Best CRM Software In 2022 [Free & Paid] 

CRM software makes it easier for companies to communicate with customers. The abbreviation “CRM” stands for “Customer Relationship Management”, i.e. for the management of customer relationships .

Orders, complaints, questions about the product – many support teams and customer services have to take a large number of calls and answer a large number of emails every day. It is often not easy to keep track. Smart CRM software can help here.

CRM software is not just a digital address book – it is much more than that. Such a program supports users by documenting communication, makes planning considerably easier and reminds them of deadlines. It also includes CRM Survey tool that are an important aid in acquiring new customers and maintaining relationships with existing customers. In general, it is about

• show the buying habits of existing customers and the needs of potential new customers,
• use marketing tools to improve customer satisfaction and purchase rates,
• to optimize the customer communication processes with the help of analysis tools,
• to improve customer loyalty through individual and targeted addressing and
• to turn prospects into customers.

9 Best CRM Software

Monday.com

monday.com has made a splash over the past few years as easy-to-use, flexible project management software. But the online tool can do more than that: it offers a variety of different templates for different purposes, including one that allows monday.com to be used as CRM software. The CRM can be adapted to individual requirements with just a few mouse clicks. It stores entries as rows in tables, the columns of which determine what types of content an entry contains. Because columns can be added and removed at will, it’s very easy to customize the CRM to provide exactly the content needed for your workflow.

Special Feature

Although monday.com also offers tariffs that can be canceled on a monthly basis, it is significantly cheaper for customers who are willing to commit themselves for a longer period of time. There is a price reduction of 18 percent for an annual contract. The Pro tariff for ten user accounts no longer costs 199 euros per month, but only 159 euros; this corresponds to a cheap 4 euros per user and month.

The standard table view is just one of the ways data is presented on monday.com . Each board can be configured with different views. The Kanban view, in which the entries are displayed as cards in columns sorted by processing status, is particularly interesting for use as a CRM. This view largely corresponds to the sales pipeline in other CRM software.

monday.com does not support computer-telephone integration (CTI) . However, there are interfaces for integrating other apps that make it possible to integrate various online telephony providers (VoIP, Voice over IP). The integration of e-mail services such as MailChimp and Gmail is also possible. So nothing stands in the way of using it as a marketing CRM.

Since monday.com offers a wide range of possible uses, using it as a CRM is particularly useful for companies or departments that already use the software, for example in project management. In this way, they save themselves the purchase of additional software and the employees do not have to be introduced to another program. By switching between different tools less frequently, a more efficient way of working can be implemented.

Pipedrive

“The CRM for your sales success” is Pipedrive ‘s slogan . It is a CRM software that is particularly useful in sales departments. Support and marketing are not the focus here. The SaaS app is available on a subscription basis, with customers having a choice of monthly or annual billing. If you pay annually in advance, you save 17 percent compared to monthly payment.

The prices are between 12.50 euros per user and month for the silver edition with annual billing and 59 euros per user and month for the most feature-rich edition platinum with monthly billing. Pipedrive Silver is a fully operational sales CRM. It includes, among other things, a calendar view, a customizable dashboard and the ability to assign permissions based on the user groups “Admin” and “Regular User”. Pipedrive Platinum is characterized by a significantly expanded range of functions. These include permissions on a per-user basis, multiple dashboards, a product catalog, and the ability to connect users to teams. The Pipedrive Gold tariffis priced between silver and platinum . It offers more options than the cheap Silver package, but not quite as many as Platinum.

Special Feature

The self-employed in particular do not always work from their office or coworking space, but also like to work on the go. The Pipedrive smartphone app accommodates this way of working . The user can use it to work on customer relationships on the train or in a café, for example. She also reminds him of upcoming appointments.

As the name suggests, the most important area of Pipedrive is the sales pipeline. It’s designed to be very user-friendly, so there’s minimal effort for sellers to manage leads (which are always referred to as “deals” in the program). At the same time, it can be easily adapted to the specific needs of users.

In addition to the pipeline view, users also spend a lot of time in the single view of contacts. There are more details to be found there than in the pipeline. The most important thing here is the timeline with past and planned activities. The latter are available for almost every lead, because Pipedrive always asks the user to create a follow-up activity after completing an activity (this could be a phone call or sending an offer, for example). This ensures that the sales team really works on every lead until it either becomes a closed deal or a rejected deal.

FreshSales

The Freshworks company’s history began around ten years ago with the helpdesk software Freshdesk . Over time, the company significantly expanded its portfolio. It now includes nine different business programs, including the Freshsales CRM software . The programs unfold their full potential when they are used together. The users then benefit from the possibility of simple data exchange between the individual components of the software suite. However, it is not absolutely necessary to use several programs; Even when used alone, Freshsales is a practical tool that primarily supports the sales department in their work.

Special Feature

A stripped-down version of Freshsales is available forever for free, which is rare for CRM software. The functionality of the free version is sufficient for many start-ups and small businesses. If the company grows later, you can switch to a tariff with more functions at any time.

As is common with sales-focused CRM software, users spend most of their time in front of the sales pipeline. Like the rest of the program, it is designed to be very user-friendly. One of the manufacturer’s declared goals is to create business software that users enjoy working with. Overall, the user interface would have benefited from a little more reduction to the essentials, but that doesn’t significantly spoil the positive overall impression. The user interface here also simply reflects the fact that Freshsaleshas a lot to offer. Despite the comparatively low price (between 12 and 79 US dollars per user and month, depending on the version), the software can keep up with much more expensive competing products in terms of functionality. Highlights include automatic lead scoring, a point-and-click interface for building intelligent workflows, and an online store for extensions and integrations.

Zoho CRM

The Indian software company Zoho specializes in office programs on the web. What started as an online competitor to Microsoft Office has now grown into an extensive business software suite. The offer includes word processing, an e-mail service, accounting software and many other office programs. The programs are characterized by a very good price-performance ratio and a simple, factual user interface. This also applies to the CRM application of the house with the simple name Zoho CRM.

Special Feature

For just €57 per user per month, Zoho customers get the CRM Plus software suite, which includes email campaign software, helpdesk software, customer satisfaction survey tool, project management software, software for… social media marketing and a few other tools. The package can even be worthwhile for users who only really use some of the programs supplied.

Zoho CRM consists of separate modules with the following types of records: Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Deals, and Activities. As it moves through the sales pipeline, records sometimes convert from one type to another. For example, a lead becomes a contact after the first conversation. How exactly the program handles this, however, depends on the user or the administrator, since Zoho CRM allows the sales pipeline and the data records to be largely adapted to one’s own requirements. It is even possible to create new modules with completely different data set types.

Five regular Zoho CRM versions are available, each with a different feature set. This includes a free trial, which is functionally very limited and can only be used by teams with a maximum of three members. Even the cheap standard version for 14 euros per month offers many useful functions such as web forms, workflow rules and a document library. Zoho CRM Ultimate marks the upper end of the price scale, which costs 52 euros per user per month. This version runs with its own database cluster. It includes advanced features like automation suggestions and email sentiment detection by the software. The prices are for annual payment. Flexible monthly billing is possible, but a little more expensive.

vCita

Of course, vCita is a CRM system. But it is also much more than that. The manufacturer sees its program as a complete solution for the management of small businesses. In addition to the CRM section, it includes modules for scheduling, billing, email, SMS and web marketing, and a customer self-service portal. This leads to synergy effects that pure CRM software cannot offer. For example, not only telephone calls and e-mails are saved in the customer history, but also incoming payments and invoices. The CRM system is even able to automatically send payment reminders to customers.

Special Feature

vCita ‘s self-service portal allows customers to book an appointment themselves. This is not only convenient for you, but also relieves the service team, which has one less administrative task to complete.

vCita is available in three different plans ranging from $29 per month to $99 per month. The tariffs differ not only in the range of functions, but also in terms of the maximum number of customers (1,000, 5,000 and unlimited) that can be managed with them. Unlike comparable web apps, the prices do not refer to the costs for individual user accounts. Instead, these are basic prices that already include a certain number (maximum five) of user accounts. Each additional user costs only 15 euros per month in each tariff.

Team Leader

Teamleader is also an all-in-one tool. Compared to other CRM software, it not only covers the three CRM core areas of sales, service and marketing, but also provides all-round equipment for the management of small and medium-sized companies. Even the basic version contains customer management, offer management, time recording and a calendar. In addition, customers can book modules for project management and support tickets as well as for invoicing.

Special Feature

The integrated invoicing relieves the user of some of the work. It automatically sends both recurring invoices and reminders and syncs with many popular accounting tools.

In contrast to individual solutions, Teamleader has the advantage that the program components are closely interlinked. For example, support tickets can be assigned to individual projects. Customer history stores all contacts so support agents can see when a customer has been recently contacted by a seller and vice versa.

Although the use of team leather by individual employees is conceivable, it is not the intended type of use. The CRM system was created to facilitate team collaboration. For example, it is possible to see not only your own appointments in the calendar, but also those of other team members. Luckily, to ensure privacy is not neglected, it is possible to mark appointments as private. Other users then only see that the teammate is not available for a certain period of time, but there are no details.

Bpm’online

With sales, service and marketing, bpm’online covers all three important areas of application for CRM software. The abbreviation “bpm” does not stand for “beats per minute” but for “business process management”. This is the English term for process management, i.e. the management discipline that deals with the control of recurring business processes.

Special Feature

bpm’online customers can choose the functional areas themselves, as the CRM system is not offered as a monolithic block; instead, it is possible to book the three modules for sales, service and marketing individually. Nevertheless, the three programs are seamlessly linked and present themselves with a common user interface. If you need all three, you can book them as a bundle.

The provider cannot advertise with low costs: The minimum purchase volume is 2,500 euros, which is quickly reached depending on the selected tariff, for example with a one-year contract for bpm’online sales for two users and the Business support level . Significantly more expensive is also possible: With the Premium support level , the same tariff comes to 14,520 euros. The term is always stated in years, bpm’online does not have monthly terminable tariffs, as is common with many competitors .

At these prices, it is clear that bpm’online is not aimed at small businesses and the self-employed. Rather, the target group is large and medium-sized companies. They receive a CRM system that is supported by a business process management platform with a graphical user interface. This makes it possible to flexibly adapt business processes across the entire customer journey.

ActiveCampaign

Some readers might be surprised to find ActiveCampaign on a list of CRM software. After all, the program is best known as an alternative to MailChimp in the field of email marketing . But the step from an e-mail marketing tool to a CRM program is not a big one, because without storing the address data of the newsletter recipients, the former would be pretty pointless. This is why ActiveCampaign also has full CRM functionality.

Special Feature

ActiveCampaign is equipped with machine learning to evaluate the collected data. It can, for example, estimate the probability of signing a contract or recommend the best time to call a customer.

As a program for sending newsletters, ActiveCampaign is known for its high degree of automation. It sends personalized messages to users based on a myriad of possible triggers. The CRM area of ​​the program can also be fully automated. Users can create complex workflows and measure their performance. Similar to A/B testing for websites, the system is able to collect hard data on the influence of different factors (e.g. waiting times or news content) on the success of a campaign.

The costs for ActiveCampaign depend on the number of managed contacts and on which of the four tariffs with different ranges of functions is selected. Each of the tariffs also includes a certain number of user accounts. If you need more user accounts than the selected tariff includes, you cannot simply book them as with other CRM systems, but have to switch to a higher tariff level. Depending on the number of contacts and employees using the program, ActiveCampaign can be significantly cheaper or significantly more expensive compared to its competitors.

Accelo

Accelo also offers more than the typical CRM. The software consists of four individual products that users can use separately or combine with one another. Accelo Sales is a sales-centric CRM that also includes email campaign capabilities and a web portal for customers. Accelo Projects is project management software that integrates a customer database, time tracking and web portal. Accelo Service includes many similar features to Projects , but instead of project management, it has support features like issue tracking on board. Accelo retainers after all, it is intended for the management of existing contracts.

Special Feature

As with the well-known social network Facebook , Accelo users can set a relationship status. However, this is not “in love” or “it’s complicated”. Instead, employees can relate to customers as “account managers,” and that relationship can be “confidential” or even “secret.”

The price for each of the programs is $16 per user per month billed annually or $19 billed monthly. In addition, with ServOps , Accelo has a product in its range that combines all the features of the other four – but does not cost four times as much, but at 34 or 39 dollars only about twice as much. Each of the five products is also available in a significantly more expensive premium version. The features that come with Premium are always the same: team-wide scheduling, unlimited record types, customizable business processes, automated triggers, notifications, and expense management.