Comparing CRMs is always hard. It really depends on individual needs and goals each business has. We spoke about this in our article CRM – What it is and what it does.
Now, if we have followed all the steps from that article, we will be able to determine exactly what CRM will work for specific business. So, time has come to start doing research and make a choice.
There are many articles online about comparing various CRMs, and most of them are very good. But, some of them do tend to promote one or other.
We will try not to do this, and base our CRM comparing only on our personal experience – what worked best for our clients and top 5 CRMs we have setup for them.
Top 5 CRMs
Here is a list of top 5 CRMs that we will be comparing, based on Prime Business Consulting`s experience, along with main features for each of them and several words about each one from our experience with our clients.
- Hubspot
- Zoho CRM
- Pipedrive
- Salesforce
- Monday.com
Hubspot CRM
Per PCmag.com Hubspot is rated as Best for Easy to use CRM for small businesses. We couldn`t agree more. Really, Hubspot is very easy to use, has a very user-friendly interface and has some amazing integration features. Let`s break it down and see what the Hubspot offers.
We will focus here on Hubspot`s CRM only. Per their website, it: “Includes a fully featured sales CRM, sales engagement tools, quote functionality, reporting and analytics, and more — plus the ability to seamlessly integrate with more than 500 tools in HubSpot’s App Marketplace.”
Now, let`s focus on some good and bad things about free version of Hubspot.
Pros
- Is cloud based
- Includes Contact management
- Offers live chat – customer service
- Quotes included
- Gmail and Outlook integration
- Well equipped marketplace
- Marketing tools
Cons
- No automations
- Single pipeline
- Single currency
- Most of addons get you to a high price per user on a monthly basis real quick
Pricing: paid plan can cost you from 41 euro per month.
So, to summarize, Hubspot CRM will get the work done, you`ll adapt really easy and it will give you almost exactly what you need, but it can cost you a lot.
Zoho CRM
Rated as very popular CRM choice for a reasonable price per TechnologyAdvice with a rate of 4.5/5, this CRM is really “best bang for your buck”.
Zoho CRM is actually part of Zoho Suite which is actually full tool support for any small business. In their sales & marketing app bundle you`ll find: sales IQ – live chat for your website, surveys, social manager for almost all platforms, marketing hub, commerce hub, CRM etc. Other bundles will offer zoho books – for accounting, docs, vault, meeting and many more tools. Really, it will give you option to have all needed tools on one place.
Let`s move on to pros and cons for their free version.
Pros
- All-in-one solution
- Free for up to 3 users
- Products
- Workflow rules
- Reporting
- 10 email templates
- First billable plan starts with 12 euros per month and user
Cons
- No possible integrations in free version
- No scoring for deal fields
- Single pipeline (although multiple pipeline is option in standard plan)
- No custom fields
- KPI review not integrated – is included in standard plan
- No mass email – again, available in paid plans
- Awful support!
Pricing: €12/user/month.
Summary: It is, honestly an awesome tool. Offers so much on a basic paid plan, for way cheaper than other CRMs.
Pipedrive CRM
“Simple yet powerful CRM“, rated 4.5/5 per TechnologyAdvice. This CRM offers really simple user interface, but with a bit different module structure than others. We might call it a bit “outdated” in terms of design. Despite, it remains on one of top 10 places when it comes to any CRM comparison. So, let`s take a look at Pipedrive CRM.
Pros
- Simple User interface but very good features
- Linked contacts, organization and deal and notes go from one to other
- Simple activity management
- Multiple pipelines
- Automations included
- Many integrations
- Awesome support team! Kudos, Pipedrive team!
Cons
- No free version
- Poor email automation
- Poor reporting
Pricing: Starts from 10.3 euro per user and month
Summary: CRM is fairly easy to use and offers great features, but takes some time to adapt to it`s unique structure. Also, can be fairly challenging for setup. But their support team is really something else and will go above and beyond to help you!
Salesforce CRM
Rated as “Best for advanced CRM” by PCmag and “Market-leading CRM system for organizations of any size” with rating 4/5 by TechnologyAdvice, Salesforce is one of CRMs with best user interface. It is fit for any and all business sizes and industries, and is somewhere in the middle when it comes to pricing. Let`s see what it offers.
Pros
- Lots of features and customizations
- Awesome marketplace and integration option
- Contact management
- Great workflows
- File sync and share
Cons
- Needs some learning process
- Can get pricey
- Implementation can be a problem
- No free version
Pricing: starts with 21 euro per user and month.
Summary: This is maybe least chosen CRM from our list by our clients. Salesforce really fulfills all needs, but it takes time to adapt to it and learn all perks of this CRM.
Monday.com
Although not a typical CRM tool, but Project management tool, monday.com is so powerful and can be used in so many different scenarios, and lot`s of our clients actually do choose it as best mix of both worlds. Monday.com offers you an option to build your own CRM for very low investment, but it will be a bit of a learning curve. Let`s dive in!
Pros
- Very powerful tool, can be used as CRM and as project management, inventory tool, etc.
- Gives you option to customize and sky is a limit
- User friendly
- Easily adaptable
- Offers users (paid seats) and guests (not paid seats with limited features)
- Amazing integrations
- Offers templates to start with
Cons
- Need a bit of learning in order to setup properly
- No free plan
- Mobile app doesn`t offer same functionality as browser version
- Support can be a bit more approachable
Pricing: starts with 6.5 euro per month and seat, minimum 3 seats.
Summary: Powerful tool as it is, monday.com can be awesome but you`ll probably need some help with setting it up. Luckily, this help is easy to find and with reasonable pricing. If you need more than just CRM, this is a right tool for you to choose.
Conclusion
As previously said, choosing your CRM is maybe toughest decision you will make on your way to organize and make best use of your time and assets while your company is growing. Luckily, Prime Business Consulting has vast experience in making this easier for all business owners. You can start working with us with no obligations – just schedule your free call and hear what we can do for you or contact us to get a quote!