Whether you call them your customers, clients, or users, they can make your business sail forward 🚢 or suffer a shipwreck.
To keep things sailing smoothly, you need to manage relationships with existing and potential customers effectively. And one of the simplest solutions you can use here is a free CRM tool.
A free online customer relationship management software helps you test the waters and see if it’s a good fit before you commit.
But with a large fleet of free CRM software available today, which one should you choose?
Don’t worry.
To help you steer towards the right app, let’s discover the 12 top free CRM tools for 2021. From the best free CRM for startups to a free CRM for Mac, we’ll cover all bases.
All aboard, and off we go!
The 12 Best Free CRM Tools in 2021
Here are the key features, pricing, and user ratings of 12 excellent free CRM software available today:
1. ClickUp
Looking for a free sales CRM? Or maybe a free CRM with email integration features?
Meet ClickUp, one of the highest-rated project management and CRM software that’s loved by highly productive teams of all sizes.
A project management and CRM tool?
Yup! ClickUp is like the Elastigirl of software, super flexible to adapt to your needs with ease.
With ClickUp, you get a wide variety of awesome features that’ll help your project, customer success, sales, and finance teams.
All in one platform, and for free!
ClickUp key features
Here’s a quick look into what makes ClickUp the best free CRM tool:
- CRM views: choose from 10+ views, including Kanban Boards and Tables, to visualize your clients, customer orders, or sales pipeline any way you want
- Dashboards: build your own mission control center to track average deal sizes, customer lifetime value, and more
- Email Project Management: integrate your emails with ClickUp to onboard customers, collaborate on deals, and update clients from a centralized hub
- Hierarchy: use Workspaces, Spaces, Folders, Lists, and more to organize customers for efficient management
- Relationships: create the ultimate database to store and analyze your customer data
- Automation: automate 100+ tasks to save time and help your marketing, sales, and customer support teams focus on what matters most
- Form view: design stunning, custom-branded Forms to capture any information you need
- Custom Task Statuses: streamline pipeline management with customized workflows that reflect your needs to a T
- Goals: track and measure sales KPIs to analyze your team’s performance
- Assigned Comments: turn Comments into action items to ensure nothing slips through the cracks
- Custom Fields: add client info, track orders, score leads… Custom Fields is a unique feature that lets you use ClickUp for anything your heart desires
ClickUp pros
- Powerful Free Forever Plan
- Sleek and user-friendly interface with drag and drop functionality
- Powerful all-in-one solution for CRM and project management
- Easily import data from Asana, monday.com, and other tools
- From SOPs to proposals, create all sorts of documents with Docs
- Task Dependencies help navigate your team through defined workflows
- Use Chat view to discuss marketing and sales initiatives, or plan virtual parties to celebrate successful deals
- Formula Fields and Column Calculations make number crunching a breeze
- Get a geographic view of your clients or customers with Map view
- Wide variety of Templates for marketing, sales, project management, customer service, and other teams
- Integrate with 50+ tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Evernote, and Google Drive to supercharge your CRM activities
- Access ClickUp wherever you are with powerful Apps for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS platforms
Check out ClickUp’s roadmap to see what other features are in the works. 🏗️
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever Plan:
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited tasks
- 100MB data storage
- 24/7 customer support
- And more
- Unlimited Plan ($5/month per user):
- All Free Plan features
- Unlimited views
- Unlimited data storage
- Custom Fields
- Map view
- Portfolios
- And more
- Business Plan ($9/month per user):
- All Unlimited Plan features
- Work In Progress Limits
- Granular Time Estimates
- Unlimited Custom Exporting
- Form branding and customization
- And more
ClickUp user ratings
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2160+ reviews)
- G2: 4.7/5 (2750+ reviews)
2. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a work management tool that helps you manage customer relations, plan projects, and collaborate with your team.
As a free CRM for small business, Bitrix24 doesn’t have many trix up its sleeves.
For instance, you don’t get sales and marketing automation features in the free cloud CRM plan. Your team will have to manually change lead statuses as a lead moves through the pipeline.
Want to know more about this CRM solution?
Read our in-depth Bitrix24 review.
Bitrix24 key features
- Activity stream to manage customer interaction
- Set sales targets and quotas for your team
- Live chat to get client inquiries from your website
- Has a Google Drive integration
Bitrix24 pricing
The free cloud based CRM plan offers basic CRM features.
Paid plans start from $24/month for two users.
Bitrix24 user ratings
- Capterra: 4/5 (480+ reviews)
- G2: 4.1/5 (370+ reviews)
Feeling like Bitrix24 isn’t the one for you? 💔
Don’t worry. Here are five great Bitrix24 alternatives you can use today.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a free sales CRM that can help sales teams manage customer data and close more deals.
And while its free plan might hit the sweet spot, things get bitter once you realize you want more features. Paid plans for this CRM solution start at $50/month for two users! 🤑
HubSpot key features
- Dashboard and reports to monitor sales activity
- Log customer issues and assign them to team members
- Connect with web visitors using live chat
- Create forms to collect contact data
HubSpot pricing
Has a limited free plan. Paid plans for this CRM system start at $50/month for two users.
HubSpot user ratings
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (2700+ reviews)
- G2: 4.3/5 (6900+ reviews)
4. monday.com
Mondays suck, no doubt.
But monday.com aims to change that with their work OS. It lets you build a custom CRM system to capture and connect with your customers.
However, monday.com’s pricing model works per group of seats; not per seat. For example, if you have a team of seven, you’ll have to pay for the ten-seat option.
We’d rather not. 😏
Wondering how to manage projects with this CRM application?
Read our monday.com project management guide (with alternatives).
monday.com key features
- Create automated workflows for status updates
- Custom dashboards to monitor timelines and budgets
- CRM and sales templates to get started quickly
- Has a Salesforce integration
monday.com pricing
Has a free plan with limited features for up to two users.
Paid plans start at $39/month for three users.
monday.com user ratings
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (2200+ reviews)
- G2: 4.7/5 (2500+ reviews)
Want more information about monday.com?
Here’s our detailed monday.com review.
5. Really Simple Systems CRM
No better way to tell people your product is really simple, right?
Designed for growing teams, Really Simple Systems offers a free CRM, which includes most of the same features you’ll find in their paid plans, just with a limited number of users and company accounts.
Their system gives you 2 free users, 100 company accounts, unlimited contacts and free email customer support – for as long as you like. Then, as your business grows and you want to add more features and users, you can simply upgrade your CRM so all of your data is carried over to your new plan.
They offer free email customer support and a wealth of resources to help you get the most from your CRM. Join them for live webinars, watch their tutorial videos and follow the step-by-step guides on all the features.
Really Simple Systems CRM key features
- Built-in email marketing functionality
- Create sales quotations directly from your opportunities
- Drag and drop report builder for sales analytics
- Maintain customer interaction history
Really Simple Systems CRM pricing
Has a free plan for two users. Paid plans for this simple free CRM start at $18/month per user.
Really Simple Systems CRM user ratings
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (250+ reviews)
- G2: 4.4/5 (130+ reviews)
6. Asana
Asana is a flexible work management app that can help you set up a sales pipeline and track any customer interaction.
However, Asana can’t do what most other customer relationship management software like ClickUp can. For one, it doesn’t let you assign a task to multiple people.
Seems like Asana’s too flexible to be useful. 🤭
Read our post on some of the top Asana alternatives.
Asana key features
- Portfolios to manage customer accounts
- Use automation to streamline customer onboarding
- Customizable templates for lead management
- Integrates with Salesforce and Zoho CRM
Asana pricing
Has a limited free plan that lets you collaborate with 15 users. Paid plans start at $13.49/month.
Asana user ratings
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (9500+ reviews)
- G2: 4.3/5 (7000+ reviews)
7. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is a free online CRM software that remote sales teams can use to stay productive.
From marketing automation to sales analytics, Zoho has several features for customer relationship management. But most of these are paid features.
I mean, you don’t even get something as basic and essential as a Google Drive integration for free. It’s that limited.
Wondering if Zoho can help you manage projects?
Find out the answer in our Zoho project management guide.
Zoho CRM key features
- Generate invoices and sales quotes
- Monitor sales performance to identify your star performers
- Real-time notifications about customer activity
- Lead scoring helps prioritize customers based on custom criteria
Zoho CRM pricing
Has a free plan for three users. Paid plans for this free SaaS CRM start at $20/month per user.
Zoho CRM user ratings
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (4800+ reviews)
- G2: 4/5 (1800+ reviews)
8. Freshworks CRM
Freshworks CRM can provide a 360° view of your customers to help you close more deals and grow your business. With its free CRM Android and iOS apps, you can also collaborate with your team wherever you are.
However, if you wanna customize the tool for your needs, the free CRM system can be a bit stale for your taste.
For example, it doesn’t support features like custom fields to help capture granular details about your contacts.
Freshworks CRM key features
- Track status of ongoing deals
- Chatbots can auto-route customer queries to the right person
- Make sales call from within the tool
- Group contacts into various lists for targeted campaigns
Freshworks CRM pricing
Has a limited free plan that includes unlimited users and customer support. Paid plans for this free CRM system start from $35/month per user.
Freshworks CRM user ratings
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (450+ reviews)
- G2: 4.6/5 (850+ reviews)
9. Method CRM
If you use QuickBooks for accounting purposes, Method CRM could be the app for you.
Its real-time sync with QuickBooks helps you track leads and organize customer preferences, interactions, and purchases all under one hood.
But with the entire CRM application relying on QuickBooks, one might wonder if this is actually the right method to manage customer relations.
Method CRM key features
- Create sales estimates, invoices, and receipts
- Activity tracking and follow-up management
- Portals to boost repeat sales and customer satisfaction
- Analyze business performance in real-time with detailed reports
Method CRM pricing
Has a 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $28/month per user.
Method CRM user ratings
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (50+ reviews)
- G2: 4.2/5 (50+ reviews)
10. Capsule CRM
Capsule is a free SaaS CRM that can help companies stay organized and build strong relationships with their customers.
With features to track potential sales and pipeline milestones, this free capsule 💊 can save you from some customer relationship management hiccups.
However, if you have more than 250 contacts or two users, you’ll have to go for the paid plans.
Capsule CRM key features
- Filter sales opportunities based on status and milestone
- Visualize your pipeline kanban-style
- Social media search to auto-enrich contact profiles
- Calendar view for easy task management
Capsule CRM pricing
Has a free plan that supports two users.
Paid plans for this free CRM app start from $18/month per user.
Capsule CRM user ratings
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)
- G2: 4.3/5 (50+ reviews)
11. Evernote
If you’ve heard of Evernote, you must be surprised to see it on our free CRM software list!
What’s a note-taking app doing here, right? 🤨
Well, you can customize Evernote as a free personal CRM to manage your personal network. Combined with a platform like LinkedIn, Evernote can help organize your contact information in one place.
But no matter how you look at it, using Evernote as a CRM is like those 5-minute craft videos… pointless.
Evernote key features
- Create notebooks for contact management
- Reminders help ensure you don’t forget to follow up on deals
- Use tags to define stages in your sales funnel
- Web Clipper helps pull out a prospect’s details from their social media page
Evernote pricing
Has a free plan with a 60MB monthly upload limit. Paid plans start at $7.99/month.
Evernote user ratings
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (6800+ reviews)
- G2: 4.4/5 (1800+ reviews)
Here are the top Evernote alternatives you can use.
12. Monica CRM
Nope, we aren’t talking about Monica from Friends.
Suitable for individuals, Monica CRM can help store and manage data about your friends, family, and other contacts.
It’s a free personal CRM that also lets you document your life with daily journals. And if you’re a developer, you’ll love Monica because it’s an open source CRM software.
But unlike Monica Geller, this CRM app has very limited organizational skills. You’ll be working on something that pretty much looks like a Facebook profile page.
Monica key features
- Add private notes to a contact’s profile
- Dashboard helps track all upcoming events
- Create journal entries and see how your day went
- Use the API to automate tasks
Monica pricing
This open source CRM has a free plan for up to ten contacts. The paid plan costs a flat rate of $9/month.
Monica user ratings
- Capterra: N/A
- G2: N/A
Never Lose Sight of Your Customers with a Free CRM
For any business, customers and clients are what keeps it afloat and sailing forward.
And that’s why you need a solid CRM tool to nurture lifelong customer relations.
But if you are anchored to a limited budget or just wanna experience the powers of a CRM app, there’s no better option than free CRM software.
Related: Check out our post on free CRM software for real estate agents.
Now, free doesn’t mean featureless.
Just take ClickUp, for instance.
From customer database management to sales pipeline automation, ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan offers tons of power-packed CRM features for teams of all sizes. Yup, we love our customers! 🤗
Set sail on ClickUp for free to start your journey towards customer success today!
Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.