Best CRM for a small business (2026 prices)
No star ratings. Every CRM we track, its published entry price, and who the vendor itself says it is for.
Short answer: 2 of the 4 tools in the table publish a free plan, so the cheapest way to start is $0. The cheapest paid plan in the table is Freshsales at $11/mo. No free plan: Pipedrive at $24/mo, Freshsales at $11/mo.
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| Pipedrive | $24/mo | No |
| HubSpot | $20/mo | Yes |
| Zoho CRM | $20/mo | Yes |
| Freshsales | $11/mo | No |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works. How we check prices.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Systeme.io if you need the cheapest real CRM here. Visit Systeme.io
- Pick GoHighLevel if clients need their own login. Visit GoHighLevel
Some buttons are affiliate links — how this works.
Every CRMs we track, by entry price
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Free plan | Best for | Not for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipedrive | $24/mo | No | Sales teams that want a pipeline-first CRM and will pay annually for the lower seat price. | Anyone who needs marketing automation or a helpdesk in the same bill - Pipedrive is sales-only. | first-party prices |
| HubSpot | $20/mo | Yes | Teams that want a free CRM to start and a documented upgrade path they can grow into. | Small teams on a tight budget - the jump from Starter to Professional is $80 per seat per month, plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee. | first-party prices |
| Zoho CRM | $20/mo | Yes | Small sales teams that want a real CRM with a free tier and the cheapest paid entry in this cluster. | Teams that want one vendor for everything - Zoho's other products are priced separately. | first-party prices |
| Freshsales | $11/mo | No | Sales teams that want built-in phone, email and chat in the CRM, with AI-assisted contact scoring on the mid tier. | Anyone who wants a free plan after the 21-day trial - the pricing table lists only paid tiers. | first-party prices |
Entry paid plan, monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-27. Where a vendor renders its prices with JavaScript, the figure comes from the named third-party tracker in the last column.
The ranking by entry price
| # | Tool | Entry paid plan | Best for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freshsales | $11 | Sales teams that want built-in phone, email and chat in the CRM, with AI-assisted contact scoring on the mid tier. | first-party prices |
| 2 | HubSpot | $20 | Teams that want a free CRM to start and a documented upgrade path they can grow into. | first-party prices |
| 3 | Zoho CRM | $20 | Small sales teams that want a real CRM with a free tier and the cheapest paid entry in this cluster. | first-party prices |
| 4 | Pipedrive | $24 | Sales teams that want a pipeline-first CRM and will pay annually for the lower seat price. | first-party prices |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
A platform that publishes no self-serve price is listed last and cannot win a price ranking.
What you are actually buying
Two numbers, and neither is the headline price. Seats: every platform here charges per user, so the entry plan is a one-person number. Contacts: most charge again as your list grows, and that second ladder is where a cheap CRM stops being cheap. Read both ladders on each tool's own page before you commit to a year.
Free plans in this category
HubSpot publishes a free plan. Zoho CRM publishes a free plan.
Where the money goes
Two of the tools we track sell a small-business CRM at a self-serve price and carry a live affiliate link. If you want the pipeline, the list and the checkout on one bill, price these two first.
Cheapest real CRM here: Systeme.io
Systeme.io is free up to 2,000 contacts, then $17/mo Startup ($14/mo billed annually) for 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels and 5 courses - the cheapest way to get a pipeline, a list and a checkout on one bill.
See Systeme.io pricingIf clients need their own login: GoHighLevel
GoHighLevel starts at $97/mo Starter with 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users. It is five times Systeme.io's entry price and the only tool here whose clients can log in themselves.
See GoHighLevel pricingHow we picked
We took every CRM we track, read its published entry paid plan from the vendor's own pricing page, and sorted ascending. No scores and no 'best CRM' claim we cannot defend from the published prices. A vendor that only quotes custom pricing is listed but cannot win a price ranking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest CRM for a small business?
The cheapest published entry plan in our 2026-09-27 check is on the table above, read from the vendor's own pricing page. Remember it is a per-seat number: multiply it by the people who need a login.
Do small-business CRMs charge for contacts as well as seats?
Most of the ones here do. The seat price buys the users; the contact tier is a second ladder that usually starts biting in the low thousands.
Can I run a small business on a free CRM?
For one or two people tracking a pipeline, often yes. Automation, forecasting and shared reporting are what the first paid tier buys.
How current are these prices?
Read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-09-27 and re-checked weekly.