Does a small business need a CRM at all?
Yes, as soon as enquiries come in through several channels: email, phone, website, messengers and social media. Without a CRM, contacts and agreements sit in inboxes, spreadsheets and people’s heads. A CRM keeps everything in one place.
Why look beyond the CRM?
After sales, other areas usually follow: projects, support, invoicing, inventory. If the provider has its own apps for these, everything runs under one account and data does not need to move. So also check where you want to be in 1–2 years. As of October 2026; free plans change regularly.
Zoho: a CRM and a whole family of apps
- Free CRM: up to 3 users, up to 5,000 records, one web form per module, workflow rules and up to 150 emails a day. Multiple pipelines need a paid plan.
- And more: many other Zoho apps have a free plan, for example email on your own domain, projects, helpdesk and forms. Later the full Zoho One bundle is an option.
- Good for: small teams digitalising step by step. EU data centre available.
Odoo: one app free, a real ERP behind it
- Free CRM: with “One App Free”, one app of your choice is free, with unlimited users in the Odoo cloud.
- And more: accounting, inventory, HR, projects, website and shop. From the second app on, you pay for all of them. Odoo Community can also be self-hosted.
- Good for: businesses with inventory, production or an online shop.
Bitrix24: many users, many tools
- Free CRM: unlimited users, contacts, deals and one pipeline. 5 GB storage; inactive free accounts may be deleted.
- And more: tasks, chat, video calls, calendar and website builder. Accounting and inventory are largely missing.
- Good for: large teams and internal communication.
HubSpot: strong in sales and marketing
- Free CRM: up to 2 users, a clear interface, simple automations, HubSpot branding.
- And more: marketing, customer service, website and commerce. No ERP; paid tiers get expensive quickly.
- Good for: marketing-driven growth.
Comparison at a glance
| Provider | Free users | And more | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho | up to 3 | email, projects, helpdesk, forms, accounting | digitalising step by step |
| Odoo | unlimited (1 app) | full ERP incl. inventory and shop | inventory, production, shop |
| Bitrix24 | unlimited | tasks, chat, video, website | large teams, internal communication |
| HubSpot | up to 2 | marketing, service, website | marketing-driven growth |
What are the limits of free plans?
- Users and features: automations and integrations are limited.
- Lock-in: your data sits with the provider.
- GDPR: check the storage location and sign a data processing agreement.
How Kosmo Team helps
We help you choose, set up the CRM and train your team. More: CRM setup. Read on: CRM as the base for automation and Self-hosting an open-source CRM.