When choosing the best CRM for startups, consider exactly what is most important to you and your business. If you’re a small business owner looking for an all in one solution, you can consider software that provides you with more than one purpose. 

So what exactly makes a good choice for a CRM software for startups? Here’s a list of the best CRM for startups that scale with your business:

HubSpot

Hubspot is everyone’s go-to CRM because of the extensive list of free services you can utilize. These services are divided into 5 Hubs: Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, CMS, and Operations. This makes Hubspot the ultimate best CRM for startups, especially if you aren’t familiar with CRM tools.

Their complete marketing package makes this one of the best CRM for startups. It’s simple enough to do their job and user friendly. If there are any parts of the service you are unfamiliar with, they provide free learning materials with unlimited access. 

However, it’s worth noting that the free plan comes with limited services that require you to  upgrade to one of the paid plans. But overall, they are the best CRM for a startup for the free features they provide are enough for a startup to scale their business.

Features of HubSpot

• Shared inbox
• Landing page
• Blog posts
• Live chat
• Customer support tools
• Free courses
• Guided tours for newcomers

HubSpot Pricing

Prices for HubSpot start at $40/month. Their paid plans include a Starter, Professional, or Enterprise subscription that you can avail here.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is the best sales CRM for startups equipped with marketing and customer service integrations. It is a cheaper (albeit temporary) solution to hiring a sales rep. But ideally, it would be best for your business to have both in order to grow your business.

They have fewer features compared to their competitors, as they are sales focused CRM. Their tools and integrations, however, perform excellently.  Because of how simple but effective their user interface is, you can save yourself a lot of time from the onboarding process and it’ll take you a quick while to get a hang of its tools. This makes Pipedrive the best CRM for startups to manage leads, deal with automation, and generate sales.

Features of Pipedrive

• AI Powered Sales Assistant
• CRM
• Pipeline Customization and Creation
• Automated Features
• Email and Communications Sales Funnel
• Customer Support Tools
• Dedicated Lead Generation Features

Pipedrive Pricing

Plans start at  $12.50/month per user when billed annually. Professional and Enterprise plans are also available here. 

Salesforce

Based on the name itself, Salesforce focuses on driving sales and generating leads. Any other services that you need: — marketing, data analytics, customer service — they got it.

What makes Salesforce one of the best CRM for startups is the fact you get all these features at a reasonable and affordable price. Flexibility with page layouts, optimized tools to speed up your business process, added with a comprehensive set of analytics tools that monitor your growth, you have yourself a complete tool to help you run your company. 

If you’re looking for a cheap CRM for startups that’s also user friendly, Salesforce is undoubtedly the best option.

Features of Salesforce

• Process Automation
• Accounts and Contact Management
• Opportunity Management
• Lead Management
• Detailed Reports 
• Pipeline and Forecast Management

Salesforce Pricing

Pricing starts at $25, making them one of the cheapest CRM for startups. The plans that they offer are: Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited. You can avail these plans here.

Zoho

Zoho stands as one of the best CRM for startups for its collaborative easy-to-use tools. They offer a broad spectrum of services that you can utilize for free.

With Zoho CRM, you can customize your own CRM interface if you want to take advantage of more advanced features. Their Workflow builder helps you get the job done with their simple yet effective setup. You can also convert extra leads and you can easily increase your revenue.

You can save by choosing Zoho as your CRM software for startups if you’re already using other Zoho tools. Your business operation will run much smoother and efficiently. But third party apps such as Google Analytics or Mailchimp can be integrated with Zoho.

What truly makes Zoho one of the best free CRM for startups out there is their fuss free installation. You don’t need to wait hours to install Zoho — you can immediately get it running as soon as you have it downloaded. 

So if it’s a free CRM for startups that’s quick and easy to use that you’re looking for, Zoho is your best choice.

Features of Zoho

• Smart AI assistant that can provide suggestions and feedback 
• Predicting business trends
• Ticket system
• Chat features
• Process Automation 
• In-depth analytics via interactive dashboard

Zoho Pricing

Zoho has a free version that you can use. Pricing starts at $14. Their plans are as follows: Standard, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.

Find the best CRM for startups by considering these key factors

Goals

A CRM that can keep pace with the growth of your business is one worth investing in, but it’s important to choose a CRM that can meet the primary needs of your startup company.

Address your main CRM function first. Match your specific needs to the right CRM. Weigh in on the factors that will support your business, such as lead management, documentation, or workflow automation.

Size of your business

The features and services that small businesses get differ from businesses of other sizes. You can start off with the plans that cover the necessities. 

Pricing structures vary from SaaS to SaaS. Some charge extra for services not included in the plans. 

Choosing the best CRM for startup companies is often a matter of affordability vs scalability.  Pricing plans at the lower tiers are ideal for small and medium-sized companies. But there are plans that are flexible enough to keep up with the growth of your business. When you find the CRM that fits all that you need, it’ll be much easier to transition from a small business to a large operation

Final Thoughts

There are multitudes of great CRM softwares out there that you can pick and choose from according to the services you want to focus on. IF you find that the current one you are using is not as beneficial to your business as expected, make the switch. Find a better CRM that can provide you with more at a fair price.

It’s better to explore your options than staying in the dark about other CRM services that may be better than the one you’re using.