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Every business can benefit from a customer relationship management (CRM) system, but the needs of small to midsize businesses (SMBs) are often very different than those of enterprises. Not only are your budgets smaller, but you likely have limited or no dedicated IT staff. As such, you need solutions you can get up and running with minimal effort and training. PCMag has been testing and reviewing CRM software for over a decade, so we can help you find the solution that best suits your needs and means. Bigin by Zoho CRM is our Editors' Choice winner, thanks to its flexible dashboards and extensive integration options, though all of the entries on this list are worth exploring. Make sure to click through to our in-depth reviews of each and scroll down to our buying guide for everything to consider before you make a purchasing decision.
Our Top Tested Picks
Bigin by Zoho CRM
Less Annoying CRM
Vtiger
The Best CRM Software Deals This Week*
- Salesforce Starter Suite — Try Salesforce Starter Suite Free for 30 Days
- Pipedrive CRM — Try Pipedrive CRM Free for 14 Days
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Best Overall
Bigin by Zoho CRM
- Highly affordable
- Intuitive interface
- Supports payment collection
- Integrates with other Zoho software and third-party tools
- VoIP capabilities
- No AI features
- Lacks a dedicated app for Windows
Zoho offers a full-featured CRM package, but its separate Bigin offering is aimed at small businesses. It's designed so that anyone can start managing contacts and sales pipelines right away, regardless of their past experience with CRM systems. It also offers a robust mobile app, so sales pros can easily access their tools on the go.
If you've just started transitioning away from maintaining contacts in spreadsheets, and you aren't ready for a major CRM system's deep feature set, give Bigin by Zoho a look. It gives you useful tools without overwhelming your sales staff. Just be aware that if your organization starts to outgrow its capabilities, upgrading to the full Zoho CRM product won't be as smooth as simply upgrading your license.
Best Entry-Level CRM
Salesforce Starter
- Affordable, feature-rich CRM
- Many customization options
- Minimal setup
- User-friendly interface
- Few third-party integrations
- Adopters should still anticipate a slight learning curve
Salesforce rewrote the book on CRM when it debuted in 1999, and today it's widely considered the industry leader. Salesforce Starter is the company's entry-level tier, aimed squarely at SMBs. It does a great job of walking new customers through the setup and training process while providing the robust functionality and customization the Salesforce platform is known for. Although its predecessor, Salesforce Essentials, was limited to small teams, Starter supports up to 325 users per instance. And when you're ready to grow beyond that, Salesforce is more than ready to accommodate you.
If you insist on a world-class CRM system backed by world-class support, Salesforce is for you. Salesforce Starter is your SMB-friendly onramp to the Salesforce platform and ecosystem. However, it has a few drawbacks. For example, it has limited third-party software integrations and reporting capabilities. It's true that Salesforce scales to meet the needs of any business; just prepare yourself for the price tag.
Best for Small Sales Teams
Capsule CRM
- Reminds businesses to reach out to contacts they haven't talked to in a while
- Outstanding note-taking and sharing functions
- A plethora of integrations with most-used SMB tools
- Could use more analytics options
- You need to dig deep to find some of the functionality
- Feature set might be limited for larger businesses
Capsule CRM is all about saving its users time, particularly in SMB environments. Its UI is elegant and clutter-free, and it can integrate with accounting systems, such as Freshbooks, Quickbooks, and Xero, making it easy to get up and running with your organization's existing contacts. Although it lacks some of the competition's features, we appreciate its more minimalist approach. Capsule CRM also has an outstanding self-help support website.
Go for Capsule CRM if you want a system with a no-nonsense UI that's designed around the idea that not all businesses work the same way. It integrates with many of the major business software packages, so it adapts to the way you work, rather than forcing you into new processes. Just don't expect it to have the competition's perks.
Best for Budget-Conscious Start-Ups
Less Annoying CRM
- One affordable plan
- Plenty of support and help options
- Looks great on mobile
- Limited reporting capabilities
- No way to add dedicated leads
This entry prides itself on not annoying its customers—or not as much as the competition, anyway—but its most outstanding feature might be its price, which is among the lowest of all the products we tested. Although "less expensive" can sometimes mean "low value," Less Annoying CRM has an ample feature set that's worth your consideration.
If you're unsure how much budget you're ready to commit to CRM, look this way. You'll gain the contact management and business-process features you expect from a larger CRM vendor at a very affordable price, and hopefully, its ease of use and friendly UI won't annoy you.
Best Affordable CRM for Small Businesses
Vtiger
- Affordable and well-equipped small business CRM
- Email, calling, and note taking capability are easily accessible
- Responsive 24/7 support
- Superb proactive alert system helps generate sales activity
- Innovative but convoluted navigation and menu system
- There's a tendency to have to open multiple tabs and pages
- Not ideal for businesses with multiple sales pipelines
For its price, Vtiger is a surprisingly full-featured CRM. In a single platform, it combines contact management, calendaring, email marketing, internal chat integration, and marketing automation. Once you get used to its unique interface, you'll quickly and efficiently jump between multiple tasks.
If you want a CRM for your small to midsize business, but don't want to skimp on features, Vtiger might be up your alley. Its healthy collection of bundled functions should give you all the tools you need to get your salesforce up and running. That said, its UI is a little complex and idiosyncratic, which may mean a steeper learning curve than what you'll find with competing CRMs.
Best for CRM and Pipeline Management
Monday.com
- Modern user interface
- Customizable
- Offers in-app automations
- Includes templates
- Confusing pricing and plans
- Inconsistent and Byzantine navigation options
- Free plan isn't designed for serious business use
Although CRM isn't Monday.com's primary focus, it advertises a number of CRM features, all set within the context of a broader online collaboration platform. You can think of it as a general "work management" tool that's designed to help teams stay on task and keep projects running smoothly, which overlaps with key CRM functions.
Monday.com will never replace a full-featured CRM platform, but it doesn't try to. Give it a look if your organization has grown past the stage of using spreadsheets to manage contacts, and could benefit from basic CRM capabilities (especially if you have pressing team-collaboration fish to fry).
Best for Pipeline Organization
Pipedrive CRM
- Works with more than 400 integrations
- Excellent video tutorials
- Straightforward interface
- No Kanban view for Contacts section
- Few options for customizing analytics displays
- Limited customer support for lower-tier plans
Pipedrive might not be the most robust CRM in terms of features, but it shines in ease of use. It's deal-oriented, and lets you visualize the entire sales process from start to finish, which can help eliminate second-guessing within teams. It has a pleasing UI, and is easy to set up and use, making it a good choice for small teams. It also includes a customizable chatbot that you can add to websites for lead generation.
If your organization is strapped for time and personnel, you'll appreciate how quickly you can get to work with Pipedrive. Its straightforward UI means you'll spend less time wrangling the software and more time concentrating on your next sale. If, on the other hand, you're looking for extensive customization options or third-party software integrations, you might look elsewhere.
Best for Basic CRM Needs
Freshsales CRM
- Affordable base plan
- Intuitive interface
- Excellent onboarding support
- Lots of integrations
- Base plan lets you create just one sales pipeline
- Other CRMs offer more advanced features
Freshsales is a beginner-friendly CRM that works best for small businesses and start-ups. We like its intuitive interface and how it continues to build out integration options with other business software. Its approachable pricing and interface are also highlights. Subscribers to higher-end tiers even get an AI assistant that can help call out sales opportunities.
If you don't have any experience with CRMs, Freshsales is a good place to start. It offers a reasonable number of features for an affordable price and provides excellent support resources for any questions you might have during the onboarding process and beyond.
What Is Small Business CRM Software?
If you're trying to manage your customer contacts as an entrepreneur or part of a small business with more than 50 customers in a spreadsheet, you've probably already realized this is an unwieldy task. CRM systems take the pain out of this all-important function.
CRMs have two important advantages over simple contact lists or databases. First, they add internal features that directly handle other parts of your sales funnel, notably commission management, pipelining, and scheduling.
Second, and even more important, they help move customer data back and forth between systems. Hooking your CRM into the rest of your software stack means the details of every customer interaction are available on demand. That can include anything from lunch with a sales rep to form submissions, online chats, phone calls, and social media mentions. A sales rep can pull that data into a purchase conversation, while a help desk technician can use it to better understand the customer's situation.
How Much Do Small Business CRMs Cost?
These types of CRMs can start at less than $10 per user per month and scale to upward of $50 per user per month. As with any subscription software, you should take advantage of free trials when available. No matter how many reviews you read or demos you watch, it's difficult to determine how well a particular CRM works until you start using it.
Your best bet is to look for a solution that is easy for non-specialists to grasp; you likely don't have time (or budget) for lengthy, in-person training. You should also search for a product that includes FAQs, a knowledge base, and other support articles. Online user forums can also often be an effective support resource.
What Can a CRM Do for Your Small Business?
When used to its full potential, a CRM can gather all your company's interactions with each customer and combine them with related data from sources such as accounting, inventory, marketing, and purchasing. This can help you maintain an accurate sales pipeline that can react quickly to new opportunities.
For example, if a help desk representative realizes a customer is ready for an upsell opportunity while addressing an unrelated support issue, that information doesn't get lost in an email. A CRM can automatically snatch that data from the ticket, add it to a record, and place the details in the pipeline so a sales manager can parcel out the opportunity.
Depending on how your sales department works, CRM data can appear in an app interface, an email, a Slack message, and on any device, especially mobile ones. Even more critical than fast dissemination is intake. That's where you want to pay attention to a CRM's automation capabilities.
By automating data gathering in the CRM and every app you connect, you get the data where you need it. Think of your sales pipeline as a funnel with a wide mouth at one end that grabs as much data as possible. By the time the information reaches the other end, the funnel has parsed it into useful units for the people who need it.
Smaller businesses' primary challenge is deploying and integrating CRM systems with existing ones. This often requires significant effort from trained IT staff, who are likely to be in short supply or nonexistent at very small organizations.
Over the last couple of years, however, CRM vendors have begun directly addressing the needs of small business buyers. Some offer custom products with interfaces and features that target these audiences. Others pare down their flagship products to make them easier to use, all the while maintaining an easy upgrade path for growing customers.
How Do CRMs Handle Customer Data?
The primary function of any CRM should be to gather data. Whether from documents, phone calls, social media chats, or anything else, your solution should be able to grab information from all the key channels you use to interact with customers.
For example, if you're gathering phone calls and social media chats, keywords might become important, especially mentions of a specific product name. The same might be true for a valued customer name or account number. You could match that against sentiment indicators, which should tell you the topic of any interaction and how the customer felt about it. It takes work, but intelligent data distribution is where CRMs can shine.
That routing function is less complex than the data gathering and parsing function, but it's no less important. Your CRM can score top marks on gathering data and still fail overall if it can't get that information to the right people at the right time. Customizing this process depends on how your salespeople do their jobs, meaning there's no turnkey solution. To map your CRM's notification features correctly, you need to ask your staff how sales actually happen.
Is a CRM Worth It for a Small Business?
SMBs represent a huge market. In fact, according to data from the US Small Business Administration, 99.9% of all businesses in the US qualify as small. That's why some big CRM players are reacting accordingly.
For example, Salesforce, the undisputed behemoth of the CRM space, has developed an entry-level Salesforce Starter product. It uses the same platform as the company's enterprise offering, just with a reduced set of features and a more straightforward interface.
However, even Salesforce's most basic offering might seem too complex for some customers. Smaller CRM vendors compete by intentionally keeping the solution simple. Some do this by adding artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, but most focus on building as many third-party software integrations as possible. For instance, Pipedrive CRM offers quick chatbots customers can drop into their sites, while Zendesk Sell plugs into the broader array of Zendesk help desk tools. Meanwhile, Freshsales CRM continues to develop integrations and focus on workflow automation and better sales analytics.
It's important to look to the future, too. Knowing how a CRM will grow with your company is vital. Work with sales leads to determine your present and future needs and investigate whether your CRM solution easily supports advanced analytics, digital marketing hooks, more users, and a larger contact base.
Make the Most of Third-Party Integrations
Small business CRMs might not come with all the capabilities of enterprise CRM platforms, but that doesn't mean you can't create a unified system for your salespeople. Ensuring that your small business CRM can establish data relationships with other apps, especially those that are low-cost and aimed at smaller companies, is critical if you want to get as much life from your purchase as possible.
Check your CRM's integration and partner lists to see your options for connecting with software from third-party vendors. Dedicated vendors can handle business analytics, email marketing, marketing automation, lead management, and even social media listening and selling. Opting for a low-cost partner integration might still be cheaper than paying for a larger CRM platform that includes those capabilities.
Another way to connect business systems is with Zapier, a popular and low-cost third-party automation and integration tool. It can help you tie various web services together into automated workflows. Although Zapier is dependable, its ease of use limits its data exchange features. Determine what you need from a third-party integration, and then decide whether you want to go DIY with Zapier or invest some money in a custom solution.
Take Advantage of Mobile CRM Apps
One of the most important developments in SMB CRMs is the availability of effective mobile apps. These days, small businesses move around or have employees in many places. The devices that sales staff use can also vary widely. As such, it's important that your CRM supports not just PCs but also tablets and phones.
Although some vendors try to sell mobile browser versions of their web apps as a solution for mobile device users, this kind of setup pales in comparison with a dedicated mobile app. Browser-based apps can access online databases and services. Still, they don't interact directly with the features many mobile devices offer, including access to cameras and other sensors, near-field communication (NFC) for mobile payments, and security.
The mobile-first Bigin and Salesforce Starter offer apps with all the necessary features and controls of their desktop counterparts. Bigin goes the extra mile with an Apple Watch integration.
Oliver Rist contributed to this story.
