9 Best CRM Software (2023)

If you are looking for the best customer relationship management software then, this complete guide is for you. Having the best of the industry can be a little challenging for everyone from beginners to professionals. This comparison guide will help you decide which CRM software is suitable for your business according to your needs.

While choosing CRM software, make sure you select the competent solution for your site. It should be able to deliver the best automatic marketing solutions. Moreover, it should enable you to manage and maintain a relationship with your customers. So, here at TemplateToaster blog, let’s learn what is CRM, its working, the best CRM software, their features, pros & cons, and then decide which software to choose or not.

What is CRM?

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a software used to organize your communication with customers. The basic objective of using CRM software is to improve your relationship with customers and companies to streamline processes. Whether you are a small company or a large organization, maintaining relationships with your customers is always essential.

How Does CRM Works?

Customer relationship management software is an integrated approach that companies use to improve efficiency and productivity. When you have a large company it gets a little difficult to manage and establish a strong relationship with each customer. And there you will see the power of customer relationship management software.

CRM stores the customer information manages and analyzes it. It lets you track every interaction with companies or individual customers. Likewise, it lets access this information anytime and plan your future strategies.

CRM software includes functionality that enables you to track customer interaction from several prospectives. They are contact forms, emails, social media, search engine. However, the exact working of CRM software includes the following steps.

Collecting Information: Of course, this is the basic step, that you need to collect information about your users. Certainly, you can categorize them as per their behavior. However, this can be done in many ways whichever you find suitable.

Storing Information: After successfully collecting the information, the next big step is to store this information at some secure place. However, a relational database is the safest centralized customer database. You can use this information anytime you like.

Accessing information: Now you have data and you have safely stored it to a central location. This information should be accessible to all your members who deal with customers to some or the other end.

Customer behavior-based Marketing: When you study your customer interaction, you can initiate customer behavior-based marketing strategies. Analyzing your customer behavior enables you to create categories with alike behaviors.

So, this is how customer relationship management software can help you boost your business. And you can use it to improve your customer base as well as your future strategies.

So, let’s now see what are some of the best CRM software we have.

List of CRM Software in 2020

1. Hubspot

2. ActiveCampaign

3. Zoho CRM

4. Salesforce

5. WP ERP

6.  Keap

7. SugarCRM

8. Insightly

9. Freshsales

Best CRM Software (Review)

1. HubSpot – Best CRM software

HubSpot is one of the most popular and widely used CRM software. It has a strong mechanism and functionalities to offer. It comes with a free CRM and various premium plans. However, it has some similar features as of many other CRM software. But at the same time, many features make it way more flexible and attractive than others.

Features

• HubSpot marketing software helps you grow traffic at a good speed.
• HubSpot sales hub software gives you deeper insights into potential customers.
• The intuitive HubSpot CMS dashboard lets you manage and create blog posts and landing pages in the dashboard.
• The built-in SEO solutions help you optimize your content.
• It comes with robust add-ons and integrations.
• It lets you track your customers and record their activities.

Pricing

HubSpot has flexible pricing plans along with one Free platform and CRM. the premium plans are categorized under Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, and Bundles. You can choose any plan as per your business needs.

Pros

• The HubSpot CMS enables you to create web pages in multiple languages.
• It gives you complete publishing control.
• HubSpot is an entirely SEO-friendly platform.
• You can easily create email templates and provide you personalized subject lines.

Grab HubSpot

Cons

• The base plan costs you $35/month for 1,000 contacts.
• The free version doesn’t include all the features.
• Reporting solutions may not satisfy some professional users.

2. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an all-in-one marketing platform designed to cater to all your small to medium-size business needs. While you can easily create beautiful and impressive emails using ActiveCampaign. It comes with hundreds of integrations to enhance your business and help you grow. You can check out ActiveCampaign vs Hubspot.

Features of  ActiveCampaign CRM software

• ActiveCampaign provides you the facility to segment your contacts and target specific users.
• It comes with the best split testing automations feature.
• It offers you quick live chat and email support.
• ActiveCampaign lets you build email campaigns and forms with ease.
• You can easily monitor social media activities and reactions with ActiveCampaign.
• It enables you to use autoresponders.
• It offers you a free account migration service.

Pricing

You can use ActiveCampaign as your go-to email marketing solution and take the 14-day free trial. In fact, the trial version also allows you to full API and integrations. On the other hand, you can enjoy the unlimited sending offered in paid plans.

Pros

• The drag & drop email editor makes it easy to create emails.
• It is one of the best and affordable CRM software.
• You can create custom forms to target specific audiences.
• You can begin with free email templates.
• Migrating to ActiveCampaign from any other CRM is pretty simple and free.

Grab ActiveCampaign

Cons

• It has a steep learning curve for beginners.
• It doesn’t have much pre-designed email templates to offer.
• There is no free plan. However, you can take the free trial instead.

3. Zoho – CRM software

Zoho CRM software is the best option to streamline and automate your marketing and sales on a single platform. It is an easy-to-use customer relationship management software. Furthermore, you can use various integrations to improve the functionality of your site.

Features of Zoho crm

• Zoho CRM provides powerful features to engage your customers through emails, social media, webinars, etc.
• It provides you amazing tracking tool to track the customer sales cycle.
• Customizable dashboard with multiple options to derive results.
• It gives real-time insights about your customers.
• The performance management features let you manage and forecast future potential revenue.
• With Google Ads integration, you can compare and create new leads.

Pricing

Zoho is a unique and robust set of software to get your business going. While, it allows you to build your relationship with customers with flexible free trials. Moreover, you can anytime switch to another plan or even can cancel the plan however you like. You may read about Zoho vs Hubspot.

Pros

• Multi-language and multi-currency support help you manage your team around every corner of the world.
• The flexibility to use the mobile app helps you grow the business everywhere and anytime.
• Quick workflow alerts while creating and modifying records.

Cons

• The free plan has limited features.
• The free plan is limited to 3 users only.
• It does not offer an on-premise solution.

Best CRM Software Compared (2023)

4. Salesforce

Salesforce CRM brings companies and customers together. Every single area including marketing, commerce, service, and sales integrates together to make one strong platform. However, various powerful features are there to ease the marketing processes. So, you use them and create a strong relationship with your potential customers with ease. Here is difference between Hubspot vs Saleforce.

Features

• Salesforce CRM can be used to organize and manage every aspect of marketing.
• With the help of easy segmentation, you can easily manage the progress of your campaigns.
• You can use the analytics dashboard to analyze the performance.
• It is fully integrated with applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, etc.
• You can use the Salesforce mobile app to make your business smart and conversational.
• Embedded AI-powered assistance to access smart information within the Salesforce record.

Pricing

Salesforce has unlimited features that make it compelling CRM software. You can quickly and easily access Salesforce without having to download it on your computer. However, you can take the 30-day free trial to get used to with its feature before you purchase any premium plan. There are four premium plans and three add-ons to choose from.

Pros

• Easy synchronization of emails, contacts, and calendar.
• You can use the built-in email templates, signup forms, social media integration, auto-responders.
• Easy customer action anticipation based on their previous activities.
• It provides real-time interaction management.

Cons

• Being a vast CRM the interface is not so intuitive as compared to other CRM solutions.
• It requires training to get used to Salesforce.
• The price structure varies based on the number of users you choose to include.

5. WP ERP

WP ERP CRM is definitely one of the most feature-rich, free, and open-source customer management tools for WordPress right now. Its 10000+ active installations worldwide already prove its popularity, stability, and reliability that it holds among the users currently. The plugin comes with three separate modules including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRM), and Accounting. All its three modules are surprisingly fast and elegantly stores the contacts, records and help you convert the leads into your paying customers in a quick time. It is known to be one of the most cost-effective yet powerful CRM solution plugins available for WordPress. Moreover, it consists of a number of useful features that cover all the important sectors of managing your CRM, HRM, and Accounting needs.

Features

• View contact with customer life state
• Log the interaction details of every customer
• Easy task assigning to team members
• Get to maintain a personalized approach with each customer
• Integrate with a number of powerful extensions
• Use the CRM module to directly schedule meeting/call
• Advanced contacts filtration using attribute related keyword

Pricing

WP ERP Pro has a very flexible user-wise monthly/yearly pricing plan. For the monthly subscription, the customer needs to pay $9.99 + the amount for the number of users. That means, if you choose the monthly Pro package for 10 users, then you need to pay ( $9.99 + 10*3 = $39.99 ). Moreover, if you want to use premium CRM extensions then the price will get adjusted accordingly based on the number of users you select.

When it comes to the yearly subscription, the WP ERP Pro pricing changes. If you buy the same Pro package with the same number of users, you had to initially pay $479.88/yr. However, we are giving 2 months discount to every customer.

So, now the customers need to pay $399.90 for the yearly package.

➜Grab WP ERP CRM Now

Pros

• Completely streamlined customer relationship management process 
• Easily follow up & track queries with leads, clients & subscribers
• Feature-rich open-source WordPress CRM solution to build long-lasting relationships
• Comes with both free and pro version
• Integrated mailing system to communicate better with users, leads & subscribers
• Comprehensive customer reporting for better analysis

Cons

• Only WordPress based solution
• UI has scope for improvements
• Only free demo available, no free trial option

6. Keap

Keap is another complete platform that provides you with CRM, sales, and marketing automation features and functionality under one roof. It provides you amazing features to track prospects and customers. Moreover, it comes with features such as client management, messages, appointments, marketing automation, sales pipelines, invoice & payments.

Features

• It is a multi-channel platform to boost your business.
• You can easily use multiple channels such as email marketing, client schedule, SMS marketing, and more.
• Keap has a wide range of integrations to offer.
• Keap lets you handle all the subscriptions, order, and clients under contact records.
• It enables you to segment your contact list based on their recent and recurring activities.
• You can easily create a repeatable sales process with automatic emails.

Pricing

Keap is an all-in-one platform and currently, it is offering a one-month free trial with every plan you choose. Every plan has a different set of features and functionalities. Things such as contact import, email migration, workflow management, etc. can be easily accessible with Keap.

Pros

• Amazing campaign management feature.
• The email builder is quick and simple to use.
• Keap has limitations on data-size.
• Flexible and customizable marketing campaigns.

Grab Keap

Cons

• It has a steep learning curve for newbies.
• Some may find it a little pricey.
• UI has room for improvements.

7. SugarCRM

SugarCRM is a highly user-friendly solution to make the most complex customer process simple to manage. Over 2 million people across 120 countries use SugarCRM to fuel their customer experiences. While this robust marketing automation platform helps you drive alignments with sales.

Features

• SugarCRM provides a powerful marketing, sales, customer service, on-premise CRM for enterprise, on-premise for SMB software.
• It provides various useful features at affordable prices.
• You can use the built-in advertising and social platforms to attract traffic.
• SugarCRM enables you to create professional-looking landing pages, emails, and conversion forms.
• You can use the pre-designed email templates or can create your own templates using drag & drop builder.
• You can easily create multi-step nurture campaigns.

8. Insightly

Insightly is a customer relationship management software with several platforms to meet all the marketing needs. It is also a good option to reach the right customers at the right time. You can increase productivity with Insightly, using its automating workflows. It has various powerful integrations to make things easy and accessible.

Feature

• Insightly lets you streamline your business processes.
• Use the Insightly mobile app to create campaigns on the go.
• Stay connected and other useful solutions for track accounting, email marketing, and so.
• It gives you two-factor authentication as well.
• It has a great notification and reminder features.
• Powerful email marketing and SMS marketing features.

9. Freshsales

Freshsales is a cloud-based customer relationship management software. It offers tons of built-in features to help to maximize the overall productivity of your business. Moreover, Freshsales has impressive features including one-click phone, lead tracking, and sales. It lets you send bulk emails and manage them.

Features

• It provides you, 360° customer view for better understanding.
• You can use the simple drag & drop navigation.
• It provides you real-time notifications on email for opens and clicks.
• There are plenty of custom email templates to choose from.
• You may use the calendar in sales CRM to view and schedule meetings.
• Setting up Freshsales is pretty simple.

Choosing the Best CRM Software: How I Ranked & Compared CRM Software

Certain things need to be considered when it comes to CRM. And in this comparison guide, when I tested and compared the aforementioned software, I have kept all things in mind.

Ease of Use

Certainly, ease of use is an essential part of any process. No matter which platform you choose for your business, if it is not easy to use, it won’t be of any use to you. The simplicity of any CRM software would surely be its USP. And this feature was indeed my first priority when I was comparing the best CRM software for you.

Reporting

A great CRM software provides you with reporting features across a variety of data. How your email marketing campaigns, SMS campaigns, click rate, open rate, etc. works and affect your future planning. Thus, CRM software should be able to report you with useful data.

Customization

Every business is a little different from the other. And so are their needs. Thus, the need for customization will vary depending on the business requirements you have. Therefore, it makes sense to choose a competent CRM software for your business.

Pricing

We can never underestimate the power of pricing while choosing any CRM software. Even if you are greatly impressed by any software, pricing will still make a difference. Of course, you can not go over the budget just to choose any fancy software that you liked from the list.

Free vs Paid CRM Software: Are Free CRM Software Safe?

Security is the biggest concern for any business. Any CRM software provides you the convenience to interact with your customers. And this is where your business is likely to get attacks. Many malware attacks come this way. So, you need to be really careful while choosing any software for your business.

When you pick up a free CRM software that does not completely mean that it will create a problem or attract any malicious activity to your business. Even free software is made, keeping all the security measures in mind. Whereas, on the other hand, paid CRM solutions, provide you a completely secure infrastructure. Thus, it gets more difficult for hackers to seep in.

Security will always be a concern, and there is no one-fit-solution. Wrongdoers will always try to harm you and look for different ways to continue to disrupt businesses. Thus, a free solution can be attractive but it may cost you more than expected in terms of security. So, choose wisely.

The Best CRM Software: Frequently Asked Question

What is CRM software?

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software to manage a company’s relationship (all interactions) with customers.

Why does my business need CRM?

CRM software enables you to manage customers and their preferences. Moreover, you can easily track and organize your interactions with all the customers effectively.

How much CRM software costs?

There is no universal price for all CRM solutions. However, any traditional CRM will cost you more than a hosted CRM solution. A traditional CRM solution would require certain things to work properly. Whereas, hosted CRM software is already maintained and updated by the CRM provider itself.

Is CRM beneficial for small businesses too?

Absolutely yes! CRM software can be used irrespective of the size of your business. Furthermore, it will benefit you the same way it will benefit any large business.

Will CRM scale according to my business growth?

Yes! Most CRM solutions will scale according to your business growth. In fact, as you keep increasing your user list, CRM comes in more handy.

Best CRM Software – In Conclusion

So, this brings us to the end of this comparison guide between the best CRM software. Most of the solutions are complete and provide an impressive set of features and functionality in their own respective zones. So, you need to analyze all these software according to your requirements before you finally make your choice. I hope this guide can help you make your choice. So, do tell me which CRM software did you choose and how did it work for your project and business in the comments below.