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Top 10 CRM Software (2026)

By Romain CochardUpdated 13 tools scored, 10 kept · 20 capabilities checked · prices read on vendor pages

Ten CRM tools ranked by a category score out of 100: the weighted share of 20 expected CRM capabilities that each vendor documents on its own site, with prices read on 12 November 2026.

The best CRM for your situation

Each line pairs a situation with the entry whose documented facts match it. The score measures coverage of 20 expected CRM capabilities, not quality.

  • A free tier to start, with the whole grid documentedHubSpot · All 20 capabilities are documented on HubSpot pages. List price $20/mo/seat on monthly billing, free for up to 2 users.
  • A free plan for three usersZoho CRM · The free edition is described as forever free for 3 users. Standard costs US$20/user/month billed monthly.
  • Quotes, calling, web forms and a meeting scheduler in one productNutshell · All 20 capabilities are documented on Nutshell pages. Foundation costs $19 per user per month on monthly billing, with a limit of 100 open leads.
  • Quotes and invoices next to the pipelinemonday CRM · Basic includes 20 quotes and invoices per month at $18 per seat per month. Plans start from 3 users.
  • One seller who calls, emails and texts from the CRMClose · Solo costs $19 per user per month on monthly billing and is limited to 1 user. Calling and SMS usage is billed at cost.
  • The lowest list price per user, with built-in phoneFreshsales · Growth costs $11 per user per month billed monthly. Sequences and contact scoring are listed on Pro.
  • An organisation that will add editions and add-onsSalesforce Sales Cloud · Starter Suite costs $25 per user per month. Sales Dialer is a paid add-on, and Sales Engagement is included in some editions only.
  • A team that works in Gmail and Google WorkspaceCopper · Built to work inside Google Workspace. Basic costs $29 per seat per month with a 2,500 contact limit.
  • A contact database and a pipeline, free for two usersCapsule · The free plan covers 2 users and 250 contacts. Starter costs $22 per user per month on monthly billing.
  • A company standardised on Microsoft 365Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales · Sales Professional costs $65 per user per month, paid yearly. Automation requires additional Power Automate licenses.

How to choose a CRM

Five checks narrow ten tools to two or three. Each one uses facts read on the vendor pages on 12 November 2026.

1. Count the seats before comparing prices

Entry prices are quoted per seat, and the seat rule changes the bill. monday CRM plans start from 3 users, so a single user is billed for 3 seats. Close Solo is limited to 1 user, and a second user moves the team to Essentials at $49 per user per month. The cost table applies these rules at 1, 5 and 20 users.

2. Check which plan holds each capability

A capability counts in the score when the vendor documents it on any plan, so the entry tier often lacks it. Close lists workflows as not included on Solo and Essentials. Freshsales lists sales sequences on Pro, monday CRM lists email sequences on Pro, and Capsule lists workflow automations and email sync on Growth. The plan that contains the required capabilities is the one to price.

3. Separate native features from add-ons and integrations

Half marks in the grid flag capabilities that cost extra or depend on another tool. Salesforce Sales Cloud sells Sales Dialer from $5 per user per month and lists Sales Engagement at $50 per user per month for the editions that do not include it. Freshsales sells documents as an add-on at $19 per user per month. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales runs automation on Power Automate, which requires additional licenses. Copper documents calling through JustCall and RingCentral, and Capsule documents calling and scheduling through Aircall and Calendly.

4. Read the billing period next to the price

Monthly and annual prices differ on most pricing pages. Zoho CRM Standard is US$20 per user billed monthly and US$14 billed annually, Copper Basic $29 and $23, Freshsales Growth $11 and $9, Close Solo $19 and $9, Nutshell Foundation $19 and $13. Dynamics 365 Sales shows yearly payment only.

5. Test the import before committing

The documented import paths differ. Nutshell transfers data through its partner Import2 or through its support team, Close advertises free migration support, HubSpot imports records for multiple objects, and Capsule imports contacts from a spreadsheet or CSV. A trial import of real data shows which fields and activities arrive.

The 10 CRM

by overall score

  1. 1. Nutshell

    Nutshell has all 20 capabilities of the grid documented, with custom pipelines and sales automation listed from the Pro plan.

    Score
    100/100
    Best for
    Small sales teams that want quotes, forms, sequences, calling and a meeting scheduler in one product
    From
    $19/user/mo
    Free plan
    No · 14-day trial

    Nutshell lists visual pipeline views, two-way email and calendar sync, web forms, quotes and invoices, automated sales sequences, predictive lead scoring, forecasting and an open API. Its product pages also document click-to-call from any contact, lead or company record, and tracking of email opens, link clicks and replies. The Foundation plan costs $19 per user per month on monthly billing ($13 on annual billing) and includes unlimited contacts and storage. Foundation has a limit of 100 open leads. Custom pipelines (5) and sales automation are listed from the Pro plan. Data can be transferred through the partner Import2 or imported by the support team. There is no free plan: the trial lasts 14 days.

    Visit nutshell.com

  2. 2. HubSpot

    HubSpot has all 20 capabilities of the grid documented, from a list price of $20/mo/seat and a free tier for 2 users.

    Score
    100/100
    Best for
    Teams that want to start on a free tier and add sales, marketing and service tools later
    From
    $20/mo/seat
    Free plan
    Yes · 2 users

    HubSpot documents all 20 capabilities of the grid on its own pages, from deal pipelines, custom properties and inbox connection to sequences, quotes, calling and forecasting. The free tier covers up to 2 users. Sales Hub Starter has a list price of $20/mo/seat on monthly billing; on 12 November 2026 the pricing page displayed a promotion at $10/mo/seat. The pricing page states that discounts are available for new customers only. Limits sit inside each feature and vary by tier: the comparison lists, for example, up to 3 email templates per account and up to 50 workflows with restricted triggers on its lower tiers. The marketplace is described as holding over 2,000 apps.

    Visit hubspot.com

  3. 3. Zoho CRM

    Best free plan

    Zoho CRM has all 20 capabilities of the grid documented and pairs a free edition for 3 users with a Standard edition at US$20/user/month.

    Score
    100/100
    Best for
    Small teams that start free and need forecasting, scoring and cadences later
    From
    US$20/user/mo
    Free plan
    Yes · 3 users

    Zoho documents all 20 capabilities as native items on its pricing page, complete feature list and help centre, where Email Insights reports an Opened status for sent emails. The free edition is described as forever free for 3 users, the largest user allowance among the four free plans of this page (HubSpot, Capsule and Salesforce Free Suite: 2 users). Standard costs US$20/user/month billed monthly, or US$14/user/month billed annually. Allowances grow with the edition: the free edition has the standard pipeline only and Standard has 5, and imports run at 1,000 records per batch on the free edition.

    Visit zoho.com

  4. 4. Freshsales

    Cheapest

    Freshsales has the lowest list entry price of the ten, $11 per user per month on monthly billing, with sequences and scoring one plan higher.

    Score
    97/100
    Best for
    Small teams that want built-in phone and a low list price per user
    From
    $11/user/mo
    Free plan
    No · 21-day trial

    Freshsales Growth costs $11 per user per month billed monthly ($9 billed annually) and lists the kanban view, email templates, custom fields and basic workflows. Sales sequences and contact scoring are listed on Pro. The features page documents click-to-call from the CRM, web forms, multiple pipelines, forecasting and custom roles, and the help centre documents notifications for email opens, clicks and replies. Two capabilities count half: documents are sold as an add-on at $19 per user per month, and meeting scheduling is documented through a Calendly app. There is no free plan: access starts with a 21-day trial.

    Visit freshworks.com

  5. 5. monday CRM

    monday CRM covers the grid with calling and meeting scheduling through integrations, and bills at least 3 seats.

    Score
    97/100
    Best for
    Teams of three or more that want quotes and invoices next to the pipeline
    From
    $18/seat/mo
    Free plan
    No · 14-day trial

    monday CRM Basic is listed at $18 per seat per month on monthly billing. Plans start from 3 users, so a single user is billed for 3 seats. Basic includes 1,000 active contacts and deals and 20 quotes and invoices per month. Custom automations appear from Standard (250 per month) and email sequences from Pro. Calling is listed through the Aircall integration, and meeting scheduling through a Calendly Events app on the monday marketplace. The top plan, Ultimate, lists white-glove migration; there is no free plan beyond the 14-day trial.

    Visit monday.com

  6. 6. Salesforce Sales Cloud

    Salesforce Sales Cloud starts at $25 per user per month, with a dialer sold as an add-on and Sales Engagement included in some editions only.

    Score
    97/100
    Best for
    Organisations that expect to move up editions and buy add-ons over time
    From
    $25/user/mo
    Free plan
    Yes · 2 users

    Starter Suite costs $25 per user per month, billed monthly or annually; the next edition, Pro Suite, is $100 per user per month billed annually. The edition comparison lists account and contact management, quotes, web-to-lead capture, lead scoring, forecasting, customizable reports and dashboards, a mobile app and a web services API. Sales cadences and scheduling links belong to Sales Engagement. Salesforce states that some editions include Sales Engagement products and that the others can add them; the add-on is listed at $50 per user per month, and Sales Dialer starts at $5 per user per month. Free Suite is free for up to two users. Trailhead documents the creation of custom sales processes for opportunities.

    Visit salesforce.com

  7. 7. Close

    Close builds calling, SMS and two-way email sync into the CRM and relies on integrations for scheduling and proposals.

    Score
    95/100
    Best for
    Solo sellers and outbound teams that call, email and text from the CRM
    From
    $19/user/mo
    Free plan
    No · 14-day trial

    Close includes calling, SMS, two-way email sync, email open tracking and forms in the product. The Solo plan costs $19 per user per month on monthly billing ($9 on annual billing) and is limited to 1 user and 10k leads. Teams start on Essentials at $49 per user per month. Workflows are not included on Solo or Essentials. Calling and SMS usage is passed through at cost, with most outbound calls around $0.02 per minute. Two capabilities count half: scheduling links in Close store the address of an outside scheduler, and proposals are documented through the Better Proposals integration. Lead scoring is absent from the plan comparison. Close advertises free migration support for teams switching CRMs.

    Visit close.com

  8. 8. Copper

    Copper covers contacts, pipelines, Gmail sync and a sales forecast inside Google Workspace, and relies on integrations for calling, quotes and scheduling.

    Score
    95/100
    Best for
    Service businesses that run on Gmail and Google Workspace
    From
    $29/seat/mo
    Free plan
    No · 14-day trial

    Copper describes itself as built to work inside Google Workspace, with Gmail email, contact and file sync. Basic costs $29 per seat per month on monthly billing ($23 billed annually) and has a 2,500 contact limit; workflow automation is listed from Professional. Its reporting page documents a sales forecast by expected close date. Calling, quotes and meeting scheduling are documented through third-party tools such as JustCall, RingCentral, PandaDoc, DocuSign and Calendly, the last one through Zapier. Lead scoring is documented through the Outfunnel integration. Through Zapier, Copper connects to 5,000+ other apps. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial; there is no free plan.

    Visit copper.com

  9. 9. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

    Dynamics 365 Sales documents sequences, forecasting and predictive scoring, with yearly payment and extra licences for automation and calling.

    Score
    89/100
    Best for
    Companies standardised on Microsoft 365, Teams and Power Platform
    From
    $65/user/mo
    Free plan
    No · free trial

    Dynamics 365 Sales Professional costs $65 per user per month, paid yearly; the pricing page shows no monthly payment option. Sales Enterprise is $105 per user per month. Microsoft documents quotes, sequences, email engagement tracking, forecasting, predictive lead and opportunity scoring, Copilot capabilities, predefined security roles and access through the Dataverse Web API. Customization and automation run on Microsoft Power Automate, which requires additional licenses, and outbound calling also requires additional licenses. Web forms and booking links are absent from the plan comparison. Microsoft also documents custom fields and multiple business process flows on the opportunity.

    Visit microsoft.com

  10. 10. Capsule

    Capsule keeps to contacts, pipelines, tasks and reporting, with a free plan for 2 users and calling, scheduling and quotes through integrations.

    Score
    88/100
    Best for
    Small teams that want a contact database and a pipeline, with other tools connected around it
    From
    $22/user/mo
    Free plan
    Yes · 2 users · 250 contacts

    Capsule Starter costs $22 per user per month on monthly billing and holds 30,000 contacts; the free plan covers 2 users and 250 contacts. Email sync with Outlook and Gmail and workflow automations are listed on the Growth plan. Calling, meeting scheduling and quotes are documented through integrations (Aircall, Calendly, Quotient); the Aircall and Calendly integrations require a Zapier plan. Email sequences run through Transpond, a separate marketing platform. Lead scoring and email open tracking are absent from the features list. Contacts are imported from a spreadsheet or CSV, and the pricing page mentions 100+ integrations.

    Visit capsulecrm.com

Summary table

The score is computed from the grid of 20 capabilities, each marked 1, 0.5 or 0 from the vendor's own pages. Prices are the first paid tier.

The 10 CRM tools side by side: score, entry price, billing, free plan and seat rule
CRMScoreEntry priceBilling of that priceFree planSeat rule
01Nutshell100$19/user/moMonthlyNo · 14-day trialPer user
02HubSpot100$20/mo/seatMonthly · list priceYes · 2 usersPer seat
03Zoho CRM100US$20/user/moMonthlyYes · 3 usersPer user
04Freshsales97$11/user/moMonthlyNo · 21-day trialPer user
05monday CRM97$18/seat/moMonthlyNo · 14-day trialPer seat · 3-seat minimum
06Salesforce Sales Cloud97$25/user/moMonthly or annualYes · 2 usersPer user
07Close95$19/user/moMonthlyNo · 14-day trialSolo: 1 user only
08Copper95$29/seat/moMonthlyNo · 14-day trialPer seat
09Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales89$65/user/moPaid yearlyNo · free trialPer user
10Capsule88$22/user/moMonthlyYes · 2 users · 250 contactsPer user

Prices in USD for the first paid tier, read on vendor pages on 12 November 2026.

What a CRM costs for your team

Entry tier multiplied by the number of users, per month, with each vendor's seat rule applied. Add-ons, taxes and usage charges such as calling minutes are excluded.

Monthly cost of the entry tier of each CRM at 1, 5 and 20 users
CRMEntry tier1 user5 users20 users
01NutshellFoundation$19/mo$95/mo$380/mo
02HubSpotSales Hub Starter$20/mo$100/mo$400/mo
03Zoho CRMStandard$20/mo$100/mo$400/mo
04FreshsalesGrowth$11/mo$55/mo$220/mo
05monday CRMBasic$54/mo · 3 seats billed$90/mo$360/mo
06Salesforce Sales CloudStarter Suite$25/mo$125/mo$500/mo
07CloseSolo, then Essentials$19/mo · Solo$245/mo · Essentials$980/mo · Essentials
08CopperBasic$29/mo$145/mo$580/mo
09Microsoft Dynamics 365 SalesSales Professional$65/mo$325/mo$1,300/mo
10CapsuleStarter$22/mo$110/mo$440/mo

HubSpot: list price; a promotion at $10/mo/seat was displayed on 12 November 2026. monday CRM: plans start from 3 users. Close: Solo is limited to 1 user, larger teams are priced on Essentials. Dynamics 365 Sales: paid yearly.

How we rank

  1. The ranking criterion is a category score out of 100. It measures how many of 20 capabilities expected of a CRM each vendor documents on its own site. It does not measure quality, reliability or support.Contacts and pipeline 30% · 5 featuresCommunication 30% · 7 featuresAutomation and AI 14% · 3 featuresReporting 11% · 2 featuresPlatform and admin 16% · 3 features
  2. The grid holds 20 capabilities in five groups, each documented by at least three CRM vendors. A capability weighs 3 when it defines the category (contact and company records, deal pipeline, email sync, workflow automation), 2 for common use and 1 when secondary. Each tool receives 1 for a capability documented as native on any plan, 0.5 for a documented limit, a paid add-on or a third-party integration named by the vendor, and 0 when the capability is absent from the vendor's feature list or could not be verified. The score is the weighted sum divided by the total weight, rounded to the nearest integer. Ties go to the lower entry price, then to alphabetical order.
  3. Thirteen tools were scored. Pipedrive is not ranked: its pricing page could not be read by the tooling of this site on 12 November 2026. The ten highest scores of the twelve others are listed; Attio and Brevo rank eleventh and twelfth. Nutshell, HubSpot and Zoho CRM share the top score: Nutshell comes first on its lower list entry price ($19), then HubSpot and Zoho CRM, both at $20, in alphabetical order. Freshsales, monday CRM and Salesforce Sales Cloud also share a score and are ordered by list entry price ($11, $18, $25), as are Close and Copper ($19, $29). Zendesk Sell was left out because Zendesk has announced its retirement on August 31, 2027. Insightly was left out because its pricing page could not be read by the tooling of this site on 12 November 2026. Prices, limits and features were read on vendor pages on that date.
  4. No entry on this page is sponsored. A sponsored entry keeps its computed rank and score.

FAQ

What does the score out of 100 measure?

The score is the weighted share of 20 expected CRM capabilities that a vendor documents on its own site. A capability that could not be verified counts as zero, so a score can understate a product whose documentation was not readable. The score is not a quality rating.

Which CRM tools in this top 10 have a free plan?

Four entries have a free plan: Zoho CRM (3 users), HubSpot (2 users), Capsule (2 users, 250 contacts) and Salesforce Free Suite (up to two users). monday CRM, Close, Nutshell, Freshsales, Copper and Dynamics 365 Sales offer a trial and no free plan.

Which CRM has the lowest entry price?

Freshsales Growth has the lowest list entry price of the ten, $11 per user per month on monthly billing. monday CRM follows at $18 per seat with a 3-seat minimum, then Close Solo and Nutshell Foundation at $19 per user. HubSpot displayed a promotion at $10/mo/seat on 12 November 2026; its list price is $20/mo/seat.

Why is Pipedrive not ranked?

The Pipedrive pricing page could not be read by the tooling of this site on 12 November 2026, and a price that was not read on the vendor's pricing page is not published here. Pipedrive will be scored again when the page is readable.

Why are Attio and Brevo not in the top 10?

Both were scored on the same grid and rank eleventh and twelfth of the twelve ranked tools. Capabilities that are absent from a vendor's documentation, or that could not be verified there, count as zero.

Is Zendesk Sell still an option?

Zendesk has announced that Zendesk Sell and its mobile app will be retired on August 31, 2027. The product was excluded from the scoring for that reason.