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Best CRM for sales teams

Pipeline discipline, activity tracking and forecasting for teams with a quota. 10 picks, ranked by editor rating.

A sales team needs a CRM that reps open voluntarily. If logging a call takes six clicks, the data will be wrong by Friday and the forecast will be fiction. The tools here are built around the daily motion of selling: work the list, move the deal, schedule the next step.

For managers the test is different: can you see pipeline coverage, stage conversion and rep activity without exporting to a spreadsheet? Every platform in this category answers yes, with different levels of depth and very different price tags.

Our picks: best CRM for sales teams

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
2P

Pipedrive

4.4Editor rating

A sales pipeline first, everything else second.

Pipedrive was created by salespeople who wanted a CRM organized around the pipeline rather than around a database. The main screen is a board of deals by stage, and the whole product pushes reps toward one question: what is the next activity on each deal?

$14 per user11/12 key features
Best forSales teams that live in the pipeline view and want speed over breadth
View profile See pricing
3N

Nutshell

4.4Editor rating

A friendly all-in-one CRM with support that answers.

Nutshell is a sales CRM for small and midsize B2B companies that puts ease of use and customer support first. Contacts and storage are unlimited on every plan, and the pipeline can be viewed as a board, a list, a chart or a map of where your leads are.

$13 per user10/12 key features
Best forSmall B2B teams that want sales and email marketing without complexity
View profile See pricing
4Z

Zoho CRM

4.3Editor rating

The most CRM per dollar, if you are willing to configure it.

Zoho CRM is the flagship of the Zoho suite, a catalogue of more than forty business applications from a privately held company known for aggressive pricing. It covers leads, deals, workflows, scoring, forecasting and analytics at a price per user that undercuts most competitors by half or more.

Free / $14 per userFree plan11/12 key features
Best forBudget-conscious teams that need customization and the wider Zoho suite
View profile See pricing
5C

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
6S

Salesforce Sales Cloud

4.1Editor rating

The enterprise standard, now with a small-business starter plan.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the product that defined cloud CRM and remains the reference for large sales organizations. It can model nearly any process through custom objects, the Flow automation builder and thousands of AppExchange applications, backed by the largest community of administrators and consultants in the industry.

$25 per user12/12 key features
Best forGrowing companies with complex processes and someone to administer it
View profile See pricing
7Zs

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
8Ko

Kommo

4.1Editor rating

A CRM built around WhatsApp and messaging sales.

Kommo, previously known as amoCRM, is a sales CRM centred on messaging. It brings WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, live chat and email into one inbox, and every conversation becomes a lead in a visual pipeline.

$15 per user8/12 key features
Best forBusinesses that sell through chat apps and social messaging
View profile See pricing
9Su

SugarCRM

4.0Editor rating

A configurable sales platform for midmarket companies.

SugarCRM is one of the longest-standing alternatives to Salesforce in the midmarket. Its sales product, Sugar Sell, offers deep customization, process automation and reporting, and can be connected to ERP systems, which explains its popularity among manufacturers and distributors.

$19 per user9/12 key features
Best forMidmarket firms with detailed processes, especially in manufacturing and distribution
View profile See pricing
10In

Insightly

4.0Editor rating

A CRM with project delivery built in.

Insightly combines a traditional sales CRM with lightweight project management. When an opportunity is won it can be converted into a project with pipelines, milestones and tasks, so the people delivering the work see the full history of what was sold and promised.

$29 per user8/12 key features
Best forService businesses that need to track the work after the deal closes
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
PPipedrive
4.4$14 per userNo
11/12
Sales teams that live in the pipeline view and want speed over breadthProfile
NNutshell
4.4$13 per userNo
10/12
Small B2B teams that want sales and email marketing without complexityProfile
ZZoho CRM
4.3Free / $14 per userYes
11/12
Budget-conscious teams that need customization and the wider Zoho suiteProfile
CClose
4.3$19 per userNo
9/12
SDR and inside-sales teams that make hundreds of calls a weekProfile
SSalesforce Sales Cloud
4.1$25 per userNo
12/12
Growing companies with complex processes and someone to administer itProfile
ZsZendesk Sell
4.1$19 per userNo
9/12
Companies already running Zendesk for customer serviceProfile
KoKommo
4.1$15 per userNo
8/12
Businesses that sell through chat apps and social messagingProfile
SuSugarCRM
4.0$19 per userNo
9/12
Midmarket firms with detailed processes, especially in manufacturing and distributionProfile
InInsightly
4.0$29 per userNo
8/12
Service businesses that need to track the work after the deal closesProfile

Head-to-head comparisons

Freshsales vs PipedriveFreshsales vs NutshellFreshsales vs Zoho CRMPipedrive vs NutshellPipedrive vs Zoho CRMNutshell vs Zoho CRM

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