What is the best free CRM for a small business?

For a team, HubSpot’s free plan, Zoho CRM’s free edition and Salesforce Free Suite are the main options, with limits of two to three users. For one person working in an AI assistant, Pipeline Pal is a lighter choice.

Is there a completely free CRM with no user limit?

Most vendor free plans limit users. Do-it-yourself options like Google Sheets have no CRM user limit but also no CRM features. Check each vendor’s current terms.

Does Pipedrive have a free plan?

Pipedrive’s pricing page lists a 14-day free trial and paid plans, not a free plan.

Which free CRM works inside ChatGPT?

Several CRMs offer connectors for AI assistants; HubSpot, for example, has a ChatGPT connector. Pipeline Pal is built to run entirely inside ChatGPT, Grok and other MCP clients.

Is Pipeline Pal free forever?

Pipeline Pal is free while in beta and there is no paid plan today.

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The best free CRM in 2026: an honest comparison

There is no single best free CRM. There is the best one for your team size, your sales process and how much setup you will tolerate. This guide compares the main free options using only what each vendor publishes on its own site, and says plainly who each one suits. Pipeline Pal is our product, and we’ve tried to treat it the same way as the others.

See Pipeline Pal Set it up

Updated 18 October 2026

How to choose a free CRM

Four questions settle most decisions:

How many people need access? Free plans are mostly limited by users. One person, two, three or a whole team leads to different answers.
Does your selling happen in email? If yes, inbox sync and tracking matter, and not every free plan has them.
How much will you configure? Some CRMs are platforms you shape; others are fixed and ready on day one.
What happens when you outgrow it? Upgrading within the same product is easier than migrating.

Free CRM options at a glance

CRM	Free option	Best for
HubSpot	Free plan for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no time limit	Small teams that also want free marketing tools and Gmail/Outlook connection
Salesforce	Free Suite for up to 2 users, free as long as you log in at least every 60 days	Small businesses that expect to grow on the same platform
Zoho CRM	Free edition for up to 3 users, with workflow automation and mobile apps	Small teams that want automation, or already use Zoho apps
Pipedrive	No free plan; a 14-day free trial, then paid plans from US$14 per seat per month billed annually	Sales teams willing to pay for a polished visual pipeline
Notion	Free plan for individuals; you build the CRM yourself from databases or a template	People who want the CRM inside their notes and docs
Google Sheets	Free with a Google Account; you design the columns	Short lists, shared tracking and anyone who loves spreadsheets
Pipeline Pal	Free during beta, one person per account	Solo sellers who already work in ChatGPT or Grok

The options in a bit more detail

HubSpot: the generous all-rounder

HubSpot’s free CRM covers contacts, deals, tasks, a reporting dashboard and free versions of marketing tools like forms and email. It connects to Gmail and Outlook. The limits are two users and 1,000 contacts, and advanced features sit in paid plans. A strong default for a small team. See our HubSpot comparison.

Salesforce Free Suite: start small on a big platform

Salesforce now offers a free tier for two users with sales, service and email marketing basics. Its appeal is the upgrade path: the same platform scales to very large teams. The trade-off is more structure to learn. See our Salesforce comparison.

Zoho CRM: most users on a free plan

Zoho’s free edition allows three users and includes workflow automation, standard reports and mobile apps, which is a lot for free. Email integration comes with paid editions. Zoho also sells Bigin, a simpler pipeline CRM. See our Zoho comparison.

Pipedrive: not free, but often on shortlists

Pipedrive appears in many “free CRM” searches, but it has a trial rather than a free plan. If you like its pipeline view and want a free option, our Pipedrive alternative page covers what you give up.

Notion and Google Sheets: build your own

Both are free for individuals and infinitely flexible. Both leave the CRM logic, reminders, history, what’s overdue, to you. They are great until upkeep becomes the problem. See Notion and Google Sheets.

Pipeline Pal: a CRM inside your AI assistant

Pipeline Pal is a small CRM that runs inside ChatGPT, Grok and other MCP clients. You update it by chatting, and it gives you a daily brief and a follow-up list. It is single-user, has no email integration, import, reports or automation, and is free during beta. It suits one person who wants the least possible upkeep.

Pipeline Pal board inside ChatGPT showing example deals in the Contacted, Qualified and Proposal stages, with the open pipeline total and the value of each stage. — Pipeline Pal’s board inside ChatGPT (example data).

Our recommendation by situation

Team of two or three, email-heavy: HubSpot free or Zoho CRM free.
Small business planning to grow a sales team: Salesforce Free Suite or HubSpot free, for the upgrade path.
Solo, lives in docs: a Notion template.
Solo, short list, loves spreadsheets: Google Sheets.
Solo, already works in ChatGPT or Grok, keeps forgetting to update the CRM: Pipeline Pal.

Trying Pipeline Pal

If the last line describes you, setup takes a minute. In Grok:

Open grok.com/connectors while signed in to Grok.
Click New Connector, then choose Custom.
Enter the MCP server URL:
https://plugins.works/pipeline-pal/mcp
Sign in to plugins.works, or create a free account, and confirm the connection.
Start a chat and say Show my sales pipeline.

In ChatGPT you add the same URL as a custom MCP server. Whether you can do that depends on your ChatGPT plan and workspace settings; the ChatGPT guide has the steps. For more detail on Grok, see How to connect Pipeline Pal to Grok.