and how to pick the one that’s best for you
Are you looking for the best CRM tool for your business?
There are 700+ out there today (!), so it can be hard to pick the right one.
That’s why I’ll clearly explain when to go with which CRM tool. 👈
I’ll also compare the top choices by combining their review scores on several independent platforms. 🥇
Here we go 👇
Choosing and ranking CRM tools: methodology
There are three questions to consider when choosing a great CRM tool:
- Does it work for your use case and business?
- Does it fit with the rest of your sales toolset?
- Is it a good CRM tool overall?
To answer question 1, start from your exact use case and your type of business:
- Are you a small or medium-sized business (SMB) actively selling B2B? Salesflare will probably be best for you.
- Are you in real estate instead? Check out our review of Propertybase in this article.
- Are you in another type of B2C business and need something for sales? Have a look at Pipedrive or Freshworks CRM. (Or you can also check out these full lists of the best sales CRMs and best lead tracking software.)
- Are you an SMB but more focused on marketing automation? Have a look at HubSpot or ActiveCampaign.
- You want something that can do literally everything and is not built for anything in particular? Sounds like Zoho CRM Plus.
- Are you working for a company with 200+ employees? You’ll probably need an enterprise software like Salesforce.
To answer question 2, consider whether the CRM tools you are looking at are a great fit for your sales toolset. I have written dedicated breakdowns for the following:
And finally, for question 3, you can look for platforms that are well rated by their users across platforms. For this, check out the CRM tools in this list and their global review ratings.
These global review ratings are obtained by combining three ratings into one:
- Product rating, from the #1 B2B software review site (G2)
- Mobile app rating, from the #1 mobile app store (Google Play)
- Email plugin rating, from the #1 email plugin marketplace (Google Workspace Marketplace)
That way you know you get a CRM tool that performs on all fronts. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The 7 best CRM tools ranked
To compile this ranking, I went through a list of around 700 possible CRMs to make a pre-selection. Then I tested every one of the 7 selected CRM tools first hand and researched them in detail for you below.
Don’t want to read the whole comparison? 🤓
The top 7 best CRM tools in 2025 are:
- Salesflare: 9.7/10 🏆
- Salesforce: 8.7/10
- HubSpot CRM & Sales Hub: 8.6/10
- ActiveCampaign: 8.5/10
- Freshworks CRM: 8.3/10
- Zoho CRM Plus: 7.7/10
- Pipedrive: 6.6/10
Want to dig into the details? Read on! 👇
1. Salesflare [9.7/10] 🏆
Salesflare is a dedicated sales CRM tool that was built from the ground up to help your sales team build better relationships and sell more, while requiring very little of that dreaded data input.
It’s made to pull all the data together from where it already is (your Office 365 or Google email, calendar, phone, social media, company databases, email signatures, email & web tracking, …) and uses that to help you follow up your leads in a better way.
The flip side is that some companies are not used to sharing this much information within the team, although this has been changing dramatically in recent years, and Salesflare has introduced a new permissions system for companies who want to limit some of that newly created transparency.
"I have examined several CRMs. Signed up for Hubspot. Seemed good, but many limitations, and much less automation. Actually purchased a subscription for Salesforce. Seemed so cool, but a difficult integration with my Outlook for Mac Office 365, and a very large learning curve. Labor intensive data entry, compared to Salesflare. Salesflare seems much more intuitive and taking advantage of AI at tremendously affordable costs.” writes Rocco D., business developer at a building product company, about Salesflare.
Testing it out
When you jump into Salesflare, the first thing you'll notice is how much work it does for you right away. Hook up your email and social accounts, and you can watch it create a full-blown contact list on its own. You won't have to lift a finger to get phone numbers, company details, or anything else... it’ll just be there.
The tracking is awesome. It keeps a running history of all your emails and meetings with people, so you can see the entire relationship in one spot. No more "Wait, what did we talk about last?" moments. You might also get a little obsessed with the email tracking; seeing who opened your messages helps you figure out who's genuinely interested.
You'll find the whole tool is super easy to get the hang of. It’s not overwhelming, and you get a clear view of your pipeline and what you need to do next. It really will feel like having a personal assistant who handles the boring stuff so you can actually focus on selling.
Scoring
Salesflare’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 9.5
- Ease of Setup: 9.5
- Meets Requirements: 9.3
- Quality of Support: 9.7
- Ease of Doing Business With: 9.9
- Ease of Admin: 9.5
Salesflare’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 9.6/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 4.8/5 → 9.6/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 5/5 → 10/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 9.7/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan:
- $49/user/month (billed annually)
- $55/user/month (billed monthly)
Try Salesflare
If you don’t sell B2B (aka to other businesses) and don’t do active sales, one of the below CRM tools might then be a better fit for you. But, if you do actively sell B2B, give Salesflare a try.
It only takes a few minutes to start a Salesflare trial and follow up your leads in a better way.👈
I guarantee you won’t find any better CRM tool! 👌
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2. Salesforce [8.7/10]
Salesforce is the biggest CRM company in the world, controlling about 20% of the market. Its stock ticker is even “CRM” and it was the pioneer in bringing CRM software to the cloud, so I definitely can’t compile a list of CRM tools without mentioning it.
While, in the first few years of its existence, Salesforce was focused on small businesses, it has since shifted its focus on enterprises. This also immediately explains why it’s forte is extreme customizability (provided you pay a team of consultants to do that) and why it has positioned itself to be the one business software vendor that offers a solution to all your business needs.
Salesforce does still offer a solution to small businesses today, called Salesforce Essentials, a limited version of the full customer platform. Compared to other CRM tools in this list however, it lacks in user friendliness and is not really customized for sales teams.
This frustration with Salesforce is actually one of the reasons why we started building Salesflare, and – perhaps not surprisingly – why many of our customers find Salesflare while looking for a better alternative.
If extreme customizability is however your thing, or you’re working at a corporate, Salesforce might still be the best choice for you. But before signing any contract, read this guide to the small print first.
“One of the most significant advantages of Sales Cloud is its high level of customizability. As an admin, I appreciate how easy it is to tailor the platform to meet the unique needs of my organization. From creating custom objects, fields, and page layouts to building complex automations with Process Builder or Flows, the flexibility it offers is unmatched.” writes Shireen S., senior Salesforce administrator of a school network, about Salesforce Sales Cloud.
Testing it out
From the get-go, it was obvious how much you can tailor Salesforce to your needs. But honestly, getting it set up took some real effort. I had to navigate choosing modules and customizing fields, and their help guides became my best friend. It's a powerful tool, but it can feel a bit overwhelming at first.
Once it was configured, though, its flexibility was a huge plus. I was able to shape our sales pipeline and reporting to fit our team perfectly. Connecting it to other apps like Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud was also a major win, creating one central place for all our customer info. The seamless integration is impressive, but it definitely feels like you’d need a dedicated admin to handle it all.
Even with that initial hurdle, the reporting and automation made a real difference. The customizable dashboards gave me a great, high-level view of our performance. That said, Salesforce is clearly built for larger teams with more complex demands.
Scoring
Salesforce’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 8.1
- Ease of Setup: 7.5
- Meets Requirements: 8.8
- Quality of Support: 8.2
- Ease of Doing Business With: 8.3
- Ease of Admin: 8.0
Salesforce’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 8.2/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 4.2/5 → 8.4/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 4.7/5 → 9.4/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 8.7/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan (Salesforce Sales Cloud Pro Suite):
- $100/user/month (only billed annually)
3. HubSpot CRM & Sales Hub [8.6/10]
HubSpot is a marketing automation platform turned everything platform. It was founded in 2005 to make marketing automation easier.
Nowadays, HubSpot’s main selling point is offering an all-in-one solution, including marketing, sales, service and operations. If you don’t like using different apps and integrating them (using tools like Zapier and native integrations), then HubSpot might be the CRM tool you’re looking for.
“We like HubSpot generally as a CRM. It is dynamic to different selling situations, they've made great changes recently with the sales workspace, lead pipelines, etc. It's a strong tool for the widest number of sales use cases that I have come across. Small and large companies stand to benefit greatly from HubSpot as a CRM.” writes Tanner S., director of sales of a mechanical services company, about HubSpot Sales Hub.
The flip side of the coin is that HubSpot’s software is extremely expensive. Yes, it’s CRM tool is free, but it’s only practically comparable to the others in this list if you buy it together with the Sales Hub. And if you want to actually reap the benefits of the all-in-one platform, you need to pay up for the other Hubs too.
On top of that, you’ll find that the different tools in the platform do not compare to their more polished, feature-rich and usually cheaper competitors.
Actually, if you have some ideas of what functionality you need (a CRM tool, lead forms, landing pages, automated emails or maybe newsletters, …), hit us up on the chat and we’ll help you come up with the perfect sales-marketing stack. I guarantee that it’ll be better and cheaper… and easy to integrate.
Testing it out
When I tried out HubSpot CRM & Sales Hub, getting it set up felt pretty easy, especially compared to some of the more complex CRM tools out there. I really liked the clean look and how quickly I could start keeping tabs on leads. HubSpot packs a lot of different tools into one system, from the CRM to marketing automation, and they were all connected right from the start.
The CRM itself felt pretty straightforward to use. I especially liked the features for managing tasks and meetings, which made it simple to plan follow-ups and set reminders. It was great having all my sales tools in one place, so I didn't have to keep switching between different apps.
However, my enthusiasm hit a speed bump when I explored the more advanced features. To unlock things like serious marketing automation or customer service ticketing, you have to subscribe to additional "Hubs." While the core CRM is a great starting point, the platform can get pricey, and quickly, as you grow. The other downside? As you bolt on more features, the sleek, simple dashboard starts to feel a bit more crowded and complex to navigate.
Scoring
HubSpot’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 8.6
- Ease of Setup: 8.3
- Meets Requirements: 8.5
- Quality of Support: 8.5
- Ease of Doing Business With: 8.7
- Ease of Admin: 8.6
HubSpot’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 8.5/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 4.6/5 → 9.2/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 4.0/5 → 8.0/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 8.6/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan (HubSpot Sales Hub Professional):
- $90/user/month (billed annually)
- $100/user/month (billed monthly)
+ an extra required fee of $1470 for onboarding
4. ActiveCampaign [8.5/10]
ActiveCampaign is an email marketing/automation platform, founded in 2003. It now brands itself as a customer experience automation (CXA) platform, to cover its expanding range of functionality.
ActiveCampaign added a sales-focused CRM tool to its offering in 2014, as a sales focused add-on to the rest of the platform. This integration between email automation and CRM is probably its main forte.
Setting up ActiveCampaign is not a light task and its software may become overwhelming, while the CRM aspect itself on the other hand will not be as feature rich compared to the other CRM tools in this list.
When people compare ActiveCampaign to Salesflare, which also offers automated emails and email sequences, my advice is usually simple: if you’re an ecommerce company or B2C company, or you need very complex or very high volume email automation, ActiveCampaign is probably what you’re looking for. If you’re a B2B company with an active sales team and the need to automate more personal emails, then go with Salesflare.
Testing it out
When I tested ActiveCampaign, I found its strength to be in email marketing and automation. The CRM aspect, while functional, seemed to be a secondary focus. Setting it up required some effort, particularly when customizing automation flows and integrating them with the CRM.
What was notable to me was the integration between the email marketing and CRM features. I could build detailed workflows that automatically assigned tasks and leads based on how recipients interacted with our emails. This helped in nurturing leads and moving them through the sales funnel with less manual input.
On the flip side, the sales pipeline and contact management tools felt a little basic. If you're coming from a dedicated CRM platform, you might find them lacking some of the more advanced features. So, here's my take: if your world revolves around email campaigns and you want to automate as much of that as possible, ActiveCampaign is a fantastic choice. But if you're looking for a tool with deep and detailed sales tracking and reporting, you might find it doesn't quite have the depth your team needs.
Scoring
ActiveCampaign’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 8.7
- Ease of Setup: 8.5
- Meets Requirements: 9.1
- Quality of Support: 9.1
- Ease of Doing Business With: 9.2
- Ease of Admin: 8.7
ActiveCampaign’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 8.9/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 4.3/5 → 8.6/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 4.0/5 → 8.0/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 8.5/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan (ActiveCampaign Pro plan with the cheaper version of the “Enhanced CRM” add-in that only includes “Pipelines”):
- $217/month (billed annually, with max. 2500 contacts & 3 users included)
- $246/month (billed monthly, with max. 2500 contacts & 3 users included)
5. Freshworks CRM [8.3/10]
Freshworks CRM is a sales CRM from Freshworks, the company behind / initially called Freshdesk. Freshworks was founded in 2010 to provide a better, cheaper solution for customer service teams.
Freshworks’ main selling point is its feature depth. It has also managed to offer this range of functionality through an easier to use interface than its competitors/predecessors from the same city (Chennai, India), Zoho.
The flip side here is that the CRM software does feel quite bulky and that the functionality feels like its built too fast to be really well thought through. If complex software frustrates you, it probably isn’t for you.
If you’re in for its most basic plan, the price-functionality ratio is comparable to the more normally priced CRM tools in this list. The pricing however ramps up very quickly from there as you need more functionality (or more than 1 pipeline, 5 sequences, …).
Salesflare doesn’t often get compared to Freshworks CRM, but when it happens, it’s people weighing getting something that their team will love to use, against something that checks off a few more of the boxes on their specs list.
Testing it out
My take on Freshworks CRM was a bit mixed. The interface was clean and simple, and getting started was easy enough. The software offered a lot of features, perhaps even a bit too many at times. I found myself navigating through multiple layers of functionality, some of which didn't seem necessary for what I needed.
What I did appreciate was how customizable the sales pipeline was. I could easily adjust the stages to fit my sales process and set up automated reminders and notifications, which helped keep everything on track. However, as I added more features, the system started to feel a little heavy.
Ultimately, Freshworks CRM's greatest strength is also its potential weakness. It offers a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that can cater to a wide array of business needs. But if you're a team that only requires a core set of CRM functions, you might find the extra bells and whistles to be more distracting than helpful. For those who want a versatile platform and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty with a bit of complexity to unlock its full potential, Freshworks CRM is a reasonable choice.
Scoring
Freshworks CRM’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 9.1
- Ease of Setup: 8.9
- Meets Requirements: 8.9
- Quality of Support: 9.0
- Ease of Doing Business With: 9.1
- Ease of Admin: 9.4
Freshworks CRM’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 9.0/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 3.8/5 → 7.6/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 4.2/5 → 8.4/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 8.3/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan (Freshsales Pro):
- $39/user/month (billed annually)
- $47/user/month (billed monthly)
6. Zoho CRM Plus [7.7/10]
Zoho Corporation is a software development company, founded in 1996 (coincidentally in the same city as Freshworks above), which is behind an extremely wide range of software products.
It launched a CRM tool in 2005, which has historically been positioning itself as a cheaper alternative to Salesforce. And that’s immediately its biggest strength.
The pinnacle of its offering is Zoho One, which gives you access to 40+ of its “business apps” for $105/user/month (or $45 if you get it for ALL your employees). Talk about cheap!
The flip side is that Zoho’s products don’t feel user friendly. While the engineering team does churn out a lot features for a low price, the user experience is generally lacking.
Still, if you can’t resist a good deal, Zoho has a whole lot to offer you. Or, if you’ve already tried Zoho and didn’t love it, give Salesflare a try.
Testing it out
When I checked out Zoho CRM Plus, the first thing that got my attention was how many features it packed in for the price. Getting it set up was pretty easy, but actually figuring out how to use everything to its fullest took some time since there were so many tools to explore.
Zoho's ability to connect with its other apps, like Zoho Projects and Zoho Desk, was a big plus. It made it simple to keep all customer info in one central spot and manage everything from marketing to customer support. However, the overall experience wasn't as smooth as I had hoped. Some of the tools felt a bit clunky, and I ended up spending extra time tweaking the system to get it to work just how I wanted.
Still, considering the cost, Zoho CRM Plus offers a lot of value, especially for teams who want an all-in-one platform without the big price tag. But if you prioritize a super smooth and simple user experience, it might not be the best fit.
Scoring
Zoho CRM’s review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 8.1
- Ease of Setup: 7.6
- Meets Requirements: 8.2
- Quality of Support: 7.4
- Ease of Doing Business With: 7.9
- Ease of Admin: 7.8
Zoho CRM’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 7.8/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 4.2/5 → 8.4/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 3.5/5 → 7.0/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 7.7/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan (Zoho CRM Plus):
- $57/user/month (billed annually)
- $69/user/month (billed monthly)
7. Pipedrive [6.6/10]
Pipedrive is a dedicated sales CRM. It was founded in 2011 in Estonia as a counterreaction to enterprise systems like Salesforce, which are built more for enterprise needs than they are for sales teams.
Pipedrive’s power is its simple and well considered user experience, especially when it comes to its older functionality. It makes data input and keeping track of activities easier, albeit still very manual.
Its main weakness is that it has become a bit stale, with a more limited mobile app, lacking basic automation (e.g. of data input), a wonky email integration, and a set of more recent functionality that is not as thoughtfully built anymore.
At some point in time, we positioned Salesflare as “Pipedrive without the typing” (check this TechCrunch video for instance). We did this because like Salesflare, Pipedrive is built for sales teams, is easy to use, and easy to set up.
The main difference is that, unlike Pipedrive, Salesflare was built from the ground up to automate your team’s data input, which also makes it easy to keep it alive / up to date… so you can reap all the benefits you’d expect to get from a CRM tool. Because, after all, a CRM is only useful if you keep using it.
Testing it out
Pipedrive was quite simple to set up and get started with. The first thing that really caught my eye was how streamlined the interface felt. I could immediately see my sales pipeline, drag and drop deals, and set up custom stages with just a few clicks.
The platform is clearly built with salespeople in mind, and I liked how easy it was to track activities and leads without getting bogged down in endless data entry. The email integration worked well for basic tracking, though it didn't have some of the deeper automation features I've seen in other CRMs.
However, while Pipedrive's simplicity is definitely its strong suit, it also felt a bit limiting if you need more advanced features or automations. It's a great fit for smaller sales teams that want a straightforward, easy-to-use CRM tool. Larger teams or those with more complex needs might find themselves outgrowing it pretty quickly.
Scoring
Pipedrive’s G2 review scoring:
- Ease of Use: 8.9
- Ease of Setup: 8.7
- Meets Requirements: 8.4
- Quality of Support: 8.4
- Ease of Doing Business With: 8.7
- Ease of Admin: 8.6
Pipedrive’s review ratings:
- Product (G2): 8.6/10
- Mobile app (Google Play): 3.3/5 → 6.6/10
- Email plugin (Google Workspace): 2.3/5 → 4.6/10
- FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 6.6/10
Pricing
Price of the Pro plan:
- $49/user/month (billed annually)
- $69/user/month (billed monthly)
FAQ
What are CRM tools?
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools are software that help businesses manage all their customer interactions and relationships in one central place. They track contact info, sales leads, and communication history, often automating data entry to save your team time and help you sell more effectively.
Why are CRM tools important?
CRM tools are crucial for centralizing customer data, which helps you build stronger relationships and provide a personalized experience. They boost sales by organizing your pipeline, improve productivity through automation, and offer data-driven insights to help your business grow.
What are the 3 types of CRM?
The 3 types of CRM are:
- Operational CRM: Streamlines and automates sales, marketing, and service processes.
- Analytical CRM: Focuses on analyzing customer data to uncover business insights and trends.
- Collaborative CRM: Aims to improve communication and information sharing across your internal teams to better serve customers.
Many modern CRMs, like those on this list, combine elements of all three.
What are key features for CRM tools?
The most important features to look for are contact and lead management, a visual sales pipeline, automation of tasks and data entry, seamless email integration, and robust reporting and analytics. A good mobile app is also essential for sales teams on the go.
What is the best CRM tool for B2B businesses?
Based on our detailed review, Salesflare is the best CRM for B2B businesses, particularly SMBs. It’s specifically designed to support B2B sales teams by automating the time-consuming process of data entry. This allows your team to spend less time on admin and more time building relationships and closing deals.
That’s all I have for the top 7 CRM tools!
Want to dig deeper into the differences? Just ask our team using the chat on salesflare.com. We’re here to help 😄
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