Zoho CRM alternatives
CRM · www.zoho.com
Zoho CRM is a customer relationship management platform for managing leads, contacts, deals and sales pipelines with automation, reporting and AI features, offered in multiple editions including a free tier for up to 3 users.
Switching to Brevo, which covers 50% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Zoho CRM alternatives
We compared 15 products and found 4 cheaper options (1 of them covers at least half the compared features) · vs Zoho CRM Standard at $70/mo for 5 seats ($14/seat) · scenario: 5 seats, monthly billing, USD.
Zoho CRM costs $70/mo on the Standard plan at 5 seats, monthly billing. We found 4 assessed alternatives that are cheaper in this scenario; 0 of them cover at least 75% of the 10 compared capabilities.
| Product | Match | Price | Annual savings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Brevo Starter plan · missing: Email sync & tracking, Meeting scheduling, Mobile CRM app, Custom fields, Permissions & security controls marketing automation — adjacent | 50% | $9/mo how? ⓘ | $732 / year 87% cheaper | |
Less Annoying CRM Everything included plan · missing: Lead management, Sales automation & sequences, Reports & forecasting, Email sync & tracking, Meeting scheduling, Mobile CRM app sales crm — adjacent | 40% | $15/mo how? ⓘ | $660 / year 79% cheaper | |
Freshsales Growth plan · missing: Lead management, Reports & forecasting, Email sync & tracking, Meeting scheduling, Mobile CRM app, Permissions & security controls sales crm — adjacent | 40% | $45/mo how? ⓘ | $300 / year 36% cheaper | |
Nutshell Foundation plan · missing: Lead management, Sales pipeline management, Sales automation & sequences, Reports & forecasting, Meeting scheduling, Custom fields, Permissions & security controls sales crm — adjacent | 30% | $65/mo how? ⓘ | $60 / year 7% cheaper |
Which Zoho CRM alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Need contact management, lead management, sales pipeline management, sales automation & sequences or reports & forecasting?
- Brevo — from $9/mo (Starter plan)
- Need email sync & tracking or mobile CRM app?
- Nutshell — from $65/mo (Foundation plan)
- Need custom fields or permissions & security controls?
- Less Annoying CRM — from $15/mo (Everything included plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Zoho CRM has that the top alternatives lack.
- Lead management — Capture, score, and organize incoming leads.Missing from Less Annoying CRM, Freshsales, Nutshell.
- Sales pipeline management — Track deals through customizable pipeline stages.Missing from Nutshell.
- Sales automation & sequences — Automate outreach sequences and follow-up tasks.Missing from Less Annoying CRM, Nutshell.
- Reports & forecasting — View reports and forecasts on pipeline and sales performance.Missing from Less Annoying CRM, Freshsales, Nutshell.
- Email sync & tracking — Sync email conversations and track opens with contacts.Missing from Brevo, Less Annoying CRM, Freshsales.
- Meeting scheduling — Let prospects book meetings directly from the CRM.Missing from Brevo, Less Annoying CRM, Freshsales, Nutshell.
- Mobile CRM app — Access the CRM from a mobile app.Missing from Brevo, Less Annoying CRM, Freshsales.
- Custom fields — Add custom fields to records to track your own data.Missing from Brevo, Nutshell.
- Permissions & security controls — Control what each team member can see and edit.Missing from Brevo, Freshsales, Nutshell.
Price at your volume
The same comparison recomputed at three sizes. Plan caps change who is cheapest.
Feature comparison
Zoho CRM vs the top alternatives, on the 10 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Zoho CRM | Brevo | Less Annoying CRM | Freshsales | Nutshell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact management from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lead management from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Sales pipeline management from Standard | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sales automation & sequences from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports & forecasting from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Email sync & tracking from Standard | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Meeting scheduling from Standard | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mobile CRM app from Free | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom fields from Standard | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Permissions & security controls from Standard | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $70/mo Standard | $9/mo Starter | $15/mo Everything included | $45/mo Growth | $65/mo Foundation |
✓ means the product offers the capability — possibly only on a higher tier than the plan priced below it. The price row shows the cheapest plan that qualifies for our comparison scenario, with its plan name; a $0 free plan may not include every checked capability.
What Zoho CRM covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Contact management — from Free
- ✓ Lead management — from Free
- ✓ Sales pipeline management — from Standard
- ✓ Sales automation & sequences — from Free
- ✓ Reports & forecasting — from Free
- ✓ Email sync & tracking — from Standard
- ✓ Meeting scheduling — from Standard
- ✓ Mobile CRM app — from Free
- ✓ Custom fields — from Standard
- ✓ Permissions & security controls — from Standard
- ↑ AI sales assistant — only from Enterprise, not compared
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
Who switched
Anonymous: no account, no email, no IP stored. Reports are shown once a switch has 3 or more and never change ranking or order — alternatives are computed from prices and capabilities only.
Sources
Every claim traces to an official source and a check date.
- https://www.zoho.com/crm/zohocrm-pricing.html (official_pricing, checked 2026-10-26)
Frequently asked
How much does Zoho CRM cost?
Zoho CRM's Standard plan costs $70/mo in our scenario (5 seats, monthly billing). A free plan exists.
Is there a free Zoho CRM alternative?
We have not verified a free plan that fits this scenario among the assessed alternatives.
What is the cheapest Zoho CRM alternative?
In our scenario (5 seats, monthly billing), Brevo is the cheapest assessed alternative at $9/mo (Starter plan).
Does Zoho CRM have a free plan?
Yes. Zoho CRM's free plan is limited to 3 seats.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-08-26 and 2026-10-28, on the vendors' official pricing pages.