How to choose your first CRM

Prices checked on vendor pricing pages, latest check Nov 13, 2026.

Short answer: start on a free plan if it covers your team size (HubSpot for up to 2 users, Zoho CRM for 3, Bigin for one). Pay when you need a built-in dialer (Close Solo is $9/mo billed annually for one user) or a pipeline-focused paid CRM (Pipedrive Lite is $14/seat/mo billed annually; Bigin Express is $7/user/mo billed yearly). Prices are per user unless noted, so multiply by the number of people who will log in.

CRM guides: Starter sales stack under $100/mo · Small team friendly tools · Sales CRM pricing comparison · Email marketing software pricing · Cheapest sales CRMs · Free CRMs for sales · CRMs for outbound startups · CRMs for small business · HubSpot alternatives · Pipedrive alternatives · AI-native CRMs · All sales CRMs

This guide is for founders and small teams choosing a first sales CRM, not a company replacing Salesforce. Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page. We only compare what those pages publish: plans, user limits, trials and whether calling or email is included. We don't invent implementation times, close-rate claims or “best overall” scores.

Affiliate disclosure: some links below are affiliate links (marked “Affiliate link” and coded rel="sponsored nofollow noopener"). If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes which tools we mention or the prices we show. Full details: disclosure.

What your first CRM actually needs to do

A first CRM has one job: show who you are talking to, where each deal stands and what the next step is. You do not need marketing automation, a partner portal or a quote-only enterprise edition to start. If a product's paid plan is mainly a bundle of extras you will not use this quarter, keep looking.

• Contacts and companies you can find quickly, with notes and emails attached.
• A pipeline with stages you can change, and a value on each deal.
• A next step or task so follow-ups don't live in your head.
• A way in from your inbox or a simple import, so you aren't typing every record twice.

Calling, sequences and email marketing are useful later, or immediately if that is already how you sell. They shouldn't force you into a plan you can't afford on day one.

Questions to ask before you pick

1. How many people will log in this year? Free plans are often capped by users (HubSpot 2, Zoho CRM 3, Capsule 2, Bigin 1, Agile CRM 10). Paid plans are usually priced per user, so a $14/seat CRM is $70/mo for five people.
2. Do you need a phone dialer inside the CRM? Close includes calling, with a predictive dialer and live call coaching on Scale ($139/user/mo billed annually). Freshsales also lists a built-in phone. Otherwise, pair a simpler CRM with a business phone system; see phone systems for small business.
3. Do you also need email marketing? That's a different job from a sales pipeline. Some CRMs include campaigns; otherwise use a newsletter tool for opted-in mail and keep the CRM for deals. See email marketing for small business and CRMs with built-in email marketing.
4. Can you sign up and try it without a sales call? The tools in the table below publish a price and, in most cases, a free plan or free trial.
5. What does the next plan cost? Entry prices are a starting point. Pipedrive Growth is $39/seat/mo billed annually when you outgrow Lite; HubSpot Professional lists a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee on top of a much higher per-seat price. Read the full plan list on the tool page.

Picks by team size

These are starting points based on published prices and user limits, not paid placements. Less Annoying CRM is a simple alternative at a flat $15/user/mo with a 30-day free trial if you want one plan and no contract. Open each tool page for every plan and the date we checked it.

Small-business CRMs compared

Ordered by lowest listed paid entry price. Free-plan user caps are in the pricing details.

How to decide in practice

1. List the number of users you need now, and in six months.
2. Shortlist two or three tools whose free plan or trial covers that number.
3. Import or sync a real set of contacts (your current spreadsheet or inbox) and run a week of actual follow-ups in the trial.
4. Keep the one you will actually open every day. Switch only when a limit, not a feature brochure, is in your way.

Our starter sales stack under $100/month uses Pipedrive Lite as the paid CRM pick and HubSpot's free CRM as the free alternative, with Close Solo as another option when you want calling built in.

Browse more: all small team friendly sales tools · best CRMs for small business · free CRMs for sales · cheapest sales CRMs · sales CRM pricing

FAQ

Do I need a CRM as a solo founder?

Not on day one. A spreadsheet can hold a short list of conversations. Once you have more than a handful of live deals, or you start forgetting follow-ups, a CRM earns its place: every contact, deal stage and next step in one list. Several products in our data have a free plan, so you can move off the spreadsheet without a monthly bill.

What is the best free CRM to start with?

In our data: HubSpot is free for up to 2 users, Zoho CRM for 3 users, Agile CRM for up to 10 users, Capsule for 2 users and Bigin for a single user. EngageBay's free plan covers 250 contacts. Limits differ, so read the plan details on each tool page.

What is the cheapest paid CRM for one person?

Bigin Express is $7/user/mo billed yearly. Close Solo is $9/mo billed annually ($19 monthly) for one user and includes calling and email. Freshsales Growth is $9/user/mo billed annually and OnePageCRM Professional is $9.95/user/mo. Prices are per user unless noted, so multiply by your team size.

When should I pay for a CRM instead of staying on a free plan?

Pay when a free-plan limit is actually in your way: you need a third HubSpot user, you want a built-in dialer (Close), you need a clearer pipeline and reporting (Pipedrive), or you are spending more time on workarounds than on selling. Stay on monthly billing for the first few months if the vendor offers it, then switch the tool you keep to annual.