Free tool · Updated 22 October 2026

CRM Selector

Which CRM should you use? Answer 15 quick questions and get a straight answer: your shortlist of three, what each really costs over three years, and what to do first.

33 CRMs, 7 project tools and 3 ways to build, compared on published rules. We're a Provisional Salesforce partner, and Salesforce gets the same rules as everyone else.

About 5 minutes15 questionsFree, no email needed

Or see an example first:

Five real situations

Each came from a real conversation, anonymised.

Choose a CRM

Solo founder, tech-savvy, small budget

A one-person consultancy that wants something it won't outgrow, doesn't have much to spend, and is comfortable with tech and AI.

Attio looks like your best fit.

See the full result

Choose a CRM

Two-person business struggling with HubSpot

A two-person business that set up HubSpot, found it heavy going, and wonders whether the tool or the set-up is the problem.

Attio looks like your best fit.

See the full result

Fix before you switch

28-person team unhappy with Dynamics and Power BI

A 28-person business on Dynamics 365, with reporting in Power BI. The team resents it, and the numbers aren't trusted.

Fix Microsoft Dynamics 365 before you switch.

See the full result

Consolidate

Large organisation with HubSpot, spreadsheets and more

A very large organisation where different teams run HubSpot, spreadsheets and other systems, so nobody has one view of a customer.

Consolidate onto one system of record.

See the full result

CRM plus PSA

Consultancy running Kantata, unsure about CRM

A professional services firm that runs delivery in Kantata and tracks the pipeline in spreadsheets, and isn't sure whether it needs a CRM at all.

Keep Kantata, and add HubSpot for the pipeline.

See the full result

Quick answers

How does it decide?

With published rules, so the same answers always give the same result. There are three steps.

It works out what kind of answer you need: choose a CRM, fix yours, pull several together, add one next to a project tool, or build.
It drops anything that can't work for you, like the wrong size, no UK hosting when you need it, or a year-one cost over five times your budget.
It scores what's left out of 100 on nine factors. The top three make your shortlist.

Scoring factors and their points
Factor	Points	What earns them
Size fit	25	Built for your size now, and where you're heading.
Budget fit	15	Year one inside your budget. Fewer points up to 2.5 times over.
Fit with your stack	10	Works with Microsoft 365 or Google, and the tools you named.
Sales motion	10	Suits how you win customers.
Needs covered	10	Covers what you ticked without add-ons.
Who runs it	10	Matches who'll look after it.
AI	8	Matches your AI ambition.
Growth and exit	7	Holds up if you scale, sell or list.
Compliance	5	UK hosting, certifications and SSO where you need them.

Small adjustments sit on top. Plus 5 if it matches your instinct on approach. Minus 5 for a big platform when you asked for something simple, and minus 3 for a small-business tool when you asked for a platform. Plus 3 for a strong record in your sector. Plus 10 for staying on a CRM you're happy with, minus 6 for one you're not. Plus 8 for a documented connector to the project tool you're keeping (12 for Certinia), minus 5 without one. The ranking uses the total before the 100 cap, and exact ties keep the catalogue order.

Prices are vendors' list prices before VAT, checked 22 October 2026, with dollars at $1 = £0.75. Set-up costs and admin hours are our estimates. If you add a note at the end, Claude reads it with your answers and says whether it changes anything. That part is AI, so it can disagree with the rules, and it says why.

What's changed in 2026?

Salesforce repriced on 3 September. Core is £156, Advanced £316 and Max £440 a user a month, and AI agents now start at Core. Salesforce
HubSpot now sells new UK customers one edition per seat, from 1 October, with AI and marketing email paid for in credits. HubSpot
Bending Spoons bought Airtable on 4 September, then let much of its team go in October. Bending Spoons
Attio, HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive all launched official AI connectors, so assistants like Claude can work with CRM data directly. Pipedrive, Attio
UK data law changed in February, and email marketing fines can now reach £17.5m or 4% of turnover. GOV.UK

Do we need a CRM if we use Kantata?

Usually, yes. Kantata is a PSA (professional services automation). It runs resourcing, timesheets and project money, but it doesn't capture leads, track emails or forecast sales. It expects a CRM to hand it the won deal. Kantata

Kantata has documented connectors for Salesforce and HubSpot (HubSpot needs Kantata's Enterprise plan). There isn't one for Dynamics 365.

At five people or fewer you don't need a PSA. Run projects in your CRM or a simple board.

Ways to run sales and delivery
Set-up	Fits	Catch
One all-in-one tool (Scoro, Productive, Accelo)	About 5 to 200 staff	The sales side is basic
A CRM plus a PSA, joined by a connector	Most growing services firms	An integration to look after
Salesforce plus Certinia, or Kantata	Mid-sized to large	The priciest route, and it needs an admin
Dynamics 365 Sales plus Project Operations	Mid-sized to large Microsoft firms	Needs a Microsoft partner

Should we build our own CRM?

Usually not. AI coding tools made the first version cheap. They didn't make owning one cheap: security, email sync, backups and GDPR requests, every year.

Build versus buy for 25 users over three years
25 users, three years	Build	Salesforce Starter	Salesforce Pro Suite
Up front	£13k to £21k (25 to 40 days at £525)	Set-up extra	Set-up extra
Each year	About £1.9k hosting, plus 20% of the build in upkeep	£6k licences	£24k licences
Total	About £30k to £50k	About £18k	About £72k

So building can beat a product at £80 a user, and loses to one at £20. Day rate from ITJobsWatch, October 2026.

Build when the CRM is part of what you sell, your data model is genuinely unusual, and you have engineers who'll own it for years. Otherwise buy the core and build the clever bits around it. The All-In interview with Luca Ferrari of Bending Spoons makes the same point: build what makes you better than everyone else, and buy what's hard to create.

There's a middle path too: a software house's own platform. Scorchsoft's OpsUPLOOP runs sales, delivery and billing on one set of records from £695 a month (£1,495 for all four modules, up to 10 people), plus set-up. Get IP, data export, escrow and an exit plan into the contract. Declaration: Scorchsoft's owner is a friend of Anna Bromley, APD's director.

The "SaaS is dead" stories don't hold up either. Klarna never replaced Salesforce with an AI-built CRM, and its CEO doubts others will. TechCrunch Home-built apps go wrong in boring ways: a Replit agent deleted a production database in 2025, and a scan of 1,645 apps built with Lovable found 170 exposing data.

What's the most AI-first set-up?

Under about 30 people it's also cheap: a CRM that fills itself from your inbox, a meeting note-taker, and an AI assistant like Claude connected to the CRM. Above about 50 people on Microsoft or Salesforce, use your incumbent's agents and that same assistant access before you think about switching.

The most forward-thinking set-up by size
Size	Set-up	Rough cost
Solo	Attio Free or similar, a note-taker, and Claude connected to the CRM	£0 to about £100 a month for two
5 to 30	Capture for everyone, and agents drafting follow-ups for a person to approve	Seats plus usage, with a cap
50 to 500	A clean data layer, and agents with owners and budgets	Usage-priced AI on top of licences
Enterprise	One customer data platform feeding agents, with budgets and audit	Negotiate credit rates

AI-native CRMs ranked by maturity
AI-native CRM	Why it ranks here	From	Hosting
1. Attio	London HQ, $116m raised, ISO 27001, AI connector on every plan	Free to 3 seats; Plus £27	Not published
2. Twenty	Open source, SOC 2 Type II	Self-host free; cloud $9	Frankfurt, or self-host
3. folk	Five years trading, light AI, SOC 2 Type 1 only	$24	Ireland
4. Lightfield	$47m raised, under a year old	$89 a user	Not published
5. Day AI	Sequoia-backed, 400+ customers, Google-first	Agents from $24	US only
6. Clarify	Strong free plan, but its DPA starts at $1,000 a month	Free; $40 a workspace	US only
7. Reevo	$80m raised, prices not published	Contact sales	Not published

For the most forward-thinking set-up, look for an official AI connector (MCP). HubSpot's work in Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot on every plan, including free. Salesforce's need Core or above. Attio, Pipedrive, monday.com, Zoho and Twenty have them too.

AI is only as good as the data under it. Get one record per customer first.
Usage-priced AI is hard to forecast. Set caps, and lock rates into the contract.
Start agents read-only and approve what they send. In 2025, hidden instructions in a web form made Salesforce's Agentforce leak data.

What will it take from our people?

The same four things, whichever CRM you pick: a senior sponsor who uses it, a named owner with time, clean data, and training on daily tasks. Software rarely fails on its own.

Who owns the CRM, by number of users
Users	Who owns it	Admin time (our estimate)
1 to 5	The founder	1 to 3 hours a week
About 50	A part-time or full-time admin	Half to one full-time person
About 500	An admin team and a product owner	3 to 8 people
5,000 and up	A platform team	15 to 50 people

The research backs this up. Teams use the CRM when their managers do, and not the other way round. Homburg and colleagues, 2010 Projects with excellent change management met their goals 88% of the time, against 13% with poor change management, though that's self-reported. Prosci

Fix or switch? If your CRM fits your size and the complaints are about clunkiness, adoption or reports, fix it first. Switch if you've outgrown it. Below about six people switching is cheap, so just compare. More in why CRM implementations fail.

What if we plan to sell or list?

If you're selling, buyers want clean customer data in one place the company clearly owns, with consent records for your marketing lists. A tidy CRM is worth money at exit.

If you're listing, auditors want four things from the CRM: a vendor SOC 1 report that covers your edition, a year of field history on finance fields, approvals the system enforces, and changes released through a sandbox. Salesforce's Starter and Pro Suite sit outside its SOC reports. Salesforce, FRC

We couldn't find a company that listed with HubSpot, Pipedrive or Attio as its revenue system, so plan the move early.

On security, most data problems come down to people and access. A CRM gives you role-based access, an audit trail and one place to remove a leaver. Turn on multi-factor sign-in too. NCSC

Is there a specialist CRM for my sector?

In some sectors the CRM is really a practice or job management system. The tool shows these next to your shortlist. Checked 22 October 2026.

Sector specialists
Sector	Specialists
Legal	Intapp DealCloud, LEAP, Actionstep, Clio (Manage and Grow)
Accountancy practice	Senta (IRIS), Karbon, BrightManager, Xero Partner Hub and Practice Management
Recruitment	Bullhorn, Firefish, JobAdder, Recruit CRM
Estate or letting agency	Reapit, Alto, Street
Financial advice or wealth	Intelliflo Office, Plannr, Curo, Iress Xplan, Mortgage Brain (CRM Brain), Twenty7tec
Insurance broking	Acturis, Open GI, Applied Epic
Charity or non-profit	Beacon, Donorfy, Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT, CiviCRM
Membership body or association	Silverbear 365, Fonteva, iMIS
Education	Tribal (SITS:Vision and admissions modules), Gecko, Enroly
Public sector	Netcall Liberty (with Jadu), Arcus Global
Healthcare or life sciences	Veeva Vault CRM, Semble, WriteUpp, Pabau
Construction, trades or field service	Commusoft, BigChange, Tradify, ServiceM8, Joblogic
Manufacturing or distribution	Prospect CRM, Workbooks
Automotive	Keyloop, Pinewood.AI
VC, private equity or M&A	Affinity, Intapp DealCloud
Hospitality or events	SevenRooms, Airship, ResDiary
Marketing, design or creative agency	Synergist, Function Point, Deltek WorkBook
Retail or e-commerce	Klaviyo

Every option, honestly

Open any one for its strengths, weaknesses, price and sources.

Compare 33 CRMs at a glance

List prices per user per month, billed annually, checked 22 October 2026, with dollars at $1 = £0.75. "From" is the cheapest plan most teams could actually use.

CRMs compared: free tier, price, UK hosting and best fit
CRM	Type	Free tier	From	Hosting	Best for
Salesforce	Platform and ecosystem	Free Suite for up to 2 users	£20	UK, EU, US	Teams heading past about 25 users, or running complex sales, service and partner processes on one platform, and anyone planning serious AI agent work.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales	Platform and ecosystem	No	£81	UK, EU, US	Microsoft-first businesses of 20 or more people, especially those on Business Central, Dynamics Finance or Teams.
HubSpot	Platform and ecosystem	Free CRM tools for up to 2 users	£18	EU, US	Inbound-led small and mid-sized firms that want marketing and sales in one place.
Zoho CRM	Platform and ecosystem	Free edition for up to 3 users	£12	EU, US	Cost-conscious small and mid-sized firms that want lots of features without big licence bills.
Bigin by Zoho	Small-business CRM	Free for 1 user	£5	EU, US	Micro businesses that just need a tidy pipeline.
SAP Sales Cloud	Platform and ecosystem	No	£75	EU, US	Large organisations on SAP S/4HANA that want CRM on the same backbone.
Oracle NetSuite CRM	Platform and ecosystem	No	£90	EU, US	Scale-ups and mid-sized product businesses running NetSuite ERP.
Pipedrive	Small-business CRM	No	£14	UK, EU, US	Small sales-led teams that want a pipeline people will keep up to date.
Capsule	Small-business CRM	Free for up to 2 users and 250 contacts	£14	US	Small UK businesses that want a tidy contact list and pipeline without fuss.
monday CRM	Small-business CRM	No	£14	EU, US	Teams already using monday.com for projects who want sales in the same place.
Freshsales	Small-business CRM	No	£7	EU, US	Small inside-sales teams that make a lot of calls.
Close	Small-business CRM	No	£26	Not published	Outbound sales teams that live on the phone and in email.
Copper	Small-business CRM	No	£17	US	Relationship-led small firms that run entirely on Google Workspace.
Streak	Small-business CRM	No	£37	US	Google Workspace teams of 1 to 25 who sell through email relationships.
Nutshell	Small-business CRM	No	£10	US	Small US-style sales teams that want CRM and simple email marketing together.
Insightly	Small-business CRM	No	£22	Not published	Small service businesses that want light project tracking next to the pipeline.
Less Annoying CRM	Small-business CRM	No	£14	US	Very small, non-technical businesses that just need a contact list with follow-ups.
Keap	Small-business CRM	No	£94	US	Very small service businesses that sell to consumers and want automation and payments.
ActiveCampaign	Small-business CRM	No	£37	EU, US	Marketing-led small businesses where email drives sales.
Brevo	Small-business CRM	Free CRM	£9	EU	Small marketing-led businesses, including B2C, on a budget.
Agile CRM	Small-business CRM	Free for up to 10 users	£8	US	Micro businesses that need something free today and accept they'll move later.
Bitrix24	Small-business CRM	Free plan for 1 to 2 users	£3	EU, US	Budget-conscious teams that want CRM, tasks and chat in one place.
Attio	AI-native CRM	Free for up to 3 seats	£27	EU, US	Founders, start-ups and relationship-led firms that want an AI-first CRM with almost no admin.
folk	AI-native CRM	No	£18	EU	Solo founders and small teams managing relationships and outreach.
Lightfield	AI-native CRM	No	£67	Not published	Small, well-funded teams who want the most automated CRM and accept a young vendor.
Day AI	AI-native CRM	Free capture seats for colleagues	£18	US	Google Workspace founders and small teams who want AI to keep track of relationships for them.
Clarify	AI-native CRM	Free plan (1,000 credits a month), without a data processing agreement	£750	US	Small US-style teams happy with US hosting who want the CRM to run itself.
Airtable	Work management or database, used as a CRM	Free plan with limits	£15	US	Tiny teams with unusual processes and someone who enjoys building.
Notion	Work management or database, used as a CRM	Free plan	£9	US	Solo founders who need a simple list of contacts and notes for now.
Twenty	Open source	Free to self-host	£7	Self-host, EU	Technical teams that want ownership and a modern CRM to build on.
SuiteCRM	Open source	Free to self-host	Free, then paid	UK, Self-host	Organisations that must self-host and have technical help.
EspoCRM	Open source	Free to self-host	Free, then paid	Self-host, EU, US	Small technical teams that want a simple self-hosted CRM.
Odoo	Open source	CRM app free for unlimited users (One App Free)	Free, then paid	Self-host, EU	Small and mid-sized firms that want one cheap system for most of the business.

Read all 43 profiles

Platform and ecosystem

Salesforce · Starter, Pro Suite or Core

The biggest CRM platform, from a free two-user edition to the largest enterprises, with the widest app, partner and AI ecosystem.

Strengths

Scales from two users to the largest enterprises without changing platform.
The deepest ecosystem: thousands of apps, and a big UK pool of admins and partners.
The most complete AI and agent offer, and open to outside assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT.
UK data hosting at no extra cost.
Starter at £20 per user per month, billed monthly if you like, is a fair way in.

Weaknesses

A price cliff from Pro Suite (£80) to Core (£156), and AI agents only come with Core and above.
Annual contracts: you can't cut seats mid-term, and renewals have no price cap.
Beyond Starter it needs a skilled admin, and partner projects often start around £20k.
Add-ons and usage credits make the real price hard to predict.
Free Suite is a taster: two users, little automation.

Price:: Free Suite for up to 2 users. Starter £20, Pro Suite £80, Core £156, Advanced £316 per user per month. Pro Suite and above are annual contracts. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Teams heading past about 25 users, or running complex sales, service and partner processes on one platform, and anyone planning serious AI agent work.
You'd outgrow it when:: You won't outgrow the platform, but Starter and Pro Suite hit limits on customisation and automation.
AI:: Agentforce agents on Core and above, and hosted MCP servers so Claude and ChatGPT can work with your data.
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Free Suite and Starter can be set up yourself in days. Pro Suite and above usually need a trained admin or a partner.
Leaving:: Data exports cleanly by report, export service or API, but automations, code and apps don't move. You have 30 days after the contract ends to export.

APD is a Salesforce consulting partner.

Sources: Salesforce UK pricing, Salesforce small business pricing, Free Suite, New editions, 3 Sep 2026, Agentforce UK pricing, Hyperforce regions, Main Services Agreement

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales · Professional or Enterprise

Microsoft's CRM, built on the same data platform as Power Apps and Power BI, and at its best in businesses that already run on Microsoft.

Strengths

Native fit with Outlook, Teams, Excel and Power BI.
Shares a data platform with Power Apps, so you can extend it without a separate database.
Runs alongside Business Central or Dynamics Finance for one Microsoft estate.
Common in UK public sector, and available through public frameworks.

Weaknesses

Easy to over-customise, and partner-led implementations often cost 1 to 4 times the licences.
Reporting now leans on Power BI: Microsoft removed the built-in Sales usage reports in December 2025.
Licensing is complex, and AI features change month to month (the Sales Close Agent goes on 30 October 2026).
New UK environments can land anywhere in Europe unless you buy Advanced Data Residency.

Price:: Sales Professional £50, Enterprise £80.70, Premium £115.30 per user per month, paid yearly. Professional has no Copilot or forecasting, so most firms need Enterprise. Report viewers need Power BI Pro (£10.80). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Microsoft-first businesses of 20 or more people, especially those on Business Central, Dynamics Finance or Teams.
You'd outgrow it when:: Rarely on scale. Teams leave because of a bad set-up more often than a missing feature.
AI:: Copilot in Sales, Outlook and Teams on Enterprise, agents paid for with Copilot Credits, and a Dataverse MCP server with set-up guides for Claude (charged when outside agents use it).
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Possible for a Microsoft-savvy admin at small scale. Most firms use a Microsoft partner.
Leaving:: Data lives in Dataverse and exports by Excel, API or Azure Synapse Link. Custom apps and flows don't move.

Sources: Dynamics 365 Sales UK pricing, Dataverse MCP server

HubSpot · Starter or Professional (one edition for the whole platform)

Marketing, sales and service on one easy-to-use platform. Since 1 October 2026, new UK customers buy one edition per seat and pay for email and AI with credits.

Strengths

Easy to use, so adoption tends to be good.
Marketing and sales genuinely joined up, from forms to deals.
A useful free CRM to start with.
Big app marketplace and plenty of UK partners.

Weaknesses

A steep jump from Starter (about £18) to Professional (£81 a seat plus mandatory onboarding).
Pricing is in flux: marketing email, workflows and agents now run on credits, so budgets need modelling.
Sandboxes, approvals and field-level permissions are Enterprise only, and complex multi-team processes get awkward.
No UK data residency, no ISO 27001 certificate of its own, and no UK charity discount.

Price:: Free CRM tools for up to 2 users. Starter about £18 per seat per month at list (£7 on a launch offer), up to 10 seats; Professional £81 and Enterprise £155 per seat, billed annually, with mandatory onboarding. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Inbound-led small and mid-sized firms that want marketing and sales in one place.
You'd outgrow it when:: Complex territories, approvals, CPQ or several business units start needing workarounds.
AI:: Breeze agents priced by outcome (about $0.50 a resolved conversation, $1 a recommended lead) through HubSpot Credits, plus a remote MCP server and connectors for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Free and Starter are easy to set up yourself. Professional usually comes with a paid onboarding package.
Leaving:: Exports are straightforward. Workflows and sequences don't move.

Sources: HubSpot pricing, HubSpot trust portal, HubSpot data hosting FAQ

Zoho CRM · Professional or Enterprise

A capable, low-cost CRM from a company with 50-plus business apps, including Zoho One, which bundles them all per employee.

Strengths

Strong features for the price, including customisation at low tiers.
Zoho One covers CRM, finance, HR and more at a single per-employee price.
Its own AI, without a separate model contract.

Weaknesses

The interface and quality vary across Zoho's many apps.
Support and partner quality are mixed.
No UK data centre: UK accounts sit in the EU (Amsterdam and Dublin).

Price:: Free edition for up to 3 users. Standard £12, Professional £18, Enterprise £35, Ultimate £42 per user per month, billed annually. Zoho One is £37 per employee. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Cost-conscious small and mid-sized firms that want lots of features without big licence bills.
You'd outgrow it when:: Large, complex organisations needing enterprise governance and a deep partner bench.
AI:: Zia AI is included, but the full assistant needs Enterprise; agent model usage is metered after an allowance. Official MCP.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set-up is manageable for a confident admin; Zoho partners help with bigger builds.
Leaving:: Exports by CSV and API.

Sources: Zoho CRM pricing, Zoho data centres

SAP Sales Cloud

SAP's CRM, the logical choice when the business already runs on SAP S/4HANA.

Strengths

Tight links to SAP ERP for pricing, stock and orders.
Built for large, global organisations.

Weaknesses

Rarely the best choice unless you already run SAP.
Smaller CRM ecosystem than Salesforce or Microsoft.

Price:: Quote only, and included in the GROW with SAP premium package. Our planning figure, not a published price. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Large organisations on SAP S/4HANA that want CRM on the same backbone.
You'd outgrow it when:: Not a size issue. The question is whether the SAP link is worth more than a stronger standalone CRM.
AI:: SAP Business AI and Joule, its assistant.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Not realistic without an SAP partner.
Leaving:: Exports by API and SAP data tools.

Sources: SAP Sales Cloud

Oracle NetSuite CRM

The CRM inside NetSuite's ERP, so sales, orders, billing and finance share one system.

Strengths

One system from lead to cash.
Strong for product businesses with orders and invoicing.

Weaknesses

Weak as a standalone CRM.
Only makes sense if you run, or plan to run, NetSuite.

Price:: Sold with a NetSuite licence on a quote. Our planning figure, not a published price. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Scale-ups and mid-sized product businesses running NetSuite ERP.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales teams need richer selling features than an ERP-first CRM gives.
AI:: Ask Oracle built in, and a free AI Connector Service (MCP) for Claude and ChatGPT.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Usually set up as part of a NetSuite ERP project.
Leaving:: Exports with the rest of your NetSuite data.

Sources: NetSuite CRM

AI-native CRM

Attio · Plus or Pro

A London-founded, AI-native CRM that builds itself from your email and calendar, with a flexible data model and fast set-up.

Strengths

Builds records automatically from email and calendar, so there's little data entry.
Flexible objects for things like investors, partners or bids.
Strong AI and an official MCP server for AI assistants.
Founded in London, under very active development, and easy to leave: any admin can export the whole workspace.

Weaknesses

Microsoft 365 support is thinner than Google's: Inbox and Sent only, no shared mailboxes, no Outlook sidebar.
AI runs on credits, so heavy users buy top-ups, and Plus stops at 10 seats.
No quotes, invoicing, dialler or marketing automation, and no native Xero or Sage link.
Lighter compliance paperwork than the big CRMs: SSO only on Enterprise, no UK data residency option.

Price:: Free for up to 3 seats. Plus £27 and Pro £59 per seat per month, billed annually. Plus is capped at 10 seats. Enterprise on quote. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Founders, start-ups and relationship-led firms that want an AI-first CRM with almost no admin.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need enterprise governance, CPQ, service desks or a big partner ecosystem.
AI:: Ask Attio, AI research agents and agent workflows, plus an official MCP server on every plan, listed in the Claude and ChatGPT directories.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Connect email and calendar and it fills itself in. Set up yourself in a day.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Attio pricing, Email and calendar sync, Attio MCP, Series B, Aug 2025

folk

A lightweight, AI-assisted CRM for relationships and networks, popular with founders, agencies and investors.

Strengths

Very quick to start.
Great for networks and outreach.
EU company, hosted in the EU (AWS Ireland) on every plan.

Weaknesses

Outlook sync is read-only, and sign-in is Google only.
Thin for structured sales processes, with limited reporting.
Small company.

Price:: Standard $24 and Premium $48 per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). No free plan. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Solo founders and small teams managing relationships and outreach.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need a structured pipeline with forecasting and permissions.
AI:: AI enrichment, drafting and follow-up assistants.
Hosting:: EU
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself in an hour.
Leaving:: CSV export, but not a full export of everything.

Sources: folk pricing

Lightfield

The purest self-updating AI-native CRM, from the team behind Tome; it captures conversations and keeps records current on its own.

Strengths

Records update themselves from conversations, with very little typing.
SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA.
Well funded: a $47m Series A led by a16z in September 2026.

Weaknesses

Under a year in market.
Premium price for small teams.
Hosting region not published.

Price:: $89 a user a month for up to 3 seats; Pro $999 a month per workspace (5 capture seats plus unlimited viewers). USD, converted. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small, well-funded teams who want the most automated CRM and accept a young vendor.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need enterprise controls, a partner ecosystem or proof of long-term stability.
AI:: Self-updating records from captured conversations, agents and an official MCP server listed in Claude.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Connect your accounts and it builds itself.
Leaving:: Check export coverage before you commit.

Sources: Lightfield, Lightfield in Claude's connector directory

Day AI

An AI-native system from ex-HubSpot founders that now calls itself a context graph and agent control plane rather than a CRM.

Strengths

Captures relationships with almost no data entry.
Sequoia-backed, with SOC 2 Type II.
Colleagues can join on free capture seats.

Weaknesses

Hosted in the US only.
Google-first; Microsoft support is newer.
Moving away from being a CRM, so the product may change shape.

Price:: Free capture seats for colleagues. Agent seats from $24 a month (annual); Professional $60 an agent; colleagues on free capture seats. USD, converted. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Google Workspace founders and small teams who want AI to keep track of relationships for them.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need structured processes, UK or EU hosting, or a mainstream ecosystem.
AI:: Assistants and agents over a context graph of your conversations, with an official MCP server that can send email.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Connect Google Workspace and go.
Leaving:: Check what you can export; agent history may not move.

Sources: Day AI pricing, Day AI MCP

Clarify

An autonomous, credit-priced CRM with unlimited seats, a meeting recorder and agents that work the pipeline.

Strengths

Unlimited seats, so whole teams can join.
SOC 2 Type II.
Strong automation and a good free plan to try it.

Weaknesses

Hosted in the US only (EU planned).
No data processing agreement below $1,000 a month.
Credit-priced, and overage prices rose 50% in September 2026.

Price:: Free plan (1,000 credits a month), without a data processing agreement. Free and Starter ($40 a month) plans exist, but a data processing agreement, which UK GDPR needs, starts on Growth at $1,000 a month. Unlimited seats; USD, converted. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small US-style teams happy with US hosting who want the CRM to run itself.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need UK or EU hosting, predictable costs or a mature ecosystem.
AI:: Agents that update records and draft follow-ups, a built-in recorder, and an official MCP server.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Connect email and calendar; it fills itself in.
Leaving:: Check export coverage before you commit.

Sources: Clarify pricing, Clarify security

Small-business CRM

Bigin by Zoho

Zoho's pipeline-first CRM for very small businesses, simpler and cheaper than Zoho CRM.

Strengths

Very cheap and quick to start.
Upgrades to Zoho CRM when you grow.

Weaknesses

Limited reporting and automation.
Not built for complex sales or bigger teams.

Price:: Free for 1 user. Express £5, Premier £10, Bigin 360 £15 per user per month, billed annually. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Micro businesses that just need a tidy pipeline.
You'd outgrow it when:: You pass about 20 users or need real automation and reporting.
AI:: Basic Zia AI features.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself in an afternoon.
Leaving:: CSV export, or upgrade in place to Zoho CRM.

Sources: Bigin pricing

Pipedrive · Growth or Premium

A visual, pipeline-first CRM that salespeople like using, built for small and mid-sized sales teams.

Strengths

Very easy to use, so people actually update it.
Fast to set up, with clear pipeline views.
UK accounts are hosted in AWS London by default.

Weaknesses

No free plan, and add-ons (web forms, campaigns, projects) pile up on the cheaper tiers.
Restricting who sees what needs Premium (£59), and AI email writing starts there too.
Light on marketing and service, and not built for complex multi-team processes.

Price:: Lite £14, Growth £39, Premium £59, Ultimate £79 per seat per month, billed annually. No free plan, and add-ons such as LeadBooster cost extra. Checked 23 October 2026.
Best for:: Small sales-led teams that want a pipeline people will keep up to date.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need marketing automation, service desks or complex permissions across many teams.
AI:: AI and the Nova meeting notetaker included in the seat price, plus an official MCP server on every plan.
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set it up yourself in a day or two.
Leaving:: Clean CSV and API export.

Sources: Pipedrive pricing

Capsule

A simple, UK-built CRM for small businesses, strong on contacts, pipeline and Xero.

Strengths

Simple and quick to adopt.
UK company with UK support.
Strong links to Xero, FreeAgent, Sage and QuickBooks.

Weaknesses

Hosted in the US only, despite being a UK company.
Limited automation and reporting, and behind the AI leaders.
Not for bigger or complex teams.

Price:: Free for up to 2 users and 250 contacts. Starter £14, Growth £27, Advanced £42 per user per month, billed annually. Ultimate, for teams of 5 or more, is on quote. Checked 23 October 2026.
Best for:: Small UK businesses that want a tidy contact list and pipeline without fuss.
You'd outgrow it when:: You pass about 30 users or need serious automation.
AI:: AI included with no credit meter on Growth and above; MCP server in beta on Growth.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set it up yourself in an afternoon.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Capsule pricing

monday CRM

monday.com's CRM product, built on its work-management boards, for teams who already live in monday.

Strengths

Flexible boards fit unusual processes.
Good if delivery already runs in monday.
Pleasant to use.

Weaknesses

Built on boards: linking people, companies and deals gets messy as you grow.
Minimum of three seats, so a solo founder pays for three.
The cheapest plan has no email sync, and API limits are tight below Pro.
The company cut about 20% of staff in July 2026 while refocusing on AI.

Price:: Standard £14 and Pro £24 per seat per month, billed annually, minimum 3 seats. Basic (£10) has no email sync. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Teams already using monday.com for projects who want sales in the same place.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales needs proper forecasting, territories or complex permissions.
AI:: monday AI for summaries, drafting and automations.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Easy to set up yourself; easy to over-build too.
Leaving:: Board exports to Excel and API.

Sources: monday CRM pricing, monday CRM

Freshsales

Freshworks' sales CRM, with built-in phone, email and sequences.

Strengths

Built-in phone and email.
Good value.
Pairs with Freshdesk for service.

Weaknesses

Freshworks now calls itself 'EX-first' and dropped the free plan in July 2026; Freshsales barely features in its investor materials.
No official MCP server.
Smaller UK ecosystem.

Price:: Growth $9, Pro $39 and Enterprise $59 per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). No free plan for new sign-ups since July 2026. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small inside-sales teams that make a lot of calls.
You'd outgrow it when:: Complex processes or large teams.
AI:: Freddy AI for lead scoring and suggestions.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set it up yourself in a few days.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Freshsales pricing

Close

A CRM built for high-volume calling and emailing, with the dialler and sequences built in.

Strengths

Excellent for outbound and inside sales.
Calling, SMS and sequences in one place.

Weaknesses

Not built for long, complex deals or marketing.
Pricier than general small-business CRMs, and priced in USD.
Hosting region not published.

Price:: Per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Outbound sales teams that live on the phone and in email.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need marketing, service or complex account management.
AI:: AI call notes, summaries and email drafting.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself in a day.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Close pricing

Copper

A CRM that lives inside Gmail and Google Workspace.

Strengths

Feels native in Gmail.
Minimal data entry for Google users.

Weaknesses

Useless for Microsoft 365 businesses.
Smaller vendor, slower development.
US hosting only.

Price:: Per seat per month, billed annually (USD, converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Relationship-led small firms that run entirely on Google Workspace.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need depth in reporting, automation or marketing.
AI:: Some AI features.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself from Gmail.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Copper pricing

Streak

A CRM that runs inside Gmail, with pipelines built from your email threads.

Strengths

Lives entirely in Gmail, so there's nothing new to learn.
Pipelines built from email threads.

Weaknesses

No use to Outlook users.
Pricier than it looks for a Gmail add-on.
US hosting only.

Price:: Pro $49 and Pro+ $69 per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). The free plan covers email tools only. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Google Workspace teams of 1 to 25 who sell through email relationships.
You'd outgrow it when:: Any Outlook users join, you need EU residency, or you pass about 25 people.
AI:: Some AI assistance in Gmail.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Install the Gmail extension and go.
Leaving:: Export pipelines to CSV.

Sources: Streak pricing

Nutshell

An easy small-business CRM with email marketing included on higher plans.

Strengths

Simple and friendly.
Marketing and sales together at small scale.

Weaknesses

Limited UK presence, priced in USD.
Thin for complex needs.
US hosting only.

Price:: Per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small US-style sales teams that want CRM and simple email marketing together.
You'd outgrow it when:: Teams pass about 30 users.
AI:: AI summaries, plus a read-only official MCP server on all plans.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Nutshell pricing

Insightly

A CRM with built-in project tracking, so won deals can become projects in the same tool.

Strengths

Deals and projects in one tool.
Reasonable price.

Weaknesses

Interface feels dated next to newer tools.
Owned by Unbounce (private equity backed) since 2024, with sparse product news.
Region of data hosting not published.

Price:: Per user per month, billed annually (USD, converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small service businesses that want light project tracking next to the pipeline.
You'd outgrow it when:: Delivery needs proper resourcing and project financials.
AI:: Some AI features.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself, or with light help.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Insightly pricing

Less Annoying CRM

A deliberately simple CRM with one flat price per user and free phone support.

Strengths

Genuinely simple.
One cheap price, no upsell.
Friendly support.

Weaknesses

Very limited automation and reporting.
No real AI.
US hosting only, with no SOC 2 or ISO 27001.

Price:: One plan, £14 per user per month, month to month. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Very small, non-technical businesses that just need a contact list with follow-ups.
You'd outgrow it when:: You want automation, AI or a team bigger than a handful.
AI:: No meaningful AI.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself in an hour.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Less Annoying CRM pricing

Keap

CRM plus marketing automation, invoicing and payments for small service businesses.

Strengths

Marketing automation and payments in one place.
Good for coaches and service businesses.

Weaknesses

Expensive per user, and US-centric.
Email sync is one-way into Keap.
Owned by Thryv since 2024; subscribers fell and product updates have been quiet since January 2026.

Price:: Priced per account with a set number of users and contacts (USD, converted). Our per-user planning figure. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Very small service businesses that sell to consumers and want automation and payments.
You'd outgrow it when:: B2B sales teams or bigger headcounts.
AI:: AI content and automation helpers.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself, though automations take time.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Keap pricing

ActiveCampaign

Email marketing and automation first, with a CRM pipeline included on higher plans.

Strengths

Excellent email automation.
Good for marketing-led small businesses.

Weaknesses

The deals pipeline is a paid add-on, not in any base plan.
Contact-based pricing climbs with your list, now including unsubscribed and bounced contacts.
Outlook support is weak: one email at a time, no SSO.

Price:: Priced by contacts and plan rather than per user (USD, converted). Our planning figure. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Marketing-led small businesses where email drives sales.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales becomes complex or team-based.
AI:: AI for campaigns and segmentation.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: ActiveCampaign pricing

Brevo

European email, SMS and marketing platform with a free CRM and a paid sales plan.

Strengths

EU-based, EU-hosted and well funded (€500m raised in December 2025).
Cheap email and SMS at volume.
Official MCP server covering CRM deals and pipelines.

Weaknesses

The CRM is basic.
Not built for complex B2B sales.

Price:: Free CRM. Sales plans per user per month (USD, converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small marketing-led businesses, including B2C, on a budget.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need a real sales process.
AI:: AI for email content.
Hosting:: EU
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Brevo pricing

Agile CRM

A low-cost all-in-one CRM with sales, marketing and helpdesk features, and a free plan for small teams.

Strengths

Very cheap, with a generous free plan.
Lots of features on paper.

Weaknesses

Signs of neglect: API docs last updated in 2019, official SDKs in 2017 to 2019, WordPress plugin in 2018.
Behind on AI, integrations and security assurance.
Not advisable for new buyers who want to grow on it.

Price:: Free for up to 10 users. Agile CRM's page shows only 'as low as' prices: Starter $8.99, Regular $29.99, Enterprise $47.99 per user per month. Third-party listings put annual billing at $9.99, $39.99 and $64.99, which is what we use. Checked 23 October 2026.
Best for:: Micro businesses that need something free today and accept they'll move later.
You'd outgrow it when:: Almost any growth, or the first time you need AI or a solid integration.
AI:: Little or no modern AI.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself.
Leaving:: CSV export.

Sources: Agile CRM pricing

Bitrix24

An all-in-one workspace (CRM, tasks, chat, telephony, sites) sold at a flat price per organisation.

Strengths

A lot of tools for very little money.
Flat pricing suits growing teams.

Weaknesses

UK customers contract with a Cyprus company, and reputable outlets link the product to Russia's 1C-Bitrix. Ownership isn't published, so public-sector and regulated buyers need extra checks.
API access moved to the new Vibe+ plans in September 2026.
Busy interface and limited UK partner support.

Price:: Free plan for 1 to 2 users. Flat prices, billed annually: Basic £36 a month for 5 users, Standard £74 for 50, Professional £149 for 100. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Budget-conscious teams that want CRM, tasks and chat in one place.
You'd outgrow it when:: You want best-in-class sales tools or a clean, focused experience.
AI:: CoPilot assistant features.
Hosting:: EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Set up yourself, though there's a lot to configure.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Bitrix24 pricing

Work management or database, used as a CRM

Airtable

A flexible database you can shape into a CRM, with AI app building on top.

Strengths

Shapes itself to any process.
Great for unusual data, like bids or partners.

Weaknesses

You build and maintain the CRM yourself: no email sync, forecasting or sales features out of the box.
Gets expensive per seat as the team grows.
Often ends up as a homemade system only one person understands.
Bending Spoons bought Airtable in September 2026 and cut much of the original team in October. Prices are unchanged for now; watch renewals.

Price:: Free plan with limits. Team $20 and Business $45 per editor per month, billed annually in USD (converted). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Tiny teams with unusual processes and someone who enjoys building.
You'd outgrow it when:: More than a handful of people need to sell from it.
AI:: AI for building apps and filling fields.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Build it yourself. That's the point, and the risk.
Leaving:: CSV and API export.

Sources: Airtable pricing, Bending Spoons completes Airtable purchase, Airtable: Back to bases, 12 Oct 2026

Notion

Docs and databases in one workspace, often used for a simple homemade CRM.

Strengths

Free or cheap, and probably already in use.
Notes and records side by side.

Weaknesses

No real pipeline, email sync, reminders or reporting.
Fine for a list, weak for a sales process.
Hard to scale beyond one or two people.

Price:: Free plan. Plus about £8.50 and Business £16.50 (AI included) per member per month, billed yearly. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Solo founders who need a simple list of contacts and notes for now.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need reminders, email logging or more than one person selling.
AI:: Notion AI for writing and search.
Hosting:: US
Doing it yourself:: Use a template and adapt it.
Leaving:: Markdown and CSV export.

Sources: Notion pricing

Open source

Twenty

A modern open-source CRM you can self-host or use as a cloud service, with an AI-friendly API.

Strengths

Open source: you own the code and the data.
SOC 2 Type II on the cloud service, and an official MCP server in every workspace.
Self-hosting is the one AI-native route to keeping data in the UK.

Weaknesses

Young product: no quotes, marketing automation or mature reporting yet.
Self-hosting means you own security, backups and upgrades.
Cloud is hosted in Frankfurt only, and the partner ecosystem is small.

Price:: Free to self-host. Cloud Pro $9 and Organization $19 per user per month, billed yearly (USD, converted). Self-hosting the open-source core is free apart from running costs. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Technical teams that want ownership and a modern CRM to build on.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need a mature ecosystem or enterprise controls.
AI:: AI features and an MCP server, improving fast.
Hosting:: Self-host, EU
Doing it yourself:: Developers can self-host it in a day. Plan for upgrades and backups.
Leaving:: You hold the database, so exit is fully in your hands.

Sources: Twenty

SuiteCRM

A long-established, UK-maintained open-source CRM (a fork of SugarCRM), free to self-host.

Strengths

No licence fees.
Full control over data and hosting, including UK-hosted plans.
Still receives security releases from SuiteCRM Ltd in Stirling.

Weaknesses

The original developer, SalesAgility, went into liquidation in 2025; SuiteCRM Ltd now runs the product.
Dated interface, little AI and no official MCP server.
If you self-host, you carry security and upgrades.

Price:: Free to self-host. Free to self-host. UK-hosted plans from £130 a month (Starter) to £180 (Business, up to 50 users), billed yearly, with support. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Organisations that must self-host and have technical help.
You'd outgrow it when:: Users expect a modern interface and AI.
AI:: Little built-in AI.
Hosting:: UK, Self-host
Doing it yourself:: Needs someone technical to host, secure and upgrade it.
Leaving:: You hold the database.

Sources: SuiteCRM

EspoCRM

A lightweight open-source CRM, free to self-host, with an affordable cloud option.

Strengths

Light and fast.
No licence fees if you self-host.

Weaknesses

Small ecosystem.
You carry hosting and upgrades.
Little AI.

Price:: Free to self-host. Free to self-host. Cloud Basic £11 and Enterprise £19 per user per month (minimum 3 and 5 users). Reports, workflows and quotes are paid add-ons. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small technical teams that want a simple self-hosted CRM.
You'd outgrow it when:: You need a big ecosystem or AI.
AI:: Little built-in AI.
Hosting:: Self-host, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Self-host with some technical help.
Leaving:: You hold the database.

Sources: EspoCRM

Odoo

An open-source business suite where CRM, projects, timesheets, invoicing and accounting share one database.

Strengths

CRM, projects, timesheets and accounting in one system, with UK MTD VAT, CIS and BACS built in on paid editions.
Cheap for what you get, and the CRM app alone is free.
Open source, with self-hosting possible; Odoo 20 shipped in September 2026.

Weaknesses

Quality varies by app.
Complex set-ups need a strong partner.
The CRM is lighter than specialist CRMs.

Price:: CRM app free for unlimited users (One App Free). CRM alone is free. Standard (all apps) £22 and Custom £41 per user per month after a first-year discount, billed yearly. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small and mid-sized firms that want one cheap system for most of the business.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales or finance need best-in-class tools.
AI:: AI in Odoo 20, priced by credits at €1 each on Custom, plus an official MCP server.
Hosting:: Self-host, EU
Doing it yourself:: Simple set-ups are DIY. Anything complex needs a good Odoo partner.
Leaving:: Open data model; export by API or database.

Sources: Odoo pricing

Professional services automation (PSA)

Kantata · Kantata PSA or Kantata on Salesforce

A PSA for resourcing, project financials, time and billing, sold standalone or as an app inside Salesforce. It runs delivery, not sales.

Strengths

Built for services firms: resourcing, utilisation, project margin and billing in one place.
Two routes: standalone, or native inside Salesforce for multi-entity firms.
Documented connectors create projects from Salesforce or HubSpot deals at a stage you choose.
UK roots: Kimble was built in London, and Kantata keeps a London office.

Weaknesses

It isn't a CRM: no lead capture, email tracking, marketing or sales forecasting.
No public pricing, and it's priced for mid-sized and larger firms.
No documented Dynamics 365 connector, so that link would be a build.
The HubSpot connector needs Kantata's Enterprise plan.

Price:: Quote only. Our planning figure of about £40 to £80 per user per month is an estimate, not a published price. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Consultancies, agencies and technology services firms of about 50 people and up that need resourcing and project financials.
You'd outgrow it when:: Rarely. The bigger question is whether you're too small for it yet.
AI:: AI for staffing and expertise matching, plus MCP servers for AI assistants.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Usually implemented with Kantata's services team or a partner.
Leaving:: API and exports. Check data-return terms in the contract.

Sources: Kantata, Kantata PSA (formerly Mavenlink), Kantata on Salesforce (formerly Kimble), Salesforce connector, HubSpot integration

Certinia · Professional Services Cloud

A PSA plus financials built natively on Salesforce (formerly FinancialForce), for services firms already on Salesforce.

Strengths

Native on Salesforce, so sales and delivery share one data model.
Adds services billing, revenue recognition and a ledger.

Weaknesses

Only makes sense on Salesforce.
Expensive and complex to implement.

Price:: Quote only. Our planning figure is an estimate, and Salesforce licences may be needed on top. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Mid-sized and large services firms committed to Salesforce.
You'd outgrow it when:: Not a size issue; the question is platform commitment.
AI:: Veda AI layer, and access to Agentforce through Salesforce.
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Implemented by Certinia or a partner.
Leaving:: Data sits in Salesforce objects; exports by Salesforce tools.

Sources: Certinia

Scoro · End-to-end

An all-in-one for agencies and consultancies: pipeline, quotes, projects, time and billing, with a London office.

Strengths

Pipeline to invoice in one tool.
Built for agencies and consultancies.
Published GBP prices.

Weaknesses

The CRM is basic: little marketing automation or forecasting.
Minimum of five users.
Only the top bundle includes CRM.

Price:: From £13 (time and billing) to £43 (End-to-end, which includes CRM) per user per month, minimum 5 users. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Agencies and consultancies of about 5 to 200 people that want one system.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales needs a real CRM, or delivery needs enterprise resourcing.
AI:: Some AI features.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up with Scoro's onboarding.
Leaving:: Exports and API.

Sources: Scoro pricing

Productive

An all-in-one for agencies, with deals and pipelines that turn into projects and budgets.

Strengths

Deals become projects in the same tool.
Built around agency profitability.

Weaknesses

The HubSpot sync needs the top plan.
Light CRM.
Pricing page is confusing.

Price:: Essential and Professional per user per month (USD, converted); Ultimate on quote. Confirm on the page: its figures conflict. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Agencies and small consultancies that want pipeline and delivery together.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales needs a full CRM.
AI:: AI features for agencies.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up with onboarding help.
Leaving:: Exports and API.

Sources: Productive pricing

Accelo

Client work management for service businesses: sales, quotes, projects, retainers and billing.

Strengths

Covers sales to billing for service firms.
Integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, HubSpot and Salesforce.

Weaknesses

Quote-only pricing.
The CRM side is basic.

Price:: Quote only, based on team size. Our planning figure is an estimate. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Small and mid-sized service businesses with projects and retainers.
You'd outgrow it when:: Sales or delivery needs specialist depth.
AI:: Some AI features.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up with onboarding help.
Leaving:: Exports and API.

Sources: Accelo pricing

Projectworks

A PSA for consultancies with resourcing, time, invoicing and a consulting CRM in beta, with a London office.

Strengths

Built for consultancies.
HubSpot and Salesforce integrations on higher plans.

Weaknesses

Minimum of 10 users.
Its CRM is still in beta.

Price:: Per user per month, billed annually, minimum 10 users (USD, converted; GBP billing available). Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Consultancies of 10 to a few hundred people.
You'd outgrow it when:: Very large, multi-entity firms.
AI:: Some AI features.
Hosting:: Not published
Doing it yourself:: Set up with onboarding help.
Leaving:: Exports and API.

Sources: Projectworks pricing

Dynamics 365 Project Operations

Microsoft's PSA, built to work with Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft's finance apps.

Strengths

Native with Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft finance.
Strong project accounting.

Weaknesses

Expensive per user.
Complex; needs a partner.

Price:: £103.80 per user per month, paid yearly. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Mid-sized and large Microsoft-first services firms.
You'd outgrow it when:: Not a size issue.
AI:: Copilot and agents in preview for time and expenses.
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: Implemented by a Microsoft partner.
Leaving:: Dataverse exports.

Sources: Project Operations

Build your own

Build your own, with AI coding tools

Your own developers build a CRM on a standard stack (for example Postgres or Supabase, with a web front end), using AI coding tools to move fast.

Strengths

Fits your process exactly, including unusual data.
No licence fees, and you own the code and data.
AI coding tools make the first version far cheaper than it used to be.

Weaknesses

You own everything a vendor normally handles: security, email sync, permissions, backups, audit and GDPR requests.
Maintenance makes up most of a system's lifetime cost: plan on 15% to 40% of the build cost every year.
Key-person risk: if your developer leaves, so does the knowledge.
Buyers and auditors ask harder questions about home-grown systems.

Price:: No licences. A basic CRM for 25 people is roughly 25 to 40 developer days (about £13k to £21k at a £525 median day rate), then hosting and maintenance every year. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Businesses where the CRM is part of the product, or the data model is genuinely unusual, with developers to own it.
You'd outgrow it when:: Maintenance starts eating the time you meant to spend on the product.
AI:: Whatever you build: your own agents and MCP server on your own data.
Hosting:: UK, Self-host
Doing it yourself:: Only with developers who will also own security, backups and upgrades.
Leaving:: You own the database. The risk is the opposite of lock-in: nobody else can support it.

Sources: ITJobsWatch software developer day rates, Supabase pricing, Replit agent deletes a production database (The Register), Lovable apps exposing data (CVE-2025-48757), ICO: a guide to subject access, ICO: right to erasure

Low-code build · Power Apps and Dataverse, Airtable with an interface, or similar

Build a CRM on a low-code platform, so a capable non-developer can shape it, with the platform handling hosting and security.

Strengths

Fits your process without a developer team.
The platform carries hosting and security.
Power Apps fits neatly into Microsoft 365.

Weaknesses

You still design and maintain the CRM yourself.
Can grow into an undocumented tangle.
You rebuild features a bought CRM has out of the box.

Price:: Power Apps Premium £15.40 per user per month, paid yearly, plus the build. Retool, Softr and Glide price differently. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Microsoft-first teams with a capable power user and an unusual process.
You'd outgrow it when:: The app becomes business-critical and needs proper engineering.
AI:: Copilot or the platform's AI to build and use apps.
Hosting:: UK, EU, US
Doing it yourself:: A capable power user can build the first version.
Leaving:: Data in Dataverse or the platform's database; apps don't move.

Sources: Power Apps pricing

A platform from a software house

A UK software house licenses or builds an operational platform that runs sales, delivery and billing on one set of records, and supports it for you.

Strengths

Fits how you work, across CRM and operations.
No in-house developers needed.
One supplier to call.

Weaknesses

You depend on one supplier. Put code escrow, IP ownership and an exit plan in the contract.
Every change is a paid change.
Harder to hire people who already know the system.

Price:: Licensed platforms run from about £695 to £1,495 a month for up to 10 people (Scorchsoft OpsUPLOOP), plus set-up. Bespoke builds start around £7.5k, with £20k to £75k common. Checked 22 October 2026.
Best for:: Firms of about 10 to 250 people with unusual operations that no package fits.
You'd outgrow it when:: The supplier can't keep up, or you need a platform others can support.
AI:: Whatever you commission.
Hosting:: UK, EU
Doing it yourself:: The supplier builds and supports it. You own the requirements, the testing and the contract.
Leaving:: Depends entirely on the contract: insist on data export, documentation and code escrow.

Declaration: the example here, Scorchsoft, is owned by a friend of Anna Bromley, APD's director.

Sources: Scorchsoft OpsUPLOOP, Scorchsoft: bespoke versus off-the-shelf, Government Sourcing Playbook

Frequently asked questions

Which CRM is best for a small business in the UK?

It depends on your size, your email and how you sell. For one to five people, Attio, Pipedrive, Capsule and HubSpot's free tools are common front-runners. If you're on Microsoft 365, test the Outlook support, which is weaker in several Google-first tools.

Is Salesforce worth it for a small business?

Sometimes. Starter, at £20 a user a month, works for a simple process. But AI agents start at Core (£156), and the bigger editions mean annual contracts. Salesforce earns its cost once you're heading past about 25 users, or need complex processes or serious AI agents.

How much does a CRM cost in the UK?

Licences run from free to over £300 a user a month, before VAT. For a growing firm they're often not the biggest cost: add set-up, admin time and usage-priced AI. The selector shows a three-year range for your team size.

Is a CRM worth it for a one-person business?

Yes, once you have more relationships than you can hold in your head. Several CRMs are free for one or two users and fill themselves from your email and calendar, so the main cost is an hour of set-up.

Can I trust the results if you're a Salesforce partner?

Judge for yourself. Agile Project Delivery is a Provisional Salesforce consulting partner and earns from consulting, including setting up whichever CRM you choose. No vendor pays us for leads or rankings, every scoring rule is on this page, and Salesforce goes through the same rules as everyone else.

Do you store my answers?

No. The tool runs in your browser, and a shared link carries your answers in a part of the address that never reaches our server. If you type a note or fill in a "Something else" box, we send that with your answers to Anthropic, our AI provider, to write the AI take, and we don't keep it. We only see your answers if you ask for a review.

Sources

Each option's profile links to its own pricing page. These sources are behind the rest. All checked 22 October 2026.

Built by Anna Bromley, Director of Agile Project Delivery and a Salesforce Certified Business Analyst. APD is a Provisional Salesforce consulting partner. No vendor pays us for leads or rankings. Anna on LinkedIn

CRM Selector

Five real situations

Solo founder, tech-savvy, small budget

Two-person business struggling with HubSpot

28-person team unhappy with Dynamics and Power BI

Large organisation with HubSpot, spreadsheets and more

Consultancy running Kantata, unsure about CRM

Quick answers

How does it decide?

What's changed in 2026?

Do we need a CRM if we use Kantata?

Should we build our own CRM?

What's the most AI-first set-up?

What will it take from our people?

What if we plan to sell or list?

Is there a specialist CRM for my sector?

Every option, honestly

Compare 33 CRMs at a glance

Read all 43 profiles

Platform and ecosystem

Salesforce · Starter, Pro Suite or Core

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales · Professional or Enterprise

HubSpot · Starter or Professional (one edition for the whole platform)

Zoho CRM · Professional or Enterprise

SAP Sales Cloud

Oracle NetSuite CRM

AI-native CRM

Attio · Plus or Pro

folk

Lightfield

Day AI

Clarify

Small-business CRM

Bigin by Zoho

Pipedrive · Growth or Premium

Capsule

monday CRM

Freshsales

Close

Copper

Streak

Nutshell

Insightly

Less Annoying CRM

Keap

ActiveCampaign

Brevo

Agile CRM

Bitrix24

Work management or database, used as a CRM

Airtable

Notion

Open source

Twenty

SuiteCRM

EspoCRM

Odoo

Professional services automation (PSA)

Kantata · Kantata PSA or Kantata on Salesforce

Certinia · Professional Services Cloud

Scoro · End-to-end

Productive

Accelo

Projectworks

Dynamics 365 Project Operations

Build your own

Build your own, with AI coding tools

Low-code build · Power Apps and Dataverse, Airtable with an interface, or similar

A platform from a software house

Frequently asked questions

Which CRM is best for a small business in the UK?

Is Salesforce worth it for a small business?

How much does a CRM cost in the UK?

Is a CRM worth it for a one-person business?

Can I trust the results if you're a Salesforce partner?

Do you store my answers?

Sources

Choose with confidence, then make it deliver