Introduction
When you are bootstrapping a startup, every dollar matters. Spending $50 per user per month on a CRM before you have product-market fit is a luxury most founders cannot justify. The good news is that in 2026, several CRMs offer free plans that are genuinely useful, not stripped-down demos designed to frustrate you into upgrading.
We tested the leading free CRM options against the needs of bootstrapped startups: limited budgets, small teams, and the need to move fast without dedicated IT support. Here is what we found.
What "Free" Really Means in CRM
Before diving into specific tools, it is worth understanding the different flavors of "free" in the CRM market:
Truly free (forever): No time limit, no credit card required. You can use these plans indefinitely. The trade-off is typically user caps, storage limits, or branding on outgoing communications.
Free trial: Full access for 14 to 30 days, then you must pay. This is not truly free and should not be treated as a long-term solution. Pipedrive, Close, and Folk CRM fall into this category.
Freemium: A permanently free base plan with paid upgrades available. Most of the tools below follow this model. The key is whether the free tier delivers enough value on its own.
For this guide, we are focusing exclusively on CRMs with permanent free plans, not trials.
HubSpot Free CRM: Best Overall Free Option
HubSpot CRM has been the benchmark for free CRM software for years, and it continues to lead in 2026. The free plan includes up to 1,000,000 contacts, unlimited deals and tasks, Gmail and Outlook integration, meeting scheduling, and a visual deal pipeline.
What you get for free:
- Up to 2 user seats
- 1,000,000 contacts and companies
- Email tracking and notifications
- Meeting scheduler (1 link)
- Live chat widget
- Up to 2,000 marketing emails per month
- Forms and landing pages (with HubSpot branding)
- Basic reporting dashboard
The catch: The two-user limit is the biggest constraint for growing teams. HubSpot branding appears on forms, emails, and chat widgets. Advanced automation, custom reporting, and sequences require the Starter plan at $20/seat/month.
Best for: Solo founders and two-person teams who want a professional CRM that can scale to enterprise as the company grows. The ecosystem of integrations (over 1,500 apps) is unmatched at this price point.
Zoho CRM Free: Most Features at Zero Cost
Zoho CRM offers the most generous free plan in terms of user count: three users with full access to core CRM features. For bootstrapped teams with a co-founder and one early hire, this is a meaningful advantage over HubSpot's two-seat limit.
What you get for free:
- Up to 3 users
- Lead, contact, and account management
- Deal tracking and pipeline views
- Basic workflow automation
- Customizable dashboards
- Mobile app with offline access
- Email integration
- 1GB total storage
The catch: Storage is tight at 1GB for the entire organization. Mass emails are not available, and advanced features like custom modules, scoring rules, and detailed analytics require the Standard plan at $14/user/month. The interface can feel cluttered compared to newer CRMs.
Best for: Three-person teams who need a full-featured CRM without spending anything. The integration with other Zoho apps (Projects, Books, Desk) creates a powerful free ecosystem for startups already in the Zoho world.
Freshsales Free: Best AI on a Free Plan
Freshsales from Freshworks offers a free plan for up to three users that includes something most free CRMs do not: an AI assistant. While Freddy AI is limited on the free tier, you still get basic intelligent features like auto-enrichment of contact data from public databases.
What you get for free:
- Up to 3 users
- Contact and account management
- Visual sales pipeline
- Built-in email and phone
- Freddy AI auto-enrichment (basic)
- Mobile app
- Kanban board views
- Built-in chat widget
The catch: The full power of Freddy AI, including lead scoring, duplicate management, and predictive insights, is locked behind the Pro plan at $39/user/month. Custom fields and curated reports require the Growth plan at $9/user/month. However, the free tier's auto-enrichment feature, which pulls company name, website, industry, and social profiles from verified databases, is a genuine time-saver that most free CRMs lack.
Best for: Bootstrapped teams who want AI-powered data enrichment without paying for it. The built-in phone and email eliminate the need for separate communication tools.
Bigin by Zoho: Simplest Free CRM
Bigin by Zoho is designed for businesses that find traditional CRMs overwhelming. It strips away complexity and focuses on pipeline management with a clean, minimal interface. The free-forever plan is ideal for micro-businesses and solo entrepreneurs.
What you get for free:
- Core pipeline management
- Contact and company records
- Email integration
- Mobile app
- Custom fields (limited)
- Task management
- Web forms
The catch: Bigin is intentionally simple, which means it lacks the depth of HubSpot or Zoho CRM. If you need multiple pipelines, advanced automation, or detailed reporting, you will need to upgrade to the Express plan at $7/user/month or move to a more full-featured CRM. The product is best suited for businesses with straightforward, linear sales processes.
Best for: Solo founders and freelancers who want a CRM that takes ten minutes to set up and never gets in the way. If your sales process has three to five stages and you deal with fewer than 500 contacts, Bigin is perfect.
Comparison Table
| Feature | HubSpot CRM | Zoho CRM | Freshsales | Bigin by Zoho | |---------|-------------|----------|------------|---------------| | Free users | 2 | 3 | 3 | Limited | | Contacts | 1,000,000 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Limited | | Email integration | Yes | Yes | Yes (built-in) | Yes | | AI features | No | No | Basic enrichment | No | | Mobile app | Yes | Yes (offline) | Yes | Yes | | Automation | No | Basic | No | No | | Upgrade from | $20/seat/mo | $14/user/mo | $9/user/mo | $7/user/mo | | Best for | Solo/duo teams | 3-person teams | AI-curious teams | Simplicity |
When to Upgrade to Paid
Free plans are not forever plans. Here are the signals that it is time to upgrade:
- You hit the user cap: Adding a fourth team member on HubSpot or Zoho means moving to a paid plan.
- You need automation: Workflow rules, email sequences, and lead assignment require paid tiers on every platform.
- Reporting feels limited: If you cannot answer questions about conversion rates, deal velocity, or rep performance, you need custom reports.
- Storage is full: Zoho's 1GB limit fills up quickly if you attach files to records.
- You want to remove branding: HubSpot's free emails and forms carry their logo. Removing it requires Starter.
The good news: upgrading from a free plan preserves all your data. There is zero migration cost when you stay on the same platform.
Our Pick
For most bootstrapped startups, HubSpot CRM is the best starting point. The free plan is the most polished, the ecosystem is the largest, and the upgrade path scales from startup to enterprise without switching platforms.
If you have three team members, Zoho CRM wins on user count alone. And if simplicity is your priority above all else, Bigin by Zoho gets out of your way and lets you focus on selling.
Explore all options on our Free CRM category page, or compare across all price points in our CRM Software directory.
