Sales Loves Marketing
- Best for
- Small businesses moving from spreadsheets to their first CRM that want pipelines and follow-ups without a long setup
- Starting price
- $7 per user per month
- Free plan
- ✓ Yes
- Free trial
- ✓ Yes
Bigin by Zoho CRM is a simple CRM for small businesses. It organizes customers and deals in visual pipelines and puts calls, email and WhatsApp next to each record. There is a free plan for one user, and paid plans start at $7 per user per month billed annually.
Who is Bigin for?
Zoho aims Bigin at small businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets but find a full CRM too complex or expensive. Its US homepage names businesses with 1 to 20 employees, such as agencies, consultancies, real estate firms, schools, clinics, retailers and ecommerce brands. It ships with pipeline templates for industries such as real estate, recruitment, insurance and education.
Zoho describes its main product, Zoho CRM, as built for mid-market and enterprise sales teams with multi-step workflows and deep customization. If you outgrow Bigin, you can migrate to Zoho CRM in one step.
What are Bigin's main features?
Pipelines for more than sales
Team pipelines track deals stage by stage, and you can run separate pipelines for onboarding, service requests or orders. The number of pipelines grows with the plan, from 1 on Free to 15 on Bigin 360.
Calls, email and WhatsApp in one place
You can call customers from Bigin with the built-in phone or a third-party provider. Paid plans sync email and connect WhatsApp Business, so conversations sit on the customer record. Booking pages let customers schedule meetings.
Automation and lead capture
Workflows send follow-up emails, assign tasks and act on pipeline changes. Web forms turn website visitors into contacts, and paid plans pull in lead ads from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.
Zia AI
On Premier and Bigin 360, Zoho's Zia assistant drafts and proofreads emails and summarizes records, notes, email threads and WhatsApp chats. Three AI agents answer emails sent to Email-In addresses, analyze why deals were lost and suggest cross-sell offers. Premier includes 1,000 AI credits a month and Bigin 360 includes 3,000.
How much does Bigin cost?
Prices checked on 1 November 2026 from Zoho's pricing data for Bigin, per user per month:
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Records | Automations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (1 user) | $0 | 500 | 3 |
| Express | $7 | $9 | 50,000 | 30 |
| Premier | $12 | $15 | 100,000 | 50 |
| Bigin 360 | $18 | $21 | 1 million | 100 |
Paid plans have a 15-day free trial without a credit card. Zoho offers a full refund within 30 days on monthly plans and 45 days on annual plans. Local taxes such as VAT are added.
What do users say about Bigin?
Bigin by Zoho CRM is rated 4.6 out of 5 on G2 from 877 reviews at the time of checking. G2's review summary says users most often praise how easy it is to set up and use, how well it fits small businesses, and its simple, intuitive design.
The most common complaints on G2 are a lack of advanced features and automation, limited customization and custom fields, difficult imports and app connections for beginners, and fewer integrations than some users need.
When should you choose an alternative?
- You expect to need advanced customization soon. Start with Zoho CRM, or read the Zoho CRM review.
- You want to compare another pipeline-first CRM. Look at Pipedrive.
- You want free CRM plus marketing tools from one vendor. Compare HubSpot CRM.
For a wider comparison, read the best CRM systems for SMBs or browse all CRM tools.
Key features
- Team pipelines. Visual pipelines for sales, and for onboarding, service or other processes, with sub-pipelines and ready-made templates by industry.
- Built-in calling and messaging. Call from the CRM with the built-in phone or a third-party provider, sync email, and connect WhatsApp Business from Express.
- Workflow automation. Automate follow-up emails, tasks and pipeline moves, from 3 automations on Free to 100 on Bigin 360.
- Lead capture. No-code web forms, plus lead ads from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok on paid plans.
- Zia AI. Email writing and proofreading, summaries of records, notes, emails and WhatsApp chats, and AI agents for replies, lost-deal analysis and cross-selling, on Premier and Bigin 360.
- Mobile apps. Apps for iOS, iPadOS, Android and macOS.
- Zoho and third-party integrations. Connects with Zoho Books, Invoice, Desk, Campaigns and Sign, QuickBooks, Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook and Teams, Mailchimp and Zapier.
Bigin by Zoho CRM pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, one user | 1 pipeline, 500 records, 3 automations, built-in phone, standard dashboard, mobile apps and 1 booking page. |
| Express | $7 per user per month billed annually, or $9 billed monthly | 3 team pipelines, 50,000 records, 30 automations, email and WhatsApp Business integration, bulk email, custom dashboards, 10 custom fields per module. |
| Premier | $12 per user per month billed annually, or $15 billed monthly | 5 team pipelines, 100,000 records, 50 advanced automations, payment links, multi-currency, 25 custom fields per module, Zia AI features with 1,000 AI credits a month. |
| Bigin 360 | $18 per user per month billed annually, or $21 billed monthly | Marked most popular. 15 team pipelines, 1 million records, 100 advanced automations, Email-In, 5 GB File Cabinet, 1,000 bulk emails a day, 100 booking pages, 3,000 AI credits a month. |
Bigin by Zoho CRM FAQ
Is Bigin free?
Bigin has a free plan for one user with one pipeline and 500 records. Paid plans add team pipelines, more records and more automations.
How much does Bigin cost?
On 1 November 2026 Zoho's pricing data for Bigin listed Express at $7, Premier at $12 and Bigin 360 at $18 per user per month billed annually, or $9, $15 and $21 billed monthly. Local taxes such as VAT are added.
Does Bigin have a free trial?
Yes. Paid plans have a 15-day free trial with no credit card. When the trial ends you move to the Free plan rather than being charged.
What is the difference between Bigin and Zoho CRM?
Zoho says Zoho CRM is built for mid-market and enterprise sales teams with multi-step workflows and deep customization, while Bigin is simpler, costs less and takes about 30 minutes to get running. You can migrate from Bigin to Zoho CRM later.