Best CRM platforms in 2025

In the modern-day business world, every company needs a solution to manage customer interactions and optimize funnels. That’s where the top CRM software solutions kick in. They act as complete customer interaction platforms, capable of managing customer-related sales and marketing data, in addition to visually representing pipelines and boosting sales numbers.

The best CRM platforms are not just for large corporations but also for small businesses and startups. The only problem is that there are hundreds of these tools on the market, so it’s crucial to choose the right one.

In collaboration with the Cybernews team, I’ve worked tirelessly to evaluate every single option for small and midsize businesses, as well as enterprise-level companies. I’ll use this guide to show you the way towards achieving complete CRM automation across different branches for a reasonable price, of course.

Best CRM platforms – shortlist

• Salesforce – my top pick for the best CRM platform in general
• Monday – the best affordable CRM option with custom templates
• Pipedrive – the ultimate pipeline management solution
• HubSpot CRM – best free AI-powered CRM tool with custom email templates
• SugarCRM – great tool for managing contacts and marketing campaigns
• Zendesk Sell– great solution for higher pipeline visibility
• eWay – the best CRM platform for Outlook integration
• Snov.io – best option for cold outreach and collecting leads
• Streak – top choice for a CRM platform with full email integration

The best CRM platforms compared

To help you find the best customer relationship management tool for your business, I’ll first give you a tour of my preferred picks through a head-to-head comparison. In my opinion, it's the best way to scale up all your options and get a sense of what your business needs. Here’s how my top 9 picks stack up in key comparison categories:

Tool	Best for	Pricing	Key features	Customization
Salesforce	Small to midsize businesses in need of a complete sales, marketing, and commerce platform	Custom (30-day free trial)	AI-powered assistants with 24/7 support, Agent Builder tool, revenue tracking	Custom marketing solutions, tailored AI-powered CRM agents
Monday	Small businesses and startups looking for a CRM platform for optimizing leads and contacts	From $15/seat/month (14-day free trial)	More than 200 templates, lead capturing and deal management tools	Custom CRM automations
Pipedrive	Small and midsize businesses looking for lead and pipeline management options	From $14/seat/month (14-day free trial)	Dedicated AI sales assistants, email tools, lead routing	Tailored dashboards, reports, and templates
HubSpot CRM	Small businesses in need of a free CRM platform to track notes, emails, and tasks	Free version available, dedicated marketing plans start at $800/month	Tailored email template builder, AI-powered email writer, meeting manager	Customizable AI tools and email templates
SugarCRM	Companies of different sizes looking for a sales force automation option	From $19/user/month (7-day free trial)	Enhanced forecasting, bug tracking, generative AI, sentiment analysis	Custom mail and calendar integration, tailored activity management tool
Zendesk Sell	Midsize to large businesses looking for a higher pipeline visibility and lead generation tool	From $25/user/month (14-day free trial)	AI-powered content cues, audit logs, Zendesk official support, social media integrations	Custom Suite Enterprise tools available on request, custom agent roles
eWay	Small and midsize businesses looking for an Outlook integration CRM	From $20/user/month (free plan available) (14-day free trial)	Contract signature recognition tool, AI-powered sales automation, email summary generator	Custom forms and fields
Snov.io	Startups and small businesses looking for an email integration and sales automation tool	From $39/user/month (free plan available)	Plenty of teamwork and pipeline integrations, bulk lead search, email campaigns	Customizable social media integrations, tailored team management features
Streak	Small to midsize businesses looking for a fully automated CRM platform	From $59/user/month (14-day free trial)	Automated reports, business process tracking, email merging and tracking	Custom roles and AI co-pilots

9 best CRM platforms – our detailed list

Using the same methodology, I was able to filter through the best CRM platforms. I was left with 9 options, which I find to be enough to suit every company’s needs.

Below, I’ll go through each of my picks in detail and explain how and why they could benefit your business. I’ll also tell you which features make each CRM stand out to help you make up your mind and find the perfect match.

1. Salesforce – the best CRM platform overall

Best for:	Small to midsize businesses
Free trial:	Available (30-day application trial)
Starting price:	Custom
Top features:	AI-powered assistants with 24/7 support, Agent Builder tool, revenue tracking

Visit Salesforce

My top pick for the best CRM platform is Salesforce. The solution is especially convenient for small and midsize companies looking to grow their customer outreach and sales. It covers everything from data and analytics to CRM automation and email marketing.

I’d also point out its user-centric and beginner-friendly interface and custom AI features designed to suit specific agency needs. To be precise, you can use Saleforce’s AI-powered agents for various tasks, such as customer service, marketing channels, and commerce.

The platform unites all of your data in a cloud, but the lack of on-premise options makes it a bit vulnerable to downtime. Still, I haven’t seen any users complain about it, so it shouldn’t be a concern.

The Agentforce feature is especially prominent, as it provides custom AI agents for powering workload, sales management, marketing, and pipeline orchestration.

2. Monday – a cost-effective CRM option with custom templates

Best for:	Small businesses
Free trial:	Available (14-day application trial)
Starting price:	From $15/seat/month
Top features:	More than 200 templates, lead capturing and deal management tools

Visit Monday

If you’re looking for a perfect starter option, Monday is the perfect solution. It’s mainly a task manager and organization tool for keeping different branches of your firm in the loop with project deadlines and timelines.

It has over 200 tailored templates you can choose from, along with outlines for managing projects, tasks, marketing, and operations. I particularly enjoyed its custom dashboard with different functionalities for managing leads, proposals, negotiations, and email outreach.

Monday is also the leading CRM software in terms of marketing features, including a social media planner, content calendar, and campaign planning features. When it comes to integrations, I was thrilled to see how seamlessly it works with Slack, GDrive, and email, as well as some CRM-specific tools like DocExport PDF Generator and GetSign eSignatures.

3. Pipedrive – a complete pipeline management solution

Best for:	Small companies looking for a leads and pipeline management solution
Free trial:	Available (14-day application trial)
Starting price:	From $14/seat/month
Top features:	Dedicated AI sales assistants, email tools, lead routing

Visit Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a bit more comprehensive, combining some standout features of Monday and Salesforce. Unlike Monday, it features a variety of tools other than project management and timeline tracking options, including lead optimization and a built-in email marketing tool.

On top of that, it expands on some sales-oriented features, such as an automation builder that handles everything from lead conversion to deal monitoring. Pipedrive is also one of the best CRM platform providers for customized integrations.

With more than 400 of them, it beats competitors by a long shot. Some of the most useful CRM integrations include Zapier, Mailchimp, DocuSign, and Microsoft Teams. Overall, it’s a perfect all-in-one tool for complete sales automation, marketing campaigns, customer communication, and document automation.

4. HubSpot CRM – a free AI-powered CRM tool with custom email templates

Best for:	Small businesses
Free trial:	Free version available
Starting price:	Free CRM, dedicated marketing plans starting at $800/month
Top features:	Tailored email template builder, AI-powered email writer, meeting manager

Visit HubSpot CRM

You’ve probably heard of HubSpot for marketing purposes, but it also offers a free CRM platform. It’s even on par with some top-tier CRM vendors when it comes to its integrated features for running email campaigns. I’d even compare it with Mailchimp in that regard.

Meanwhile, the integrations with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange help with planning and organizing tasks. It’s also important to note HubSpot CRM’s dedicated templates, which can be completely customized to suit your company. Plus, it’s a perfect option for handling secure customer data.

On top of that, it has AI email writing capabilities to simplify the process on your end. One of the best benefits, in my opinion, is the fully-custom contacts list feature with up to 1,000 interactions without any time restrictions.

5. SugarCRM – excellent for managing contacts and marketing campaigns

Best for:	Companies looking for a sales automation solution
Free trial:	Available (7-day application trial)
Starting price:	From $19/user/month
Top features:	Enhanced forecasting, bug tracking, generative AI, sentiment analysis

SugarCRM is one of the best CRM for software companies. It boasts simple inputs and visually appealing charts suitable for beginners. It also has dedicated sales and marketing features, as well as a more robust, on-premise CRM plan for enterprise-level companies.

The solution allows you to automatically enrich customer data through integrations and external insights and map the closest leads by location. Of course, it also comes with a variety of standard CRM integrations, such as calendar, Gmail, and Outlook.

Among its other useful tools, I’d highlight account and contract management features, alongside management and reporting options. There’s also a useful forecasting addition which you can use to create accurate forecasts based on current pipelines and commitments.

6. Zendesk Sell – a fantastic tool for higher pipeline visibility

Best for:	Midsize to large businesses
Free trial:	Available (14-day free trial)
Starting price:	From $20/user/month
Top features:	Contract signature recognition tool, AI-powered sales automation, email summary generator

Zendesk Sell is one of the top CRM solutions for boosting pipeline visibility through simple dashboards, reports, and analytics. It has a variety of productivity tools, from email integration to sales engagement and task player features.

You can use it to set up automatic email tracking with custom alerts and templates. The sales engagement tools help build targeted prospect lists, and you can combine that convenience with email integration for custom email marketing sequences.

I’ve enjoyed its features for streamlining daily sales routines and maxing out on outreach. Zendesk Sell also has tailored options for different types of companies, from startups to large enterprises.

One of the best starting boosts for small companies is the AI-powered chatbot feature, which, I have to say, provides instant and responsive customer help in the most human way possible. That is, for a chatbot, at least.

7. eWay – one of the best CRM platforms for Outlook

Best for:	Small businesses and midsize companies
Free trial:	Available (14-day free trial)
Starting price:	From $15/user/month
Top features:	Contract signature recognition tool, AI-powered sales automation, email summary generator

For companies in need of an instant CRM solution with Outlook integration, eWay is the best choice possible. It even offers a completely free plan, although it’s very limited in terms of CRM features and lacks all the AI-powered functions.

Still, I believe eWay is a great pick for startups without instant budgeting options. The solution itself is very scalable and grows along with your business. Among the CRM providers on my list, it’s the only one that provides immediate integration with Outlook and email summary generation that makes converting leads easier.

You’ll even find in-person support and around-the-clock bookings in higher-tier plans, alongside integrations with some useful tools like QuickBooks for accounting. As a result, eWay is an all-around solution rather than just a CRM platform with Outlook functions.

8. Snov.io – top choice for cold outreach and collecting leads

Best for:	Start-ups and small businesses
Free trial:	Available (50 free credits)
Starting price:	From $39/user/month
Top features:	Teamwork and pipeline integrations, bulk lead search, email campaigns

As one of the top CRM tools, Snov.io provides a convenient way to do email warmups. It’s a perfect system for contacting up to 10,000 email recipients, combining old-school methods with modern-day technology.

It also features API and webhooks integrations, along with other tools such as Zapier and Calendly for booking meetings. It even integrates directly with HubSpot for email campaigns and Pipedrive for pipeline management.

These perks also explain the rather high subscription price since the free plan only gives you 50 credits with no integrations. I’d also point out their 24/7 support, which can get a bit busy and hard to reach at times.

9. Streak – great CRM platform with full email integration

Best for:	Small to midsize businesses
Free trial:	Available (14-day free trial)
Starting price:	From $59/user/month
Top features:	Automated reports, business process tracking, email merging and tracking

Last but not least, I had to include Streak as one of the best online CRM systems for email tracking and snippets. It allows you to create a large customer base and then grow from there via a variety of integrations with communication tools like Google Chat.

Direct Gmail integration is also possible on desktop, allowing you to manage customers and funnels. It basically acts as an add-on to your business mail, eliminating the need to install any third-party software.

Among Streak’s standout features, I’d highlight message view tracking, merging, thread splitting, and snippets options. Complete G Suite integration makes it much easier to use, while a spreadsheet pipeline management format simplifies editing.

How did we select the best CRM platforms?

I’ve selected the best CRM tools following a specific set of criteria developed with my team at Cybernews. In order to narrow down the list of CRM picks, I took into account the following:

1. Features (40%). First things first, I wanted to bring you useful tools with plenty of features to elevate your business. They go beyond classic CRM automation features and include sales management and tailored AI agents. I also focused on providing you with solutions with the most integrations, such as eWay with Outlook or Streak with direct Gmail integration. Those looking for an all-around solution could even go for Pipedrive, which has 400 integrations like DocuSign, Mailchimp, and QuickBooks.
2. Pricing plans (15%). Another key metric was the pricing, so I’ve filtered the best customer relationship management solutions by their price tag. To make my list of top 9 CRM useful for everyone, I’ve also included a few free options like HubSpot’s CRM platform and affordable all-around alternatives like Monday.
3. User feedback (20%). I also wanted to give you an objective perspective on all these tools, so I looked at what other users had to say about them. I visited forums like Reddit and Quora, as well as Trustpilot pages and compared my impressions with existing user ratings.
4. Testing (25%). Last but not least, I followed up on testing conducted by real companies in need of a CRM solution. I checked user feedback on test results and my findings to form a final score.

What is a CRM platform?

In essence, a top customer relationship management software should bring you advancements in customer relations. Modern-day platforms offer much more than basic CRM features like pipeline management and email campaigns.

Options like Salesforce utilize the latest AI technology to bring you fully automated agents for boosting sales records and optimizing marketing strategies by location or other parameters. Of course, AI-powered tools still rely on the core CRM by fetching data from customer bases and interactions, only in a far more advanced way.

Options like Pipedrive combine workflow automation with CRM functions. That one in particular has over 400 integrations, which gives you the flexibility to customize the platform to your company’s needs.

On top of that, the best CRM systems I’ve listed in this guide also help manage inventory records, sales reports, messaging channels, and even interactions with clients. No matter what your company's needs are, you're bound to find a great solution on my list.

What makes the best CRM platform?

Before you move on to choose one of the CRM software platforms I’ve reviewed, you should get acquainted with key features that distinguish the best from average solutions. Here are some key considerations:

• Ease of use. While it’s easy to adjust to advanced tools like Pipedrive if you’ve got previous experience with CRM systems, beginners might have a hard time. The same can be said for Zendesk Sell, as it has rather complex dashboards and reports. On the other hand, some all-around options, such as Monday or even Salesforce, are very intuitive.
• Customization. Another key feature of top CRM systems is customization potential. While some tools like eWay offer very limited customization capabilities, others like Salesforce and SugarCRM can easily be tailored to suit your company’s needs.
• Scalability. You’ll want to go for a tool that grows together with your company. Hence, SugarCRM made my list – with its affordable plans, it can be used by startups, while its enterprise-grade plans are great for large companies.
• Integrations. I’ve already mentioned how important it can be to have different integrations at your disposal. From communication options like Slack to organization-based platforms like Asana and email-marketing options like Mailchimp, the perfect solution should have it all. As a result, Pipedrive reigns supreme, with over 400 integrations.
• Automation. I’d also point out the importance of automation since it gives your business the edge it needs to evolve into something bigger. For instance, Salesforce not only handles your CRM tasks, but it's also great for boosting sales and expanding your outreach.
• Pricing. Finally, you should consider the price tag of a CRM solution. The most expensive options aren’t necessarily better, so you should consider tools that bring the biggest value for their pricing, like Monday.

How to choose the right CRM platform for my needs?

If you wish to find the best relationship management software for customer interactions, you should take into account your company’s requirements. Here’s a complete overview of the factors to consider for a tailored solution:

• Evaluate your business needs. To get a perfect, custom solution for your company, you’ll have to ask the right questions. Think about what your company needs. Is it an all-around option like Salesforce or just a basic planner and tracking tool like Monday? Make sure to also consider tools with direct email integration, like Streak, if email marketing is your goal.
• Set up a budget. Once you’ve got a rough idea of what type of CRM platform you need, you can move on and set up a budget. For startups, I’d recommend affordable options like Monday and even free variations like HubSpot CRM.
• Start with free trials. The best way of getting actual insights into how the best CRMs work is by doing a test run with a free trial. While some options on my list feature very convenient trial periods of up to 30 days, others, like SugarCRM, are limited to a week.
• Check for integrations. You don’t have to go with complex options like Pipedrive if you don’t need to use its 400+ integrations to a full extent. But I’d always recommend at least getting a platform like Monday with basic Slack, GDrive, and email integrations.
• Read user reviews. Finally, make sure to check user reviews before moving on to select a certain tool. You never know if a new update will render certain features useless.

Pricing of the best CRM platforms

While it makes sense to get the best relationship management software out there, it’s not always necessary. Sometimes, simple solutions can make a perfect fit without overcomplicating things and affecting your company’s financials.

SugarCRM might seem convenient with lower-tier plans starting at $19, but things escalate quickly if you transition to an $85 on-premise enterprise subscription. This particular tool goes up to $135 per month for higher-tier plans.

From my perspective, it’s best to go with a versatile option like Pipedrive or Monday, which start as a fairly low monthly expense, and then you can upgrade from there.

Aside from that, lower-tier plans like the $39 monthly Snov.io deal are significantly less effective for large companies than higher-end deals. You’d only get a maximum number of email recipients for your campaigns with the top-tier plan.

The same goes for other platforms, so make sure to diligently check the pricing before deciding.

Final words on best CRM platforms

Ultimately, even the most popular CRM systems have a fair share of limitations if you’ve got specific goals you wish to meet for your company. Some basic solutions could prove to be way more valuable for startups than robust options like Salesforce, which are better suited for enterprise-level companies.

I’ve come up with this guide to help you make an informed decision, and after reading it, I believe you’ll be well-equipped to choose confidently. Remember to check the number of integrations and only go for the platforms you’ve previously tested via free trials.

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