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The best CRM for freelancers in 2026

A freelancer does not need an enterprise CRM - they need one place for leads, deals and follow-ups, priced for one person. These are the four CRMs we track with first-party prices, three of which start at $0/mo, with what each free plan really covers and what the first paid seat costs, read from the vendors' own pricing pages this week.

Prices last re-checked 2026-09-27. Numbers are read from each vendor's own pricing page; any exception is flagged under "What to watch".

Which one should you pick?

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The short answer

Short answer: Best CRM for freelancers who want to start free: HubSpot CRM Free is $0/mo for up to two users and 1,000 contacts, a deal pipeline and contact management - the largest free contact cap here by a mile. Prices were read from each vendors own page on our last weekly check.

ToolEntry priceBest for
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 2 users and up to 1,000 contacts, deal pipeline, contact management. The c
Starter$20/mo, or $15/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Simple automation, 2 paid seats, email tracking, 1,000 marketing conta
Professional$100/mo, or $90/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Sequences, forecasting, custom reporting, 2,000 marketing contacts. On
Enterprise$150/mo (no annual discount published)Per seat. Custom objects, predictive scoring, 10,000 marketing contacts

Prices checked 2026-09-27.

Best CRM for freelancers who want to start free: HubSpot

HubSpot CRM Free is $0/mo for up to two users and 1,000 contacts, a deal pipeline and contact management - the largest free contact cap here by a mile. The trade-off: simple automation and email tracking wait until Starter at $20/mo per seat, or $15/mo per seat billed annually.

See HubSpot pricing

Best CRM for freelancers with a couple of collaborators: Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM Free is $0/mo for up to 3 users with 5,000 records and basic lead and deal management - the only free plan here that covers more than two people. The trade-off: 5,000 records is a real ceiling, and Standard runs $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually.

See Zoho CRM pricing

Best CRM for freelancers who sell on a pipeline: Pipedrive

Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, or $14/mo per seat billed annually, for lead, deal and activity management, 3,000 open deals and 10 pipelines - the most focused sales pipeline here. The trade-off: there is no free plan, and email sync and workflow automation wait until Growth at $49/mo per seat, or $39/mo per seat billed annually.

See Pipedrive pricing

Best CRM for freelancers who run client projects too: monday.com

monday.com Free is $0/mo for up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 1,000 items - a work OS that doubles as client project tracking. The trade-off: the 2-seat, 3-board free ceiling is the tightest here, and Basic runs $12/mo per seat, or $9/mo per seat billed annually.

See monday.com pricing

The prices, plan by plan

HubSpot

HubSpot's free tools cover up to two users and up to 1,000 contacts. Sales Hub is then $20 per seat per month on Starter and $100 per seat per month on Professional, billed monthly. Professional requires a one-time onboarding fee of $1,500.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 2 users and up to 1,000 contacts, deal pipeline, contact management. The catalog's 1 million figure is for other standard objects, not contacts.
Starter$20/mo, or $15/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Simple automation, 2 paid seats, email tracking, 1,000 marketing contacts
Professional$100/mo, or $90/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Sequences, forecasting, custom reporting, 2,000 marketing contacts. Onboarding is required, a one-time fee of $1,500.
Enterprise$150/mo (no annual discount published)Per seat. Custom objects, predictive scoring, 10,000 marketing contacts

Prices checked 2026-09-27.

What to watch: HubSpot's free tools are free, and they cap at two users and 1,000 contacts. The paid tiers are per seat. Sales Hub Professional requires a one-time onboarding fee of $1,500. Marketing-contact limits are separate from CRM contacts.

Source: https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm, read 2026-09-27.

See HubSpot pricing

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is free for up to 3 users, then $14 per user per month on Standard, $23 on Professional and $40 on Enterprise, billed annually. Ultimate is a custom quote; Zoho no longer prints a price for it.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 3 users, 5,000 records, basic lead and deal management
Standard$20/mo, or $14/mo billed annuallyPer user. 100,000 records, scoring rules, mass email, workflows
Professional$35/mo, or $23/mo billed annuallyPer user. SalesSignals, inventory management, 25,000 records per module
Enterprise$50/mo, or $40/mo billed annuallyPer user. CommandCenter, multi-user portals, custom modules, 100,000 records
Ultimatecustom quoteBespoke deployments with the highest feature limits, consultation-based pricing (contact Zoho)

Prices checked 2026-09-27.

What to watch: Zoho prints the annual per-user rate by default; the monthly-billing rates come from the page's monthly toggle. Zoho's free tier caps at 3 users, which is the lowest free-user cap in this cluster.

Source: https://www.zoho.com/crm/zohocrm-pricing.html, read 2026-10-05.

See Zoho CRM pricing

Pipedrive

Pipedrive starts at $14 per seat per month on Lite, $39 on Growth, $59 on Premium and $79 on Ultimate, billed annually (US$168 / $468 / $708 / $948 per seat per year); monthly billing costs more. Each card offers a 14-day trial and says no credit card is required.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Lite$24/mo, or $14/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Lead, deal and activity management, 3,000 open deals, 10 pipelines. US$168 per seat/year billed annually.
Growth$49/mo, or $39/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Email sync, workflow automation, 100,000 open deals, 15 pipelines. US$468 per seat/year billed annually.
Premium$79/mo, or $59/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Revenue forecasts, team goals, projects, 30 pipelines. US$708 per seat/year billed annually.
Ultimate$99/mo, or $79/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Project templates, 5-minute sync, phone support, 100 pipelines. US$948 per seat/year billed annually.

What to watch: Pipedrive prints the annual per-seat rate by default. On 2026-10-13 those cards still showed Lite $14, Growth $39, Premium $59 and Ultimate $79. The monthly toggle was not opened, so the monthly column stays the 2026-10-05 reading. Each card says a 14-day trial with no credit card. The Premium card carries Pipedrive's own Most Popular badge. This page does not treat that badge as a count of customers. Add-on starting prices were read on the annual view. Prices are per seat, so a 5-person team pays five times the seat rate.

Source: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/pricing, read 2026-10-05.

See Pipedrive pricing

monday.com

monday.com starts at $9 per seat per month on Basic, $12 on Standard, $19 on Pro and a custom quote for Enterprise, billed annually; monthly billing costs more.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 2 seats, 3 boards, 1,000 items
Basic$12/mo, or $9/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Unlimited boards, 5GB storage, 1,000 automations/mo
Standard$14/mo, or $12/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Timeline, Gantt, calendar, guest access, 250 automations/mo
Pro$24/mo, or $19/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Time tracking, formula column, private boards, 25,000 automations/mo
Enterprisecustom quoteCustom quote. Enterprise auth, audit log, multi-level permissions

Prices checked 2026-09-27.

What to watch: monday.com prints the annual per-seat rate by default and switches to the monthly rate with a client-side toggle. Both sets are the vendor's own numbers, but the monthly figures come from the toggle rather than the static HTML.

Source: https://monday.com/pricing, read 2026-10-05.

See monday.com pricing

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest option here?

HubSpot is the cheapest option here to start - HubSpot CRM Free is $0/mo for up to two users and 1,000 contacts. Zoho CRM Free and monday.com Free are also $0/mo. When you start paying, monday.com Basic is the lowest step up at $12/mo per seat, or $9/mo per seat billed annually.

Is a free CRM really free?

Yes - HubSpot CRM Free, Zoho CRM Free and monday.com Free all cost $0/mo. The limits are what you pay with: HubSpot caps marketing features rather than contacts, Zoho CRM Free stops at 3 users and 5,000 records, and monday.com Free stops at 2 seats, 3 boards and 1,000 items.

What happens when the free plan runs out?

The first paid steps are monday.com Basic at $12/mo per seat, or $9/mo per seat billed annually, HubSpot Starter at $20/mo per seat, or $15/mo per seat billed annually, Zoho CRM Standard at $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually, and Pipedrive Lite at $24/mo per seat, or $14/mo per seat billed annually.

Which CRM is best for a freelancer who sells by pipeline?

Pipedrive Lite is the pipeline-first choice at $24/mo per seat, or $14/mo per seat billed annually, with 3,000 open deals and 10 pipelines - but HubSpot CRM Free also includes a deal pipeline at $0/mo, so try the free pipeline before paying.

How often are these prices re-checked?

Every week. The prices on this page - HubSpot Starter at $20/mo per seat, Zoho CRM Standard at $20/mo per user, Pipedrive Lite at $24/mo per seat and monday.com Basic at $12/mo per seat - are read from the vendors' own pricing pages and re-checked weekly; the date under the title is the oldest check behind this page. A number we can no longer find on the vendor page is flagged and keeps its previous check date instead of claiming a fresh one.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We do not accept payment for placement, and the price tables are generated from the same dataset we re-check weekly. Full disclosure. How we check prices.

Reviewed by Jason Albera, founder of AI Tool Authority. Jason reads each vendor pricing page by hand every week, keeps this site independent (no vendor pays for placement), and takes no sponsorships - the only income is affiliate commission through links marked partner links. Questions or a stale number? About & contact.