Salesforce Launches Free CRM: How It Stacks Up Against HubSpot and Zoho in 2025

If you run a small business, “we’ll get to a CRM later” usually turns into a pile of spreadsheets, sticky notes, half-finished follow-up emails, and forgotten tasks. That’s exactly the world Salesforce is stepping into with its new Free Suite: a forever-free CRM tier designed to compete directly with established free options from other CRM providers like Zoho and HubSpot, plus a growing pack of players. This post walks through what Salesforce’s new free tier actually includes, how it stacks up against other free plans, and a quick look at a few CRMs you might not have considered yet.

Salesforce Free Suite: the new kid in the fight

Salesforce has always been seen as “the enterprise CRM,” but Free Suite is squarely aimed at small businesses and teams.

Key details

-Price: $0 forever, no credit card or contract
-Users: Maximum of 2 users per account
-Records: Standard objects like Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, and Cases, with internal edition limits based on expected small-team usage
-Tools included: Sales (deal and contact management, tasks, dashboards), Service (cases and a lightweight knowledge setup), Marketing (a simple email builder with up to 100 marketing emails per month), plus Slack collaboration. Process automation with Flows is limited to 5 flows in the Free Suite edition. Additionally, custom Apex code (custom development) is not supported in the Free Suite. The edition is restricted to declarative (point-and-click) tools rather than custom code development.

Pros for small businesses

-You’re getting the actual platform used by larger enterprises, just simplified.
-Sales, service, and marketing are available in one place at the free level.
-It’s truly free forever, not a trial or temporary promotion. According to the Free Suite website, as long as you are regularly signing in, you get access for as long as you need.

Limitations

-The two-user cap is immovable. Any growing team will hit this ceiling quickly and need to upgrade to the next tier.
-Marketing functionality is extremely minimal; 100 monthly marketing emails limits campaign depth.
-Customization, automation, integrations, and advanced reporting are limited compared to paid Salesforce editions.
-While social CRM features exist in the larger Salesforce ecosystem, the free tier does not clearly include full channel-publishing or social-media monitoring for platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn or X without upgrading or adding paid modules.

When to upgrade
A move to Starter Suite becomes necessary if you add a third team member, want guided sales processes, lead routing, expanded marketing tools, or deeper customization. Free Suite works best for solo founders or two-person teams that want something reliable now and scalable later. Compare paid options HERE.

HubSpot Free CRM: the marketing-friendly favorite

HubSpot has long dominated conversations around free CRMs, especially among marketing-led teams.

Key details

-Price: Free forever
-Users: Capped at 2 users for new free accounts
-Contacts: 1,000 contacts on free plans
-Tools included: Contact and deal management, web forms, landing pages, email marketing, meeting links, live chat, and an extensive integration library.

Strengths

-Extremely simple to get started with, even without technical experience.
-Built with inbound marketing in mind—forms, landing pages, and basic email nurturing are included.
-Integrates well with popular tools like Gmail, Outlook, Shopify, and Stripe.

Limitations

-The combination of a 2-user maximum and ~1,000-contact cap means teams will outgrow the free plan fairly quickly once leads begin to accumulate, but it’s a great start.
-Most automation, sequences, advanced reporting, and campaign orchestration require paid Sales or Marketing Hubs.
-The free plan allows CRM access but does not include full social publishing or monitoring tools, which are gated behind paid Marketing Hub editions.

When to upgrade
Common upgrade triggers include hitting the contact cap, needing more than two users, or wanting automated workflows and sequences. HubSpot’s free plan is strongest for small businesses heavily focused on digital lead generation and simple marketing campaigns. For a price comparison of all the tiers, click HERE.

Zoho CRM Free: a quiet but capable contender

Zoho is often less loudly marketed than HubSpot, but its free CRM offers genuinely strong value for very small teams.

Key details

-Price: Free forever
-Users: Up to 3 users
-Records: Suitable for small customer databases, with limits on storage and email volume
-Tools included: Leads, contacts, deals, tasks, events, mobile apps, and smooth integration with other Zoho tools. You can integrate social channels (Facebook Page, LinkedIn, X, etc.) into the CRM via its Zoho Social add-on, but full social-media management features are not all included in the free CRM tier alone.

Strengths

-Three free users gives Zoho the most generous free-user allotment among the major CRM competitors.
-Works seamlessly with Zoho’s broader suite (email, billing, support, projects), making it a natural starting point for teams interested in a unified ecosystem.
-Paid tiers are relatively affordable and accessible for small businesses.

Limitations

-The free plan lacks advanced automation, deep customization, and richer analytics.
-Zoho’s interface can feel slightly more complex for brand-new CRM users compared with HubSpot’s more guided experience.

When to upgrade
Teams typically upgrade to a paid Zoho tier when they grow beyond three users, begin to rely heavily on automation, or expand their stored record count. Zoho is a strong choice for early-stage teams that want an economical, scalable business platform.

Other free CRMs you might not have considered

Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho are the most widely known free options, but several others regularly appear in 2025 lists of top free CRMs.

Freshsales (Freshworks CRM)

Freshsales offers a free plan for up to 3 users, including pipeline management, basic email templates, a built-in phone, and live chat. It has a clean interface and is more sales-focused than HubSpot’s marketing-first approach. However, reporting and automation are restricted until you upgrade.

Capsule CRM

Capsule offers a free plan for 2 users and a 250-contact limit. It’s extremely simple and lightweight, making it a good fit for freelancers, consultants, or micro-businesses. However, most teams quickly outgrow the 250-contact threshold.

Other honorable mentions

Bitrix24, Agile CRM, Insightly, EngageBay, and even ClickUp (with its CRM-style task management) appear on various free-CRM roundups. Each blends CRM with different strengths: project management, automation, chat, or marketing. But like all free CRMs, they impose limitations on users, data, or features.

So which free CRM is the best choice?

We couldn’t pick a clear winner; free CRMs are designed with different priorities:

Salesforce Free Suite stands out because it brings core sales, service, and basic marketing, into the free tier for the first time. For very small businesses that might eventually scale into Salesforce, this is a significant advantage. It’s also ideal for teams that want structure around both sales and service without paying out of the gate.

Choosing the right CRM ultimately comes down to three questions:
How many people need access? How fast will your contact list grow? And does your business rely more on sales activity, marketing activity, or customer service? What matters most is choosing a system you’ll actually use. One that supports your workflow, fits your growth stage, and removes friction rather than adding to it. The right tool will help you stay organized and build better relationships long before you ever need to invest in a paid plan.

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