Best CRM for Startups | Top 10 Reviewed and Compared for 2023

The best CRM for startups can help you manage sales and customer relations without breaking the bank. With the right tool, you can streamline your business operations and keep track of key metrics such as customer retention, sales funnels, and more.

After extensive research and testing, we’ve concluded that Salesforce is the best CRM for startups due to its affordability, ease of use, and comprehensive set of features. With that said, the competition is tough; read on to learn how it compares to other leading CRMs in this space.

Best Small Business CRM Software | Top 10 Shortlist

Managing your pipeline and customer relationships is key for any successful startup. Thankfully, there are tons of Customer Relationship Management software available to help you manage your customers and sales. Here’s the top 10 CRMs for startups:

1. Salesforce — Our Top Overall Pick for the Best CRM for Startups | Try it for 30 Days and See the Difference.
2. Pipedrive — The Perfect Budget CRM for Startups | Powerful Lead and Sales Management Features | Try the 14-Day Trial Now.
3. Zoho CRM — A Tremendous All-Around CRM for Most Small Businesses | Check Out Their 14-Day Free Trial Today.
4. Monday Sales CRM — An Excellent Option if You Need Help With Customer Segmentation and Personalization.
5. Zendesk Sell — Our Top Startup CRM for Customer Service | Superb for Customer Support and Ticketing.
6. HubSpot — The Best Free Customer Relationship Management Software.
7. Freshsales — Best Startup CRM for Omnichannel Communication.
8. Maximizer CRM — An Excellent Option for Those Who Need Help With Sales Forecasting.
9. Less Annoying CRM — Excellent for Businesses Looking for a Simple, No-Frills CRM Solution.
10. Oracle NetSuite — All-in-One CRM and ERP Software With Front-and-Back-End Solutions.

But which one is best for you? Read on to learn more and compare your leading options.

Best CRM Software for Startups | Top 10 Reviewed

Let’s dive right into our detailed review of the best CRM for startups. Here we’ll explore their key USPs, pricing, pros, and cons, amongst other things, to give you better insight into each one. Let’s begin.

1. Salesforce — Overall Top Pick for the Best CRM Software for Startups

Salesforce has been the leader in customer relationship management (CRM) software for startups for many years. It offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to help businesses manage their customer relationships, track sales, and boost productivity.

Salesforce’s contact management feature offers a comprehensive and easy-to-use solution for managing customer information, allowing you to store contact details, notes, emails, and other relevant data in one place.

You can easily search through the contacts database with advanced filtering capabilities to quickly find the right contact. This feature is essential for startups as it helps ensure that their teams have easy access to complete, up-to-date information about customers.

Finally, Salesforce’s dynamic dashboards and custom reports feature make it easy to get actionable insights into your customer relationships.

The customizable dashboard allows you to see the progress of your sales pipeline quickly, track key performance indicators such as lifetime value and conversion rate, and identify opportunities for improvement.

Pricing

All Salesforce plans are priced per license, so you can get the features and functionality you need at an affordable price:

• Essentials — Includes sales automation, customer service features, and user-friendly dashboards
• Professional — Has all Essentials features plus custom objects and enhanced customization options
• Enterprise — Everything in Professional as well as advanced analytics capabilities and access to exclusive tools like Einstein AI
• Unlimited — Access to Salesforce’s full features and functionality, plus unlimited storage and support for multiple users

Salesforce is the top choice for startups looking for an all-in-one CRM solution, with its comprehensive contact management, lead tracking, dynamic dashboards, and custom reports features.

The only downside to this software is that it can be slow when there are a lot of integrations running. Overall, however, Salesforce is renowned for being the best, so why not try it now risk-free with the 30-day free trial?

2. Pipedrive — Budget-Friendly CRM for Your Growing Startup

Pipedrive is the perfect CRM software for startups that need a budget-friendly option to manage their customer relationships and sales processes.

Sometimes it can be difficult to stay organized and on top of your customer relations while also keeping an eye on sales opportunities. Pipedrive’s workflow automation feature is a superb way for startups to automate their sales processes and increase efficiency.

This feature allows you to create custom pipelines that track your customer contacts, follow-up tasks, emails, calls, deals, and more. With automation, you can quickly assign tasks to team members and set up automatic notifications when certain milestones are reached.

In addition, Pipedrive’s lead management is an excellent way for startups to keep track of their customer relationships. You can:

For example, you can send automated emails based on certain criteria and track them in the app. With all that said, capturing website visitor activity is an essential component of any startup’s CRM strategy.

With Pipedrive, you can easily track and analyze website visits to identify potential customers and sales prospects. It lets you see:

This information can be used to target leads with personalized messages, improve the user experience by optimizing content for specific segments, and increase conversions by providing a better customer journey.

Pricing

Being one of the cheapest yet most powerful CRM software options available today, Pipedrive is designed to help your business grow and succeed. Choose from four plans depending on your budget and needs:

• Essentials — Includes all the basics you need to manage your contacts, deals, tasks, and activities effectively
• Advanced — Access more advanced features, such as custom fields, email integration, and automation
• Professional — Get even more features, such as advanced reporting, custom user permissions, and email marketing integration
• Enterprise — Gives you access to all of the Pro features plus unlimited integrations and an onboarding team

Pipedrive is the perfect CRM software for startups on a budget. The only thing that you’ll miss out on is the advanced integration capabilities that are offered by some of the more expensive CRM solutions, such as Salesforce and Oracle Netsuite.

3. Zoho CRM — An All-Rounder CRM for Startup Companies

Zoho CRM is a complete sales and customer relationship management (CRM) solution for startups looking to streamline their operations. It offers a comprehensive suite of powerful features to help you manage contacts, automate marketing, track sales performance, and more.

If you feel like you’re not able to keep up with the demands of your growing startup, Zoho CRM’s process management features can help streamline and automate tasks.

This will free up time for more important things such as customer outreach, lead generation and nurturing, and sales pipeline management.

If you’re not taking advantage of workflow automation, you may find it difficult to keep up with manual tasks, resulting in missed opportunities or inaccurate data. Meanwhile, customer needs are constantly evolving.

By automating processes, you’ll be able to save time while improving accuracy and efficiency in all areas of your business operations.

That’s where Zoho CRM’s journey orchestration comes in. It’s designed to help you plan and execute automated customer journeys, enabling you to provide an engaging, personalized experience for each of your customers.

With this feature, you can:

Finally, Zoho CRM’s sales enablement feature helps you to close deals faster. This feature provides a suite of tools to help you manage leads and track progress throughout the entire sales process.

You’ll be able to easily see which leads are ready for conversion and what your team needs to do to move them through the pipeline. All this will help save time and effort while increasing your chances of closing more deals.

Pricing

When getting started with Zoho CRM, you have the choice of four great plans:

• Standard — Perfect for startups, you’ll get all the features and benefits that come with Zoho CRM
• Professional — Get access to advanced features such as customer segmentation, automation rules, and reporting capabilities
• Enterprise — Offers extra scalability, flexibility, and customization options so you can tailor your CRM to fit your business needs
• Ultimate — Gives you access to even more features, plus additional options to get the most out of Zoho CRM

With the power of Zoho CRM, startups can effectively manage contacts, automate marketing tasks and track sales performance — just don’t expect the AI assistant to be as advanced as that of Salesforce.

4. Monday Sales CRM — Best for Customer Segmentation and Personalization

Monday Sales is a powerful CRM software that’ll help you organize your customer data and take your sales process to the next level. With the comprehensive sales dashboard, you’ll get detailed insights into your sales pipeline to make data-driven decisions.

This allows you to tailor your approach to different customers, as well as identify trends and opportunities in the market. Having this data at hand, you can make smarter decisions that drive better results — all while staying organized and efficient.

There’s no doubt that today’s customers demand convenience and mobility. Monday Sales ensures that you can access your data from anywhere, anytime. Whether using a laptop or mobile device, you can keep track of your sales process and adjust your strategy on the go.

Besides all this, Monday Sales also stands out for its customer segmentation and personalization tools. This allows you to group customers into different segments based on their behavior, interests, or demographics.

You can then craft messages tailored to each segment, making it easier to establish relationships with potential clients. Without this feature, you’d be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase conversions and grow your business.

Pricing

Monday Sales is one of the most affordable and powerful CRM software solutions out there. Whether you’re an individual looking to get started or a business needing an enterprise-grade solution, they’ve got everything for you:

• Individual — Gives you all the basic features you need to stay organized and get started
• Basic CRM — Manage customers, sales, and marketing with customizable reports and dashboards
• Standard CRM — Improve collaboration between teams with shared contacts, tasks, activities, notes, and more
• Ultimate — Unlock advanced features like automated workflows, customer segmentation, and real-time analytics for a complete view of your entire business operations

Though largely ideal for startups looking to have an efficient sales pipeline, Monday Sales comes with one downside: you need to buy a minimum of three seats per license.

5. Zendesk Sell — The Go-To Customer Service Platform

Zendesk Sell is the go-to customer service platform for startups and small businesses that want to stay ahead of their competition.

With that said, Zendesk Sell is known for its email integration, which allows businesses to quickly and easily keep track of customer conversations. With this feature, you can:

This makes it easy to stay in touch with customers and provide personalized communication without having to manually enter data or write individual emails. For prospects and customers alike, Zendesk Sell offers a wide range of sales engagement tools.

These include customizable dashboards with key metrics to measure performance, lead scoring and qualification processes, and automated notifications that alert you when prospects take certain actions.

With these features, you can quickly identify potential customers and ensure they’re getting the most out of your product or service. Plus, on top of this, for uninterrupted customer service, Zendesk Sell’s Task Player feature helps keep your team on track.

This tool allows you to assign tasks to team members and set due dates for specific actions. It also provides an easy way to track progress and ensure that tasks are completed promptly.

Pricing

For a more efficient and organized CRM system, Zendesk Sell is the perfect solution. With three different plans to choose from, your business can get exactly what it needs:

• Team — Offers essential features such as email integration with tracking, calendar integration, and task and appointment setting
• Growth — Get additional features like custom sales reports and dashboards, and advanced activity reports
• Professional — Includes advanced features like task automation capabilities plus lead and deal scoring

As far as customer service management software goes, Zendesk Sell is one of the best CRMs for small businesses. However, it may take some time to learn how to use all its features effectively, as it has so many.

6. HubSpot — The Best Free CRM for Startups

HubSpot CRM is the perfect CRM for startups looking to get organized and boost their sales. It’s free, easy to use, and packed with features that make it a strong choice for any small business.

HubSpot CRM’s database is a powerful tool for any startup looking to track customer information and manage its sales pipeline. This feature allows you to easily store contact data, create customized fields, set follow-up reminders, and more.

With the ability to segment your contacts into lists, you can quickly target potential customers with relevant campaigns that’ll boost your sales. With that said, another standout feature is the customizable dashboard.

With HubSpot CRM, you can create custom reports and visualizations to help you track progress and make data-driven decisions. This feature is especially important for startups that need to keep a close eye on their performance metrics to stay competitive.

And it gets better. Imagine being able to make and receive calls right from within your CRM. That’s exactly what HubSpot CRM’s VoIP integration offers.

Whether you need to connect with a customer or prospect, this feature makes it easy to do so without having to switch between applications. This can be a major time-saver for startups that need to stay agile and competitive in their market.

If you want to know more about what VoIPs are, check out our list of the best internet phones to integrate into your CRM software.

Pricing

As mentioned, HubSpot CRM is free, making it the perfect choice for startups just getting started — simply upgrade as your business grows with one of HubSpot’s three plans:

Overall, HubSpot CRM is a phenomenal choice for startups looking to get organized and increase their sales. It’s free, easy to use, and comes with an excellent design. But since it’s free, it doesn’t offer the same level of features as some paid CRMs.

7. Freshsales — Omnichannel Communication Platform

Freshsales comes with a set of powerful features designed to help startups get organized and manage their customer relationships in a single platform. According to surveys, the most effective way to engage with customers is through chat.

It’s efficient, it’s direct, and it’s personal. With that said, Freshsales’ Chat Campaigns make it easy for startups to automate their customer conversations and ensure that customers are getting the answers they need on time.

Startups can quickly engage with prospects, identify sales opportunities, and close deals faster than ever before — all without needing to hire additional staff or invest in expensive marketing campaigns.

Having said that, as we know, lead scoring is an essential tool for startups. It helps to identify the hot prospects from all the leads that come in and prioritize those who are most likely to convert.

Freshsales’ Lead Scoring feature lets users assign points based on their own criteria, such as website visits or email interactions, so they can easily track which leads warrant further attention.

Lastly, CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization is an important tool for startups. Freshsales’ CRO feature allows you to track and measure the effectiveness of campaigns in real-time, enabling you to tweak and optimize your strategies for maximum results quickly.

Without this powerful feature, startups would be running blind — unable to identify which marketing tactics are working — resulting in a waste of time and resources.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $0 with Freshsales, and the free plan includes basic CRM features, such as contact management and lead tracking. For more advanced functionalities, here are the paid plans:

• Growth — Gives you access to powerful features such as AI-assisted contact scoring, a visual sales pipeline, and more
• Pro — Get even more features like time-based workflows, deal insights, and advanced reporting capabilities
• Enterprise — Provides you with the highest level of customization options, custom modules, and unlimited storage space

Having an omnichannel platform makes it easier to manage everything. As with any other software, Freshsales comes with a workable flaw. While it offers many powerful features for startups, the limited exporting options can be a dealbreaker for some.

8. Maximizer CRM — Excellent Forecasting Features

Maximizer CRM can help you achieve startup success thanks to its excellent forecasting and analytics features.

When you need to plan, Maximizer CRM is the perfect tool to help you do it. With its powerful forecasting and analytics features, you can get a better understanding of your customer base and accurately predict future trends.

For example, you can use the software to track customer activity over time, giving you a better picture of where your business is headed. Knowing this information will help you plan and make more informed decisions.

While others rely solely on cloud-based solutions, Maximizer CRM gives you the flexibility to deploy the software in whatever way works best for your startup. You can either use a hybrid approach or install it on your own servers.

It can be challenging for startups to manage their sales pipeline without the right tools — Maximizer CRM gives you the power to do it efficiently and effectively.

This flexibility allows startups to tailor their setup according to their individual needs, allowing them to quickly scale up as they grow.

One last thing worth mentioning is that Maximizer CRM’s pipeline and deal management features provide startups with the ability to track leads, deals, and opportunities easily.

You can effortlessly identify potential customers, prioritize them based on their needs, and ensure that sales reps are focusing their efforts on the right prospects.

Pricing

There are only two plans available for Maximizer CRM:

• Base — Comes with all the features you need to get started, including contact management, lead tracking, and task automation
• Sales — Includes advanced features such as analytics, reporting, and custom fields to manage your sales process effectively

Overall, Maximizer CRM is an ideal choice for startups looking to get up and running quickly with powerful forecasting, analytics, deployment flexibility, and pipeline/deal management capabilities.

The only downside is that it has limited integrations compared to some of its competitors.

9. Less Annoying CRM — Easy-to-Use and Simple CRM Software

Less Annoying CRM is a no-nonsense CRM software designed specifically for small businesses and startups. It provides all the necessary features to make running a business easier without the complexity of more expensive solutions.

Less Annoying CRM’s Calendar and Tasks is a great way to stay organized. The calendar allows you to quickly view all your upcoming tasks, events, and meetings in one place.

You can even set up recurring reminders for important tasks that need to be done regularly. This makes it easier to prioritize and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Not having this feature can mean missing deadlines or having an unorganized workflow, which will cost you time and money in the long run. And besides all this, Less Annoying CRM also makes it easy to customize the software to fit your business.

You can create custom fields and forms, add tags and labels, and even set up automated workflows. This ensures that all the data you need is organized in a way that makes sense for your business.

For example, you can easily track customer information and create reports that help you analyze customer trends. Finally, Less Annoying CRM also comes with mobile access so that you can manage your business on the go.

On a final note, when you’re running a business, it’s important to stay connected and access your data anytime, anywhere. For this, Less Annoying CRM lets you view and add contacts, check customer information, assign tasks, and more — all on the go.

Pricing

Less Annoying CRM stays true to its name; the software only offers a single plan with no additional add-ons or upsells. This makes it an excellent choice for startups and small businesses that are just getting started.

All in all, Less Annoying CRM is an excellent CRM solution for startups. It provides all the features you need to manage and grow your business without any of the complexity or cost of more expensive solutions.

10. Oracle NetSuite — Manages Your Front-and-Back-End of Operations

Oracle NetSuite is known for being a comprehensive cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solution designed to help growing companies manage their front-end and back-end operations.

With Oracle NetSuite’s Sales Force Automation feature, you can easily manage sales pipelines, track customer activity and interactions, and assign tasks to team members. Lacking oversight of these activities can lead to missed opportunities and inefficient use of resources.

With Oracle NetSuite’s Marketing Automation feature, you can create personalized campaigns based on customer interests and preferences, keep track of progress in real-time, and measure the success of your efforts with detailed analytics.

Making the most of your data is crucial for any startup, and without the ability to analyze it, you may miss out on critical insights that can lead to success.

Not having automation and key insights will make it difficult to capture customers’ attention and maximize your ROI from marketing efforts. Oracle NetSuite’s reporting and analytics feature lets you easily access key performance indicators and customer data.

With this, you’ll have a comprehensive view of your business.

Pricing

Oracle Netsuite’s pricing depends on the specific package and services you choose. Still, it’s generally on the higher end compared to other CRM solutions available, given the comprehensive features and scalability you get with the platform.

However, it’s well worth the cost. With that said, you can’t buy Oracle Netsuite as a stand-alone product; it must be purchased as part of an Oracle suite. On the whole, Oracle NetSuite is a powerful CRM software solution for startups.

Best CRMs for Startup Businesses | Top 10 Compared

Despite hundreds of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions on the market, startup businesses still face a challenge when picking the right one. Take a look at our comparison table of the best CRM software for startups and compare the market leaders:

The Key Benefits of CRMs for Startups | Why You Need One

CRM software is one of the best tech tools you need to invest in if you want your startup to succeed. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is an essential tool that allows businesses to:

For startups, the right CRM software can be a game-changer. It helps them save time and money while also empowering them to better understand their target audience. Here are five key benefits of using a CRM for startups:

Increased Lead Conversion Rate

With the right CRM software in place, it’s easy for startups to identify potential leads and nurture them until they become paying customers. This helps increase the lead conversion rate and improves ROI.

Improved Customer Relationships

CRM software also helps startups build better customer relationships by providing them with insights into customer behavior and preferences. This helps businesses create personalized experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

Automation of Business Processes

The best CRM apps come with automation features that allow businesses to streamline their workflows and save time on tedious tasks like data entry, email marketing campaigns, or even appointment scheduling.

Access to Actionable Insights

CRM solutions come with a range of analytics features that provide startups with valuable insights into customer behaviors and preferences.

This data can be used to make informed decisions on how best to serve customers, as well as create better products or services based on the feedback received.

Easy Collaboration Between Teams

Finally, the right CRM software makes it easy for teams within a startup business to collaborate and communicate effectively.

By providing access to shared information, everyone in the company has more visibility into what’s going on and can work together toward achieving common goals.

How We Selected the Best CRMs for Startups

When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software, startups have unique needs. Here are some of the things we took into consideration when selecting the best CRMs for startups:

Price Flexibility

While price is always an important factor when making any purchase, it’s especially so for startups. Many CRM solutions offer pricing plans that scale with company size and provide discounts to new companies.

We looked for tools that offered flexible pricing structures and free trials so startups could test out the product before committing fully.

Ease of Use

Startups don’t have time to waste learning how to use a complex software program.

The best CRMs are intuitive and easy to learn, allowing businesses to start using them quickly without having to invest in extensive training or hiring IT staff just to get up and running.

Feature Sets That Adapt as Companies Grow

A major benefit of using a CRM is that it has the ability to track customer information, manage sales pipelines, and perform other activities that help businesses grow.

We looked for platforms that had features designed to help startups, such as lead scoring models or automation tools, but also had options available for more advanced users when the business expanded beyond its initial stages.

4. Integration with Other Business Tools

Startups often require multiple software solutions to run their operations efficiently.

The best CRMs are those that can easily integrate with popular marketing and accounting tools, such as MailChimp or QuickBooks, allowing businesses to streamline their processes and save time.

Startup CRM FAQs

With so many options available, it can be difficult to know which one is best for your business. Here are some common questions about choosing the best CRM for startups: