Editor's note, November 1, 2026: New list: 10 CRMs for startups compared on free plans, startup programs, setup time, price and public reviews.
How we choose: we research each tool on its own site, check prices at the source and read what users say in public reviews. Our method
HubSpot is the best CRM for most startups. Its free CRM covers the first two users with no time limit, it grows into marketing and service tools on the same database, and eligible funded startups can get 90% off the first year of Professional or Enterprise. If you want a flexible, modern CRM that builds itself from your inbox, choose Attio, which is free for 3 seats. If founder-led sales just needs a clear pipeline, choose Pipedrive.
Some startups need something else. folk suits founders who sell through LinkedIn and email relationships, Close suits outbound teams that live on the phone, Bigin is the cheapest simple pipeline, and Twenty is an open-source CRM for technical teams that want to host it themselves.
At this stage, the best CRM is the one your team will keep up to date. Look at how quickly you can set it up, what the free plan or first paid plan includes, whether a startup program applies to you, and what the CRM will cost once you hire five or ten salespeople. Prices below were checked on 31 October 2026 and the startup programs on 1 November 2026.
The list at a glance
| # | Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan | Team |
|---|
| 1 |  HubSpot CRM | Startups that want a free CRM now and marketing tools as they grow | Free; Starter starts at $7/mo/seat (limited-time new-customer price with an upfront annual payment; normally $20/month per seat) | Yes | Sales |
| 2 |  Attio | Startups that want a flexible CRM that fills itself from email | $35 per user per month | Yes | Sales |
| 3 |  Pipedrive | Founder-led sales teams that want a simple, visual pipeline | €14 per seat per month (Lite) | No | Sales |
| 4 |  folk | Founders who sell and build partnerships through LinkedIn and email | $24 per member per month | No | Sales |
| 5 |  Close | Startups with an outbound sales motion by phone and email | $9 per user per month (Solo, annual) | No | Sales |
| 6 |  monday CRM | Startups that already run their work on monday.com | €12 per seat per month | No | Sales |
| 7 |  Bigin by Zoho CRM | Very small teams that want a low-cost, simple pipeline CRM | $7 per user per month | Yes | Sales |
| 8 |  Salesforce Starter Suite | Startups that expect to build a large sales team on Salesforce | $25 per user per month | Yes | Sales |
| 9 |  Twenty | Technical teams that want an open-source CRM they control | $9 per user per month | Yes | Sales |
| 10 |  Notion | Idea-stage founders who want a simple pre-CRM next to their notes | $10 per seat per month, billed yearly | Yes | Sales and marketing |
How we chose
We ranked each tool on the five points of our published method, in this order. First, fit: how well it suits an early-stage company, from a founder selling alone to a first sales team, and whether the vendor offers a startup program. Second, the features that matter at that stage, such as quick setup, contact capture from email, pipelines and room to grow, taken from each vendor's own documentation and pricing page. Third, price and how clearly it is stated, including free plans, trials, seat minimums and startup discounts. Fourth, what users report in public reviews on G2. Fifth, whether the product is actively developed.
Every tool was researched on its own website and pricing page and in public reviews on G2. Free plans and startup programs count for a lot here, because most startups pick a CRM before they have a budget. Tools that are not sales CRMs, such as Notion, rank last even when they are popular with founders.
Best for startups that want a free CRM now and marketing tools as they grow
1. HubSpot CRM
Sales- Starting price
- Free; Starter starts at $7/mo/seat (limited-time new-customer price with an upfront annual payment; normally $20/month per seat)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- No
- Price checked
- October 31, 2026
The safest start for most startups. The CRM is free for the first two users, and the HubSpot for Startups program cuts the price of higher tiers for funded companies.
Why it's on the list
HubSpot's free CRM covers up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit, and includes deal pipelines, email tracking, a meeting scheduler, forms, live chat and the Breeze AI assistant. When you need more, Starter normally costs $20 per seat per month, with a limited-time price of $7 per seat for new customers who pay annually. HubSpot for Startups gives 90% off the first year of new Professional or Enterprise products, then 50% in year two and 25% in year three, to startups that raised pre-seed to Series A funding and either work with an approved partner or have verified venture funding. On G2, HubSpot Sales Hub holds 4.4 out of 5, with ease of use the most common praise.
Pros
- A free CRM with no time limit
- Sales, marketing and service on one database as you grow
- Up to 90% off the first year of Professional or Enterprise for eligible startups
- Ease of use is the most common praise on G2
Cons
- The free plan stops at 2 users and 1,000 contacts
- The startup discount covers only new Professional and Enterprise products
- The bill grows quickly with seats and higher tiers, per G2 reviewers
Who it's for
Seed and Series A startups that want sales and marketing on one platform and expect to grow into HubSpot's paid tools.
Who should skip it
Startups that need more than 2 free users or a flexible data model from day one. Attio fits better.
More about HubSpot CRM: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for startups that want a flexible CRM that fills itself from email
2. Attio
Sales- Starting price
- $35 per user per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- November 1, 2026
The strongest startup-native CRM. It builds your contact database from email and calendar, holds several pipelines side by side and is free for 3 seats.
Why it's on the list
When you connect your inbox and calendar, Attio creates records for the people and companies you talk to and enriches them with details such as funding and employee count. Custom objects and lists let one workspace hold a sales pipeline, a hiring pipeline and a partner list side by side. The Free plan covers up to 3 seats and 50,000 records, and Plus costs $35 per user per month billed annually. Attio's startup program gives 80% off the annual Pro plan for the first year and 30% off the second to venture-backed startups with up to 10 seats that apply within 90 days of creating a workspace. G2 rates Attio 4.3 out of 5 from 600 reviews, with ease of use and quick setup the most common praise.
Pros
- A free plan for 3 seats and 50,000 records
- Builds the contact database from email and calendar
- Custom objects for several pipelines in one workspace
- 80% off Pro in year one for eligible venture-backed startups
Cons
- Integration gaps and missing native connections, per G2 reviewers
- Sequences and call intelligence need Pro at $79 per user
- The startup discount must be claimed within 90 days of creating a workspace
Who it's for
Venture-backed and technical founding teams that want a CRM they can reshape as their sales motion changes.
Who should skip it
Founders who want a simple pipeline working in an afternoon. Pipedrive or folk are faster to adopt.
More about Attio: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for founder-led sales teams that want a simple, visual pipeline
3. Pipedrive
Sales- Starting price
- €14 per seat per month (Lite)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- October 31, 2026
The quickest way to put founder-led sales on a clear pipeline. There is no free plan, but the entry price is low and G2 reviewers find it easy to learn.
Why it's on the list
Pipedrive shows every deal as a card in a pipeline stage and prompts reps toward the next activity, which suits founders handing sales to their first reps. Nova prepares call briefs, records and transcribes calls and drafts CRM updates, and Pipedrive says it is included on every plan. Lite costs €14 per seat per month billed annually, and every plan has a 14-day trial without a credit card. G2 rates Pipedrive 4.3 out of 5, the same as Attio, with ease of use and an intuitive interface the most common praise.
Pros
- A visual pipeline that is easy to learn, per G2 reviewers
- Nova meeting intelligence on every plan
- A low entry price on Lite
- Connects to more than 500 apps
Cons
- No free plan
- Lead capture and email campaigns are paid add-ons
- Add-ons raise the bill, per G2 reviewers
Who it's for
B2B startups with a repeatable sales process and a founder or small team closing deals.
Who should skip it
Pre-revenue startups that want to stay on a free plan, or that need marketing tools too. HubSpot or Attio fit better.
More about Pipedrive: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for founders who sell and build partnerships through LinkedIn and email
4. folk
Sales- Starting price
- $24 per member per month
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- November 1, 2026
The lightest CRM here for relationship-led founders. It pulls contacts from LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook and WhatsApp into simple pipelines, but there is no free plan.
Why it's on the list
folk's Chrome extension adds people from LinkedIn in one click, and it syncs email, calendar and WhatsApp conversations onto each contact. Contacts and companies go into simple pipelines with reminders and notes, enrichment finds email addresses, and you can send personalised email campaigns from your own inbox. Standard costs $24 per member per month billed yearly, after a two-week trial with all premium features and no credit card. G2 rates folk 4.5 out of 5 from 346 reviews, with ease of use and simple contact management the most common praise.
Pros
- One-click contact capture from LinkedIn
- Email, calendar and WhatsApp sync
- Email campaigns from your own inbox
- 4.5 out of 5 on G2 from 346 reviews
Cons
- No free plan
- Sequences, custom objects and dashboards need Premium at $48 per member
- Missing features and email sync issues, per G2 reviewers
Who it's for
Founders, small sales teams and partnership leads who prospect on LinkedIn and work from their inbox.
Who should skip it
Startups building a structured sales team with forecasting and reporting. HubSpot or Pipedrive fit better.
More about folk: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for startups with an outbound sales motion by phone and email
5. Close
Sales- Starting price
- $9 per user per month (Solo, annual)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- October 31, 2026
The best pick for startups that sell by phone. A single founder can start on the Solo plan, and calling, SMS and email are built in.
Why it's on the list
Close builds calling, SMS and email into the CRM, so an outbound team does not need a separate dialer. The Solo plan costs $9 a month billed annually for one user and up to 10,000 leads, and Essentials at $35 per user adds team features. Growth at $99 per user adds workflows and a power dialer. Chloe, Close's AI sales agent, can call and qualify leads using the AI credits included in each plan. G2 rates Close 4.7 out of 5 from more than 2,100 reviews, with ease of use and fast support the most common praise.
Pros
- Calling, SMS and email built in
- A Solo plan for one founder at $9 a month billed annually
- 4.7 out of 5 on G2 from more than 2,100 reviews
- 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- No free plan
- Workflows start on Growth at $99 per user
- Calling and SMS usage is billed on top of the plan
Who it's for
Seed-stage startups with SDRs or founders who make many calls and send many emails a day.
Who should skip it
Startups that sell mainly through inbound marketing. HubSpot fits better.
More about Close: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for startups that already run their work on monday.com
6. monday CRM
Sales- Starting price
- €12 per seat per month
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- October 31, 2026
A good fit if the startup already uses monday.com, since sales and delivery share one platform. The 3-seat minimum makes it a poor fit for a solo founder.
Why it's on the list
monday CRM runs on monday.com's boards, so leads, deals and accounts are boards you can reshape without code as your sales process changes. From Standard, emails, calls and meetings show on one timeline, and Pro adds mass email and sequences. Plans start at €12 per seat per month billed yearly with a 3-seat minimum and no free plan, after a 14-day trial without a credit card. G2 rates monday CRM 4.5 out of 5 from 1,939 reviews, with ease of use and customisation the most common praise.
Pros
- No-code pipelines you can change as you learn
- Sales and project work on one platform
- AI agents for lead sourcing and meeting prep on the AI plan versions
- 4.5 out of 5 on G2 from 1,939 reviews
Cons
- No free plan
- Paid plans start at 3 seats
- The Basic plan caps columns per board and contacts
Who it's for
Small startup teams already on monday.com that want sales next to delivery and operations.
Who should skip it
Solo founders and pre-revenue startups. HubSpot, Attio or Bigin cost less to start.
More about monday CRM: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for very small teams that want a low-cost, simple pipeline CRM
7. Bigin by Zoho CRM
Sales- Starting price
- $7 per user per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- November 1, 2026
The lowest-cost pipeline CRM in this list, from Zoho, with a free plan for one user. It suits a tiny team that needs a clear pipeline more than a startup building a large sales team.
Why it's on the list
Bigin is Zoho's pipeline-first CRM for small businesses. The free plan covers 1 user, 1 pipeline and 500 records. Express costs $7 per user per month billed annually, or $9 billed monthly, and adds 3 team pipelines, 50,000 records, email and WhatsApp Business integration and 30 automations. Premier, at $12 billed annually, adds 5 pipelines and 100,000 records, and a higher Bigin 360 plan raises the limits further. The 15-day trial needs no credit card, and when it ends you move to the free plan instead of being charged.
Pros
- Paid plans from $7 per user per month billed annually
- A free plan for one user
- Email and WhatsApp Business integration from Express
- The trial ends on the free plan, not a charge
Cons
- The free plan allows only 1 pipeline and 500 records
- Pipelines, records and automations are capped by plan
Who it's for
Founders and very small teams that want a simple pipeline at the lowest cost.
Who should skip it
Startups that need custom objects, deep reporting or a marketing suite. Attio or HubSpot fit better.
More about Bigin by Zoho CRM: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for startups that expect to build a large sales team on Salesforce
8. Salesforce Starter Suite
Sales- Starting price
- $25 per user per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- November 1, 2026
Worth it if you know you will end up on Salesforce. Start on Free Suite or Starter, then upgrade or add products as you grow.
Why it's on the list
Starter Suite bundles a sales CRM, basic customer service, email marketing and a conversational AI assistant for $25 per user per month, billed monthly or annually, with a 30-day trial and no credit card. Free Suite covers up to 2 users with basic contact tracking. Starter leaves out forecasting, quotes, custom objects and Flow automation, which come with Pro Suite at $100 per user per month on an annual contract. G2 has no separate listing for Starter Suite, and its listing for Salesforce's sales product holds 4.4 out of 5, with a steep learning curve and complex setup the most common complaints.
Pros
- Free Suite for up to 2 users
- Sales, service and email marketing in one subscription
- 30-day trial without a credit card
- A direct upgrade path to the wider Salesforce platform
Cons
- No forecasting, quotes or custom objects on Starter
- Pro Suite jumps to $100 per user with an annual contract
- Steep learning curve and complex setup, per G2 reviews of Salesforce
Who it's for
Startups that plan to scale a large sales team on Salesforce and want to start inside its ecosystem.
Who should skip it
Founders who want the simplest tool or the lowest cost. HubSpot, Attio or Bigin fit better.
More about Salesforce Starter Suite: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for technical teams that want an open-source CRM they control
9. Twenty
Sales- Starting price
- $9 per user per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Price checked
- October 31, 2026
The open-source pick. It is free to self-host and cheap in the cloud, with a data model you control, but it has no public review base yet.
Why it's on the list
Twenty is an open-source CRM, mostly licensed under the AGPLv3, that you can run free on your own servers or use in Twenty's cloud from $9 per user per month billed yearly, with a 30-day trial. You can create custom objects, fields and views without code, sync Google or Microsoft email and calendars, and build workflows. Developers get an API, a TypeScript apps framework and an MCP server so AI assistants can read and write CRM data. Twenty had no G2 listing at the time of checking, so there is little public user feedback to go on.
Pros
- Free to self-host, with the code on GitHub
- A cloud plan from $9 per user per month billed yearly
- A custom data model without code
- API, apps framework and MCP server for developers
Cons
- No G2 listing and few public reviews
- Self-hosting needs technical skills
- Files marked Enterprise need a paid licence for production use
Who it's for
Technical founding teams that want to own their CRM data and extend it with code.
Who should skip it
Non-technical teams that want a proven CRM with no setup. HubSpot or Pipedrive fit better.
More about Twenty: pricing, features and alternatives
Best for idea-stage founders who want a simple pre-CRM next to their notes
10. Notion
Sales and marketing- Starting price
- $10 per seat per month, billed yearly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- No
- Price checked
- November 1, 2026
Fine as a pre-CRM before you have a real pipeline. Move to a dedicated CRM once a team is tracking deals.
Why it's on the list
A Notion database can hold contacts, companies and deals as rows with statuses and owners, shown as a table or a board, and every record is a page for call notes. Notion's template gallery has a CRM category with many free templates, so a founder can start in minutes. The Free plan suits a solo founder, and Plus costs $10 per seat per month paid yearly. But Notion has no built-in sales features such as email sequences, calling or forecasting, so it ranks last for a startup that is actively selling.
Pros
- Free for a solo founder
- Free CRM templates in Notion's gallery
- Notes, docs and deals in one workspace
- 4.6 out of 5 on G2 from about 14,000 reviews, as a workspace rather than a CRM
Cons
- No built-in sales features such as sequences, calling or forecasting
- You build and maintain the CRM yourself
- The Free plan limits block storage once two or more members join
Who it's for
Pre-seed founders tracking a handful of conversations next to their notes and plans.
Who should skip it
Any startup with a pipeline to manage or a first sales hire. HubSpot, Attio or Pipedrive fit better.
More about Notion: pricing, features and alternatives
Also considered
- Streak: A CRM that runs inside Gmail with a free plan; a good fit for some founders, but narrower than the tools above.
- Less Annoying CRM: A simple one-price CRM with no free plan, built for small businesses more than for startups planning to scale.
- Capsule CRM: A simple CRM with a free plan for small service businesses; the startup-focused tools above fit fast-growing teams better.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free CRM for startups?
HubSpot is free for 2 users and 1,000 contacts, Attio for 3 seats and 50,000 records, Salesforce's Free Suite for 2 users, and Bigin for 1 user and 500 records. Twenty is free if you host it yourself. Pipedrive, folk, Close and monday CRM have no free plan, only trials.
Do CRMs offer startup discounts?
Some do. HubSpot for Startups gives 90% off the first year of new Professional or Enterprise products to eligible startups that raised pre-seed to Series A funding, then 50% in year two and 25% in year three. Attio's startup program gives 80% off the annual Pro plan for the first year and 30% off the second to venture-backed startups with up to 10 seats. Check each program's rules before you plan around the discount.
When should a startup start using a CRM?
Usually once more than one person talks to customers, or once deals start slipping between inboxes and spreadsheets. A free plan from HubSpot, Attio or Bigin lets you start before you have a budget, and moving early saves you from importing a messy spreadsheet later.
Is Notion good enough as a startup CRM?
At idea stage, it can be. A Notion database with a CRM template can track a few dozen conversations next to your notes. Once you have a pipeline, a sales hire or a need for email tracking and reporting, a dedicated CRM such as HubSpot, Attio or Pipedrive does the job with far less upkeep.
Should a startup use Salesforce?
Only if you expect to build a large sales team on Salesforce and want to start in its ecosystem. Starter Suite costs $25 per user per month and Free Suite covers 2 users, but forecasting, quotes and custom objects need Pro Suite at $100 per user per month on an annual contract.
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