Compare CRM Software

If you're checking the market for customer relationship management (CRM) software, you may be feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. With so many different products to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start.

Comparing software doesn’t get easier with this in mind. For that reason, we provide this comparison tool where you can easily compare all the major CRM software products side-by-side. We only list the most important criteria and attributes, so you can quickly see which software is right for you.

What Is Important When Comparing CRM Software?

One of the biggest challenges in comparing CRM software is knowing what criteria to use. That's why detailed research forms the foundation of our comparison tool. We've done in-depth market research, led by industry experts, to identify the most important criteria and attributes that people should consider when comparing CRM software. Here they are:

1. Pricing

Pricing is a crucial factor to consider when selecting CRM software. Within our tool, you can compare the different pricing plans, including the number of included users, price per additional user, and availability of a free plan. Understanding the different pricing options and what they offer can help you make a more targeted decision.

Pricing Plans

The pricing plans of CRM software can make or break its suitability for a business. We showcase the different pricing plans that each provider has. From there, you can filter out which ones are too expensive for your budget. All attributes listed in our tool include the base plan, more details on higher plans are visible as tooltips.

Included Users

If your business has a large team, you'll want to ensure that everyone has access to the software. We display the number of users included in each plan for each CRM software.

Price per Additional User

If you have a growing business or plan to expand your team, you need to consider the price per additional user. We provide this information in our tool so you can easily see how much it will cost to add new users.

Free Plan

If you're just starting out or have a small business, it's essential to consider the availability of a free plan. We show you which software providers offer a free forever plan. If you’re interested in what the free plan includes, make sure to add the free plan separately to your comparison.

2. Support

Support is another critical factor in CRM software. Within our tool, you can compare the availability of different support channels, including email, chat, and phone. Additionally, we've tested the responsiveness and helpfulness of the support for each software.

Email, Chat, Phone

We display which support channels are available for each software. Depending on your preferences and needs, you can quickly see which support channels are available.

Responsiveness & Helpfulness

We took the support for each software to the test and aggregated the results into the support score at the very top which also includes the available channels. The responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team can make a huge difference in how quickly and effectively you can resolve any issues that arise.

3. Features

Features are, without a doubt, one of the most important criteria to consider when choosing CRM software. Within our tool, you can compare the different features offered by each software, including the number of contacts, contact management, website forms, bulk emails, shared inbox, email scheduling, segmentation, custom fields, workflow and approval automation, pipelines, conversational bots, and outbound calls.

Number of Contacts

Depending on the size of your business, the number of contacts you can have within a CRM can determine the price you’ll pay for the software, making it a central point to compare when the price is of high relevance to you. We display the default number of contacts included in each plan.

Contact Management

Contact management is a vital feature as it makes it easier for your team to keep track of customer interactions and maintain a centralized database of customer information.

Website Forms

Website forms are essential for lead generation, and they can streamline the process of capturing potential customers' information. You can embed them in your landing pages and on your website.

Bulk Emails

Bulk emails are a useful feature for marketing and customer outreach. They allow you to send an email to all people of a specific segment at the same time.

Shared Inbox

A shared inbox can help your team collaborate more effectively and provide better customer service by having on central inbox that can be used by everyone on the team.

Email Scheduling

Email scheduling is a handy feature that allows you to schedule one-to-one emails to be sent at a later time. For example, if you remember that a customer's birthday is tomorrow, you can write this email today and have it sent at a certain time tomorrow.

Segmentation

Segmentation helps you target your marketing and outreach efforts more effectively by grouping contacts with similar traits together and sending them more personalized campaigns.

Custom Fields

Custom fields make it possible to store additional information about your customers that is not provided by default. You can collect data that is specific to your niche to keep everything as detailed and organized as you’d like.

Workflow and Approval Automation

Workflow and approval automation allows for automated routing of tasks, approvals, and notifications based on set business rules. This feature can save you time, reduce errors, and increase efficiency.

Pipelines

Pipelines help you manage your sales and marketing processes more effectively. They provide a visual representation of the sales process and allow you to prioritize your efforts and move deals through the pipeline efficiently.

Conversational Bots

Conversational bots can help automate customer interactions and provide faster service. By using natural language processing and machine learning, they can understand customer inquiries and provide helpful responses, 24/7. This can improve customer satisfaction, reduce response times, and free up time for your team to focus on other tasks.

Outbound Calls

Outbound calls are a feature provided by some CRM software that allows you to initiate calls directly from the platform. It often provides recording features and helps to improve sales calls by having the option to analyze the conversations. Recording can further be used for documentation and to track the status of leads.

4. Team Management

Team management is crucial if you have a larger team using CRM software. Within our tool, you can compare the different team management features offered by each software, including lead assignment, roles and permissions, file sharing, territory management, commission management, task assignment, and the availability of a mobile app.

Lead Assignment

Allows you to manually or automatically distribute leads to the most appropriate representatives based on criteria such as geographic location, industry, or product interest. This can help to streamline your sales process, reduce lead response times, and ensure that no leads fall through the cracks.

Roles & Permissions

Ensures team members only have access to the information they need to perform their job. By assigning roles and permissions, you can control who can view and edit certain information in your CRM system, and create a more secure environment. This can help protect sensitive data, ensure compliance, and increase trust between team members.

File Sharing

Makes collaboration between team members easier. You can share documents, files, and other information within the system, reducing the need for external communication channels. Additionally, file sharing on a centralized system can improve the security and version control of shared files.

Territory Management

Allows you to define and manage territories. This helps you optimize your sales strategy, allocate resources more efficiently, and ensure that your team is focusing on the right customers. Territory management can be especially beneficial for businesses with a large customer base or a sales team spread across different regions or countries.

Commission Management

Set and track sales commissions, bonuses, and incentives based on predefined rules and policies. This can help to motivate your sales team, increase their productivity, and improve your bottom line. Additionally, commission management can help to improve transparency, reduce errors, and ensure that your team is paid accurately and fairly.

Task Assignment

Create, assign, and track tasks within your CRM software, so you can keep your team members accountable and on schedule. It helps to increase productivity and ensures that tasks are completed in a timely and efficient manner. Task assignments can also provide visibility into team members' workloads to make better decisions about resource allocation and project management.

Mobile App

A mobile app can be a handy feature for teams that need to work on the go. It enables you to access customer information, create and update leads, manage tasks and appointments, and track your team's performance from your mobile device.

5. Reporting

Reporting is essential if you want to track the effectiveness of your marketing and sales efforts. Within our tool, you can compare the different reporting features offered by each software, including data import & export, email tracking, sales insights, A/B testing, custom reports, contact scoring, sales forecasting, and predictive forecasting.

Data Import and Export

Data import and export is crucial if you want to be able to analyze your data in different ways. Import data from external sources such as spreadsheets, and export data for use in other systems such as marketing automation tools, financial software, and customer service systems.

Email Tracking

Email tracking can help you see how effective your email campaigns are and identify areas for improvement. It helps you see who opened your emails, when, and if the contacts took further actions like clicking on a link.

Sales Insights

Sales insights can help you identify areas where your sales team is excelling and areas where they need improvement. You can also use them to find key trends and patterns in your sales data, and gain insights into your customer’s behaviors and preferences.

A/B Testing

Allows you to test and compare different versions of your marketing campaigns or website to determine which ones are most effective. It involves creating two variations of a campaign or webpage and sending each version to a different audience segment.

Custom Reports

Custom reports can help you get the insights you need to make informed decisions about your marketing and sales efforts. Tailor the reports to exactly the data you want to see and no more, to keep a clear view of the essentials.

Contact Scoring

Allows you to assign a score to each of your contacts based on their level of engagement with your brand. It involves analyzing factors such as email opens, website visits, and social media interactions to assign a score to each contact (which can be automated). Contact scoring can help you prioritize your outreach efforts, identify your most engaged contacts, and increase the effectiveness of your marketing and sales efforts.

Sales Forecasting

Predict future sales and revenue based on historical data and trends. It involves analyzing past sales data, market trends, and other relevant factors to get an idea about future sales performance. Sales forecasting can help you plan and allocate resources, and set realistic sales targets to stay motivated towards a goal and your sales strategy.

Predictive Forecasting

While standard sales forecasting gives you manual tools, predictive forecasting uses machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to predict future sales performance. It involves analyzing large amounts of data to identify patterns, trends, and other factors that can impact sales.

6. Integrations

Integrations are essential if you want to be able to connect your CRM software with other tools and services that you use. Within our tool, you can compare the different integrations offered by each software, including the number of native integrations, API access, Gmail, Outlook, Zapier triggers, and Zapier actions.

Number of Native Integrations

The number of native integrations can give you a sense of how well the software will integrate with other tools and services you use. We display the number of native integrations for each software in our comparison tool.

API Access

Available API access can give you greater control over how your CRM software interacts with customizable tools and services. If building a custom integration is important for you, make sure to look out for access and great API documentation.

Gmail

Seamlessly connect your Gmail account to your CRM system. It enables you to access your Gmail messages and contacts directly from your CRM, and sync your email communication with your customer data.

Outlook

Similar to Gmail, this integration allows you to connect your Outlook account to your CRM system.

Zapier Triggers

Connect your CRM system to other tools and services using the Zapier platform. It enables you to automate tasks and workflows between your CRM and other applications by triggering actions in one system based on events in another. Triggers start an automation. In our comparison tool, we display the number of available triggers for each CRM software.

Zapier Actions

Enable you to perform an action in one system based on a trigger from another, such as creating a new contact in your CRM (the action) when a new lead is added to your email marketing platform (the trigger). Similar to triggers, we count the number of different actions you can perform in your CRM software using Zapier.

7. Security

Security is essential when it comes to CRM software. Within our tool, you can compare the different security features offered by each software, including SSO, 2 factor authentication, SOC 2 compliance, GDPR compliance, and audit logs.

SSO

Single sign-on (SSO) can help streamline the login process and improve security by requiring users to authenticate themselves once.

2 Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication can add an extra layer of security to your CRM software by requiring users to provide an additional piece of information to log in. Typically, it requires inserting a code received via SMS, email, or an authentication app linked to a device.

SOC 2 Compliance

Ensures that the software provider has adequate security measures to protect your data. It is a set of standards developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to assess the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of cloud-based service providers.

GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliance is essential if you operate in the European Union and want to ensure that you're handling customer data in a responsible and legal way. It requires CRM providers to implement measures to safeguard customer data, such as obtaining consent for data processing, providing access to personal data, and implementing data protection by design and by default.

Audit Logs

Enable you to keep track of who is accessing your CRM software and what they are doing while they are logged in. Audit logs can help you maintain data integrity and security, by providing a record of all user activity and changes to your CRM data.

How to Compare CRM Software

Comparing CRM software can be tough, but there are some tips you can follow to make the process easier. First, identify the criteria that are most important to your business. Is pricing a major concern, or are you more focused on features and functionality? Once you've identified your priorities, use our Comparison Tool to see how different CRM software providers stack up.

To find the best solution for your requirements, it's beneficial to compare multiple options. Start with two providers, such as our suggestion from the Finder Tool and another from the Best Picks. You can then expand your comparison with other providers that interest you. There are many possible combinations, so take your time and eliminate providers one by one until you identify the optimal solution.

Get a detailed step-by-step guide on how to use our tools to choose the best software for you in How to Compare Software.

If you haven’t come to a conclusion yet and haven't tried our other tools, check out our overall Best Picks to see an overview of the best CRM software providers across all criteria. If that's not enough, check out our Finder Tool as well. Here you can answer a few simple questions, and in a few seconds, you will get a personal recommendation from us.