler feature allows contacts to book time directly on your calendar.

The Big Catches

HubSpot reduced their free contact limit from 1 million to 1,000 contacts. This is a massive change that transforms this from a "grow with us" platform to essentially a trial period. Many businesses hit this 1,000 contact threshold within months because HubSpot counts all contact records-prospects, customers, leads, even unqualified contacts.

Other limitations you'll run into:

Some users have reported that new accounts can no longer connect their inbox (send/receive emails through the system) without a paid plan. That's arguably the main functionality of a CRM.

When You'll Need to Pay

Most businesses hit limitations within 6-12 months. The Starter plan runs about $50/month and removes branding, adds light automation, and increases limits. Full automation requires Professional tier, which gets expensive fast.

HubSpot's free plan works best for solo founders or teams of 1-2 with simple CRM needs and small contact lists. For growing teams, the costs escalate quickly.

Zoho CRM Free

Zoho takes a different approach-fewer features, but more usable for actual work.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports up to 3 users and includes lead, contact, and account management, basic workflow automation, customizable dashboards, email integration, and mobile access. You also get access to integration with other Zoho applications.

Unlike HubSpot, Zoho includes basic workflow automation in the free tier. You can set up simple rules to automate repetitive tasks. The mobile app is fully functional and lets you manage your CRM on the go.

The Catches

Storage is extremely tight-only 1GB total for your organization (some sources report 10MB, but recent updates suggest 1GB). The free plan also limits you on:

The 3-user requirement is strict-you need exactly 3 users, no more, no less. This makes it awkward for solopreneurs or two-person teams.

Pricing If You Upgrade

The Standard plan costs $14/user/month (billed annually) or $20/month if paid monthly. It removes the 3-user limit, expands storage to 200MB, and adds mass emailing (250/day), multiple pipelines, custom dashboards, forecasting, and more workflows.

Professional runs $23/user/month and Enterprise hits $40/user/month for AI features and heavy customization.

For a deeper dive on CRM costs, see our cheapest CRM software comparison.

Freshsales Free (Freshworks)

Freshsales offers a genuinely useful free tier with built-in communication tools.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports up to 3 users and includes contact management, deal tracking, built-in phone (with Freshcaller), live chat, email templates, Kanban views, and 24x5 support. No credit card required to start.

The Kanban-style deal views make it easy to visualize your pipeline. You can drag and drop deals between stages, and the interface is clean and intuitive.

The Catches

The free version is quite limited beyond basics:

Also, many "built-in calling features" mentioned on their pricing page actually require subscribing to additional Freshworks products like Freshcaller, which drives up costs.

Pricing If You Upgrade

Growth plan: $9/user/month (billed annually) adds lead scoring, workflows, integrations, and the features you'd actually expect from a CRM.

Pro plan: $39/user/month gets you multiple pipelines, AI insights, call analytics, and forecasting.

Enterprise: $59/user/month for custom modules and advanced permissions.

Freshsales is solid for very small teams willing to work within limitations. The $9/month Growth plan is reasonable if you outgrow free.

EngageBay Free CRM

EngageBay positions itself as a HubSpot alternative at a fraction of the cost, and the free plan reflects that ambition.

What You Get Free

The free plan includes 250 contacts, email marketing, autoresponders, landing pages, CRM access, helpdesk, and live chat. You can send 1,000 branded emails per month.

What sets EngageBay apart is that it bundles sales, marketing, and service tools together even on the free plan. You get email templates, appointment scheduling, and basic automation workflows.

The Catches

The 250 contact limit is restrictive-you'll hit it faster than you think. Additional limitations:

The interface can feel cluttered since they're trying to pack sales, marketing, and service into one platform. There's a learning curve.

Pricing If You Upgrade

Basic: $14.99/user/month gets you 500 contacts, lead scoring, SMS marketing, and landing page builder.

Growth: $39.99/user/month increases to 10,000 contacts with marketing automation and custom domains.

Pro: $99.99/user/month includes unlimited contacts and dedicated account manager.

EngageBay is genuinely affordable compared to HubSpot, making it worth considering if you need an all-in-one solution on a budget.

Bitrix24 Free

Bitrix24 has the most generous free plan when it comes to users-unlimited users at no cost.

What You Get Free

Unlimited users, unlimited contacts, unlimited deals, unlimited leads. You get CRM, tasks, projects, video calling, chat, document management, and even website builder tools. Storage is limited to 5GB.

The free plan includes kanban-style pipeline views, basic automation rules, and email integration. You can even build landing pages and simple websites directly in Bitrix24.

The Catches

While the numbers look generous, there are significant functional limitations:

Bitrix24 tries to be everything-CRM, project management, collaboration tool, website builder-which makes it feel bloated. The interface hasn't aged well and feels dated compared to modern alternatives.

Pricing If You Upgrade

Basic: $49/month for 5 users includes 24GB storage, email integration, and basic telephony.

Standard: $99/month for 50 users adds marketing automation and reporting.

Professional: $199/month for 100 users includes advanced automation and custom fields.

Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited users with dedicated infrastructure.

Bitrix24 works if you want a Swiss Army knife tool and can tolerate the complexity. But if you just need a CRM, simpler options exist.

Agile CRM Free

Agile CRM has the most generous user limit on free-10 users-but comes with tradeoffs.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports up to 10 users with 1,000 contacts. You get contact management, deal tracking with one pipeline (called "Tracks"), basic lead scoring, appointment scheduling, custom data fields, and email support.

The Catches

Agile's free plan has significant restrictions:

Some users report that Agile CRM development appears abandoned, so don't expect cutting-edge features. The interface feels dated compared to HubSpot or Freshsales.

Pricing If You Upgrade

Starter: $8.99/user/month (billed every 2 years) or $14.99/month gets you 10,000 contacts, two-way email sync, and more integrations.

Regular: $29.99/user/month adds telephony and more automation.

Enterprise: $47.99/user/month for dedicated support and onboarding.

Agile works if you need more users on free and can live with an older platform. But for anything serious, you're probably better off with Zoho or Freshsales.

Capsule CRM Free

Capsule positions itself as a simple, straightforward CRM without overwhelming complexity.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports 2 users and up to 250 contacts. You get contact management, task tracking, sales pipeline visualization, basic reporting, and integration with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Capsule's interface is clean and uncluttered. If you've been overwhelmed by feature-heavy CRMs, Capsule feels refreshing.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Professional: $21/user/month includes custom fields, email integration, workflows, and increased contact limits.

Teams: $34/user/month adds advanced reporting and priority support.

Streak CRM (Gmail CRM)

Streak lives entirely inside Gmail, making it unique among free CRMs.

What You Get Free

The free plan for solo users includes unlimited pipelines, mail merge for up to 50 emails per day, email tracking, and basic automation. Everything happens inside Gmail-no separate app to learn.

If you practically live in Gmail, Streak feels natural. You can track deals, manage contacts, and view pipelines without switching tabs.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Solo: $15/user/month increases mail merge to 800 emails per day.

Pro: $49/user/month adds team collaboration and advanced features.

Enterprise: $129/user/month for advanced security and controls.

Comparison Table: Free CRM Limits

CRMFree UsersContact LimitPipelinesAutomationNotable Limits
HubSpot2 (for most features)1,0001NoneHubSpot branding on everything
Zoho CRM3Unlimited storageBasicBasic workflows1GB storage, 3-user requirement
Freshsales3Unlimited storageYesNoneNo reports, no integrations
EngageBayUnlimited250YesBasicVery tight contact limit
Bitrix24UnlimitedUnlimited1NoneOnly 1,000 searchable leads
Agile CRM101,00011 rule1 integration, feels dated
Capsule2250YesNoneVery basic features
Streak1UnlimitedUnlimitedBasicGmail only, solo use

Monday.com Free CRM

Monday.com started as a project management tool but added CRM capabilities that work surprisingly well.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports 2 users and up to 1,000 items (contacts, deals, tasks combined). You get customizable boards, basic automations (250 per month), and integration options.

Monday's visual boards are highly customizable. You can create whatever workflow makes sense for your business.

The Catches

The "1,000 items" limit is deceptive-everything counts. If you create 200 contacts, 200 deals, and 600 tasks, you've hit your limit.

Pricing If You Upgrade

Basic: $10/seat/month (3 seats minimum) increases to 50,000 items.

Standard: $12/seat/month adds automation and integrations.

Pro: $20/seat/month includes advanced reporting and time tracking.

Check our detailed Monday.com pricing guide for more information.

Insightly CRM Free

Insightly targets small businesses with a straightforward approach to CRM.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports 2 users with up to 2,500 records. You get contact management, opportunity tracking, project management features, task management, and email integration.

Insightly includes project management features that most CRMs charge extra for. This makes it useful if you need to track both sales and project delivery.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Plus: $29/user/month adds workflow automation and custom fields.

Professional: $49/user/month includes advanced customization.

Enterprise: $99/user/month for advanced security and permissions.

Apptivo CRM Free

Apptivo offers a full suite of business apps with CRM at the center.

What You Get Free

The Starter plan is free for up to 3 users. You get CRM, project management, invoicing, help desk, and up to 500MB storage. Unlike most free plans, Apptivo includes invoicing and billing features.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Lite: $10/user/month increases storage and adds features.

Premium: $15/user/month includes advanced customization.

Ultimate: $25/user/month adds all features and priority support.

Really Simple Systems CRM

This UK-based CRM focuses on being genuinely simple to use.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports 2 users with unlimited contacts. You get contact management, account management, opportunity tracking, task management, and basic reporting.

Unlimited contacts on a free plan is rare and makes Really Simple Systems stand out.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Professional: $18/user/month adds email marketing and automation.

Enterprise: $39/user/month includes advanced features and API access.

Flowlu Free

Flowlu combines project management and CRM into one platform.

What You Get Free

The free plan supports 2 users with unlimited projects, tasks, and CRM entities. You get 1GB storage, basic time tracking, and financial management features.

The Catches

Pricing If You Upgrade

Team: $29/month for 6 users adds integrations and custom fields.

Business: $59/month for 16 users includes automation.

Professional: $119/month for 32 users adds advanced features.

Understanding Free CRM Limitations

Why Free CRMs Exist

CRM companies offer free plans for three strategic reasons. First, they act as lead generation tools-once you're invested in a platform with data and workflows, upgrading is easier than switching. Second, free users create network effects by referring colleagues and clients. Third, they lower the barrier to entry for companies that might become enterprise customers later.

The Hidden Costs

"Free" CRMs come with invisible costs. You'll spend time working around limitations, creating manual processes for things paid plans automate, and dealing with branding that makes your business look less professional. Employee time spent on workarounds often costs more than a paid CRM subscription.

Data portability becomes a concern. Some CRMs make it difficult to export your data in useful formats, creating switching costs that lock you in.

Common Gotchas Across Free Plans

User limits seem reasonable until you realize contractors, part-time staff, and executives all count. Contact limits sneak up quickly when importing old spreadsheets with duplicate entries. Storage limits become painful when trying to attach proposals or signed contracts.

"Unlimited" often means "unlimited within reasonable use." Read the fine print-some CRMs will throttle your account or ask you to upgrade if you're too active.

When Free CRM Makes Sense

Free CRM works if you're:

Free plans make sense when you're in proof-of-concept mode. Use them to establish CRM habits, clean your contact data, and determine what features actually matter to your workflow.

When You Should Just Pay

Skip the free tier headaches if:

For most growing businesses, a paid CRM tier ($10-20/user/month) is worth it. Check our CRM software comparison for detailed pricing breakdowns.

How to Choose Between Free CRMs

Start With Your Contact Volume

Count your current contacts plus expected growth for 12 months. If you're above 1,000 now or will be within a year, eliminate options with strict contact limits (HubSpot, Agile, EngageBay).

Consider Your Team Size

If you have 4+ users, only Bitrix24 works on the free tier. Most others cap at 2-3 users. Remember that "users" includes anyone who needs to see CRM data-sales reps, customer service, managers, and sometimes contractors.

Identify Your Must-Have Features

List your top 5 requirements. Is automation critical? Do you need built-in email marketing? Must you have mobile access? Use these to eliminate options that lack your essentials.

Test the Interface

Spend 30 minutes in each CRM you're considering. Add some test contacts, create a deal, try to generate a report. If you're frustrated in 30 minutes, imagine using it daily for a year.

Check Your Exit Strategy

Before committing, confirm you can export your data easily. Most CRMs offer CSV exports, but check if custom fields export properly and if you can get your email history out.

Moving From Spreadsheets to CRM

Why Spreadsheets Eventually Fail

Spreadsheets work great until they don't. Once you have multiple people updating the same sheet, things break. Version control becomes impossible. You can't track interaction history or set automated reminders. Reporting requires manual work.

The tipping point usually comes around 200-300 contacts or when a second person needs access.

Migration Best Practices

Before importing contacts into a free CRM, clean your data. Remove duplicates, standardize formatting, and fill in missing information. Most CRMs charge based on contact count, so importing 5,000 contacts when you only actively work with 500 wastes resources.

Start with a small test import of 50-100 contacts. Verify everything imported correctly before doing a full migration.

Building CRM Habits

The best CRM is the one your team actually uses. Start with minimal fields-just name, email, and deal stage. Add complexity only after the basics become routine.

Schedule a weekly CRM review to update deals, clean data, and follow up on stalled opportunities. Block 15 minutes every Friday.

Alternatives Worth Considering

If you've got budget but want to keep costs low:

Close CRM - Built for sales teams who actually make calls and send emails. No free tier, but the paid plans include features other CRMs charge extra for. Starts at $49/user/month with built-in calling, email sequences, and power dialer. Read our Close CRM reviews and pricing breakdown.

Monday.com - Has a free tier for up to 2 users. More of a work management tool with CRM capabilities, but highly visual and customizable. See our Monday.com pricing guide.

Pipedrive - No free plan, but starts at $14/user/month with a 14-day trial. Purpose-built for salespeople with visual pipeline management. Great for teams that live in deals rather than contacts.

Capsule CRM - Simple, clean interface focused on relationships over features. Free plan for 2 users and 250 contacts. Paid plans start at $21/user/month.

Free CRM Implementation Tips

Set Clear Goals Before Starting

Define what success looks like. Are you trying to reduce email response time? Close more deals? Better track customer interactions? Your CRM setup should support specific goals, not just digitize your existing chaos.

Start Simple, Then Expand

Resist the urge to customize everything on day one. Use the CRM with default settings for two weeks. Only then start adding custom fields and workflows based on real needs, not hypothetical scenarios.

Integrate Early

Connect your email and calendar immediately. If your CRM lives separately from where you actually work, you won't use it. Most free CRMs integrate with Gmail and Outlook-set this up before adding contacts.

Train Your Team

Schedule a 30-minute training session showing the basics: adding contacts, logging activities, updating deal stages. Record it so new team members can watch later. Create a simple one-page cheat sheet.

Establish Data Entry Standards

Decide how you'll format phone numbers, what counts as a "qualified lead," and what information is required versus optional. Inconsistent data entry ruins reporting and makes your CRM useless.

Common Free CRM Mistakes to Avoid

Importing Every Contact You've Ever Met

Just because you can import 10,000 contacts doesn't mean you should. Focus on contacts you've interacted with in the last two years or plan to contact in the next six months. Quality over quantity.

Over-Customizing Early

Creating 47 custom fields and 12 deal stages before you've closed a single deal through the CRM is premature optimization. Use it first, customize later based on real friction points.

Ignoring Mobile Access

If your team works remotely or in the field, test the mobile app before committing. Some free CRMs have terrible mobile experiences that make field updates impossible.

Not Setting Up Backup Exports

Schedule monthly exports of your CRM data. Store them somewhere safe. If the CRM company goes out of business or changes terms, you'll have your data. This is especially important with smaller, less-established free CRMs.

Treating Free as Forever

Plan for growth. If your business is successful, you'll outgrow free plans. Budget for CRM costs in year two, even if you start free. The cheapest CRM is the one you don't have to migrate away from.

Free CRM vs Paid: The Real Cost Analysis

Time Cost of Limitations

If you spend 2 hours per week working around free plan limitations-manually sending follow-up emails, creating reports in spreadsheets, or managing contacts in multiple tools-that's 104 hours annually. At $50/hour, that's $5,200 in opportunity cost. A paid CRM at $20/user/month costs $240 annually.

Professional Appearance

Sending emails with "Powered by HubSpot" footers or hosting forms on "yourbusiness.hubspot.com" subdomains signals amateur. If you're closing $10,000+ deals, prospects notice. The professional appearance of paid plans can justify their cost in a single deal.

Team Efficiency

Automation on paid plans saves 30-60 minutes per day per sales rep. Follow-up emails, task reminders, lead scoring, and automatic data entry add up. For a 3-person sales team, that's 2-4 hours daily-25-50% productivity gain.

Lost Opportunities

Without proper reporting, you can't identify which lead sources convert best, which sales stages stall, or which reps need coaching. This invisible cost dwarfs subscription fees but is hard to quantify until you have visibility.

Industry-Specific Considerations

Real Estate Agents

Real estate requires tracking properties in addition to contacts. Most free CRMs don't handle this well. Consider industry-specific options like Follow Up Boss or LionDesk instead of general free CRMs.

Consultants and Coaches

Project tracking matters as much as contact management. Bitrix24's free plan or Monday.com work better than pure CRMs. You need to track deliverables and time, not just sales.

eCommerce Businesses

You need integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, or your sales platform. This rules out most free CRMs since they lock integrations behind paid plans. Budget for at least a basic paid tier.

B2B SaaS

Long sales cycles and multiple touchpoints mean you need automation and detailed activity tracking. Free plans are too limited. Start with paid plans or use purpose-built tools for trial-to-paid conversion.

Nonprofits

Some CRMs offer nonprofit discounts on paid plans that beat their free offerings. Check Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Bloomerang, or Neon CRM before settling for a limited free plan.

Scaling Beyond Free: Upgrade Triggers

You're Spending More Time on Workarounds Than Work

When you're creating spreadsheets outside your CRM, manually tracking follow-ups, or copy-pasting data between tools, the free plan is costing more than it saves.

You've Hit a Hard Limit

Contact limits, user limits, or storage caps that stop you from using the CRM properly are clear signals to upgrade. Don't waste time deleting old contacts to stay under limits.

You Need Integration

Once you're using 3+ business tools (CRM, email marketing, accounting, calendar scheduling), lack of integration creates chaos. Paid plans with API access and native integrations justify their cost.

Your Team Is Growing

Going from 2 to 5 users typically means upgrading. Plan this into your hiring budget. A new sales rep needs CRM access on day one-don't wait until you hit the free plan limit.

Reporting Becomes Critical

When investors, board members, or executives ask for pipeline reports, basic free plan reporting doesn't cut it. Custom reports and dashboards are worth paying for.

The Future of Free CRMs

Trend Toward Tighter Limits

HubSpot's reduction from 1 million to 1,000 contacts signals a broader trend. As CRM companies face pressure to show profitability, free plans are shrinking. What's generous today may become limited tomorrow.

AI Features Locked Behind Paywalls

The next generation of CRM features-AI-powered lead scoring, automated email writing, predictive analytics-won't be free. The gap between free and paid plans is widening.

Specialization vs Consolidation

Free CRMs are splitting into two camps: all-in-one platforms trying to replace multiple tools (Bitrix24, EngageBay) and focused solutions doing one thing well (Streak for Gmail users, Capsule for simplicity). Choose based on your preference for breadth versus depth.

Bottom Line

HubSpot's free CRM is probably where you should start-the interface is excellent and the learning curve is gentle. Just know you'll likely outgrow it fast.

Zoho CRM Free is the most practical for small teams who want basic automation without paying.

Freshsales Free works if built-in calling matters to you.

EngageBay gives you marketing automation on the free plan, rare among competitors.

Bitrix24 offers unlimited users but feels bloated and complex.

Agile CRM gives you the most users for free (10), but the platform feels stuck in 2017.

The real question isn't "which free CRM is best"-it's whether the time you'll spend hitting limitations and working around restrictions is worth saving $15-50/month. For most businesses with growth ambitions, it's not.

Start free to build CRM habits and clean your data. But budget for upgrading within 6-12 months if your business is growing. The best CRM is the one that grows with you, and most free plans stop growing long before you do.

For more comprehensive comparisons of paid options that offer better long-term value, check our CRM software comparison guide. And if you're specifically looking for budget-friendly paid options, our cheapest CRM software roundup covers entry-level paid plans that might offer better value than struggling with free limitations.