A free CRM is enough for a team of two or three people who run deals in one tool and don't need to connect them to invoices or stock. HubSpot Free lets in two users and 1,000 contacts, Zoho CRM Free three users, Odoo One App Free an unlimited number of people but only one module. Pipedrive and Raynet have no free plan. You hit the limit when a fourth salesperson arrives, or when you want to issue a quote from the CRM. Here we cover only the limits of free plans, not a comparison of paid ones.
- HubSpot Free lets in 2 users, Zoho CRM Free 3, Odoo One App Free unlimited, but only one module.
- Pipedrive and Raynet have no free plan.
- Zoho Free allows 10 exports of data, klientbox Free contains no export.
- Before you load your history, test the export and find out where the data lives.
A free plan is a cheaper version of the paid system. The vendor offers it so that you get used to the system and move to a paid version as the firm grows. That is how it works and there is nothing wrong with it. What matters is knowing where the limits lie before you load three years of sales history into the system. All figures below come from the vendors' websites of 25 October 2026.
What you get for free
| System | Free users | What the vendor states | What lies beyond the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Free | 2 | 1,000 contacts, contacts, companies and deals, data exchange with other programs | Starter for up to 10 users (7 EUR per seat per month in a promotion), Professional 90 EUR per seat |
| Zoho CRM Free | 3 | permanently free, 10 data exports, 5,000 API calls a day, 10 custom email templates | paid editions, we couldn't find their prices |
| Odoo One App Free | unlimited | one module, CRM for example, and the modules it depends on | another module means a paid plan, 33.90 EUR per user per month on Custom |
| Pipedrive | none | 14-day trial without a card | Lite 14 EUR per user per month with annual billing, excluding VAT |
| Raynet | none | the price list shows no free plan, the page has a Try for free button | START 449 CZK per user account per month |
HubSpot's help pages also say that the number of pipelines and custom fields per record type depends on the subscription, and point to the product catalogue for the exact numbers. We couldn't find that catalogue in a readable form, so we give no numbers for the Free plan. Before you decide, look them up in your account under Data Management.
Where a free plan stops you
The fourth user
HubSpot Free lets in two users, Zoho three. Another salesperson arrives and zero becomes a price per seat. With HubSpot you face Starter, which the page offers on 25 October 2026 in a promotion with a 65% discount and without showing the regular price.
The second app in Odoo
Odoo One App Free has no user limit, but only one module. When you add quotes and orders to the CRM, you pay for every user. On the Custom plan, which most companies need, five people pay 169.50 EUR a month, that is 2,034 EUR a year (1,674 EUR with annual payment at 27.90 EUR per user). The cheaper Standard plan is Odoo Online without customisation, with no Studio and no second company in one database.
An export you can't take away whole
Zoho Free allows exporting data only ten times. In klientbox, which belongs to Lumenax, the Free plan contains no data export at all and CSV export arrives only with the Základ plan at 2,917 CZK a month with an annual payment of 35,000 CZK. Check the other price lists yourself: export is among the first things to try before you load your history.
An island of data
A free CRM usually knows contacts and deals, but not invoices or stock. A salesperson promises a date and then calls accounting to ask whether the customer has paid. That is our experience from projects, no vendor writes it in a price list. A tool that knows invoices and stock is an ERP, not a CRM, and how a sales process turns into an ERP is described in When it's time to move from Excel to an ERP or CRM. Our variant, the CRM in xOffice, has a base of 3,400 CZK a month for a dedicated server in the EU and 249 CZK per full user (figures from the ERP calculator page of 25 October 2026).
The data agreement
When you load clients' personal data into a CRM, you are the controller. GDPR Article 28(1) says a controller may use only processors that give sufficient guarantees. Paragraph 3 asks for a contract that binds the processor to the controller. So ask the vendor about the contract and about where the data lives.
When free is enough
- A sole trader or a two-person firm. You need an overview of contacts and quotes, not reports for management.
- You are trying out a sales process. In half a year you know what you want from a CRM, and you choose again.
- The CRM serves as an address book. You don't track deals, so a paid plan has nothing to offer.
- A venue with regular clients. A salon or a clinic needs a client file and client booking. klientbox (our product) is made for them, and its Free plan contains the client file, 10 active services and an online booking page.
Decide by the state in two years, not by today. A team that will grow counts the price of a paid plan from day one.
Check before you load data
- Count how many people will use the CRM in two years.
- Find the limits: users, contacts, modules, pipelines and exports.
- Find the price of the next plan for that number of people and multiply it by 36 months.
- Test exporting all data, including notes and attachments.
- Ask about the contract with the processor and about where the data lives.
If two or more points hit you, count on a paid plan.
Common questions
Is there a CRM that is free forever?
Yes. Zoho CRM Free is permanently free for 3 users according to the vendor's page, HubSpot states that its free CRM is 100% free and doesn't mention a time limit, and for Odoo One App Free the vendor guarantees that the chosen module is free for an unlimited number of users forever. What is limited is the number of users, contacts or modules.
Which free CRM should a small firm choose?
For two salespeople with one process HubSpot Free is enough, for three people Zoho CRM Free, and for a team that wants to add quotes and invoicing later Odoo One App Free makes sense. For a salon or a clinic a client file with online booking is a better fit, klientbox for example.
Can I leave a free CRM with my data?
It depends on the vendor. Zoho Free allows export only ten times and klientbox Free contains no export. Test the export before you import your history.
When is an ERP better than a CRM?
When you need a salesperson to see stock, invoices and the state of an order. A CRM tracks customers and deals, an ERP keeps the quote, the order, the invoice and the payment in one database.
Is a free CRM compliant with GDPR?
It depends on the contract with the processor and on where the data lives. GDPR Article 28 requires a contract that binds the processor to the controller.
Sources
- HubSpot, pricing, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm
- HubSpot, CRM, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm
- HubSpot, track CRM data limits, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/data-management/track-crm-data-limits
- Zoho, Zoho CRM pricing, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.zoho.com/crm/zohocrm-pricing.html
- Odoo, pricing, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.odoo.com/pricing
- Pipedrive, pricing, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/pricing
- Raynet, price list, valid from 15 Jan 2026, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.raynet.cz/cenik
- klientbox, price list, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://klientbox.cz/cenik
- Lumenax, ERP calculator, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.lumenax.cz/kalkulacka-erp
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 28, EUR-Lex, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679
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