A free CRM is enough when there are one to three of you, you sell through one pipeline and you don't need the CRM to talk to invoicing or stock. Once a fourth salesperson joins, a second pipeline appears or someone asks "has this customer paid yet?", the free plan starts costing money. You pay in limits, in retyping between systems and, in the end, in moving to another system.
A free CRM is the free tier of a paid product. The vendor offers it so you get used to the system and move to a paid plan as you grow. That isn't a trick, it's the business model. It just pays to know where the limits are before you load three years of sales history into it.
What a free CRM gives you: free plans compared
The table sums up what the vendors state on their own pages as of 14 October 2026. Prices exclude VAT and are in the currency the vendor uses.
| System | Free users | Main limits | Next step up |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Free CRM | ✓2 | 1,000 contacts, one pipeline per record type, 10 custom properties, up to 300 exports a day | Sales Hub Starter at 20 USD per seat a month, Professional from 100 USD |
| Zoho CRM Free | ✓3 | data export only 10 times, 5,000 API calls a day | paid Zoho CRM editions |
| Odoo One App Free | ✓unlimited | one app only, Odoo Online only | a second app moves you to the paid Standard plan |
| Pipedrive | ✗0 | no free plan, a 14-day trial | Lite at 14 USD per seat a month billed yearly |
| Raynet | ✗0 | no free plan | START at CZK 449 per user a month |
The numbers change; HubSpot, for one, is currently offering Starter to new customers at a discount. Before you decide, open the vendor's price list and read what happens when you go over a limit.
Where a free CRM lets you down
Free plans aren't bad. The trouble is timing: you usually hit the limit just as the company is growing, the worst moment to change systems. These are the usual spots.
1. The fourth user or the second pipeline
Free HubSpot allows two users, Zoho three. A new salesperson joins and zero turns into a price per seat. The same goes for a second pipeline: sales next to service jobs is a common need, and free HubSpot won't do it.
2. An export you can't take with you in full
Zoho Free allows a data export only ten times. With the others you can export contacts and deals, but not the settings, automations and e-mail history in the same shape. Leaving means manual work you didn't know about when you chose.
3. An island of data
A free CRM knows nothing about invoices, stock or production. A salesperson promises a date the warehouse can't meet, and to find out whether a customer has paid they have to call accounts. Every week someone retypes numbers from one system into another.
4. The price jump
Moving up from zero isn't a small step. HubSpot's Sales Hub Professional starts at 100 USD per seat a month, so ten salespeople cost at least 1,000 USD a month. Work out the higher tier for the headcount you'll have in two years, not today.
5. Support and where the data lives
A free plan usually comes without guaranteed support. With US services, ask where your account's data actually sits. HubSpot has run an EU data centre since 2021, but an account doesn't land there by itself.
Who a free CRM is right for
For plenty of companies a free plan is a sensible, lasting answer. There's nothing wrong with not paying for a CRM.
- Sole traders and two-person firms that need an overview of contacts and quotes, not management reports.
- A start-up still testing its sales process. In six months it'll know what it wants from a CRM and can choose again.
- A company that uses the CRM as an address book. If you don't track deals, you don't need a paid plan.
- A service business with regular clients. A salon, clinic or garage needs client records, bookings and reminders, not a sales pipeline.
When to move from a free CRM to a paid one or to an ERP
Don't go by feel, go by signals. If two or more from the table apply, it's time to do the maths.
| Signal | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You export to Excel every week for a report | The CRM lacks the data management wants | List the reports you need and test them in a trial |
| Sales calls accounts to ask if a customer has paid | CRM and invoicing aren't connected | Consider a system with sales and invoices together |
| You need a second pipeline | You sell more than one kind of job | Price the higher tier for the whole team |
| A fourth and fifth user are coming | The free limit is running out | Compare the per-user price over 3 years |
| You promise dates without checking stock | There's no link to stock and production | Look for an ERP, not another CRM |
Checklist before you pick a free CRM
- How many people will use the CRM in two years, not today?
- How many pipelines do you need: just sales, or service, hiring, projects too?
- What does the higher tier cost for that headcount over 3 years?
- Have you tested exporting all data, including notes and attachments?
- Where does the data live and who runs it?
- Do you need invoicing, stock or a web shop connected? How, and for how much?
Where xOffice fits
A free CRM handles contacts and deals. A company with 20 or more people usually needs the quote, order, stock, production and invoice in one system. That's what we built the xOffice ERP system for, on open source Odoo. You don't pay for licences; you pay for running the server and a service fee per account. If a CRM is all you need, see the CRM in xOffice, and the implementation calculator works out what the roll-out costs.
Frequently asked questions
Is there really a CRM that's free for good?
Yes. HubSpot Free CRM, Zoho CRM Free and Odoo One App Free have no time limit. What's limited is the number of users, contacts or apps, not how long you use them.
Which free CRM is best for a small business?
For 1 or 2 salespeople with one pipeline, HubSpot Free CRM; for 3 users, Zoho CRM Free. For a service business with regular clients, such as a salon or clinic, client records with bookings fit better, for example klientbox.
Can I leave a free CRM and take my data?
You can export contacts and deals from all of these, though Zoho Free only ten times. Settings, automations and e-mail history usually don't move over in the same shape, so test the export at the start.
When is an ERP better than a CRM?
When sales needs to see stock, invoices and where a job is in production. A CRM records customers and deals; an ERP links the whole path from quote to paid invoice.
Is a free CRM GDPR compliant?
It depends on the data processing agreement and where the data is stored. Check that the vendor offers an agreement under Article 28 GDPR and storage in the EU.
