A free CRM stays free until you find out what it is counting. HubSpot counts contacts and stops you at 1,000. Attio counts records and stops you at 50,000. Zoho counts users and gives you three. Capsule stops at 250 contacts, which is not a free plan, it is a demo with the timer removed. Same word on four pricing pages, four completely different ceilings, and which one you hit first depends entirely on how you sell.
The second number decides more than the first. Free plans end, and what waits on the other side ranges from $14 a seat you can cancel next month to an annual contract you are not permitted to downgrade mid-term and will not be refunded for. So we priced the exit before ranking the entrance. All figures are US list prices read on the vendors' own pages in August 2026, and where a promotion is running we quote the price it renews at, not the one on the banner.
8.4/10StrongHow this score is built
The score is our own summary of the criteria this comparison publishes, weighted as the list below is ordered. It is not an average of user reviews, no vendor sees it before publication, and no vendor pays for it.
- 1.Prices read on each vendor's official US pricing page in August 2026, in USD. Three of these four sites serve euros or rupees depending on where you sit, so what you see may not match what we quote: check the currency before you compare.
- 2.The free plan is ranked first, then the cost of the first paid seat, because the cheapest CRM is the one you are never forced to leave in a hurry.
- 3.Contract terms are treated as a feature. Annual commitment, mid-term downgrade rules and refund policy sit in the table, because over two years they cost more than any price gap here.
- 4.Pipedrive and Folk were priced and left off. Neither has a free plan, only a trial that locks the account when it ends, so neither answers the question this page asks. Padding a free CRM comparison with paid tools is the standard trick on this search, and we would rather have four honest entries than six.
- 5.We are not in a single affiliate program for any CRM on this page. Every link here is a plain link to the vendor and earns us nothing, including the one we ranked first. On a 'best free CRM' page that is unusual, and it is the only real reason to trust the order.
- 8.0 and up
- Strong. Wins its category on the criteria below, with a known trade-off.
- 7.0 and up
- Solid. Right answer for a specific reader, wrong one for others.
- 6.0 and up
- Adequate. Works, and something on this page does the same job better.
- under 6.0
- Weak. We would not buy it at this price.
The most complete free CRM, wearing its logo on everything your clients see.
- Price
- $20/seat ($7 promo)
Free for 2 users and 1,000 contacts. Starter Customer Platform is $20 per seat per month at list, currently $7 for new customers on annual billing. Sales Hub Professional is $90 per seat and adds a mandatory $1,500 one-time onboarding fee.
- Free plan
- 1,000 contacts, 2 users
Yes, and it is the most complete one here: 2 users, 1,000 contacts, deals, one pipeline, forms, live chat, a meeting scheduler and automatic email logging from Gmail or Outlook. HubSpot branding sits on every form, scheduler link and chat widget a client touches.
What holds up
- +The free tier is a working go-to-market kit rather than a contact list: the meeting scheduler replaces a paid Calendly, the forms replace a paid form builder, and email logging needs no configuration
- +1,000 contacts plus up to a million records on companies, deals and tickets, so the cap only bites on the people you actually market to
- +No card at signup and no clock on it: this is a product HubSpot ships for free, not a trial dressed as one
- +Every integration you will ever need exists, which is what makes leaving expensive later
Where it falls short
- −HubSpot branding on every form, meeting link and chat widget your prospects see. Removing it is the real reason people upgrade, and it starts at $20 a seat
- −The advertised $7 a seat is a new-customer promotion on annual billing; HubSpot's own page strikes through $20, and $20 is the number you renew at
- −Paid subscriptions renew automatically, cannot be downgraded during the term, and carry no refund for early cancellation, in HubSpot's own words
- −Professional adds a mandatory one-time onboarding fee, $1,500 on Sales and $3,000 on Marketing, so the ladder climbs faster than the seat price suggests
- −Extra marketing contacts on Starter are billed at $50 per additional thousand, and you cannot drop back a tier until renewal
The rest of the readings
- Users on free
- 2
- First paid tier
- $20/seat ($7 promo)
- Contacts or records
- Flagged: reading in your favour. 1,000 contacts, 1M records
- Branding
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. On free, gone at $20/seat
- Contract terms
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. Annual, no downgrade, no refund
- The catch
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. $1,500 onboarding at Pro
Who this is for
It is the only free plan here that also does forms, meetings and email, so it can retire three subscriptions on day one.
Do not buy HubSpot if
- ·You can already see yourself paying. HubSpot free is excellent and HubSpot paid is a contract: annual term, no mid-term downgrade, no refund if you walk away early, and an onboarding invoice waiting at Professional. If you know you will need real automation and a second pipeline this year, keep the right to change your mind monthly.
If that is you, buy Zoho CRM instead. It is ranked #3 on this page.
HubSpot gives away more than anyone else and none of it is charity: the free CRM is the best-funded lead magnet in software, and it works exactly as designed, which is that you build your business inside it and only then learn what the exit costs. Take the deal anyway. For a one person business under a thousand contacts, the free tier really does replace a scheduler, a form builder and a CRM, and the branding on your forms is the whole price. Just read the paid terms before you cross that line, because 'you are not permitted to downgrade during your current term' and 'we will not provide any refunds' are HubSpot's sentences, not ours, and they decide whether free was a gift or a hook.
✓This link earns us nothing.HubSpot pays through Impact, which declined our partner account on 6 August 2026. This link earns us nothing.
8.2/10StrongHow this score is built
The score is our own summary of the criteria this comparison publishes, weighted as the list below is ordered. It is not an average of user reviews, no vendor sees it before publication, and no vendor pays for it.
- 1.Prices read on each vendor's official US pricing page in August 2026, in USD. Three of these four sites serve euros or rupees depending on where you sit, so what you see may not match what we quote: check the currency before you compare.
- 2.The free plan is ranked first, then the cost of the first paid seat, because the cheapest CRM is the one you are never forced to leave in a hurry.
- 3.Contract terms are treated as a feature. Annual commitment, mid-term downgrade rules and refund policy sit in the table, because over two years they cost more than any price gap here.
- 4.Pipedrive and Folk were priced and left off. Neither has a free plan, only a trial that locks the account when it ends, so neither answers the question this page asks. Padding a free CRM comparison with paid tools is the standard trick on this search, and we would rather have four honest entries than six.
- 5.We are not in a single affiliate program for any CRM on this page. Every link here is a plain link to the vendor and earns us nothing, including the one we ranked first. On a 'best free CRM' page that is unusual, and it is the only real reason to trust the order.
- 8.0 and up
- Strong. Wins its category on the criteria below, with a known trade-off.
- 7.0 and up
- Solid. Right answer for a specific reader, wrong one for others.
- 6.0 and up
- Adequate. Works, and something on this page does the same job better.
- under 6.0
- Weak. We would not buy it at this price.
Fifty thousand records for nothing, if you are willing to build the CRM yourself.
- Price
- $35/user annual
Free for up to 3 seats and 50,000 records. Plus is $35 per user per month on annual billing, $44 monthly, and caps at 10 seats. Pro is $79 annual, $99 monthly.
- Free plan
- 50,000 records, 3 seats
Yes, and it is the largest here by a factor of fifty: 3 seats, 50,000 records, 3 objects, 3 reports, 200 emails a month. No automation, no permission controls.
What holds up
- +50,000 records on the free tier against HubSpot's 1,000 contacts: you will outgrow this on features long before capacity
- +Three free seats, so a founder plus two collaborators pay nothing where HubSpot stops at two
- +The data model is yours: custom objects instead of a fixed contacts-companies-deals shape, which fits agencies, recruiters, investors and anyone whose pipeline is not a sales funnel
- +By some distance the fastest interface in this comparison, and monthly billing is available at every paid tier
Where it falls short
- −200 emails a month on free, so it is a place to keep records, not a place to send anything
- −No forms, no meeting scheduler, no live chat: three things HubSpot hands you for free, you will still be paying for somewhere else
- −The blank-canvas data model is real work. You design the CRM before you use it, which is the wrong trade for a freelancer with fifty contacts
- −AI and enrichment run on credits billed separately from seats, so the seat price is not the whole bill once you turn those on
- −Plus caps at 10 seats, and the top tier is annual-only with no published price
The rest of the readings
- Users on free
- Flagged: reading in your favour. 3
- First paid tier
- $35/user annual
- Contacts or records
- Flagged: reading in your favour. 50,000 records free
- Branding
- Flagged: reading in your favour. No public forms to brand
- Contract terms
- Flagged: reading in your favour. Monthly or annual
- The catch
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. 200 emails/mo on free
Who this is for
It gives a small team 50,000 records and three seats without asking for a card, which nothing else here comes close to.
Do not buy Attio if
- ·You want a CRM that arrives assembled. Attio hands you an excellent database and expects you to decide what a deal is. If your plan is to import a CSV and start selling this afternoon, HubSpot does that today and Attio will want a weekend first.
If that is you, buy HubSpot instead. It is ranked #1 on this page.
Attio is the rare free plan that does not feel like bait. Fifty thousand records, three seats, no expiry, and an interface quick enough that everything else starts to feel slow. The catch is not buried in a pricing tier, it is in the philosophy: Attio ships a CRM construction kit and the assembly is your job. If your business has an unusual shape, that is precisely the point and you will not go back. If your business is 'people fill in a form and I sell them a service', you want the tool that already has the form.
✓This link earns us nothing.Attio runs no cash referral programme. This link earns us nothing.
Z#3
Cheapest way out of free
7.9/10SolidHow this score is built
The score is our own summary of the criteria this comparison publishes, weighted as the list below is ordered. It is not an average of user reviews, no vendor sees it before publication, and no vendor pays for it.
- 1.Prices read on each vendor's official US pricing page in August 2026, in USD. Three of these four sites serve euros or rupees depending on where you sit, so what you see may not match what we quote: check the currency before you compare.
- 2.The free plan is ranked first, then the cost of the first paid seat, because the cheapest CRM is the one you are never forced to leave in a hurry.
- 3.Contract terms are treated as a feature. Annual commitment, mid-term downgrade rules and refund policy sit in the table, because over two years they cost more than any price gap here.
- 4.Pipedrive and Folk were priced and left off. Neither has a free plan, only a trial that locks the account when it ends, so neither answers the question this page asks. Padding a free CRM comparison with paid tools is the standard trick on this search, and we would rather have four honest entries than six.
- 5.We are not in a single affiliate program for any CRM on this page. Every link here is a plain link to the vendor and earns us nothing, including the one we ranked first. On a 'best free CRM' page that is unusual, and it is the only real reason to trust the order.
- 8.0 and up
- Strong. Wins its category on the criteria below, with a known trade-off.
- 7.0 and up
- Solid. Right answer for a specific reader, wrong one for others.
- 6.0 and up
- Adequate. Works, and something on this page does the same job better.
- under 6.0
- Weak. We would not buy it at this price.
Three free users, then the cheapest paid ladder in the category.
- Price
- $14/user annual
Free edition for 3 users. Standard is $14 per user per month on annual billing, $20 monthly. Professional $23 annual, $35 monthly. Enterprise $40 annual, $50 monthly. Ultimate $52 annual, $65 monthly.
- Free plan
- 3 users, limits unpublished
Yes: 3 users with leads, contacts, deals, tasks, documents and the mobile apps. Zoho publishes no record or storage cap for the free edition on its pricing page, so treat the user count as the stated limit and everything else as unstated.
What holds up
- +The cheapest exit from free on this page: $14 a seat annual and $20 month to month, against $20 list at HubSpot and $35 at Attio
- +Three free users, one more than HubSpot, with no vendor branding on anything a client sees
- +Month-to-month billing is published at every tier, so changing your mind costs one month rather than a contract
- +The whole ladder tops out at $52 a seat, where HubSpot's comparable tier is $90 plus a four-figure onboarding fee
Where it falls short
- −The pricing page geolocates aggressively: most visitors are shown rupees or euros, and the dollar figures take a currency toggle to surface
- −No record or storage limit is published for the free edition anywhere on that page, so the ceiling you are agreeing to is not written down
- −The interface is dense and dated, and every screen is a doorway into the other forty Zoho apps
- −Support is the most consistent complaint against Zoho, and the quality of it scales with the tier you pay for
The rest of the readings
- Users on free
- Flagged: reading in your favour. 3
- First paid tier
- Flagged: reading in your favour. $14/user annual
- Contacts or records
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. Not published on free
- Branding
- Flagged: reading in your favour. None on free
- Contract terms
- Flagged: reading in your favour. Monthly or annual
- The catch
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. Page shows your local currency
Who this is for
It is the cheapest place to land when a free plan runs out, and it never asks you to sign a year.
Do not buy Zoho CRM if
- ·You have a low tolerance for cluttered software. Zoho wins nearly every price comparison and loses most of the ones about how a tool feels after eight hours inside it. If you have ever abandoned a product because it was ugly, spend the extra six dollars elsewhere and call it a subscription to your own attention.
If that is you, buy HubSpot instead. It is ranked #1 on this page.
Zoho is what a company looks like when it competes on price and refuses to lose. Fourteen dollars a seat undercuts everything here, three users cost nothing, and you can leave any month you like, which is worth more over two years than the price gap itself. The costs are aesthetic and informational: the interface is a filing cabinet, and the free edition's real limits are not published, which on a page about free plans is the one thing we would most like in writing. Excellent value, awkward company to get a straight answer from.
✓This link earns us nothing.We are not in Zoho's affiliate programme. This link earns us nothing.
7.4/10SolidHow this score is built
The score is our own summary of the criteria this comparison publishes, weighted as the list below is ordered. It is not an average of user reviews, no vendor sees it before publication, and no vendor pays for it.
- 1.Prices read on each vendor's official US pricing page in August 2026, in USD. Three of these four sites serve euros or rupees depending on where you sit, so what you see may not match what we quote: check the currency before you compare.
- 2.The free plan is ranked first, then the cost of the first paid seat, because the cheapest CRM is the one you are never forced to leave in a hurry.
- 3.Contract terms are treated as a feature. Annual commitment, mid-term downgrade rules and refund policy sit in the table, because over two years they cost more than any price gap here.
- 4.Pipedrive and Folk were priced and left off. Neither has a free plan, only a trial that locks the account when it ends, so neither answers the question this page asks. Padding a free CRM comparison with paid tools is the standard trick on this search, and we would rather have four honest entries than six.
- 5.We are not in a single affiliate program for any CRM on this page. Every link here is a plain link to the vendor and earns us nothing, including the one we ranked first. On a 'best free CRM' page that is unusual, and it is the only real reason to trust the order.
- 8.0 and up
- Strong. Wins its category on the criteria below, with a known trade-off.
- 7.0 and up
- Solid. Right answer for a specific reader, wrong one for others.
- 6.0 and up
- Adequate. Works, and something on this page does the same job better.
- under 6.0
- Weak. We would not buy it at this price.
The simplest CRM here, with a free plan that is really a demo.
- Price
- $18/user annual
Free for 2 users and 250 contacts. Starter is $18 per user per month on annual billing, $21 monthly, and lifts the cap to 30,000 contacts. Growth is $36 annual, $38 monthly, for 60,000. Advanced is $54 annual, $60 monthly, for 120,000.
- Free plan
- 250 contacts, 2 users
Technically. Two users, 250 contacts, one pipeline, five custom fields. That is a fortnight of a working freelancer, not a plan you can build on.
What holds up
- +The simplest CRM in this comparison to actually operate: you understand the entire product in an afternoon, which is not true of the other three
- +Starter carries 30,000 contacts for $18 a seat, where a HubSpot Starter seat includes 1,000 marketing contacts and charges $50 per additional thousand
- +Monthly billing published at every tier, so no annual commitment is required to start
- +Marketing tooling is an optional add-on from $11 a month rather than a forced jump to a higher tier
Where it falls short
- −250 contacts on free is the tightest ceiling on this page by a factor of four, and a working freelancer clears it in weeks
- −Five custom fields and one pipeline on free, so you cannot model a real process before paying
- −The top tier carries no published price, which in 2026 means a sales call
- −The smallest integration ecosystem here, so more of your stack ends up wired together through Zapier and billed separately
The rest of the readings
- Users on free
- 2
- First paid tier
- $18/user annual
- Contacts or records
- Flagged: reading in your favour. 30,000 contacts on Starter
- Branding
- Flagged: reading in your favour. None on free
- Contract terms
- Flagged: reading in your favour. Monthly or annual
- The catch
- Flagged: this reading costs you money. Free caps at 250 contacts
Who this is for
Its paid entry tier gives you 30,000 contacts for eighteen dollars, the best contact-per-dollar rate on this page.
Do not buy Capsule if
- ·You are shopping for a free CRM, which is the question this page exists to answer. Capsule's free tier is a trial with the clock removed, and 250 contacts is not a business. Come for the $18 paid tier or do not come at all.
If that is you, buy HubSpot instead. It is ranked #1 on this page.
Capsule sits last on a page about free CRMs for one honest reason: its free plan is not one. Two hundred fifty contacts is a demo. Judge it on its paid entry instead and it improves sharply, eighteen dollars a seat for thirty thousand contacts, monthly billing, no contract, and the least confusing interface of the four. It is a good answer to a different question, and we would rather say that than pad a ranking with a free plan nobody can use.
✓This link earns us nothing.Capsule pays through PartnerStack, which declined our partner account on 6 August 2026. This link earns us nothing.