14 Best Free CRM Software on the Market in 2024

There was a time when businesses have had to use telemarketing which entails actually calling up leads and customers one by one, mailed-in marketing, and the like to drive sales and win over more clients. Now, businesses, regardless of size, can use CRM software to take care of such things and so much more that will help drive sales and growth.

All it takes is a well-plotted marketing plan along with hard-working teams from all departments and an exceptional CRM are some of the essential things that a business needs to thrive and succeed. Here, we take a look at the 8 best free CRM software on the market in 2024.

What is CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and was primarily designed to drive sales, marketing and service. It is also created to collect data from interactions with customers and store them in one place. These data are then used to help businesses to improve customer satisfaction, service, experience, and retention. In recent years, though, CRM functionalities have grown by leaps and bounds.

Nowadays, CRM software also helps companies manage and improve relationships between teams and team members, and other collaborators such as partners, suppliers, clients. Who needs a CRM? Basically, everyone who's working. But, how do you find the CRM that fits your needs?

What to look for in a CRM

Because of the wealth of available CRM software in the market, buying one can be quite an ordeal. It would be helpful to sit down with your team to brainstorm so you can come up with a list of features and functionalities to look for. Here are some of the top ones:

● Accessible through mobile

● Allows teams to communicate

● Easy, quick, and simple to set up

● Syncing contacts (goodbye, manual entries!)

● Custom reports

● Integrations

● Sales process capabilities

● Value

● Support

● Team use (everyone on the team has to be “sold” on the software)

Lastly, and probably the most important of all, CRM software does not have to cost a thing. The best of the best can be enjoyed at no extra cost. Why pay full price for a tool that you can use for free? If you can avail of all the features without needing to buy anything, that's the most ideal for your business, especially a small or a start-up one.

That being said, here are the 8 best free CRM software on the market in 2024:

1. Bitrix24

Whether you need a pipeline, lead or customer management, Bitrix24 is the best free CRM software in the market today, full stop. You can have an unlimited number of customers and leads in your database with Bitrix24’s CRM but you can also enjoy demand generation which is essential if you really want to market at the heart of the public’s needs. With Bitrix24, you’re also able to create and view comprehensive reports, dashboards, and automate processes as well for better project management. The forms, although created through the drag-and-drop method, look very professional. Bitrix24 CRM is also available to integrate with over 300 apps.

Take your marketing approach a step further by plugging your Bitrix24 CRM with your business's social media accounts like Facebook, Viber and Telegram, among many more. You can also integrate your Bitrix24 CRM with your company email so you can accomplish email marketing very easily. Complete your communication powerhouse with telephony and SMS and make sure you don’t miss a step with appointments, calendars and bookings inside the very CRM.

• Email templates for newbies;

• Ad creation;

• Team collaboration tools;

• Contact management;

• Team management;

• Lead management;

• Complete automation;

• Team collaboration tools;

• Deal pipeline management;

• Website builder;

• Mobile application (it’s still in the process of development).

Bitrix24 is a perfect solution for midsize and small businesses interested in:

• Powerful teamwork features;

• Automation;

• Scaling every business aspect.

2. Less Annoying

Otherwise known as LACRM, Less Annoying may be classified as one of the best free CRM software for small businesses. Less Annoying helps with task management, acquiring leads, and selling successfully as well as contacts and follow-up management. All of this, you can enjoy for free but even their paid subscriptions are known for being some of the most affordable.

Less Annoying may not be living up to its name when it comes to integrations because it only allows minimal integrations which some businesses may find limiting.

3. Insightly

If the thrust of your business is creating, building, and enriching customer relationships more than anything else, Insightly is the best free CRM software to try. Apart from lead routing, which keeps track of leads and interactions, Insightly is also available to integrate with a great number of other apps so you can build a robust reporting or customer relationship system. It’s compatible with mobile devices, offers customer support via phone, tickets, and email, and is user-friendly.

Insightly, however, only supports one language, which is English. They also do not have 24/7 support for users who may be working odd hours and they do not have on-premise deployment.

4. Agile CRM

Packed with project management, contact view, reporting, support/service, and timeline features, Agile CRM is right at home in our list of the best free nonprofit CRM software. With Agile CRM, users can create tickets for customers to help boost customer satisfaction and the level of service. Agile CRM can also be integrated with Twilio and RingCentral to improve the telephony features.

Your company can ace contact and project management, appointment setting, and email marketing quite well. However, Agile CRM’s free CRM software is only available for up to 10 users. They also do not have on-premise arrangements and only offer 24/5 support as opposed to 24/7.

5. SugarCRM

Clint Oram started SugarCRM company in 2004. The corporation has American offices, as well as in Mexico, Australia, Germany, and in the United Kingdom. The headquarters of the company are situated in Cupertino, California.

More than 2 million users in 120 countries use SugarCRM as global software to forecast sales through business analytics. SugarCRM is suitablr for anyone depending on the budget. It gives users a possibility to select a specific plan.

Subscription optons depend on how small or large your enterprises are. The Sugar Professional plan costs $52 per user per month, whereas the Sugar Market plan costs $1,000 per month.

Automation, tracking, and analytics will improve the social andmarketing. Besides, it will help you build stronger relationships woth your team. Don’t forgat about free generation of the Leads in Sugar CRM gathered by website and client activity.

6. Salesflare

Widely known as one of the best free CRM software for automation, Salesflare takes care of gathering and arranging data automatically. You can create a visual sales plan for your team quickly and easily with the drag-and-drop option. Salesflare also has email and website tracking, automated reminders, and a toolbox full of dashboards. You can also create email templates and send them off through Gmail and set up workflows for the whole team.

Although Salesflare’s interface may be easy to learn and understand, they do not offer on-premise setups so it may be a little tricky, if not unreliable, at times especially when someone in your team has an unstable connection.

7. Pipedrive

Five professional and experienced salesmen created Pipedrive in 2010. The main objective was to create software based on activity-based selling. They wanted to demonstrate how easy it can be to establish a customer relationship management system. It’s a CRM that makes sales a priority.

At present, Pipedrive works for more than 95,000 businesses worldwide. There are numerous online companies that have already invested in Pipedrive, which demonstrates its capabilities. For example, Vista Equity Partners showed a great interest and made a significant investment in Pipedrive at the end of 2020.

• A set of sales management tools;

• User-friendly tools to get started;

• Emergency tools for urgent technical support.

8. Nimble

If you’re a newbie in online marketing try Nible first All functions are a part of one single plan. It makes the platform stand out from the heap of other companies with their huge price tags.

You’ll hardly find a more user-friendly CRM to support all aspects of your business. Nimble, with its tools, will be helpful if your company has a significant online presence in social media.

It doesn’t matter how many tools you need for your business — Nimble always offers more opportunities to get out as much data as possible from websites and social media platforms.

How does it work? Well, it combines email contacts with the people you know on social media to create more comprehensive user profiles.

If you’re an owner of an actively developing business, remember that Nimble is a match for:

• Businesses demanding 24/7 online management and presence;

• Businesses using Office 365 or Google Workplace.

9. Zoho

Probably the most appropriate for small businesses and startups, Zoho has a simple interface making it user-friendly also with its customizable features and social media capabilities. You can also build your own workflows from scratch but very easily. You can also manage leads as well as the company’s operations and integrate with other apps, more importantly, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Zoho is also considered to be one of the best free CRM for Mac.

Zoho may be free but the free version is available only for up to 3 users. The free CRM software also does not have mass emailing features which can be a little limiting if you want to widen and broaden your business’ reach and get more leads.

10. Keap

In 2001, a successful private software company known as eNovasys, launched a project that got its name in 2003. It was Infusion Software. Later it became popular as Infusionsoft.

In January of 2019, Infusionsoft team decided to change its brand name to Keap and launched two projects: Keap Grow and Keap Pro. Over time, Keap team invested much time into advertising and targeted marketing. Their sales automation option made the project useful for more than 120,000 users.

Additionally, the company launched the Keep Going Fund. The aim was to give small businesses $200,000. It should have been helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic crysis.

Keap informs about freash leads and shows what customers see, what they click on, download, and buy. It makes the sales process effortless. Plus, the marketing staff gets a chance to follow up with each customer.

To simplify the work with the database of clients, Keap gets leads from order forms, web forms, landing pages, business cards, spreadsheets, and other sources.

There’s also a possibility to launch campaigns with welcome emails, notifications, and other data to send to new leads and returning clients with a campaign builder tool.

Keap flawlessly integrates with other apps, such as Google Calendar, for automatic reminders about events, tasks, and potential deals. You also get complete information about invoices with regular payment reminders are also here.

Follow the number of downloads, email openings, and form fill-outs resulting from your marketing targets.

Keap is among the cheapest and convenient programmes for sales and marketing. It adds up a lot to business growth. Nevertheless, it is too expensive for small firms.

11. Salesforce

With more than a million users worldwide, Salesforce may be considered one of the most popular CRMs on this list. It’s a cloud-based CRM that allows users to create visual workflows, enable contact management, and manage sales performance better, among many more. It’s one of the best free CRM for Mac whilst also being compatible with Linux, Android, and Windows. Salesforce also offers mass emailing options as well as integration capabilities with a host of third-party apps.

It’s important to note that Salesforce is not available for on-premise implementation. They also do not have live chat support so if something conks out on your team in the middle of the day, you would need a great deal of patience in waiting for support.

12. Freshworks CRM

Freshworks is a platform with a number of functions available online. It was launched in 2010 as a specific support software for customers, known as Freshdesk or Freshsales. In 2016 they renamed it into Freshworks CRM. The tool became one of the most powerful free CRM tools available nowadays. The functionality of the free version is limited, but it’s one of the best options for anyone who wants to start developing online business.

One of the main goals of the company is to create a product suibale for anyone of no skill, software expertise, and additional modification capabilities. Besides, Freshworks donates a significant portion of the company’s revenue to charity.

More than 40,000 organizations use Freshworks tools for numerous operations. The business deals with Freshworks CRM offices all over the world.

13. HubSpot

One of the biggest suppliers in the CRM market to date, HubSpot offers free CRM software for an unlimited number of users with a great number of basic features. With HubSpot, you can manage the sales process, assign and track leads, manage workflows to help improve project management and record customer interactions. All of these can be stored and accessed in one place. You can also enjoy the benefits of email marketing and integrations with MS Office and G Suite.

All of this sounds very exciting but it’s also worthwhile to note that HubSpot has limited allowances for customization so their CRM might be challenging for small

14. Apptivo

Apptivo is in the end of our rating. For one user, it provides a free starting CRM plan. Businesses get a chance to manage leads, contacts, tasks, appointments, and notes with the use of Apptivo CRM.

A user gets a possibility to keep track of the essential information about their prospects and clients in one easy-to-use system thanks to the capabilities available. Tools for managing other important company connections, such as suppliers, distributors, and workers, are also a part of Apptivo Starter CRM.

Companies can switch to paid plans for $10 per user monthly with additional payments, if they have more complex demands.

It’s one of the cheapest options with its specific imperfections. For instance, you’ll have troubles if you need to use Apptivo software in multiple languages. Besides, the tool is not suitable for you if you’re looking for a robust email marketing tool.

Nevertheless, it’s a powerful, tiny tool for small businesses willing to customize their CRM interface. Lead generation is also available here.

In closing

The market is awash with free CRM software and choosing may be the bigger chunk of the challenge. Don’t go it alone. Make sure you involve the various departments and teams in your company when making your buying decision. Everyone has to give their buy-in so you can be sure that whatever free CRM software you choose, will be highly utilized so your business can thrive.