CRM Pricing Guide – What Impacts the Cost of CRM Software?

CRM pricing for basic plans tends to start at around $7 to $10 per user, per month, but more advanced options can cost anywhere between $15 and $150 per user, per month.

For enterprise-level solutions, you could end up spending as much as $300 per user, per month for sales and customer service platform, while marketing options go for as much as $3,600 per month. There may also be onboarding fees to consider, which vary from provider to provider.

If those prices scare you, don’t worry! Some of the best CRM providers offer free-forever plans, while others offer free trials to let you test out the platform before you make a financial commitment. In this guide, we’ll break down CRM pricing by both industry and team size so you can understand what to expect for your budget.

In This Guide:

• What Impacts the Cost of CRM Software?
• How Much Does CRM Cost?
• How to Save Money on CRM Software
• Verdict: Is CRM Software Worth It?
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Impacts the Cost of CRM Software?

Given the substantial range of CRM software when it comes to price, it’s safe to wonder what actually impacts the cost of these tools overall. After all, the same platform can cost thousands of dollars or be entirely free depending on a number of different factors, which can be a bit intimidating for a business wading into the waters of CRM software as a beginner.

To help you understand why CRM prices are so different, here are some of the factors that impact the cost of CRM software for your business:

• Industry – Whether it be sales, customer service, or marketing, the pricing of CRM can be very different from industry to industry, with some providers exclusively focusing on one industry while others offer expensive all-in-one hubs to manage it all.
• Users – Many sales and customer service CRM platforms offer pricing based on a per-user basis, so the larger your team, the larger your bill for the platform will be for your business.
• Contacts – Instead of users, many marketing CRM solutions will charge you based on the number of contacts you wish to reach out to instead of users, so you should consider the size of your database before making a decision.
• Storage – Most CRM platforms offer some level of document or data storage to streamline collaboration, but the amount of storage is often very little in lower-tier pricing plans while offering much more or even unlimited cloud storage on expensive plans.
• Onboarding – Some CRM software providers actually require onboarding services with certain enterprise-level plans, like HubSpot, which has onboarding fees that range from $1,500 to $7,000 depending on the plan.
• Integrations – CRM software is best integrated with systems like VoIP, payroll, and HR, but these third-party functionalities can sometimes before locked behind a paywall that will increase the cost.
• AI features – Virtually all CRM software providers have added some kind of generative AI technology to their platforms, but they are often reserved for the most expensive plans, so you’ll have to pay a bit extra.

Check out our guide to the best AI CRM for more information

Generative AI features like creating email marketing subject lines are reserved for more expensive pricing plans in HubSpot. Source: Tech.co testing

How Much Does CRM Cost?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software costs start at around $7 per user, per month, with more advanced plans typically range between $15 and $150 per user, per month, and enterprise-level solutions getting as high as $500 per user, per month for sales and customer service and as high as $3,600 per month for marketing.

Yes, the price range of CRM software is a bit dramatic. Rarely are business tools like this so vastly different when it comes to price, but the reality is that there are so many different types of CRM options that you can’t really nail down a specific price. The best way breakdown CRM pricing is based on two critical criteria:

• Industry – What the core function of the CRM will focus on, be it sales, marketing, customer service, or all three.
• Team Size – How many users or contacts the CRM will need to operate.

Click image to expand or view our PDF guide to CRM costs here

Below, we’ll explain the difference in CRM pricing between individual, small and medium sized businesses, and enterprise organizations, so you know exactly how much you’ll pay depending on the size of your team.

Additionally, CRM software has a wide range of functions depending on your industry, whether it be marketing, sales, or customer service. We’ll explain the difference between these differently priced CRM options, so you know what you’ll pay depending on your needs.

How Much Does CRM Cost in Your Industry?

Industry is the primary reason for the wide range of CRM prices. Whether you need it to simply track sales analytics or automate your entire marketing strategy can dramatically change the pricing and for good reason. While sales and customer service tools are on the more affordable side, CRM for marketing is often significantly more expensive, as it typically provides a wide range of automation tools that can save your team time and streamline business operations.

Below, we’ll outline how CRM costs work from industry to industry and provide you some information about what you can pay based on your business. Additionally, we’ve provided some glimpses into what you can expect from the CRM options for each industry through our comprehensive comparison tables.

CRM for Sales

In our research, we found that CRM for sales can cost between $12 per user per month and $300 per user per month.  This kind of CRM is also ripe for a free forever plan depending on your provider, but these plans can be pretty limited, particularly for businesses with a lot of clients.

On the lower end of the pricing spectrum — typically priced between $12 and $25 per user per month — CRM for sales can be pretty bare bones. Starter plans from providers like Salesforce, Freshsales, and other CRM for sales are often missing significant lead capture, communication, and conversion features, which are the bread and butter of these kinds of platforms. Fortunately, regardless of price, you’re still getting access to a wide range of analytics, which can be helpful for any growing team.

Analytics are often available across even the most affordable plans, like the Starter plan from Salesforce. Source: Tech.co testing

Middle tier plans — priced between $39 and $99 per user per month — are where the biggest value is added when it comes to CRM for sales, particularly when it comes to lead conversion, arguably one of the most important aspects of sales. Nearly every top-rated CRM from our research adds features like lead scoring, quote proposal management, and the ability to add products to deals at the mid-tier plan, all of which add some serious functionality for only a small price increase.

If you’re a larger organization with specific CRM needs, then enterprise-level plans — which cost between $70 and $300 per user per month — could be your best option, but beware. They often don’t add a whole lot in terms of features and just bolster the capacity of existing features, like data limits, automation builders, and support options. Generally speaking, if you aren’t a truly large business, you can stick to the middle tier.

Best CRM for Sales: Comparison

CRM for Customer Service

In our research, we found that CRM for customer service costs between $14 per user per month and $300 per user per month. Like CRM for sales, some of these providers offer free forever plans, which are more of an extended free trial than a realistic option for businesses that need to organize their customer service needs.

Starter plans for CRM for customer service — typically priced between $14 and $25 per user per month — are actually surprisingly robust, offering plenty of customer service-facing features right out of the gate. Where these plans are lacking is team management features, which are great for businesses that need to keep track of team service level agreements, individual targets, and team hierarchies. They also lack in their own customer service, which is a nice bit of irony.

Some CRM providers combine both sales and customer service functionality seamlessly for a low cost, like the Starter Suite from Salesforce. Source: Tech.co testing

Like CRMs for sales, your best value is going to be in the mid-tier plans — typically priced between $49 and $79 per user per month. These plans usually add features and functionality with only a minor increase to price. With many of these types of plans, you’ll unlock features like offline customer support options, advanced analytics, and additional support channels like social and live chat.

Again, enterprise-level plans — typically costing between $80 and $300 per user per month — for customer service CRMs are truly designed for larger businesses only, as they don’t add much in features. They tend to increase the capacity of existing features, like chatbot sessions, custom dashboards, and automation builders. Seriously, unless you’re a really big business, the mid-tier plans should be more than enough.

Check out our guide to the best helpdesk software for more info

Best CRM for Customer Service: Comparison

CRM for Marketing

This is where the prices can get pretty high. CRM for marketing can range in price from $19 per user per month to $15,000 per user per month. No, that’s not a typo. There are a few free plans for marketing CRM but compared to the more robust options on the list, they barely do anything.

The starter plans are pretty affordable, ranging in price from $19 to $79 per user per month. At this price, you aren’t getting a lot of the automation features that make the other plans so expensive. In fact, in most cases, you’re only getting email marketing functionality at this price point, which is obviously an important aspect of marketing, but not great for businesses that are looking to scale down the road.

Even the cheapest marketing CRM offer a list of marketing contacts, like this one via the HubSpot free plan. Source: Tech.co testing

Mid-tier plans, which range in cost from $150 to $800 per user per month, are where the good stuff comes in at a comparatively reasonable price. These plans typically have multi-channel functionality, allowing marketing from social media, content, and paid campaigns. They also add automations, which can save time and money on your team, as standard operations will take place without employee interaction. You’ll also get notably better analytics and customer databases with these plans, which are always helpful for something like marketing.

Finally, the enterprise-level plans, priced from $300 to $15,000 per user per month, like CRM for sales and customer service, are really only geared towards large businesses that need added users on the platform and more capacity for features. Sometimes they add more email templates, more automation builders, more custom dashboards, or more contacts on your contact list.

Best CRM for Marketing: Comparison

How Much Does CRM Cost for my Team Size?

As with most business resources, the size of your business is always going to factor in when it comes to price. CRM software absolutely follows that trend with its price per user (per month) standard framework, which means you’ll be paying more for every single employee that needs access to the software.

In addition to that, larger teams are likely going to need more features and more functionality from a CRM platform, which means they’re typically going to need to opt for a more expansive pricing plan. This, of course, comes with a higher per user per month cost. Likewise, smaller teams won’t require that much functionality, so they can opt for the cheaper plans.

Generally speaking, big teams are going to pay more, and smaller teams are going to pay less. As for the specifics, read on for an in-depth look at your particular business size and check out our best CRM for small business or best CRM for startups guides for more information.

CRM for Small Businesses

If you’re a small business looking for CRM software, you can expect to pay between $7 and $30 per user per month for a CRM platform.

These options aren’t always equipped for robust functionality or massive client lists, but they can help with the basics for sales, customer service, and marketing. In fact, many platforms offer standalone products for small businesses, like Zoho Bigin and Freshsales Suite, which are a bit more barebones as far as features go, but the low prices are attractive for businesses without a big budget.

Here’s a list of some of the best small business CRM options, as well as general CRMs that work within typical small business needs.

Best CRM for Small Business: Comparison

CRM for Medium-Sized Businesses

Medium-sized businesses will have the toughest time picking a CRM for them, as there are so many options with so many different features at so many different price points. You can expect to pay between $30 and $150 per user per month with this size business, unless you’re looking for marketing automation features, which will bump the price up substantially.

The key to understanding what you’ll pay for CRM as a medium-sized business is to know what you need it for. Features and functionality vary greatly in this category, which means knowing exactly what you need before you buy will guide your process. Do you need it for sales funnels or marketing? Do you need automation features, or do you have plenty of team members to use the platform? Are analytics important to you, or would you rather have robust customer support?

Simply put, the best way to make the right decision on this front is to have your needs laid out ahead of time, so you know what to weigh up.

CRM for Enterprise Organizations

This decision is much easier. Depending on which provider you’re looking at, there’s almost always a pricing plan named “Enterprise,” or similar, which is the best place to start if you consider yourself an enterprise-level business. These plans are quite expensive, typically ranging in cost from $120 to $300 per user per month, and as high as $15,000 per user per month for marketing.

Remember though, these plans really are only for enterprise-level businesses. They don’t usually add a lot of new features, instead increasing the capacity of existing features, so they can be used by bigger teams more often. Simply put, these plans are expensive for a reason, and that reason is big teams need big options.

How to Save Money on CRM Software

Most CRM platforms offer a free trial of about 14 days, although some may offer a free month or just a free week. As long as you know what features your business needs and you set aside some time to familiarize yourself with the platform, this should be all the time you need to decide if it makes sense for you. The free trial should include virtually all the tools that a paid version of the CRM software would offer.

Some CRM services also offer a permanent free plan. HubSpot’s pricing structure starts with a free plan, and Freshsales is another well-known provider to include an entirely free plan, although both come with restrictions. Hubspot Free does not offer core CRM features including contact management, Gmail and Outlook integrations, ticketing support, ad management, or email tracking. However, if your business has no CRM budget, these free plans are much better than nothing.

Most CRMs will give you a discount if you commit to a full year subscription, rather than opting for the monthly option. These discounts can vary from platform to platform, with some offer up to 30% off and other offering up to three free months. They’re also frequently changing, so if you don’t see a good one from your preferred platform, waiting a month or two could make a difference.

Frequently Asked Questions