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Best CRM for inside sales and calling

Built-in dialers, call recording and SMS for teams that live on the phone. 3 picks, ranked by editor rating.

Inside sales teams measure their day in conversations, and every second spent switching between a phone tool and a CRM is a conversation lost. The platforms in this category put calling inside the CRM: click to dial, automatic logging, recording and in some cases a power dialer that works through a list on its own.

Look closely at how minutes and phone numbers are billed. Some vendors include calling credits in the plan and others charge telephony separately, which changes the real cost for a team making hundreds of calls a week.

Our picks: best CRM for inside sales and calling

Open a profile for the full review, pricing and the link to the official site.

1F

Freshsales

4.4Editor rating

Phone, email and chat built into the CRM from day one.

Freshsales is the sales CRM from Freshworks, the company behind the Freshdesk help desk. It combines contact and deal management with a built-in phone, email, chat and WhatsApp, so a rep can run a full day of outreach without leaving the product.

Free / $9 per userFree plan11/12 key features
Best forStartups and inside-sales teams that call and email all day
View profile See pricing
2C

Close

4.3Editor rating

Built for high-volume inside sales with calling at the core.

Close is a CRM designed for inside sales teams that reach prospects by phone, email and SMS at high volume. Calling is native: reps dial from the browser, calls are recorded and logged automatically, and the power dialer moves through a lead list without manual dialing.

$19 per user9/12 key features
Best forSDR and inside-sales teams that make hundreds of calls a week
View profile See pricing
3Zs

Zendesk Sell

4.1Editor rating

A sales CRM that shares its customer view with support.

Zendesk Sell, built on the former Base CRM, is the sales product of the Zendesk customer service suite. Its main advantage is context: a rep can see open support tickets before calling a customer, and an agent can see the deal in progress before answering one.

$19 per user9/12 key features
Best forCompanies already running Zendesk for customer service
View profile See pricing

Compare the picks

CRMEditor ratingStarting priceFree planKey featuresBest for
FFreshsales
4.4Free / $9 per userYes
11/12
Startups and inside-sales teams that call and email all dayProfile
CClose
4.3$19 per userNo
9/12
SDR and inside-sales teams that make hundreds of calls a weekProfile
ZsZendesk Sell
4.1$19 per userNo
9/12
Companies already running Zendesk for customer serviceProfile

Head-to-head comparisons

Freshsales vs CloseFreshsales vs Zendesk SellClose vs Zendesk Sell

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