Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools have become essential for businesses looking to streamline marketing, improve customer interactions, and drive sales. Whether you’re a small startup or an established brand, the right CRM can help you automate workflows, track leads, and personalize marketing efforts.
As a part of our marketing and CRM automation service, we work with a wide range of CRM tools, to automate lead-generation process, integrate email marketing, digital marketing and other tasks that help bringing efficiency to our clients' business operations.
Today we have compiled a list of some of the best and free CRM tools for small businesses. We will also look at which crm CRM tools offer the best integration with other business tools.
1. HubSpot
HubSpot CRM offers a robust free plan with marketing automation, email tracking, and lead management. Its intuitive interface makes it easy to manage customer interactions while integrating seamlessly with other HubSpot tools for email campaigns and sales automation. It has a large library of integration which means you can integrate HubSpot with your website easily. You can also craft custom flows for your lead generation cycle.
What is HubSpot best used for: Mid to large sized businesses looking for a powerful CRM. For small businesses even though there is a Free plan, it might be a bit over the top for small businesses, especially for small teams. But if you are looking for scalable soltion, Hubspot has plenty of features to cover your business CRM and Marketing needs.
HubSpot can be used for:
- Your marketing tool to build email lists
- Send out marketing emails to the list
- Build lead generation forms
- Build small brand website
- CRM and lead management
- Content hub
- and much more. You can see a full list of HubSpot features here
2. Salesforce
For enterprises that need an advanced marketing solution, Salesforce Marketing Cloud also provides AI-powered automation, audience segmentation, and personalized messaging. Its deep analytics and predictive intelligence make it a go-to option for data-driven marketing teams. Salesforce has integration features that let you connect to various web platforms. In a recent web development project we connected a lead generation form for our client”s website to their Salesforce account. A lot of our enterprise level web development clients at Sundeck Studio have chosen Salesforce as their platform of choice.
Sales force is best for: Large businesses that require enterprise-level marketing automation. It also requires a salesforce expert to set it up. It does have alot of feature overlaps with HubSpot as well.
3. Zoho CRM
Zoho has a vast eco system of applications and solutions, including mailing solutions, project management, accounting, recruiting and more.
One of those many solutions is Zoho CRM which is a budget-friendly option that doesn’t compromise on features. Zoho has also included AI-powered insights, social media integration, and omnichannel marketing automation, it’s a great fit for businesses looking to scale their marketing efforts without breaking the bank.
Zoho CRM is best for: Businesses that want a cost-effective, all-in-one CRM solution. Especially while you are using Zoho ecosystem.
4. ActiveCampaign
For businesses focused on email marketing and automation, ActiveCampaign blends CRM functionalities with advanced automation features. It allows you to create highly personalized email sequences, automate lead nurturing, and track customer interactions across multiple channels.
Active Campaign is best for: Companies prioritizing email marketing and lead nurturing. It works great for small business websites. Also for content creators and one of the most used CRM tools for course creators and LMS organizations.
5. Pipedrive
Designed for sales-driven teams, Pipedrive offers an easy-to-use visual pipeline that helps businesses track deals and automate follow-ups. While it’s primarily a sales CRM, its marketing automation features, such as email campaigns and workflow automation, make it a strong choice for businesses looking to streamline both sales and marketing efforts.
Pipedrive is best for: Works great for small businesses that are sales-focused and want lightweight marketing automation.
6. Bitrix24
Bitrix also offers a free tier it transcends typical CRM boundaries, delivering a comprehensive business ecosystem with robust project management capabilities, seamless team collaboration tools, responsive customer support features, and integrated communication channels.
Their CRM functionality covers all essential elements such as:
- Lead acquisition
- Sales pipeline visualization
- Contact organization
- Workflow automation
while uniquely integrating with task management systems, calendars, and messaging platforms. This solution particularly suits organizations seeking operational consolidation through a single platform rather than managing disconnected applications.
Bitrix24 provides both cloud-based and on-premise deployment options, including a substantial free-tier offering for smaller teams.
7. Freshworks (previously Freshsales)
Freshsales, an integral component of the Freshworks ecosystem, represents a contemporary CRM platform engineered to optimize sales workflows through intelligent automation and artificial intelligence capabilities.
The system delivers comprehensive functionality including integrated email monitoring, prospect qualification algorithms, process automation tools, and intuitive pipeline visualization, all designed to enhance sales team efficiency and accelerate deal closure.
Freshsales has a more refined UI design, straightforward implementation process, and seamless connectivity with companion solutions like Freshdesk and the broader Freshworks product portfolio.
This solution particularly addresses the needs of emerging ventures and expanding sales organizations seeking a flexible, accessible CRM infrastructure that scales with their growth trajectory.
Freshworks offers a generous free tier for upto 3 users
Which CRM is best to use for small businesses?
As a web design and development company, we work with a wide-range of CRM and marketing tools with clients in different industries and nature of business. We usually would asses the need of the business working closely with our clients, and recommend the best fit. If you have questions about CRMs and need a free consultation, Get in touch with us for a no-obligation quick chat. If you have a CRM tool that is worth mentioning here, drop us an email at hello@sundeck.studio
