The honest CRM comparison

Most “best CRM” lists are written by people selling something.
We show you the receipts.

Fairly Compared is an independent CRM comparison for US small businesses. We compare 39 CRMs with dated evidence: what each really costs for your team, which plan you actually need, which fees the ads leave out, and who pays us.

Our promise: rankings are commission-blind (a check in our build fails if affiliate data could change a score), every fact links to its source and date, and where a free plan or a spreadsheet is enough, we say so.

Top-rated right now

Provisional fact scores: price, features on the plan you need, transparency. Usability and support stay unscored until our hands-on tests run.

Full ranking →
#1

Zoho CRM

Chennai, India; US office in Austin, TX · SMB to mid-market, value · facts 2026-10-03
9.9fact score
free planHIPAA BAA

Low-cost, deep CRM with a free plan for three users that already includes workflow automation; Standard adds email integration, built-in calling and custom modules.

Paid plans from
$14 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$840 on Standard
Free option
free plan
#2

HubSpot

Cambridge, MA, USA · SMB to mid-market, all-in-one · facts 2026-10-03
9.7fact score
free planmandatory setup feeHIPAA BAA

Free CRM for two users plus a broad paid suite; Sales Hub Starter adds workflows and calling, while Professional jumps to $90+ per seat and a required $1,500 onboarding.

Paid plans from
$20 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$1,200 on Starter
Free option
free plan
#3

Freshsales

San Mateo, CA, USA · SMB sales teams · facts 2026-10-03
9.4fact score
21-day trial, no card

Low-cost sales CRM with built-in email, phone and basic workflows from the entry plan; Freddy AI scoring starts on Pro.

Paid plans from
$9 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$540 on Growth
Free option
21-day trial
#4

Bigin by Zoho CRM

Chennai, India · Very small businesses · facts 2026-10-03
9.1fact score
free plan

Zoho's pipeline-first CRM for very small teams: from $7 per user, built-in telephony on every plan and a free plan for one user.

Paid plans from
$7 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$420 on Express
Free option
free plan
#5

monday CRM

Tel Aviv, Israel; US office in New York · SMB to mid-market, customizable · facts 2026-10-03
8.9fact score
14-day trial, no cardmin 3 seatsHIPAA BAA

Highly customizable board-based CRM with automations and AI credits from Standard; sold in seat buckets with a three-seat minimum.

Paid plans from
$12 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$1,020 on Standard
Free option
14-day trial
#6

ActiveCampaign

Chicago, IL, USA · Marketing-led small businesses · facts 2026-10-03
8.8fact score
14-day trial, no cardHIPAA BAA

Email-marketing and automation platform first; the sales pipeline is a paid CRM add-on that needs at least the Plus plan.

Paid plans from
$88 per month, account
5 users, year 1
$1,632 on Plus + Pipelines
Free option
14-day trial

Hard truths before you pay

Computed from the published terms of 39 CRMs.

23%

more per seat for monthly billing

Median across 73 plans that publish both prices. The advertised price assumes a year up front.

3

vendors with mandatory extra costs

Required onboarding, setup fees or a separate platform license, before the first login.

5

CRMs with no public price

Mostly industry tools. You only learn the cost in a sales call.

Find by requirement

Each list only contains tools that genuinely qualify.

What changed

Price, plan and ownership changes we recorded. Full log →

  • 2026-10 Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Nonprofit pricing page now lists four editions (Core $70, Advanced $125, Sales Max $285, Service Max $285 per…
  • 2026-09-17 Close Phone number management rebuilt: personal/group number distinction removed; features previously in the Premium Number…
  • 2026-09 Shape Pricing page now shows tiers Core / Complete / Enterprise with no prices; a September 2026 third-party review (pricing…
  • 2026-09 Redtail CRM Five Orion Denali AI features announced for the Growth plan (Review Prep, Workflow Builder, Smart Search, Redtail…
  • 2026-09 AgencyZoom Enhancements to reduce duplicate policy entry and improve AMS360 policy data.
  • 2026-09 EspoCRM EspoCRM 10.0.9 released 2026-09-29 (current download version)

CRM FAQ, the honest version

Do I actually need a CRM?

Not always. If one person handles a manageable number of customers through one channel, a spreadsheet or a free plan may be enough. Check the six signs.

Are free CRMs any good?

Several are genuinely usable: Capsule CRM, Attio, SuiteCRM, EspoCRM have free-forever plans. Each caps users, contacts or automation at a different point. Compare the limits.

Why do all "best CRM" lists recommend different tools?

Partly because many are written by vendors: 25 of the 39 top Google results we checked come from companies that sell a CRM or sell to CRM buyers. See who wrote them.

What is the best CRM for a small business?

On our public formula, Zoho CRM ranks first for small teams (9.9/10). The full list shows why, and where others win.

How do you make money?

From affiliate commissions: 23 of the 39 vendors we track run affiliate programs. Commissions are removed from the data before scoring, so they cannot change a ranking. Every vendor's terms.