This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our disclosure.
A CRM (customer relationship management tool) is just a shared place for your contacts, deals and follow-ups. If you’re still running leads out of a spreadsheet or your inbox, a free CRM is one of the easiest upgrades you can make. The catch: every “free” plan is limited in a different way, by users, by contacts, or by features.
We compared the free plans from each vendor’s official pricing page, as of October 2026. Where a vendor doesn’t publish a number, we say so instead of guessing.
Quick answer
- Best free CRM overall: HubSpot Free: up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no time limit.
- Best for small teams: Zoho CRM Free: free forever for up to 3 users, with basic workflow automation.
- Best for a solo owner who just wants a pipeline: Bigin Free: 1 user, 500 records.
- Best for relationship-based service businesses: Capsule Free: 2 users, 250 contacts.
- Best if you also sell online: Systeme.io Free: not a traditional sales CRM, but it combines contacts, email, funnels and checkout for up to 2,000 contacts.
Free CRM comparison (as of October 2026)
|
CRM |
Free users |
Free contact limit |
First paid plan |
|
HubSpot |
2 |
1,000 contacts |
Starter: $20/seat/month list price (new-customer promo shown at $7 annual / $10 monthly) |
|
Zoho CRM |
3 |
Not stated on the pricing page |
Standard: $14/user/month billed annually, $20 monthly |
|
Bigin by Zoho |
1 |
500 records |
Express: $7/user/month billed annually, $9 monthly |
|
Capsule |
2 |
250 contacts |
Starter: $18/user/month billed annually |
|
Systeme.io |
1 account |
2,000 contacts |
Startup: $17/month |
|
Pipedrive |
No free plan |
14-day trial |
Lite: $14/seat/month billed annually |
1. HubSpot Free CRM: best overall
HubSpot’s free tools have no time limit and include contact and deal management, email tracking, forms and live chat. According to HubSpot’s pricing page, the free account allows up to 1,000 contacts and 2 users.
Limits to know: HubSpot branding appears on emails, forms, chat and meeting links; automation on the free plan is limited to 1 automated action per email and 1 automated email per form; support is community and knowledge base only.
Upgrade cost: Starter lists at $20 per seat per month. When we checked, HubSpot was advertising a limited-time new-customer price of $7/seat/month with annual payment or $10/seat/month monthly. Promotions change, so check the page before you buy.
Pick it if you’re 1–2 people and want the most polished free CRM with room to grow.
2. Zoho CRM Free: best for small teams
Zoho CRM’s free edition is “forever free” for up to 3 users. It includes contact management, follow-up reminders, workflow automation, up to 10 custom email templates, standard reports, mobile apps and 5,000 API calls a day. Data export is limited to 10 times on the free edition.
Upgrade cost: Standard is $14/user/month billed annually or $20 billed monthly, and adds mass email, multiple pipelines, web forms and more integrations.
Pick it if you have a team of 3 and want automation without paying.
3. Bigin by Zoho: best simple pipeline for one person
Bigin is Zoho’s lighter, pipeline-first CRM for very small businesses leaving spreadsheets. According to Bigin’s pricing page, the free plan allows 1 user and up to 500 records. Paid plans have no user limit and are charged per user; Express starts at $7/user/month billed annually ($9 monthly) and supports 50,000 records.
Pick it if you work alone and mainly need to see which deals are at which stage.
4. Capsule: best for service businesses
Capsule’s free plan covers 2 users, 250 contacts and 1 sales pipeline, and you can send email through your Gmail or Outlook account. Starter is $18/user/month billed annually and raises the limit to 30,000 contacts. Workflow automation starts on the Growth plan.
Pick it if you’re a consultant or agency with a small number of close client relationships. 250 contacts runs out fast for anything else.
5. Systeme.io: best if you sell online
Systeme.io isn’t a sales-team CRM like the four above, so don’t expect deal forecasting. But if your “customers” are email subscribers, course students or digital product buyers, its free plan gives you one contact list of up to 2,000 contacts, plus unlimited email sends, 3 sales funnels and checkout with 0% transaction fees (as of October 2026). That replaces a CRM and an email tool for many online businesses. Read our full Systeme.io review for the details.
Start Systeme.io free (no credit card)
What about Pipedrive?
Pipedrive is a popular sales pipeline tool, but it has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. According to Pipedrive’s pricing page, Lite costs $14 per seat per month billed annually. It’s worth a look once you’re paying for a CRM anyway.
How to choose
- Count your users first. One person: Bigin or HubSpot. Two: HubSpot or Capsule. Three: Zoho CRM.
- Then count your contacts. Capsule (250) and Bigin (500 records) run out first; HubSpot gives 1,000; Systeme.io gives 2,000.
- Decide if you need email marketing too. Free CRMs are weak at newsletters. Pair one with a tool from our best email marketing tools under $50 guide, or use Systeme.io for both.
FAQ
Is a free CRM really free forever?
HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Bigin all describe their free plans as having no time limit. Limits on users, contacts and features are how they get you to upgrade.
Can I switch CRMs later?
Yes. All of these let you import contacts from a spreadsheet. Check export limits (Zoho’s free edition allows 10 exports) before you commit.
Do I need a CRM if I’m a one-person business?
If you follow up with more than a handful of leads, yes. A free CRM is cheaper than the deals you forget to chase.
Final verdict
Start with HubSpot Free if you’re one or two people, Zoho CRM Free for a team of three, and Systeme.io if your business runs on email and online sales rather than a sales team.
Pricing and limits checked against each vendor’s official pricing page in October 2026. We’ll update this post when plans change.