The Spreadsheet Disaster
Three weeks. That's how long the lead sat in row 47 of my "totally organized" Google Sheet.
I meant to follow up. Every day I looked at it and thought "tomorrow." Then one Tuesday I get an email: "Thanks for your time, but we went with someone else."
$15,000. Gone. Because I forgot.
That afternoon I signed up for HubSpot. Free tier. Took maybe two hours to set up. Haven't lost a deal to bad follow-up since.
If you're running your business out of spreadsheets and sticky notes right now? You already know it's not working. You're just hoping nothing falls through the cracks.
Something will.
The Short Version
| CRM | Starting Price | Free Plan | Contacts | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | $0-$20/mo | Yes (generous) | Unlimited free | Growing businesses |
| Pipedrive | $14/mo | 14-day trial | Unlimited | Sales teams |
| Zoho CRM | $0-$14/mo | Yes (3 users) | 5K-100K | Budget-conscious |
| Monday Sales | $12/mo | 14-day trial | Unlimited | Visual workflows |
| Freshsales | $0-$15/mo | Yes (basic) | Unlimited | AI features |
Most people: HubSpot. Free tier is legit. Start there.
Sales obsessed: Pipedrive. Best pipeline view I've used.
Broke: Zoho. Cheap and full-featured.
That's it. Pick one. The rest of this is details.
What You Actually Need
Does your team hate it? Then it won't get used. Doesn't matter how good the features are. If setup takes longer than an afternoon, red flag.
Does it talk to your email? Gmail, Outlook, whatever. Automatic logging. Open tracking. If you're manually copy-pasting emails into a system... you won't. Nobody does.
Can it nag you? "Hey, you didn't follow up." "This deal's been sitting for a week." That's what CRMs are actually for. Automated guilt.
Can you see what's working? Conversion rates. Where deals die. Revenue this month. If you can't answer these questions in 30 seconds, you're flying blind.
The CRMs
HubSpot
What I use. What I recommend to friends.
Free tier is real. Not a 14-day trial. Actually free, forever, with unlimited contacts. Pipeline tracking. Email logging. Meeting scheduler. It's... kind of absurd how much you get for $0.
I started on free. Stayed on free for almost two years. Only upgraded when I needed email sequences.
The catch? Paid plans jump hard. Free → $20/month → suddenly $500/month. That escalation is aggressive.
Good for: Starting out. Testing. Staying forever if you don't need automation.
Pipedrive
Built by salespeople. You can tell.
Everything is drag-and-drop pipeline. Visual. Intuitive. If your brain works in "stages" and "deals moving through funnels," this will feel like home.
I used this for a client project. The mobile app is genuinely excellent. Like, actually usable, not just "technically exists."
No free plan though. $14/month minimum. And if you want marketing stuff, that's extra.
Good for: Sales teams. People who live in their pipeline.
Try Pipedrive free for 14 days →
Zoho
The "I have $0 but need real features" option.
Free for 3 users. Paid plans at $14/month that include stuff others charge $50+ for. It's... not pretty. Interface feels like 2015. But it works. Everything's there.
I set this up for a friend's startup. Steep learning curve for the first few days, then fine.
Good for: Bootstrappers. Small teams watching every dollar.
Monday Sales
Already use Monday.com? This is the same thing but for sales.
Same boards. Same drag-and-drop. Same colorful visual chaos. If you love that workflow style, great. If you don't already use Monday, probably skip.
Good for: Monday.com addicts.
Freshsales
The "AI will help you sell" one.
Lead scoring. Deal predictions. Built-in phone system. It's... fine? The AI stuff is neat. Whether it actually helps depends on your volume.
Good for: People who want AI buzzwords and built-in calling.
Quick Picks
Free CRM? HubSpot. Not even close.
One-person business? HubSpot Free or Zoho Free.
Sales team of 5+? Pipedrive.
Selling physical products? HubSpot + your Shopify/WooCommerce.
Absolutely broke? Zoho.
Frequently Asked Questions
More than 50 contacts? Ever forget to follow up? Then yes.
Yes. I ran my business on free for two years.
Afternoon for basic. Week if you want automations perfect.
Technically yes. Actually annoying. Pick carefully.
Until it doesn't. You'll know when.
Just Pick One
HubSpot for most people. Free. Full-featured enough. Upgrade later if needed.
Pipedrive if pipelines are your thing.
Zoho if money is tight.
All of them have trials or free tiers. Test with your actual contacts. See what clicks.
Row 47 cost me $15,000. Four years later, I still think about it.
Get a CRM.
