8 CRM alternatives to Salesforce to consider in 2023
You’re looking for CRM software, but you don’t want Salesforce. We get it: there are lots of good reasons to be interested in CRM alternatives to salesforce.
The good news is there are countless substitutes on the market.
Even better, many of them are free.
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Here are eight of the top Salesforce alternatives to CRM software:
- Pipedrive
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Vendasta CRM
- Freshsales
- Less Annoying CRM
- Hubspot CRM
- Monday CRM
- ZohoCRM
It’s pretty obvious you have options. But how do you pick the right one?
We’ve broken down each CRM by main functionalities, pros and cons according to customer reviews, and pricing options.
Use this guide to find a CRM alternative to salesforce that will support your business today and grow with you tomorrow.
Rather skip this article and see a demo of our sales CRM software? Great choice. Request a demo today to learn more about our robust CRM software.
Table of Contents
Why Is Software Like Salesforce Necessary?
Software like Salesforce and its CRM alternatives is necessary because it helps organizations manage their customer relationships and business processes more efficiently. As organizations scale, the use of CRMs like Salesforce becomes increasingly non-negotiable for their daily operations.
So, how exactly do businesses use software like Salesforce?
The popular customer relationship management (CRM) platform provides organizations with a centralized database to store and manage customer data, such as contact information, sales history, and support requests. This information can be used to help sales teams prioritize their sales activities, support teams resolve customer issues more quickly, and managers make data-driven decisions.
Additionally, Salesforce provides a range of tools and features to help organizations automate and streamline a range of important business processes. These include lead management, opportunity tracking, and forecasting. This can help organizations save time, increase productivity, and improve their overall performance.
Managing customer relationships is imperative to the success of any business, making Salesforce and its CRM alternatives must-have tools for business growth.
What To Look For In CRM Alternatives to Software Like Salesforce
Not all CRM alternatives to Salesforce are created equal.
If you know what features to keep an eye out for, you can be confident that you’re making the best decision for your business or your clients.
When shopping for software like Salesforce, use the following CRM features as a checklist.
- Functionality: Don’t assume that all CRMs work the same way. Make sure the software you’re considering has the features and capabilities you need to effectively manage your customer relationships and business processes. Consider important functions like lead management, opportunity tracking, reporting and analytics, and integrations with other tools you use.
- User experience: If a software solution isn’t easy to use, it won’t get used. Whether you’re looking for an internal CRM or one to resell to your clients, it’s essential that the software you choose is simple and intuitive for all teams to use. Sales, management, and support teams all interact with CRMs regularly, so a great UX, easy navigation, and customizability are high priorities.
- Scalability: Any CRM alternative to Salesforce that’s worth its salt will painlessly scale with a business. This means it should effortlessly accommodate a large number of users and customers.
- Integration: Anyone using digital solutions in their business today will agree: cloud solutions fatigue is real. The better your alternatives to CRMs like salesforce can integrate with other tools and systems, the better. From marketing automation software to accounting software, integrations prevent businesses from having to duplicate work and make it much easier to stay organized.
- Cost: While it’s not a simple matter of cheaper being better, your CRM alternative to salesforce should fit your budget. Consider both the upfront costs and any ongoing subscription or maintenance fees.
- Customer support: When something goes wrong, you’ll be grateful for on-demand support. Ideal, your CRM should include 24/7 customer service and a variety of ways to access it, like phone, email, and an online resource database.
- Data security: A customer data breach can cause a massive headache, and even potential legal liability, for you or your clients. Consider your CRM vendor’s security and privacy policies, as well as their track record of protecting customer data.
By considering these factors, you can find CRM alternatives to Salesforce that meet the specific needs of your business and help you effectively manage customer relationships and business processes.
Are Salesforce CRM Alternatives Free?
Those on a limited budget will be glad to know that yes, there are free CRM alternatives out there.
Like all software solutions, you generally get what you pay for, so don’t expect the same robust features from your free CRM alternatives to Salesforce as you would from their paid counterparts. However, for many small businesses and agencies that are just starting out, the free options out there just might be enough to fit the bill.
CRM Alternatives To Salesforce
1. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a cloud-based sales software company. It’s been around since 2010 and has quickly gained a reputation as an easy-to-use and affordable CRM alternative from Salesforce.
Main Functionality
The Pipedrive CRM focuses on helping professionals close deals. It helps users manage leads and deals, track communication, and automate basic tasks. It also offers insights and reports, mobility, and integrations with the most commonly used apps today.
The Pros and Cons of Pipedrive
Capterra categorizes Pipedrive as an affordable, easy-to-use CRM that’s popular with people in the computer software industry.
Pipedrive is unique because of its API, which lets customers develop custom features.
Customers like that Pipedrive is customizable. Teams can create a CRM solution that works for them. They also liked how it helps manage daily tasks.
According to G2 customer reviews, Pipedrive’s highest-rated features include its opportunity and pipeline management tools as well as its contact and account management tools. Customers also rave about its performance and reliability.
When it comes to improvements, customers said the platform can provide a negative customer experience. Since the platform isn’t centralized, information is sometimes all over the place and difficult to organize.
Its lowest-rated features according to G2 customer reviews include email marketing, campaign management, and its knowledge base.
Another concern is the platform’s reliance on APIs. According to Capterra, reviewers said this could lead to more broken connections.
Pricing
Pipedrive is not a free Salesforce alternative, although the company is offering a free trial of the platform for 14 days.
So how much does it cost? They have four main packages:
- $14.90/ user/month for the “essential”
- $24.90/user/month for the “advanced”
- $49.90/user/month for the “professional”
- $99/user/month for the “enterprise”
2. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
Launched in 2016, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a relatively new CRM on the market. It was launched as part of the Microsoft Dynamics product line which includes CRM and ERP applications.
Main Functionality
Dynamics 365 is a CRM that focuses on sales productivity and marketing. It’s available in the cloud, on-premises, or as a hybrid solution.
The Pros and Cons of Dynamics 365
Most of the customer reviews are positive about Microsoft Dynamics. Customers like its user, role, and access management CRM features. They also like the contact and account management features as well as the way you can customize the CRM to fit your needs.
Negative reviews for this CRM revolve around some of its lowest-rated features, including its lack of mobile support, social collaboration features, and campaign management.
Pricing
Dynamics 365 CRM is more expensive than the CRMs listed above. It doesn’t have a free trial offer or a free version of the product. Here are the three packages you can choose from:
- $65.00/ user/month for the “sales professional” plan
- $95.00/user/month for the “sales enterprise” plan
- $135.00/user/month for the “sales premium” plan
3. Vendasta CRM
At Vendasta, we offer a robust CRM for companies that sell digital solutions to local businesses. As such, our CRM is seamlessly integrated with the rest of our software, including our marketing automation software and tools. Vendasta is a great salesforce CRM alternative for businesses.
Main Functionality
Vendasta CRM is a powerful sales CRM and pipeline management tool that also includes built-in training resources. It’s an all-in-one platform that can be integrated with marketing automation, as well as digital marketing industry tools.
The Pros and Cons of Vendasta
Based on G2 customer reviews, Vendasta is considered easy to use and set up. It also comes with a lot of quality support. According to G2, its highest-rated features include some of its digital industry tools such as its online reputation management tools.
Vendasta also stands apart because it’s mainly used for management and growth. It grows along with your business, which means you don’t have to pay for features you don’t use or need at the moment.
Another major benefit of the Vendasta CRM is that it supports unlimited users and emails regardless of the subscription tier.
Perhaps the only downside to the Vendasta sales CRM is that you can’t make phone calls directly from your browser with an autodialer.
Pricing
Access to the Vendasta platform is free. If you decide to use the platform to sell products and services, you only have to pay the wholesale costs of the apps and products you resell.
Vendasta offers four main package options:
- $439.00/month for “Essentials”
- $939.00/month for “Professional”
- $1969/month for "Premium"
- $3879/month for “Custom”
These packages include discounted wholesale pricing for the entire Vendasta Marketplace. Since Vendasta is a white-label platform, there’s so much more your business can do with an account. Yes, you can use the sales CRM for pipeline and opportunity management, but with your subscription, you get access to a whole suite of wholesale business products and services you can resell to your clients.
What type of products? Apps and services related to SEO, websites, digital advertising, social media marketing, reputation management, business listings, and more. Many of these products are white-label and completely rebrandable, so you can position them as proprietary solutions from your agency. Plus, with access to white-label experts to deliver digital services, you can scale your agency effortlessly without hiring in-house.
To learn more about the Salesforce alternative, Vendasta CRM, please request a demo today or simply get started for free.
4. Freshsales
Freshsales from Freshworks is a CRM alternative that provides businesses with the ability to manage their pipelines, quotes, and tasks in one place. It’s designed to help businesses personalize their engagement with clients to effectively grow faster and shorten their sales cycle.
Main Functionality
Freshsales provides businesses with a 360-degree of their customers, so they can view all customer interactions and use this data to provide more personalized experiences. Users can easily spot the best opportunities, automate many tasks, and view AI-powered analytics.
The Pros and Cons of Freshsales
Users praise Freshsales’ ease of use, quick setup, and fast, friendly, support.
Cons mentioned by users tend to focus on its limitations as a business grows. It is an effective choice for organizations that are just starting out, but its limitations show as businesses scale and input larger amounts of information.
Pricing
- $15.00/ user/month for the “sales professional” plan
- $39.00/user/month for the “sales enterprise” plan
- $69.00/user/month for the “sales premium” plan
5. Less Annoying CRM
As their cheeky name implies, this CRM alternative is all about making the day-to-day management of customer relationships, well, less annoying. Geared toward small businesses, it’s a simple but useful CRM solution.
Main Functionality
Less Annoying can be used to manage contact information and include related notes, files, and tasks in one place. It also includes a calendar that integrates with Google, so important tasks don’t get missed.
The Pros and Cons of Less Annoying CRM
Users enjoy Less Annoying’s customer data management capabilities and workflow management. Another pro is the accessible price point.
Cons mentioned by users include the limited ability to customize, limited integration with email clients, and lack of robust features. This means it’s not ideal for growing organizations, but those who only need a few basic features enjoy it.
Pricing
$15.00/ user/month
3 Free Salesforce CRM Alternatives
The rest of the CRM alternatives to Salesforce on this list offer free tiers, which can be great for businesses that are just starting out. These free Salesforce alternatives do charge for more robust features, but in some cases, the free tier just might be enough.
6. HubSpot CRM
HubSpot offers an all-in-one platform that includes CRM software. According to Capterra, it’s considered relatively easy to use and works well for smaller companies that are just getting into CRMs.
Main Functionality
HubSpot’s CRM brings all your customer information in one place. It offers contact management, a reporting dashboard, company insights, pipeline management, and deal tracking. Plus, it links to the places your sales are taking place, such as your websites, social media platforms, email service providers, and phone calls.
The Pros and Cons of HubSpot CRM
As a CRM, one of the biggest advantages is that it’s free, which makes it a great choice for small businesses and start-ups.
It also connects easily to existing sales processes and apps. Customers like HubSpot because they can make calls from inside the software, it’s easy to use, and you can connect it to the rest of HubSpot’s software options.
Some of HubSpot’s most popular features include email marketing, lead management, and contact and account management.
But HubSpot isn’t perfect. Customers find that it’s challenging to get all their CRM needs met by the platform, particularly as they grow.
Customers find that certain important features could use improvement, namely the product and price list management, the Sandbox tool, and the quote and order management features. The mobile app is also quite limited.
Pricing
HubSpot offers its CRM for free for basic tools.
Within its Sales Hub packages, there are four main packages for the HubSpot CRM:
- $0/user/month for basic CRM and marketing tools
- $50.00/month for the “starter” set of tools (with a $29.97/month offer for new customers)
- $500/month for the “professional” suite of tools
- $1,200/month for the “enterprise” suite of tools
7. Monday CRM
Monday.com is a work OS that can be used for a wide range of project management needs. Their sales CRM product is a surprisingly powerful free salesforce alternative.
Main Functionality
Monday sales CRM can be used for contact and lead management, activity management, email syncing and tracking, and more.
The Pros and Cons of Monday CRM
A major pro of Monday CRM is its free tier. While it truly is free forever, the features of the free tier are limited.
Users also Monday’s customizable dashboards, excellent sales automation, and wide range of integrations with many popular tools.
Negatives include limited training materials and support, clunky desktop and mobile apps, and less-than-intuitive set-up.
Pricing
- $0/user/month for the Individual plan
- $10.00/user/month for the Basic plan
- $14.00/user/month for the Standard plan
- $24.00/user/month for the Pro plan
8. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM was launched in 2005. The company offers an office suite that includes its popular CRM software. Zoho has a reputation for being easy to use and is enabled for social and mobile.
Main Functionality
Customers can rely on Zoho as a lead and contact management system. It helps to automate all sales operations, including daily sales tasks. It offers real-time access of information and allows sales reps to track the sales cycle and link them to the appropriate products and services.
The Pros and Cons of Zoho CRM
According to G2 customer reviews, Zoho CRM is easy to use and set up. It has also received a high score according to Finances Online customer reviews, with a 9.4 score overall and a 92% user satisfaction score.
Customers like that it’s flexible for small businesses and start-ups, and that they can add features as needed. G2 reports that the platform’s most high-rated features are its contact and account management tools, partner relationship management tools, and its data import and export tools.
On the other hand, some customers have complained that it’s glitchy, not as integrated as it could be, and that some of the data is redundant.
According to G2, Zoho CRM’s lowest-rated features are Sandbox and test environments, territory and quota management tools, and the breadth of partner applications.
Pricing
You can use the Zoho CRM as a free Salesforce alternative for up to three users.
After that, you can choose from one of the following packages:
- $14.00/ user/month for the “standard”
- $23.00/user/month for the “professional”
- $40.00/user/month for the “enterprise”
- $52.00/user/month for the “ultimate”