10 Best HubSpot CRM Alternatives for Small Businesses

Although it may be one of the most popular CRM platforms out there, HubSpot CRM alternatives have boomed in number and quality. It's clear to see why. The digital world gives us the potential to reach the majority of the world, which makes the right CRM software an essential part of your toolkit. But the fact that HubSpot has a big name doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. Business leaders are constantly on the hunt for alternatives that better suit their specific needs.

That’s why this article is going to focus on CRM software for small businesses aiming for growth. From the most basic, user-friendly options to the expensive industry-leading solutions, all of them have their place in the lifecycle of a growing business. So, let’s take a look at them one by one, get a feel for their features, and find out what companies they’re best suited to.

FAQs

Why should small businesses consider alternatives to the HubSpot CRM?

While HubSpot offers a robust CRM, exploring alternatives can provide small businesses with diverse options that might be more aligned with their specific needs, budget, or desired functionalities.

What features should small businesses prioritize when selecting CRM software?

Small businesses should prioritize ease of use, scalability, customer data management, integration capabilities, and cost-effectiveness when selecting CRM software.

Can switching to a different CRM software disrupt current business operations?

Switching CRMs can pose some challenges. However, with proper planning, data migration, team training, and a well-structured implementation plan, disruptions can be minimized and managed effectively.

Are HubSpot CRM alternatives more cost-effective?

While HubSpot offers a range of pricing options, many alternatives may provide more cost-effective solutions, especially for small businesses. Bitrix24, Pipedrive, and Nimble all fall below most HubSpot price points in return for similar features.

1. Bitrix24: The all-in-one for small businesses

Notable features:

• Unified communications

• Excellent CRM automations and workflows

• Unrivalled native integrations

Best for:

• Small to medium-sized enterprises who want to take control of their customer relationship management with an eye for sustainable growth

Bitrix24’s CRM is a beacon for small businesses looking for the full package. At a seriously affordable price point, you get a comprehensive HubSpot CRM alternative that competes with the best. Hook your customers in with website forms and use automations to segment your audience into customizable groups. With Bitrix24, you can launch automated email marketing workflows, set up data-driven sales pipelines, use interaction history to offer individualized customer support, and unify your communications channels under one roof.

An all-in-one business platform, Bitrix24 links your CRM to your project management, collaboration tools such as calendars and shared documents, and a complete contact center through integrations. This allows you to seamlessly sync data in real time, seriously cutting down your team’s tedious tasks and significantly reducing the margin for error. That same data channels directly to an analytics bank where you can draw out detailed reports, insights, and trends about your leads, clients, and sales. The result is a personalized, professional service for your customers and a happy, motivated team.

2. Salesforce: A powerhouse among CRM solutions

Notable features:

• Fully customizable to every enterprise

• Comprehensive customer journeys

• A good range of third-party integrations

Best for:

• Tech-savvy startups with healthy budgets that prioritize customizations, data capacity, and scalability

Salesforce has long been the go-to CRM software for multinational enterprises across the world, but more and more small businesses are beginning to use it. With complete freedom to set up your customer journeys and database segmentation exactly the way you want, it offers pro-level customizations that you can scale up as you grow. Salesforce is also specialized in after-sales support and sales analytics for top companies to refine their strategies.

Unsurprisingly, all those tools come at the expense of usability. Entire companies exist simply to demystify this extensive HubSpot alternative, customizing every little aspect to provide the best service. However, if you're considering HubSpot CRM alternatives as a platform that will see you grow, the time and cost you invest now will pay dividends in the future.

3. Zoho CRM: An AI-powered CRM for SMEs

Notable features:

• AI-driven sales automation

• Easy, but professional pipeline management

• Integrated multichannel communications

Best for:

• SMEs that are looking to integrate artificial intelligence at a reasonable price

Zoho is a well-priced, feature-rich HubSpot CRM alternative aimed at SMEs looking to make their mark. Zoho provides an AI assistant, Zia, who offers lead scoring, sales analytics, and even sentiment analysis for smaller companies to get the edge on their competitors. Like Bitrix24, you can communicate with your customers via social media and email via your CRM and analyze your efforts for future improvement.

But while Zoho produces a wide range of other apps, you need separate subscriptions for each one. This means you'll pay extra to integrate your Zoho CRM software with your project management tools, for example, which can lead to spiraling costs as you grow your business.

4. Pipedrive: An eye-catching CRM software solution

Notable features:

• Great user interface

• Simplified sales pipelines

• A good range of third-party integrations

Best for:

• Smaller businesses that need an easy-to-use platform to manage their leads

After a series of feature-packed HubSpot CRM alternatives, Pipedrive is a good choice for companies who don't need all the bells and whistles, and lack the expertise for more complex CRM solutions. That's not to say it's a below-par option. You still get email tracking features to see who has opened and clicked on your messages, as well as a bunch of third-party integrations to enhance your CRM software.

But Pipedrive stands out for its simple, attractive user interface which puts it in the category of CRM systems for SMEs. It's quick and easy to learn so you can onboard new sales agents quickly. Similarly, Pipedrive's simplicity means anyone can use it, even if they don’t have experience using CRM platforms — ideal for when you need your workers to wear many hats.

5. Insightly: Connecting customer relationships and project management

Notable features:

• Native connections between your CRM and project management tools

• Good integrations with third-party apps to complement your business tools

• A customizable interface so it adapts to each business

Best for:

• Businesses that want to centralize their CRM and project management on one platform

Combining CRM solutions with other tools helps to simplify your work processes, and Insightly does a great job in this respect. Perfect for solopreneurs and blossoming businesses looking for an effective yet uncomplicated tool, you can manage your contacts in the CRM and craft action plans in the task management software. Automations between the two apps allow you to streamline your workflows, automate your marketing efforts, and convert leads into projects after closing deals.

Despite being aimed at companies of all sizes, Insightly is a more expensive option than comparable HubSpot CRM alternatives on this list. Although it has extras like marketing and customer service options for businesses to scale up, these add-ons come at a considerable cost that makes many users think twice.

6. Nimble: A CRM with a focus on social media

Notable features:

• Powerful links to your socials offer excellent customer insights

• Simplified, but effective contact management

• A CRM with a unified communications hub

Best for:

• Dynamic companies that focus on the power of social media and need a CRM to control their communications

Nimble is designed to bring real-time insights from all your social profiles so you can identify potential leads and make your communications fast and personalized. While some community managers need to monitor multiple apps at once, Nimble specializes in sending every communication to one place so you can be on top of things with minimal effort.

Perfect as a small business CRM, Nimble is simple to learn and use, so you can quickly set up a professional online presence without the learning curve of other HubSpot alternatives. However, the focus on building relationships does mean that integrations are fairly limited. Similarly, while the core features are strong, features that complement the best HubSpot CRM alternatives, such as task management tools, are quite thin on the ground.

7. Freshsales: AI-powered contact scoring and insights

Notable features:

• AI-based lead scoring

• Built-in phone and email

• User-friendly interface

Best for:

• Small businesses looking for intuitive HubSpot CRM alternatives with integrated communication tools

Jumping on the AI-powered revolution, Freshsales removes the burden of manual lead scoring by using algorithms to prioritize the most promising prospects. It also encourages simplicity in communication with native integrations to phone and email services. Email tracking data shows you how well your communications are performing so you can adapt and improve your messaging, and integrated analytics allow you to gain insights into customer behavior, monitor sales metrics, and track team performance.

Like Bitrix24, Freshsales comes with a free version so you can give your CRM software a whirl without breaking the bank. But unlike Bitrix24, you need to splash out on extras and add-ons to get the full package, and they don’t come cheap.

8. Keap (formerly Infusionsoft): Advanced marketing automation for savvy e-commerces

Notable features:

• Product listings and payment processing for e-commerce

• Extensive sales and marketing automation tools

• Solid contact management capabilities

Best for:

• E-commerce businesses that need to give their sales and marketing strategies a boost

Keap goes above and beyond the basic CRM functions, allowing users to craft a full e-commerce lifecycle, from generation to post-purchase engagement. Excellent marketing automations allow you to offer a personalized service in a timely manner, resulting in increased conversions and loyalty without a major increase in effort. With a modular design, you can add or remove features as you scale up, giving you everything you need without unnecessary clutter.

These advanced features come with a higher price tag, especially compared to other CRM systems for SMEs. This makes it more suited as a stepping stone between affordable CRMs and top-end solutions such as Salesforce. Similarly, if you don’t have expertise in automations, the features on offer can be overwhelming, making more streamlined tools more appropriate.

9. Agile CRM: Combining sales, marketing, and customer service

Notable features:

• Neatly streamlined sales processes

• Marketing automation and insights to craft campaigns

• Dedicated customer service functionalities

Best for:

• Companies aiming for united collaboration across different departments to break down silos

Agile by name, agile by nature, this is an affordable HubSpot CRM alternative with an impressive range of features for your sales, marketing, and customer service teams. By connecting three departments on one customer relationship management tool, information is shared, meaning your sales team can adjust their pipelines based on customer service feedback and your marketing campaigns can focus on items that are selling well (or not!).

With so many features in one place, the learning curve can indeed be a bit troublesome for teams that aren’t used to handling CRM platforms. At the same time, anyone with experience using the best tools may find that Agile CRM lacks advanced features, such as analytics and reporting, workflow automation, and AI insights.

10. Apptivo: The adaptable small business CRM

Notable features:

• A modular design for full adaptability

• Effective project management tools

• Plenty of native integrations and add-ons

Best for:

• Small businesses that want a tool to accommodate their specific CRM needs

Apptivo is a top HubSpot CRM alternative that even rivals Bitrix24 for the range of features it has. Sure, you can take advantage of decent contact management tools including web forms to generate leads, multiple sales pipelines, custom field mapping, and deal management. However, Apptivo adds a healthy selection of marketing features like email templates and click tracking, email sequencing, and automations.

Depending on what you need, you can add on or remove extras such as supply chain management and helpdesk support, making Apptivo a smart solution for growing retail businesses. Of course, all of these extras come at a cost, but the modular design allows you to limit what you pay.

Bitrix24: The king of HubSpot CRM alternatives for small businesses

There you have it, ten excellent HubSpot alternatives for small businesses — all with their unique flair. But while all of them have their place in the market, we feel Bitrix24 comes out on top of the pack for most small, growing businesses.

With a massive amount of essential and advanced CRM features from even the lowest price points, Bitrix24 is adaptable enough to serve your marketing, sales, and customer service teams. What’s more, aside from being one place for your lead management, CRM automations, and inventory, Bitrix24 has a unique amount of extra tools to boost your CRM, including:

• Web building software with CRM forms to pull in leads

• Multi-channel communications to manage contacts via phone, email, chatbot, and social media

• Comprehensive automated workflows to create bulletproof sales pipelines

• Sales and performance analytics to continually improve your customer journey

• Secure cloud access to your CRM via desktop and mobile.

Bitrix24’s per-team, rather than per-user pricing structure means you can confidently grow without suffering from the extra costs of new profiles. So, if you’re looking to expand your business, sign up for Bitrix24 today.