In search of the best free online CRM (cloud-based Customer Relationship Management tool), we tried out several solutions, here are the results:
- Highrise: easy to use, looks fine & simple. Not many features. Bit limited. Free version limited to only 3 pending deals, which makes it useless.
- Insightly: looks great. Easy to use, powerful and has lots of functionality (ex. you can import and export contacts, you can add custom fields to opportunities, has powerful search). Only con is that opportunities (or leads) are not linked to contacts.
- Quickbooks: looks great, but limited and confusing to operate. Also crashes a lot in Chrome.
- Free CRM: Powerful and lots of functionality but way too complex and confusing. Looks complicated and cluttered.
- Zurmo: looks great, powerful, lots of functionality, easy to use. Free trial is limited to 30 days, but a free offline open-source version is available.
- Zoho CRM: looks great, powerful, lots of functionality, easy to use.
- SugarCRM: looks fine, good functionality, bit complex and cluttered.
- Fat Free CRM: looks good, powerful and has lots of functionality, practical (ex. 1 click convert lead status) and easy to use. Only con is setting it up, it’s a technical hassle.
- Podio: Powerful but a bit complex to set up. Has a learning curve. Very customizable. Can be used for project management as well.
Verdict: The best free online CRM would have to be a tie between Insightly & Zoho CRM. Podio would be a runner up.
Let us know what you think the best free online CRM is.
