Quick answer
- Best free CRM overall: HubSpot. Free with no expiry, with marketing tools built in.
- Best free CRM for a team of up to three: Zoho CRM. Free edition for up to 3 users and 5,000 records.
- Best paid CRM for sales pipelines: Pipedrive. No free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed.
Comparison at a glance
| CRM | Free option | Key limits on free | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Free CRM, no expiry | Branding on free marketing tools; advanced automation is paid | Businesses that want CRM and marketing together |
| Zoho CRM | Free edition, no trial period | Up to 3 users, 5,000 records, 1GB file storage | Small teams that want a traditional CRM |
| Pipedrive | 14-day free trial, no card | Paid plans only after the trial; prices exclude VAT | Sales-led businesses with a clear pipeline |
Do you need a CRM yet
If you get a handful of enquiries a month, a spreadsheet may be enough. A CRM starts paying for itself when you are juggling follow-ups, quotes and repeat customers, or when more than one person deals with enquiries. Signs you are ready: you have forgotten to follow up a quote, you cannot quickly see what a customer bought last time, or your inbox has become your to-do list.
The CRMs in detail
Top pick
1 HubSpot: best free CRM overall
HubSpot describes its free CRM as 100% free with no expiration date, rather than a trial. It stores contacts, companies and deals, tracks emails and meetings and includes free marketing tools such as forms and email. Because everything is in one system, you can see a lead's whole history at a glance. The catch is that HubSpot's paid plans can become expensive as you add features and contacts, so it pays to know what you need before upgrading.
Good points
- Free forever, not a trial
- Marketing, sales and service tools in one place
- Huge range of integrations
Watch out for
- Paid tiers can get expensive
- Can feel like a lot of software for a sole trader
2 Zoho CRM: best free CRM for up to three users
Zoho offers a free edition of its CRM with no trial period and no forced upgrade. It supports up to 3 users and includes leads, deals and contact management, tasks and events, web forms, basic workflow automation (up to 5 workflows), reports and up to 5,000 records, with 1GB of file storage. It also connects to the free editions of other Zoho apps. We do not have a commercial relationship with Zoho.
Good points
- Free for up to 3 users
- Web forms and basic automation included
- Part of a wider suite of business apps
Watch out for
- 5,000 record limit
- Interface is busier than HubSpot's
See Zoho's free CRM page for full details.
3 Pipedrive: best paid CRM for sales pipelines
Pipedrive is built around a visual sales pipeline: each deal is a card you drag from stage to stage. It has no free plan, but a 14-day free trial with full access and no card required. Plans run from Lite to Ultimate, priced per seat, with features such as email sync and tracking, automations, meeting scheduling and, on higher plans, lead capture and e-signatures. Pipedrive says its prices exclude VAT.
Good points
- Very clear visual pipeline
- 14-day trial with no card
- Strong automation for follow-ups
Watch out for
- No free plan
- Per-seat pricing adds up for teams
- Some features are paid add-ons
Getting started with a CRM in an afternoon
- Import your contacts from your email or a spreadsheet.
- Set up three to five deal stages that match how you sell, such as Enquiry, Quote sent, Won, Lost.
- Connect your website contact form so new enquiries land in the CRM automatically.
- Connect your email so conversations are logged against each contact.
- Set a reminder rule: every quote gets a follow-up task after a few days.
Pair your CRM with an email marketing tool to keep in touch with past customers, and protect it with strong logins from a password manager.
How we compared these CRMs
We compared free plans, trial terms and published limits on each provider's official website on 1 November 2026. We have not run these CRMs side by side for this page. See how we review.
Sources we checked
All checked on 1 November 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.