If you’ve read our post on the benefits of open source CRM, then you’re probably in awe of the wonders it and open source software, in general, is capable of. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy all the customization options and licensing freedoms that come with an open source CRM? However, for most clients, open source CRM translates to free CRM.
Even if you have your heart set on a proprietary paid solution, wouldn’t it still be a better idea to try your hand at a free one? This way you have nothing to lose. At the very least, you’ll get to learn something new but on the flipside, you just might everything you were looking for in a CRM.
With this in mind, we have compiled a list of the 5 most formidable free CRMs in the market today.
Honorary mention: SugarCRM Community Edition
Although it has been discontinued, it would be very remiss of us to have a discussion about open source CRM and not bring up Sugar CE. Sugar CE was the free open-source version of SugarCRM, available alongside the paid editions until last month when SugarCRM finally stopped its development and maintenance. Its feature set may seem minuscule in comparison to some of the heavyweights we’ve listed below but back in its prime, Sugar CE was the gold standard of what free CRM should and could be and it the laid foundations for some of the best solutions we have available to us today.
1. SuiteCRM
A fork of and the spiritual successor to the Sugar CE, SuiteCRM came about in 2013, partly as a response to the impending demise of the Sugar CE. Right from the get-go, SuiteCRM was quick to prove that it was more than just a spinoff and established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the CRM industry. Its one of the most comprehensive and fully featured free CRM out there and comes with all the functionalities of Sugar CE along with additional modules, sales forecasting, advanced reporting and rich community support.
2. X2CRM
X2CRM is a web-based CRM solution for sales, marketing, and customer support. It provides a fast, modern and intuitive CRM solution to meet the dynamic needs of any business in today’s disruptive environment. It provides a whole host of useful features such as marketing automation, sales funnel, process pipeline mobile app and together with its companion mobile app, you have a CRM that your sales team would love to use.
3. Bitix24
Other than the 12 user and 5 GB storage limits, Bitrix24 offers an easy to use cloud-hosted CRM platform that comes prepackaged with must have core CRM features such as sales automation, telephony, invoicing, email marketing, reporting and project management features. Additionally, communication tools such as activity stream, workgroups, telephony and more are available for free to an unlimited number of users.
4. Zoho Free CRM
For small businesses of all kinds, the free version of the Zoho CRM offers all the core functionalities and then some. For up to 3 users, you get everything from lead forms, contact management, and workflow automation to analytics and basic support. Additionally, the Zoho CRM mobile app lets you access data from CRM modules such as Leads, Accounts, Contacts, wherever you go.
5. Hubspot CRM
Hubspot’s cloud CRM offers a simple no-frills user experience and throws in essentials such as contact and lead management, company insights and excellent data tracking all for free. You also get up-to 1,000,000 contacts and users, and unlimited storage.
Key Takeaway!
No two businesses are the same and neither are their requirements, processes and what they aim to get out of a CRM program. Each of the options we have discussed brings something unique to the table but vary with respect to how they approach CRM. In our opinion, you can’t go wrong with any of these options and given they all are free, you can easily decide for yourself what works for you and what doesn’t. We are SuiteCRM official partners and have a vast experience of customizing SuiteCRM to our clients’ unique needs and requirements. You can Get in touch to schedule a free consultation session. We would be happy to assist you.
