Best free CRM: 11 free plans and their real limits in 2026
We compared the free plans of 11 CRMs, read their docs and their forums: the cap that will make you pay, and the tricks to push it back.
Short answer: for 1 or 2 salespeople, pick HubSpot (2 users, 1,000 contacts). For a team of 3, Zoho CRM if you want automated follow-ups (5 active workflow rules), Attio if you store a lot of data (50,000 records). Up to 10 people, Agile CRM takes 10 users on 1,000 contacts. Working solo, Bigin is enough while you stay under 500 records. For a whole team or a nonprofit, Odoo (one app) takes unlimited users, and Bitrix24 advertises the same. None is free with no limits: each one caps a single lever, and that lever should drive your choice.
Further down, we gathered the settings and workarounds you only find in the docs and on user forums: they often push the paid upgrade back by months. Still torn between free and paid? See our ranking of the best CRMs, the best CRM for small business, the best CRM for startups or the best CRM for freelancers.
Some links are affiliate links. They change neither the order nor the scores on this page.
What each free CRM actually gives you
The last line of each card tells you what will make you pay. A free CRM (customer relationship management software: contacts, deals, follow-ups) is only a good pick if its cap sits far from how you really work. You will see the word pipeline a lot: it is how you track deals stage by stage, from first contact to signed contract.
Watch the wording. A free-forever plan (every tool on this page) never ends. A free trial stops after 14 to 30 days: that is the case for Pipedrive, folk and Close, which have no free plan. Freshsales dropped its free plan too, even though several older roundups still list it with unlimited users. Brevo opens its sales module on the free account, but the limits are not clearly published, so we left it out of the ranking.
The one-line recap (users · data · automation · first paid price):
- HubSpot: 2 · 1,000 contacts · 1 action · $20/seat ($15 billed yearly)
- Zoho CRM: 3 · 5,000 records · 5 rules · $14/user
- Attio: 3 · 50,000 records · shared credits · $35/seat
- Salesforce Free Suite: 2 · not published · not guaranteed · $25/user
- Bigin: 1 · 500 records · 3 · $7/user
- Odoo (one app): unlimited · up to 100 GB · the CRM app's own · $31.10/user
- Bitrix24: advertised as unlimited (1 to 2 on the plan card) · 5 GB · basic · $49/month per company
- Capsule: 2 · 250 contacts · none · $18/user
- Agile CRM: 10 · 1,000 contacts and companies · minimal · $8.99/user
- Twenty, EspoCRM: no license cap · your server · varies · cloud from $9 or $15
Limits read on the vendors' official pricing pages in 2026.
HubSpot Free tools
The easiest pick for 1 or 2 salespeople
2 users · 1,000 contacts
- 2 users, 1,000 contacts, plus 1,000 records shared across every other object (companies, deals…)
- 1 deal pipeline
- 2,000 marketing emails a month, HubSpot-branded
- 1 meetings link, 3 email templates
- What makes you pay: a single automated email action, the HubSpot logo, the 3rd user
Zoho CRM Free
The most automated free plan
3 users · 5,000 records
- 3 users, free forever, 5,000 records
- 5 active workflow rules
- 150 emails a day, 10 email templates
- 1 web form per module, mobile apps
- What makes you pay: sales forecasting, custom modules, mass email, the Zia AI, record number 5,001
Attio Free
The modern pick for a startup
3 seats · 50,000 records
- 3 seats, 3 objects, 50,000 records
- 50 GB of file storage
- 200 emails a month, 10 bulk sends at a time
- 3 reports, 1 synced inbox per user
- What makes you pay: no permission settings, the 4th seat, more than 3 reports
Salesforce Free Suite
The market leader's free tier, with built-in AI
2 users
- 2 users maximum
- Leads, opportunities and customer cases
- Basic email, Slack conversations linked to records
- AI that summarizes records and drafts emails
- What makes you pay: the 3rd user (Starter Suite from $25/user/month); you also need to log in at least once every 60 days
Bigin Free (by Zoho)
The simplest way to sell solo
1 user · 500 records
- 1 user, 1 pipeline
- 500 records (deals, contacts, activities and notes all count)
- 3 automations
- 1 booking page
- What makes you pay: a 2nd user or record number 501 (Express at $7/user/month billed yearly)
Odoo, one free app
The right start if you want an ERP later
1 app · unlimited users
- A single app (here, CRM), unlimited users
- Hosted by the vendor on Odoo Online
- Up to 100 GB of storage
- Apps the CRM depends on stay free
- What makes you pay: a 2nd app (invoicing, sales) moves you to Standard; adding Studio or another company moves you to Custom
Bitrix24 Free
Users advertised as unlimited
Users advertised as unlimited · 5 GB
- Users advertised as unlimited (the plan card also says 1 to 2: check when you sign up)
- Basic CRM: contacts and deals
- Kanban and Gantt tasks, calendars, chat and video calls
- 5 GB of shared storage
- What makes you pay: telephony, more than 2 Market apps, more than 5 GB
Capsule Free
The lightest pick for a freelancer
2 users · 250 contacts
- 2 users maximum
- 250 contacts
- 1 sales pipeline, 1 project board
- 50 MB of storage, no reporting
- 5 custom fields
- What makes you pay: contact number 251 (Starter goes up to 30,000)
Agile CRM Free
10 free users, the widest after Odoo
10 users · 1,000 contacts
- 10 users, no credit card
- 1,000 contacts and companies
- Contacts, deals, tasks and appointment booking
- 1 workflow and 1 integration only
- What makes you pay: contact number 1,001, a 2nd workflow (Starter from $8.99/user/month)
Twenty (open source)
No license cap, if you host it
Self-hosted · free
- Open source code, free to self-host
- No contact or user cap set by a license
- Server with at least 2 GB of RAM, Docker install
- Cloud: Pro at $9/user/month billed yearly, 30-day trial
- What makes you pay: the server, backups and a technical person's time
EspoCRM (open source)
The most mature open source option
Self-hosted · free
- Open source code, free download
- No license cap when self-hosted
- Documented Docker install
- Cloud: Basic at $15/user/month, 3 users minimum, 30-day trial
- What makes you pay: advanced features (workflows, advanced reports) sold as a pack, the server
Odoo Community (open source)
Odoo's CRM on your own server
Self-hosted · free
- Odoo's open source edition, CRM included
- No "one app" rule: it is your server
- Enterprise edition modules are not included
- An exit route if the online free plan gets too tight
- What makes you pay: hosting, upgrades, and an integrator if you are not technical
Vendors change their caps without notice: reread the pricing page before you commit. For paid plans, see Capsule pricing, Pipedrive pricing (no free plan) and the HubSpot vs Zoho head-to-head.
HubSpot
HubSpot is still the safest way in because its free plan covers the whole cycle of a small sale: contact records, a deal pipeline (one on the free plan), email tracking, a meetings link. The limit that matters is 2 users and 1,000 contacts. Everything else is capped, but sensibly: 2,000 HubSpot-branded marketing emails a month, 3 templates, one automated action. Selling by hand? That is enough. Want automated follow-up sequences? You will pay.
- Open and click tracking from Gmail, free extension
- Meetings link included (1 per account)
- No credit card, no time limit
- ✓The fastest setup on this page
- ✓Upgrading takes no migration, seat by seat
- ✓More than 2,000 apps connect to the free CRM
- ✗Hard cap at 1,000 contacts, quickly hit by a prospecting import
- ✗HubSpot logo on emails and the meetings link
- ✗Every paid seat adds up: $20 a month at list price
The best free plan if you are 1 or 2 people under 1,000 contacts. Past that, look at Zoho, Attio, Agile CRM or Salesforce Free Suite before paying.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is the most automated free plan here: 5 active workflow rules (follow-ups, reminders, lead assignment), where HubSpot gives you one action. It takes 3 users and 5,000 records, 150 emails a day, 10 templates, one web form per module to capture leads from your site, and 5,000 API calls a day to plug in your tools. The trade-off: the interface takes more effort than HubSpot, and exports are capped at 10 a day. Forecasting, custom modules, mass email and the Zia AI stay paid.
- 5 active workflow rules on the free plan
- 150 emails a day and 10 templates
- ✓3 users instead of 2
- ✓The deepest automation of any free plan
- ✓One web form per module to capture leads from your site
- ✗Slower to set up than HubSpot
- ✗5,000 records in total
- ✗No mass email and no forecasting
The right pick if you want automated follow-ups without paying. User reviews agree it takes longer to configure than HubSpot.
Attio
Attio gives you the largest data volume on this page: 50,000 records and 3 objects for 3 seats, where HubSpot stops at 1,000 contacts. You shape it like a database (objects, attributes, filtered views). The catch is email: only 200 sends a month, and no permission settings. The Plus tier costs $35 a seat billed yearly ($44 monthly), so the 4th seat has a real price.
- 50,000 records and 50 GB of files for free
- Custom objects and views from the free plan
- ✓50,000 records, 50 times HubSpot's contact cap
- ✓Fast interface, built for product and SaaS teams
- ✗Only 200 emails a month
- ✗No access permissions on the free plan
- ✗Paid starts at $35/seat, more than HubSpot Starter at $20
The best free plan for a team of 3 that stores a lot of data. Weaker if email is your main channel.
Salesforce Free Suite
Salesforce now has a free tier, the Free Suite: 2 users, no end date, with lead, opportunity and case management, basic email, Slack conversations linked to records, and AI that summarizes an account or drafts an email with no setup. Two conditions to know: it stays free only if you log in at least once every 60 days (per Salesforce's FAQ), and the 3rd user moves you to Starter at $25 per user per month. Specialist blogs disagree on how much automation is included: check the editions table before you count on it.
- AI summaries and drafting included for free
- Slack conversations linked to records
- ✓The same tool large sales teams use, no migration later
- ✓Guided onboarding to import your data
- ✓AI summaries and drafting with no setup
- ✗2 users, like HubSpot
- ✗Free only if you log in at least once every 60 days
- ✗The 3rd seat costs $25 a month
Worth it if Salesforce is where you are headed. For a first, simple CRM, HubSpot is faster to pick up.
Bigin by Zoho
Bigin is Zoho CRM's little sibling, built for very small businesses. Its free plan fits in four numbers: 1 user, 1 pipeline, 500 records and 3 automations, plus a booking page. Do the math carefully: the 500 records count deals, contacts, activities and notes together. One client tracked with three notes and two reminders already uses six records. User reviews praise how simple it is and regret the single pipeline on the free plan.
- Booking page included
- Easy move to Zoho CRM later, same family
- ✓Fastest setup on the page, alongside Capsule
- ✓Express is among the cheapest paid plans here
- ✓A free booking page, rare at this price
- ✗A single user
- ✗500 records, notes and activities included
- ✗A single pipeline
Perfect for selling solo with a few dozen clients. When a partner joins, look at Zoho CRM's free plan.
Odoo CRM
Odoo's "one free app" offer gives the CRM to an unlimited number of users, hosted on Odoo Online with up to 100 GB of storage. It is the best plan if you already know you will link deals to quotes and invoices. The trap is clear: a second app (Invoicing, Sales) moves you to Standard, and adding Studio or a second company moves you to Custom, both billed per user. The good surprise: email support is included even on the free plan.
- Unlimited users on one app
- Email support included
- ✓Unlimited users on the CRM
- ✓The most direct path to quotes, invoices and inventory
- ✓Apps the CRM depends on stay free
- ✗A 2nd app makes the whole team pay
- ✗A setting can install another app without warning
- ✗Less sales automation than Zoho on CRM alone
Ideal if CRM is the first brick of an ERP. Work out the cost of the 2nd app before you commit.
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 advertises unlimited users on its free plan, but its own plan card also says "1 to 2 users": check when you sign up before inviting your team. You get a basic CRM (contacts, deals), Kanban and Gantt tasks, shared calendars, chat and video calls. The other limit is storage: 5 GB shared. Telephony is paid, the Market is limited to 2 apps, and Basic costs $49 a month billed yearly ($69 monthly) for 5 users. User reviews often mention a crowded interface that takes real time to learn.
- CRM, tasks, chat and video in one free tool
- Kanban and Gantt tasks on the free plan
- ✓Lots of advertised users, CRM and collaboration together
- ✓Basic is billed per company, not per seat
- ✓Interface available in many languages
- ✗Dense interface, slow to learn
- ✗5 GB of storage for the whole team
- ✗Free user count unclear from one page to the next
Worth a look to bring CRM, tasks and chat together with no budget; check at sign-up how many users the free plan really gives you. Skip it if you want a simple, fast sales CRM.
Capsule
Capsule is the lightest CRM on this page, and its free plan shows it: 2 users, 250 contacts, 1 pipeline, 1 project board and 5 custom fields. For a freelancer with 30 clients and 50 prospects, that is plenty and very clear. Contact number 251, though, forces the Starter plan, which goes up to 30,000 contacts.
Why rank it below Bigin when it takes 2 users? Because 250 contacts with no reporting and no automation is tighter, for a solo seller, than Bigin's 500 records and 3 automations.
- Pipeline and project board in one place
- 2 users on the free plan
- ✓The easiest to use in this selection
- ✓Pipeline and projects in one place
- ✓2 users, where Bigin takes only one
- ✗250 contacts: one of the lowest caps here
- ✗5 custom fields, 50 MB of storage and no reporting
Perfect for a small client book. Useless if you prospect at volume.
Agile CRM
Agile CRM breaks the "2 users" rule: its free plan takes 10 users, no credit card, for 1,000 contacts and companies. With 10 seats, it is the widest hosted free plan here, apart from Odoo, which is unlimited but on a single app. Check these limits on its pricing page when you sign up. The trade-off sits in two caps: one automation workflow and one integration. For a team that logs deals and tasks by hand, that works. To connect your site, your inbox and your invoicing tool, it does not.
- 10 users on the free plan
- Contacts and companies counted together up to 1,000
- ✓10 free seats: the widest hosted plan, apart from Odoo's single app
- ✓No credit card
- ✓Among the cheapest paid plans here, from $8.99
- ✗A single automation workflow
- ✗A single integration
- ✗1,000 contacts and companies shared by 10 people
A solid stopgap for a team of 4 to 10 with no budget. Once you want to plug in your tools, look at Zoho or Odoo.
Twenty
Twenty is an open source CRM, free to self-host: no license caps your contacts or users. You pay in other ways, in servers, backups and upgrades, so in developer time. If you don't want to run hosting, the cloud Pro plan costs $9 per user per month billed yearly, with a 30-day trial. It presents itself as the most popular open source CRM on GitHub, and its interface is the more modern of the two open source tools here.
- Free self-hosting, no license cap
- The most modern interface of the open source CRMs here
- ✓No license limit when self-hosted
- ✓Your data stays on your server
- ✓Cheap cloud version if you stop hosting, $9 per user
- ✗Needs technical skills to install and maintain
- ✗Upgrades and backups are on you
- ✗Install is fragile outside the documented Docker Compose method
With EspoCRM, the only "no limit" license on the page, as long as someone looks after it.
EspoCRM
EspoCRM is an open source CRM older than Twenty, free to download and installable with Docker. On self-hosted CRM forums it often comes up as easier to install than SuiteCRM, with a clean interface. The trap is in the extensions: some advanced features (business processes, advanced reports) are sold separately, and if you move from their cloud to your own server, you must buy back the extensions you used. Cloud starts at $15 per user per month, 3 users minimum.
- Known as easier to install than SuiteCRM
- Managed cloud available if you stop hosting
- ✓No license cap when self-hosted
- ✓Documented Docker install
- ✓Clean interface, praised on self-hosting forums
- ✗Advanced extensions are paid
- ✗Server, backups and upgrades are on you
- ✗Extensions to buy again if you leave their cloud
The most mature open source pick. Choose Twenty if you want a more modern interface.
10 tips to stay on the free plan longer
These settings come from vendor docs, user forums and our comparison. None of them breaks a terms-of-service rule: they just stop you burning your quota for nothing.
HubSpot: install the Gmail extension before anything else
HubSpotThe HubSpot Chrome extension is free and turns Gmail into a sales desk: every email you send and receive lands on the contact record, you see who opened your message and clicked a link, and you insert your meetings link from the compose window. Two settings to change right away: turn tracking off on personal emails (there is a checkbox per message) and log only the people who matter: every record created eats into your 1,000 contacts, newsletters and suppliers included.
- Cost
- $0
- Gain
- Email history with no data entry
HubSpot: clean up your 1,000 contacts every month
HubSpotThe 1,000-contact cap counts everything that comes in, including addresses created by a form or by automatic email logging. Build a view of "no activity in 6 months, no open deal", export it to CSV to keep a copy, then delete those records. For marketing emails, the HubSpot community suggests a simple workaround to the 2,000-sends-a-month quota: split your list in two and alternate them month to month instead of emailing everyone every month.
- Limit
- 1,000 contacts, 2,000 sends/month
- Rhythm
- One cleanup a month
Zoho: save your 5 workflow rules for follow-ups
Zoho CRMZoho's free plan allows only 5 active workflow rules at a time. Don't waste them on internal notifications: keep them for what sells, like a follow-up task 3 days after a quote, a reminder when a deal hasn't moved in 15 days, and assignment of an incoming lead. Then plug the free web form (one per module) into your site: every request lands as a lead, no copy and paste. And watch the 150 emails a day: enough for follow-up, not for a campaign.
- Active rules
- 5
- Emails
- 150 a day
Zoho: schedule a backup, exports are counted
Zoho CRMThe free plan caps exports at 10 a day, and a CSV export goes up to 200,000 rows per module (50,000 in Excel). That is plenty, as long as you don't wait for the day you switch tools. Export each module (leads, contacts, deals) to CSV once a month and store it in your drive. When you move to another CRM, your files are already clean and in the right format.
- Exports
- 10 a day
- Volume
- 200,000 rows in CSV
Odoo: test every setting on a copy of your database
OdooOdoo's free plan covers a single app, with unlimited users. The trap, reported on the vendor's own forum: some settings install another app without warning, and your database turns into a paid trial. Before turning on an option, duplicate your test database and check whether a new app appears. Good news the other way round: apps your CRM depends on stay free and don't count as a second one.
- Rule
- 1 free app
- Users
- Unlimited
Attio: watch the credits shared by AI and automations
AttioAttio's free plan includes 250 credits per workspace and 100 per user each month, and those credits feed both AI and automations. An automation that runs on every new record can drain the pool in a few days. Run automatic enrichment on your key accounts rather than the whole database. For email, capped at 200 sends a month, send from Gmail or Outlook: with one synced inbox per user, the thread still shows up on the record.
- Credits
- 250 per workspace + 100 per seat
- Emails
- 200 a month
Bigin: count records, not clients
BiginBigin's 500 records add up deals, contacts, activities and notes. To last, write one summary note per deal instead of one note per call, and delete past tasks once a deal is won or lost. Do the math: at 5 records per client (the deal, the contact, one note, two reminders), 500 ÷ 5 gives about 100 active clients on the free plan.
- Cap
- 500 records
- What counts
- Deals, contacts, activities, notes
Pair a light CRM with Streak's free plan in Gmail
Outside the CRMCapsule, Bigin and Attio come with few email tools for free. Streak's free plan, a Gmail extension, adds open and click tracking, text snippets and mail merge up to 50 emails a day, with no pipeline. Paired with a free CRM, it covers send tracking without paying for a license.
- Mail merge
- 50 emails a day
- Limit
- No pipeline on free
Twenty or EspoCRM: size the server before installing
Open sourceAn open source CRM is free in license, not in time. For Twenty, plan at least 2 GB of RAM on the server and use Docker Compose, the method the vendor documents: install guides report lots of errors from people who stray from it. Schedule a daily database backup from day one. For EspoCRM, list the paid extensions you will need before choosing: that is where the real price hides.
- RAM
- 2 GB minimum (Twenty)
- Method
- Docker Compose
The day you pay, only pay for seats that sell
AllAt HubSpot, Attio, Zoho or Salesforce, paid plans are counted per seat. An assistant who checks records once a week doesn't need a sales license: share an export or a dashboard instead. Bitrix24 works the other way: Basic is billed per company ($49 a month billed yearly for 5 users). Run the numbers with your real number of sellers before you pick the tool, not after.
- Per seat
- HubSpot, Attio, Zoho, Salesforce
- Per company
- Bitrix24 Basic
Stay free or pay: the 6 signals
In our comparison, HubSpot's free plan (1,000 contacts), or Capsule's if you stay under 250, covered this use. Paying now means paying for features you won't open.
HubSpot, Salesforce and Capsule stop at 2, Bigin at 1. Move to free Zoho or Attio (3 seats), Agile CRM (10), or pay for the single extra seat.
The 1,000-contact cap (HubSpot) or 250 (Capsule) breaks. Attio's free plan holds 50,000 records before you pay.
HubSpot's free plan allows a single automated action. Zoho gives you 5 and Bigin 3: beyond that, it is the paid tier.
HubSpot branding on emails and the meetings link only goes away on a paid plan.
Odoo (one app) takes unlimited users, Agile CRM 10, and Bitrix24 advertises unlimited. Paying per seat makes no sense for you.
Free CRM: frequently asked questions
Free CRM vs free trial: what is the difference?
A free-forever plan never ends; a free trial stops after 14 to 30 days and then asks you to pay. Pipedrive, folk and Close only offer a trial, and Freshsales dropped its free plan even though many older lists still show it. Before you sign up, look for the words "free forever" on the pricing page: without them, get your credit card ready.Is there a free CRM with unlimited users?
Among hosted CRMs, only Odoo gives unlimited users for free, on a single app; Bitrix24 advertises unlimited users but its plan card also says 1 to 2. Agile CRM comes next with 10 users. If you need truly unlimited users and contacts, self-host an open source CRM like Twenty or EspoCRM: no license cap, but you pay in server and maintenance time.Is HubSpot CRM really free?
Yes. The Free tools plan has no time limit and needs no credit card, for 2 users, 1,000 contacts and one deal pipeline. The limits are elsewhere: 2,000 HubSpot-branded marketing emails a month, 3 email templates, one automated action. Starter lists at $20 per seat per month, or $15 billed yearly, and HubSpot regularly runs a first-year discount for new customers.What happens when you hit a free CRM's limit?
Your data stays, but you can't add more. At HubSpot, past 1,000 contacts you have to delete records or upgrade. At Odoo, installing a second app turns the database into a paid trial, and the vendor's forum suggests starting a fresh database to stay free. Export your data before you hit the cap, not after.Does Salesforce have a free CRM?
Yes. Salesforce Free Suite is free with no end date for 2 users, with leads, opportunities, basic email, Slack and an AI that summarizes records. The little-known condition: it stays free as long as you log in at least once every 60 days. The 3rd user moves you to Starter Suite, from $25 per user per month.What is the best free CRM for a small business?
It depends on your headcount. Up to 2 people, HubSpot is the quickest to adopt; at 3, Zoho CRM for automation or Attio for data volume; up to 10, Agile CRM. If you plan to add invoicing or inventory later, start on Odoo's free app so you don't have to migrate.Is a spreadsheet good enough as a free CRM?
To start with under 100 prospects, a spreadsheet works. The problems arrive fast: no automatic reminders, no email history, duplicates as soon as two people edit the file. Bigin or HubSpot also cost $0 and fix all three. Keep the spreadsheet for your first import.Is there a free open source CRM?
Yes. Twenty and EspoCRM are free to self-host, with no license cap. Twenty has the more modern interface and needs at least 2 GB of RAM on the server; EspoCRM is older, known as easy to install, but sells some advanced extensions separately. Odoo also has an open source Community edition.Who helps you when something breaks on a free CRM?
Usually nobody live: free plans point you to docs and the community. HubSpot gives you its knowledge base, HubSpot Academy and its forum; Salesforce offers guided onboarding to import your data. The notable exception is Odoo, which includes email support on every plan, free included. If you need to call someone, that is a reason to pay.
