As a solopreneur, you are the sales team, the account manager and the person who sends the invoice. A CRM should take you less than a minute per contact to update, and cost little or nothing. Here are the options worth a look, with limits and prices as of October 2026 from each vendor's own pages.
Do you need a CRM yet?
Maybe not. A spreadsheet with five columns can work at the start: name, company, stage, last contact, next step.
You likely need a CRM when:
- You forget to follow up with people who were interested.
- Your notes on a client live in three places.
- You want email opens, reminders or a booking link tied to each contact.
If none of that is true yet, keep the spreadsheet. Move when it starts to slip.
What matters for a business of one
- Fast to update. If logging a call takes five clicks, you will stop doing it.
- Works on your phone, so you can add notes right after a meeting.
- Connects to your email, so conversations show up next to the contact.
- A free plan or low price that fits your contact count for at least a year.
- Easy to export, so you can leave later without losing your data.
Free plans, as of October 2026
HubSpot free CRM. Up to two users and 1,000 contacts, with no end date. Includes email tracking, templates, meeting scheduling, live chat and quotes. HubSpot branding appears on emails, forms and meeting links (HubSpot CRM, Starter comparison). Full details in HubSpot free CRM limitations.
Zoho CRM free edition. Free for up to three users, with no end date. Includes contact management, follow-up reminders, workflow automation, email templates and mobile apps (Zoho free edition).
Bigin by Zoho, free plan. One user, up to 500 records and one pipeline. Bigin is a simpler pipeline tool from Zoho. Paid plans have a 15-day trial (Bigin pricing).
Capsule free plan. Up to two users, 250 contacts and one sales pipeline (Capsule pricing).
Salesforce Free Suite. Two users and up to 100 emails a month. It stays free as long as you log in at least once every 60 days (Salesforce Free Suite).
Simple paid options, as of October 2026
All prices are in US dollars, per user per month.
Less Annoying CRM: $15. One plan, no tiers, every feature included. 30-day trial with no card needed (pricing).
Pipedrive Lite: $14, billed yearly. Leads, deals, contacts, calendar and pipeline in one place. Email sync and automated follow-ups start on Growth at $39. 14-day trial (pricing).
Freshsales Growth: $9, billed yearly. Includes chat, email and phone, email templates and basic workflows. 21-day trial (pricing).
HubSpot Starter: normally $20 per seat. Removes HubSpot branding and adds email and chat support. New customers can get a limited-time discount (Starter page).
Which one fits you
- You have under 250 contacts and want free: Capsule or Bigin are enough to start.
- You have up to 1,000 contacts and want free: HubSpot's free CRM.
- You might hire one or two people soon: Zoho CRM free covers three users.
- You want a flat, simple paid tool: Less Annoying CRM.
- Your work is a pipeline of deals: Pipedrive Lite.
- You want the lowest paid price with phone and email built in: Freshsales Growth.
Use the trial on real work. Add your ten most active leads and use the tool for a week. If you stop opening it after a few days, try the next one on your list.
Write down how you sell, too
A CRM tells you who to follow up with today. It does not hold how you sell: your offer, your prices, the questions you ask, the words you avoid. Write that down in one place too. The guide to running a one-person business with AI shows how, and the first 10 customers guide covers what to do with the leads once they are in.
Nive is being built for this problem: you write how your business works once, and it drafts outreach and other work in your voice. It is not a CRM. Join the waitlist to get the demo first.