Top 10 Alternatives to Salesforce CRM: Popular CRM Software Solutions

Salesforce CRM is a leading software system from the Salesforce stable. It enables you to track all customer interactions and information in one place to follow more leads. You can use features such as partner management, sales data, marketing automation, and lead management to follow these leads and nurture them till conversion. This way, you can still pursue opportunities even if you’re working remotely due to pandemic restrictions.

There are different examples of CRM software, with Salesforce being a general CRM. There may be others that are highly-specialized for specific industries interested readers are in. So, in this article, we’ll look closely at the key features and benefits of this platform and compare them with those offered by top Salesforce CRM alternatives and some highly-specialized CRM tools.

Not all CRM solutions are created equal. While many offer great feature sets and are highly regarded in the industry, it doesn’t guarantee that it will work well with your processes. That said, a recent survey revealed that 48% of sales leaders say their CRM doesn’t meet their needs. Among the pain points cited are incomplete or inaccurate data, inability to access data, and administrative burden imposed by their systems. Ultimately, this leads them to miss out on potential revenue opportunities, according to 52% of the sales leaders surveyed.

Aside from revenue loss, the poor quality of CRM data can be a hindrance to achieving business initiatives. A report about the state of CRM data management found that for most organizations, poor CRM data gets in the way of their work. 31% of respondents say that poor CRM data has led them to not complete two or three business initiatives, while 10% said four or five initiatives have gone uncompleted for the same reason. For these reasons, it’s critical for organizations to choose the right CRM software.

Being equipped with the best CRM tool becomes even more significant in light of the pandemic. With limitations imposed on face-to-face communications, CRM tools can help you as you look for new buyers and communicate with existing customers through digital platforms. It also allows you to automate routine tasks so you can free up your time for more important tasks instead of grunt work.

What is Salesforce CRM?

Salesforce CRM is a tool that can improve your sales team’s productivity, whether they are working in cyberspace, at the office, or in the field. The vendor offers mobile apps for iOS and Android that show real-time data on the dashboard and provide custom reports. Plus, the app boasts a Feed First feature that shows you the most important information based on your settings. If you want more tools and functions, you can get them from the AppExchange. This app allows you to obtain actionable insights from real-time customer data. On top of that, you can create territory models, sales forecasts, and critical reports.

To improve the flexibility of your software ecosystem, Salesforce Sales Cloud integrates seamlessly with popular business systems such as Zendesk, Zuora, Ambassador, FinancialForce ERP, LeadExec, TeamSupport, Desk.com, and other accounting, sales, and CRM solutions.

Top Salesforce CRM features include workflow, dashboards, real-time visibility, contact manager, and analytics. The vendor offers the following pricing packages:

• Contact Manager ($5/user/month)
• Group ($25/user/month)
• Professional ($65/user/month)
• Enterprise ($125/month)
• Performance ($300/month).

On top of that, customers get excellent support via phone and email, and new users can avail of in-depth training.

Benefits of Salesforce CRM

• You can get more leads.
• It lets you close more deals.
• The platform accelerates productivity.
• It provides more insights.
• You can get a full view of the customer, such as activity history, social mentions, discussions, and communications using the Contact Management feature.
• The Sales Collaboration module makes it simple to track deals and look for competitive info.
• The Sales Performance Management module lets you set metrics-based goals and highlight winning performances of sales reps to encourage healthy competition in the team.
• You can track clicks, create campaigns, and automate the whole process to generate quality leads and reduce the sales cycle.

If you wish to look at other choices, we’ve got you covered by providing the main functionalities and benefits of top Salesforce CRM alternatives. We give you plenty of reasons why you should consider Salesforce CRM instead of the alternative solution and vice versa. You’ll also learn if a given CRM is free or not.

1. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is designed to enable sales teams to get started quickly without making too many changes to their existing workflow. This solution is ideal for companies that wish to maximize the potential of their CRM.

HubSpot CRM is an easy and smart system that offers essential basic features without complex functionalities. Startups and mid-sized companies will benefit from the fact that this vendor is a certified, premier Google partner. For this reason, this platform is an apt fit for businesses in any niche and industry. To learn more about how this solution works be sure to check HubSpot CRM free trial.

HubSpot Smart CRM

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There is no doubt HubSpot CRM is the best alternative to Salesforce CRM. However, if for any reason, the product doesn’t suit your requirements you can look at other options, browse good HubSpot CRM alternatives here.

Why use HubSpot CRM instead of Salesforce CRM?

• The app is offered free of cost.
• It is a robust and flexible solution.
• It is a powerful automation system.
• You can connect it to all locations of your sales processes.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of HubSpot CRM?

• You can share and sync files and track changes in real-time.
• You can see a real-time view of your sales team’s conversions to create adaptive weekly forecasts.
• Use the dashboard and reports to collect data for detailed reporting and analysis.
• You can manage territories with the right model to set boundaries and customer volume and achieve more balanced assignments among your reps.

2. Freshsales

Freshsales stands out in the CRM market because the setup is easy, you can store all operations in the cloud, and you can make use of multiple integrations. Its main advantage is you can easily depict where leads are coming from, which is a boon for small and midmarket businesses.

Apart from lead capturing, Freshsales can distribute, score, and nurture leads via multiple communication channels. It offers advanced features such as affiliate management, call routing, call recording, and auto-dialers. Plus, it provides useful revenue analytics tools, where all relevant source and rep metrics are collected into accurate and attractive reports. You can apply a range of filters when summarizing your data to organize results in the way you want. On top of that, you can quickly create charts and tables, make summaries, and master the art of matrix reporting. The vendor offers a free trial where you can learn more about Freshsales features.

Renowned for its suite of advanced features, Freshsales is quite robust and capable. But if you think this solution is too basic for your needs, take a look at viable Freshsales alternatives here.

Why use Freshsales instead of Salesforce CRM?

• It offers a useful email tracking feature.
• You can directly transfer calls to the system without the need for any hardware or software installation.
• It provides a functional event tracking feature.
• The vendor offers excellent customer support via phone, live chat, and email.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of Freshsales?

• Salesforce CRM’s basic package is cheaper compared to Freshsales.
• It offers email integration
• It provides approvals and workflow features.
• You can easily manage your social accounts and contacts.

3. Netsuite CRM

Netsuite CRM provides users a 360-degree view of customer sentiments, relationships, and engagements across all channels, which is in real-time as well. A continuous stream of information can be collected, analyzed, and stored to help businesses make better decisions and initiate better interactions with customers. 

Core, Netsuite CRM offerings, include modules for lead management, partner relationship management, campaign management, real-time dashboards, and, of course, one for customer service management. Capabilities like email marketing, time tracking, incentive compensation, and analytics are also there to round its core modules out. Furthermore, the software also offers services for customizing your own mobile apps for Android and iPhone, plus other useful customer-facing tools.  The vendor has an appealing free trial where you can tinker with the features at no cost. 

NetSuite CRM

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NetSuite CRM has all the features you want from a CRM software. However, if you think this solution is not a good fit for your company, take a look at Netsuite CRM alternatives here.

Why use Netsuite CRM instead of Salesforce CRM?

• The platform allows you to create customizable apps for businesses. 
• It provides a native and easy to use partner relationship management module.
• It allows for incentive compensation management.
• You can customize its deployment to your needs as it is offered on a price quote basis. 

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of Netsuite CRM?

• It offers a more intuitive and visually-pleasing user interface.
• The platform includes a content library with customizable reports. 
• You can easily score leads and assign them to the right personnel. 
• There is the Netsuite CRM web chat

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is top-rated for its high-quality sales pipeline management features and a robust suite of tools. This system has been designed by hardcore web app developers and experienced sales professionals. It organizes your business leads efficiently to give you a good view of your sales and enables you to focus on priority deals.

You can set up your account as well as other important operations easily and quickly. Pipedrive is fully mobile-optimized, which means your sales teams can use it to be productive in the field. Plus, it integrates smoothly with Google apps such as Google Contacts and Google Calendar, as well as with other leading third-party business solutions. It is available in flexible pricing packages that can suit companies with any budget. The vendor offers a comprehensive free trial to get you up to speed with the features. 

Pipedrive

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Are you looking for more products like Pipedrive? If yes, worry not. To give you more choices, we provide viable Pipedrive alternatives here.

Why use Pipedrive instead of Salesforce CRM?

• It offers efficient sales management.
• It helps you close deals more quickly.
• Pipedrive organizes lead collection easily.
• It provides top-rate statistics and reporting features.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of Pipedrive?

• You can create a systematic pipeline from lead to conversion.
• Users enjoy mobile apps for iOS and Android to utilize the software’s main features in the field.
• You can log calls, reply to hot leads, and work opportunities in real-time.
• The Visual Workflow allows you to drag-and-drop business processes such as expenses, discounts, and deals quickly and easily.

5. monday.com CRM

monday.com CRM allow users to easily manage CRM-related processes thanks to its customizable dashboards and workflow automations. Also, this platform has hands down one of the best-designed highly-visual interfaces in the business. This doesn’t only make it easy to use but also fun to use as well. 

This solution is being used by CRM teams around the world to manage their contacts, workflows, and interactions. It is also integrated with other business applications. In fact, you can even set if-then rules to automate workflows between these apps using monday.com. For instance, you can set have one app send a push email whenever a process in another is ticked done. This feature helps you cut out the time spent in switching windows and logging in and out of apps. 

monday.com

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monday.com also has applications for iPhone and Android users. Furthermore, paid plans start at $39 a month billed annually inclusive of five users. If you want to look for applications similar to monday.com, you can check out monday.com alternatives here. 

Why use monday.com CRM instead of Salesforce CRM?

• Its interface is simpler and easier to understand. 
• The dashboards, interface, and workflow processes are highly-customizable
• It integrates well with other apps and can automate key processes

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of monday.com CRM?

• The default workflow is tightly integrated with sales processes. 
• You can easily manage your social media accounts on Salesforce. 
• There are many customizable reports in Salesforce CRM’s content library.

6. vCita

If you are looking for an all-in-one solution for your CRM, sales, and marketing needs, then vCita might be the ideal option for you. This fully integrated business management application allows you to manage customer relations, execute marketing campaigns, as well as monitor your sales progress. 

It even comes with a no-code landing page builder for lead generation, payment processing tools for transactions, as well as self-service client portals for customer retention. With this at your disposal, you no longer have to worry about overlooking details on particular leads or missing out on certain opportunities as all your data stays in one place. You can use all the features for free for a period of time to see if the software matches your needs. 

What’s more, is that vCita provides its users with flexible plans that can scale up or down depending on the number of clients you have. Also, you can try it with no monetary commitment. If this product is something you like yet are not sure if it is a perfect fit, you can further browse for other vCita alternatives on our review page.

Why use vCita instead of Salesforce CRM?

• If you want a CRM for SMBs, vCita is designed for this scale. 
• It has simplified controls for its comprehensive and powerful features. 
• The platform includes easy-to-use customer self-service options for payments and scheduling. 
• Monitor sales and marketing within the same easy-to-use hub. 

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of vCita?

• Salesforce CRM is scalable from the use of small businesses to large enterprises. 
• You can view real-time daily data to generate weekly predictions. 
• It has better integrations with other popular software products. 
• You can create useful applications and custom workflows easily. 

7. Pipeliner

Sales CRM software Pipeliner is a powerful solution designed to streamline the sales process, pipeline management, and sales analytics. The powerful sales enablement platform offers a sales-friendly interface built primarily to drive user engagement and simplify operations. Besides, its easy-to-follow, visual approach presents a flat learning curve, ultimately helping users to learn the system with little to no difficulty.

Some of the notable Pipeliner features include dynamic visualized reporting, uniform navigation, multiple pipeline views, contact management, lead management, account management, and sales insights. You can learn more about this platform at no cost thanks to Pipeliner free trial.

One key feature that makes Pipeliner stand out is the visual and dynamic contact management. This feature provides a comprehensive of customer information making it a breeze to find the contact and profile you are looking for. Besides, you can easily access notes, activities, tasks, opportunities, email, and social media related to each contact. With the information at your fingertips, it’s a breeze to deliver personalized experience today’s customers crave. To explore other options, you can check out these Pipeliner alternatives.

Why use Pipeliner instead of Salesforce CRM?

• Pipeliner offers a sales-friendly interface designed to facilitate exceptional user engagement.
• Besides, with Pipeliner all functions are visualized for ease of use.
• It’s easy to customize pipeline views to suit your unique workflows and processes.
• It provides a mobile app with built-in AI.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of Pipeliner?

• With Salesforce CRM, it’s easy to capture leads and assign them to relevant teams for nurturing.
• It easy to create custom pipeline from lead to conversion
• Moreover, Salesforce CRM is far more visually appealing and intuitive than Pipeliner
• It’s reasonably priced

8. Avochato

Avochato features mainly focus on mobile-based customer relationship management capabilities. This is because it is primarily a text messaging software. However, Avochato also allows you to communicate via other channels. This is mostly via integrations. 

The platform is perfect for businesses of all sizes that have target audiences preferring to have contact through phone over others. So, in general, B2B firms can make use of this. However, Avochato is also useful for all businesses should they want to optimize their mobile touchpoints. The best part is that Avochato offers a free trial where you can check its comprehensive feature set. 

Features that can help them accomplish this include unique localized phone numbers, textable landlines, and Avochato Caller ID. Other key features are assignable conversations, multimedia messages, automated surveys, status tracking, chat widget, and analytics. It’s best to also look at some Avochato alternatives that you can use for general CRM or mobile-first processes, including text marketing.

Why use Avochato instead of Salesforce CRM?

• It has more text-based CRM support. 
• Avochato is rich in call-based features. 
• The platform enables your landline numbers to receive text messages. 
• It allows you to use unique localized phone numbers for your service, support, or sales calls. 

Why use Salesforce instead of Avochato?

• It is a more general CRM tool. 
• Salesforce CRM integrates with Avochato and can be made more powerful by it. 
• Engage with audiences in other channels like social media. 
• It has a superior team management module for general CRM. 

9. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a widely used web-based CRM platform designed to attract, retain, and satisfy customers to grow your business. The app’s top features are lead and contact management, sales pipeline management, and purchase control. You can combine these features to make effective use of the software.

The interface has been refurbished and is easy to use. The home screen now shows 10 different components, with the main module navigation panel placed on top for easy searching. If you wish, you can customize the dashboard to suit your specific business needs. Moreover, you can easily give Zoho CRM a try for free. If you want to investigate the features closely, you can easily do so at no cost thanks to the Zoho CRM free trial.

Zoho CRM

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Zoho CRM is, without a doubt, a reliable cloud-based CRM solution. If after analyzing the product’s capability you find it lacking, feel free to browse these Zoho CRM alternatives here.

Why use Zoho CRM instead of Salesforce CRM?

• It automates important sales operations.
• It gives access to vital data in real-time.
• You can make maximum use of social media.
• It is integrated with Google Apps.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of Zoho CRM?

• The basic package is cheaper than Zoho CRM.
• You can get more leads.
• It provides more insights.
• It accelerates productivity.

10. CRM Creatio

CRM Creatio is a process-driven CRM solution that helps you coordinate your marketing, sales, and customer support activities by merging customer data with business process management tools. It offers scalable features for both SMEs as well as large enterprises.

The software is designed around the BPM platform, which enables companies to design and automate processes to boost customer service and surpass their expectations. Drag and drop tools make customization simple with applications for both on-premise and cloud deployment. The vendor has an appealing free trial where you can tinker with the features at no cost. 

CRM Creatio

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CRM Creatio is mobile compatible and maintains its feel and look across different tablet and phone platforms. Plus, it works smoothly with leading productivity apps such as MS Word, MS Outlook, and Google Calendar.  If you want to compare this solution with others, we provide viable Creatio CRM alternatives here for you to peruse.

Why use CRM Creatio instead of Salesforce CRM?

• You can enjoy both BPM and CRM functions in one solution.
• Customization is simple.
• Integrate smoothly with open configuration.
• It offers greater flexibility with agile deployment.

Why use Salesforce CRM instead of CRM Creatio?

• You can make use of integration via web service API.
• You can utilize the LiveAgent web chat.
• The pricing packages are flexible and affordable.
• The vendor offers reliable support via phone and email.

What is the Top Alternative for Salesforce CRM?

There is no clear-cut answer for everyone. This is because every business has its special needs. Most may only need a top-tier general CRM software solution. Some may customize it for their needs. Others may just need the vanilla versions and nothing more. However, there are highly-specialized CRM solutions, as you may have read above. Some are special when it comes to their target audience, like vCita concentrating on SMBs. Others like Avochato are unique for offering phone-based CRM support operations.

But, if you should force us to choose which one is the top alternative to Salesforce CRM, then we’d choose the one that is highly similar to it yet excels in one key aspect. This, of course, being listed at the top, is HubSpot CRM, the comprehensive end-to-end solution for all your customer relationship management needs. It is very similar to Salesforce.

However, one good thing that comes with it is that it offers its CRM platform for free. Yes, this is its basic deployment for its entire suite of products. Other products and modules are all based on a CRM framework, including HubSpot Marketing and HubSpot Sales. Thus, you can scale the software as you go along and grow your company. If you want to investigate the features closely, you can easily do so when you sign up for HubSpot CRM free app.

Lastly, if you are a small business owner, there are CRM solutions targeted towards your business segment which can help you weather pandemic-related challenges. To get started, check out our list of CRM solutions for small businesses in 2020.

By Adam Goldberg

Adam Goldberg is a senior market research analyst and one of the key customer experience technology and CRM pioneers working for the FinancesOnline review team. He has been cooperating with FinancesOnline for over 5 years now. During that time Andrew has analyzed more than 2,000 CRM solutions and he’s well-known for his honest reviews and his unique perspective on challenges and opportunities posed by customer-centric innovation. He’s a strong believer in business process automation and the role it plays in customer data management, conversational intelligence, and customer engagement. His work has been mentioned in many major publications and media sites, including MSN, Springer, TheNextWeb, and CIO.