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Customer relationship management (CRM) software, as the name suggests, helps sales teams manage crucial relationships with clients, customers or leads. It enables salespeople to track their interactions with customers, including contact information, phone calls, emails and meetings. CRMs also provide features for managing deals and opportunities.
This may sound expensive, but there are a number of affordable and even free options available. To help you make the best decision for your business, we’ve compiled a list of our picks of the best free CRM systems for Australians in 2024.
1
monday.com
Starting price
Free (up to two seats); Basic Plan $16 AUD per user per month, billed annually
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
2
HubSpot
Starting price
Free for three users
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
To select the best free CRMs, we analysed more than a dozen of the leading options across 17 different metrics such as features, integrations, support, value for money, popularity, ease of use, user reviews and more. We then compiled a list of the seven best free CRMs so you can make the best choice for your unique needs.
Our Australian-based team then applied an additional layer of analysis and research to ensure the top CRMs were relevant to local readers.
A CRM is a customer relationship management system, which is used to help businesses organise and maintain all their customer data in one place. It’s typically a software-based platform that helps companies effectively manage relationships with both current and potential customers.
CRMs usually house important customer information, such as contact data, customer preferences and purchasing history. This helps businesses build better customer relationships by giving them service that fits their needs and preferences. For example, if a customer has recently bought a car, the CRM should be able to track that purchase and provide tailored marketing materials or upsell suggestions, such as oil changes and other routine services.
The software also allows businesses to automate tasks, such as email campaigns or automated notifications. This helps streamline communication with customers, making it easier to keep them updated on your business’s offers and changes. Additionally, they can help identify customer trends and behaviours, which can inform future marketing or product decisions.
The best free CRMs are designed to help businesses keep track of customer information in an organised and secure way. They provide users with tools for managing leads, tracking sales and staying on top of important tasks.
There are many benefits to using a CRM for your business on both a macro level and at scale. It can help save time, money and can improve the customer experience.
Here are other benefits of implementing a CRM into your business processes:
Featured Partners
1
monday.com
Starting price
Free (up to two seats); Basic Plan $16 AUD per user per month, billed annually
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
2
HubSpot
Starting price
Free for three users
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
Choosing a free CRM can be a great option for small businesses and start-ups looking to manage their customer relationships without breaking the bank. However, it’s important to understand that with most free CRMs, you’re getting a watered-down version of its offerings—what you can do with it will probably be very limited compared to a paid version. And switching CRMs can be a pain, so try to look for a CRM that can grow with you and your business.
Here are some basic steps to follow when choosing a free CRM:
It’s important to understand that with most free CRMs, you’re getting a watered-down version of its offerings—what you can do with it will probably be very limited compared to a paid version. And switching CRMs can be a pain, so try to look for a CRM that can grow with you
When choosing a CRM, look for features important to your business. Most include the following:
CRM software comes in different types, each with its own set of features and capabilities, designed to assist businesses in effectively managing customer relationships, improving customer satisfaction and driving revenue growth. Below, we’ll delve into the three primary types of CRMs: Collaborative, Operational and Analytical.
Free CRM software can be an attractive option for businesses looking to manage their customer relationships without incurring additional expenses. However, free the software often lacks advanced features and functionalities that are available in paid versions. Here are some common features that free CRMs may lack compared to paid solutions:
If a business is working with limited resources and desires an uncomplicated CRM system to maintain its customer relations, choosing a free CRM may be the wisest choice.
On the other hand, if a business has more advanced needs, such as extensive customisation, comprehensive reporting and analytics or integration with other tools, a paid CRM solution may provide the necessary features and functionalities to meet those needs.
Additionally, paid CRMs often offer more robust customer support, which can be critical for businesses that rely heavily on their CRM software to manage their operations. Ultimately, the decision to choose a free or paid CRM solution will depend on the specific needs and resources of the business.
When analysing the best free CRM software available, Forbes Advisor considered an array of factors, including features, customer support, ease of use, user experiences and integrations. Assigning a weighted score to each value, we then narrowed the field to the seven best free CRMs on the market.
While not every CRM on this list includes each of these features, many do or have enough value-added benefits to make up for the feature that’s missing. In addition to features, we considered how user-friendly the CRMs were and what kind of customer support they offered. We also analysed user reviews, to get a sense of what real users thought of the CRMs.
First and foremost, every provider had to offer a free plan in order to qualify for our best free CRM list. However, not all free plans are created equal, so we considered factors such as how many users are included with the free version, how much storage is included and any other limitations. We also considered the cost of premium plans as businesses often grow out of free plans and it’s important to choose a CRM that offers budget-friendly paid plans for when you need more features.
The first set of features we considered in evaluating the best free CRMs were core features such as pipeline management, analytics tools, integrations, customisable dashboards, the availability of a document library and a mobile app. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.
The second set of features we considered were additional features that were not included in the general features category, such as email marketing and multi-currency support. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.
The third set of features we considered were reviews and recognition. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.
Lastly, we considered our own expertise from first-hand experience using these CRMs. This category includes factors such as value for price, popularity and ease of use. We also looked at availability internationally—there was no point including a CRM that Australian users cannot access.
To calculate the total score for each CRM, we added up the scores for each criterion and multiplied by the corresponding weight. The maximum total score for each CRM was 5.00.
We used this methodology to ensure that the best free CRMs were chosen based on a comprehensive evaluation of their features and user experiences.
Additional research by Anna Rey
There are a number of high-quality CRMs to choose from with free plans, and the best one for you will depend on your needs and the size of your business. A few examples, however, include:
CRM automation refers to the use of technology to automate repetitive tasks and processes within a CRM system. This includes automating tasks such as data entry, lead capture, follow-up emails and appointment scheduling, allowing sales and marketing teams to focus on more high-value tasks.
Some benefits of using a CRM include sales automation, contact management, email tracking, prospect tracking and pipeline management.
A CRM works by tracking and managing customer and prospect interactions in one central location. This can include contact information, sales interactions, meeting notes and more.
An open-source CRM offers businesses a high level of customisation. Instead of being developed and controlled by one company, it consists of a source code published publicly and shared by users and developers all around the world.
What makes an open-source CRM beneficial is that anyone with the know-how can “open up” the software themselves and change features, interface elements and virtually anything else as they see fit.
The fun (and useful application) in using public source code is that businesses can tweak and update it however is seen fit based on the design and growth of the company. Open-source software, such as a CRM, is ideal for niche businesses requiring specific features not offered by the large traditional platforms.
No. There are plenty of cloud CRM solutions that information technology (IT) novices can employ. You don’t have to make a large investment in physical IT infrastructure or hire IT staff to manage your CRM. Many CRM solutions are available as software as a service (SaaS), which means that you only pay for what you use and can stop using it at any time.
No, Google does not have a free CRM or even a paid version. However, if you’re a fan of Google products, you can always use Google Workspace tools, such as the contacts and its calendar features, as a basic CRM, but it is not as comprehensive as dedicated CRMs.
Yes, there are. A number of popular CRMs, such as monday.com and Zoho CRM offer free versions, but these are limited in their scope and usability. It’s best to think of a free CRM as a trial-run before you advance to the company’s paid version.
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