Which CRM should a small business choose?

Analysis of official documentation, with no testing on a paid account.

The quick decision according to your situation

These leads are used to choose what to try first. They do not constitute a performance ranking: none of the four products were measured under the same conditions by Logicelio.

What really separates the four products

Pipedrive: Controlling Business Progress

If the problem is finding the next action for each prospect, begin by importing ten deals, assigning an owner and checking what the team sees in the pipeline. Pipedrive’s documentation distinguishes Lite, Growth, Premium and Ultimate: automation is not listed for Lite. Do not therefore assess an automated follow-up requirement against the entry price alone. See the features per offer at Pipedrive.

HubSpot: check the border between free CRM and paid hubs

The free CRM lets you start without a subscription, but the vendor currently advertises up to two users. A small business that later needs more advanced sales features should examine the relevant Sales Hub edition and other hubs if marketing and service are part of the scope. The relevant cost is that of the complete chosen journey, not simply the initial contact book. See the conditions of the CRM free and Sales Hub editions.

monday CRM: calculate seat costs before configuring boards

Customisable boards and workflows are useful if the team wants to adapt its sales stages. Start, however, by modelling the number of users needed. monday's general pricing starts at three users; the CRM page sets out its own plans and states that taxes and billing country affect the final price. A person working alone must therefore compare the cost of the seat bundle, rather than simply multiplying a displayed unit price. See grid monday CRM.

Zoho CRM: Evaluate free editing, then the required complexity

Zoho advertises a free-for-life edition for up to three users, with key lead management features. For a very small team, this is a useful comparison with HubSpot's free tier. If you need automations, customisation or more advanced reports, check exactly which edition includes them and the time needed to configure it. See editions of Zoho CRM.

A comparable trial in 45 minutes per tool

1. Data Import ten anonymous contacts, including two duplicates, and note what you need to manually correct.
2. Sales cycle : create two deals, move one, schedule a follow-up and check whether its history remains visible to a colleague.
3. Output Export contacts and opportunities, then open the file in a spreadsheet. Check the custom fields, managers and dates.
4. Cost : model your actual number of seats and the plan needed for follow-ups. Add every essential extension before comparing quotations.

When to keep your current tool

If contacts are tracked without being lost and only your internal follow-up rules cause problems, first document who updates deals and when. Migration adds data cleaning, field mapping and training. Switch to another CRM when you can demonstrate the obstacle: a missed follow-up, a report that cannot be produced or a seat limit that prevents collaboration.