Maintaining customer relationships is crucial for your small business to enhance customer loyalty and retention rates. But as your customer base grows, manual methods to manage customer information, track follow-ups, and share communications won't cut it. That's where customer relationship management (CRM) software can help.
Such software automates various CRM tasks, such as updating and organizing customer data, capturing potential leads, tracking customer interactions, and sending personalized updates or messages. This helps save time and improve efficiency for your marketing, sales, and support teams.
This article highlights, in alphabetical order, five top-rated CRM software for small businesses based on user reviews. For each product, we include overall user ratings along with the highest-rated attribute, product benefits, review excerpts from industry professionals, and pricing details.
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between June 2022 and June 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
1. Bigin by Zoho CRM
Bigin by Zoho CRM helps you track leads, manage contacts, and automate repetitive sales processes. It offers a pre-installed library of CRM templates that you can select and customize, depending on your project requirements. The software helps you capture leads from multiple sources (such as website forms or inbound calls), assign them to team members, set target closing dates, and monitor their status throughout the sales pipeline. You can also create multiple pipelines (both outbound and inbound) with customizable stages to run different customer operations.
Commonly discussed topics by Bigin by Zoho CRM reviewers
Our analysis of Bigin by Zoho CRM’s reviews on Capterra reveals the most commonly discussed topics:
Simplified customizations: 88% of users like the customizability of Bigin’s user setup and access. They say the process is simple, highlighting control over who can access what within the software database.
Effective sales pipeline: 87% highlight Bigin by Zoho CRM’s ability to simplify and automate sales processes with its user-friendly, mobile-first design. They like how it effectively tracks leads and team performance while also supporting multiple pipelines.
Efficient workflows with integrations: 77% appreciate Bigin’s integration capabilities for optimizing workflows and enhancing operational efficiency. They find the integration with Google Workspace and other Zoho products particularly beneficial.
Review excerpts from small business users who have used Bigin by Zoho CRM for CRM
"As a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, Zoho Bigin stands out for its user-friendly interface, robust features, and seamless integration capabilities." (Sbo Ka Gatsheni, senior marketer, 2024)
"The biggest pro is the ability to easily create multiple pipelines for vastly different revenue streams." (Therise Edwards, founder, 2023)
"Customisability, easy to use, user has all the control of fields are other options." (Sai Teja, head of marketing, 2023)
"The pipeline management enables us to set up a clear structure and our sales department keeps track of everything." (Christina Zopf, assistant, 2023)
Read all Bigin by Zoho CRM reviews here.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated attribute
Value-for-money - 4.8
Commonly used by*
Professionals in information technology and services, marketing and advertising, and real estate, according to Capterra user reviews
Starting price
$7 per user, per month (billed annually)
Device Compatibilty
2. Breakcold
Breakcold CRM integrates with various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Instagram, and Twitter. This integration helps you combine social media data with traditional CRM data, providing a 360-degree view of your customers, and offering insights into their social interactions, preferences, and behaviors. You can use its unified inbox to manage all your email communications, including social media interactions.
Breakcold allows your team members to create and share collaborative notes to document customer interactions, share strategies, and track progress. You can create and manage cold email campaigns to reach potential customers, personalize outreach based on customer insights, and automate follow-ups to ensure consistent engagement.
Commonly discussed topics by Breakcold reviewers
Our analysis of Breakcold’s reviews on Capterra reveals the most commonly discussed topics:
Effective lead management: 97% of users appreciate Breakcold’s lead management capabilities that help them streamline sales processes, including lead tracking and contact management. They also like the live feed feature, which enables personalized outreach and improved collaboration.
Streamlined sales management: 95% appreciate Breakcold CRM's impact on sales management, particularly its LinkedIn integration and multi-channel engagement capabilities. They highlight its social selling features that simplify networking and follow-ups.
Efficient email management tools: 82% highlight Breakcold’s ability to manage multiple email accounts from a single dashboard and track metrics, such as email open rates, click-through rates, and replies, to measure communication effectiveness.
Review excerpts from small business users who have used Breakcold for CRM
"After using Breakcold and seeing all its social selling capabilities, integrations, pipeline and leads management amongst others, you won't want nor will you need to use anything else to manage your leads, nurture your contacts and have conversations flowing easily and organic!" (Laura Rincón, geomarketing analyst, 2023)
"The multi-channel engagement feature allowed us to connect with B2B contacts effortlessly, while the social selling capabilities boosted our sales." (Pierpaolo Menga, founder, 2023)
"The main Feed dashboard and the ability to DM and E-mail from multiple accounts from the same dashboard is awesome and very convenient." (Issac Alejandro, owner & CEO, 2023)
"Breakcold is helping me increase the chances of making sales by making the process of networking and follow up with prospects extremely easy, without the distractions of social media." (Adrian Rodríguez, growth marketer, 2023)
Read all Breakcold reviews here.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated attribute
Value-for-money - 4.98
Commonly used by*
Professionals in marketing and advertising, computer software, and information technology and services, according to Capterra user reviews
Starting price
$17.40 per user, per month (billed annually)
Device Compatibilty
3. Flowlu
Flowlu allows you to store and manage all customer-related information in one place, including interaction tracking and communication history with clients. It helps segment contacts for targeted marketing campaigns and its sales pipeline feature enables you to visualize your sales process with customizable pipelines, track the progress of deals and opportunities, and automate follow-ups and reminders to ensure timely actions. Flowlu lets you assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor project progress. It also syncs your email accounts, tracks email open rates and responses and offers email templates for consistent communication.
Commonly discussed topics by Flowlu reviewers
Our analysis of Flowlu’s reviews on Capterra reveals the most commonly discussed topics:
Enhanced team collaboration: 100% appreciate Flowlu's ability to streamline team collaboration. Users have found it particularly useful in bringing together project teams and facilitating communication and collaboration at all stages.
Comprehensive task management: 95% of users appreciate Flowlu’s ability to facilitate project planning, management, and collaboration with Gantt charts for task planning, as well as a project dashboard for real-time progress monitoring.
Flexible payment plans: 75% like Flowlu’s flexible payment plans for different team sizes. Flowlu offers a free plan that supports up to two users and a free trial that helps users explore the software’s features without committing to a purchase.
Review excerpts from small business users who have used Flowlu for CRM
"Flowlu makes it easy for our entire project team to come together, communicate and collaborate at every single stage of the project." (Bodamer Tabea, foreign language and localization administrator, 2024)
"The team is also constantly working on it and providing new updates and features on a regular basis, so it's great to see Flowlu continue to increase its potential." (Terence Wong, owner, 2024)
"Flowlu is a tool that helps small and medium-sized businesses structure their internal work, providing different users with the ability to monitor the various tasks to be carried out in an updated and synchronized manner." (Ettore La Magna, manager, 2023)
"It allows us to manages almost all aspects of our business from one place, and has saved us a great amount of money in subscriptions." (Carlos Parga, operations manager, 2022)
"Flowlu is overall and EXCELLENT product with incredible functionality. While it may be a bit complex to set up initially, the work pays for itself down the road.” (Richard Zimbalist, owner, 2022)
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated attribute
Value-for-money - 4.73
Commonly used by*
Professionals in marketing and advertising, information technology and services, and financial services, according to Capterra user reviews
Starting price
$29 per team, per month (billed annually)
Device Compatibilty
4. Kylas Sales CRM
Kylas Sales CRM lets you visualize the customer journey and track progress at different stages. You can use the productivity dashboard for a real-time sales pipeline overview, view conversion rates, and gauge team performance. The software lets you create, delegate, and monitor tasks from a unified dashboard. The smart segmentation lists feature enables targeted marketing and sales outreach by grouping contacts based on demographics, behavior, or purchase history. You can also create custom multi-dimensional reports to track leads, deals, tasks, calls, and meetings, and visualize them on the sales dashboard.
Commonly discussed topics by Kylas Sales CRM reviewers
Our analysis of Kylas Sales CRM’s reviews on Capterra reveals the most commonly discussed topics:
Enhanced customer relationships: 95% of users commend Kylas CRM for its user-friendly design and readily accessible customer support, both of which significantly contribute to improving customer relationships.
Effective lead management: 87% appreciate Kylas CRM’s ability to capture leads from multiple sources, track and score lead activities, automate follow-up tasks, and launch targeted marketing campaigns.
Advanced reporting: 59% of users found Kylas CRM’s analytics and reporting tools instrumental in making data-driven decisions and optimizing strategies. The system's dynamic reports provide valuable insights into employee activity and business performance, aiding in revenue tracking.
Review excerpts from small business users who have used Kylas Sales CRM for CRM
"Its blend of user-centric design, adaptability, and exceptional support makes it a top recommendation for companies aiming to thrive in their customer engagement endeavors" (Ganesh S, digital marketing, 2024)
"The software also has a robust reporting system that allowed me to analyze my sales data and customer behavior, providing me with valuable insights into my business operations." (Gurukeerat Sharma, PRE, 2023)
"The analytics and reporting tools further empower us to make data-driven decisions, allowing us to optimize our strategies for better results." (Gopinath Arumugam, business development, 2023)
"The support system is so good that although we had faced a lot of issue in the beginning, we have been still using the software for 1+ years.- the dynamic reports for the employee helps us to know what they are doing on daily, weekly and monthly basis and how much revenue are we earning against it." (Haripriya Vishwa, sales team lead, 2023)
Read all Kylas Sales CRM reviews here.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated attribute
Value-for-money - 4.85
Commonly used by*
Professionals in financial services, education management, and information technology and services, according to Capterra user reviews
Starting price
$250 per month (billed monthly)
Device Compatibilty
5. Less Annoying CRM
Less Annoying CRM features a unified dashboard for managing and organizing contacts with customizable fields for storing information, such as sales or call notes. It includes a built-in calendar and task manager for scheduling appointments, setting reminders, and tracking tasks. It can sync with third-party calendars, like Google Calendar or Outlook, to avoid double bookings and missed meetings. Less Annoying CRM also provides email logs for tracking client correspondence, lead reports for insights on lead status and conversion, and secure storage with 256-bit encryption to protect all data.
Commonly discussed topics by Less Annoying CRM reviewers
Our analysis of Less Annoying CRM’s reviews on Capterra reveals the most commonly discussed topics:
User-friendly interface: 92% of users appreciate Less Annoying CRM's intuitive and straightforward interface, which makes tracking new customers and renewals easy. The customer service interactions and timely notifications further enhance the user experience, all at an affordable price.
Effective contact management customization: 82% appreciate the efficiency and ease of importing and assigning contacts and the customization of contact fields and pipelines. They also value the ability to attach files and add notes.
Efficient email management: 57% appreciate the simplicity and functionality of email management within the CRM system, especially automated workflows and email logging.
Review excerpts from small business users who have used Less Annoying CRM for CRM
"Less Annoying CRM's combination of features and affordability may make it a valuable tool for users looking to streamline their workflows and improve their customer engagement." (Wissal Elkamel, freelancer, 2023)
"I love that when there is a customer service need, if the first person you were talking to is on leave, then someone else reads it and follows up - you don't have to start all over again explaining, and that is a shockingly rare thing, even with massive businesses like bank." (Dee Wood, director, 2023)
"Relationship links as many of our customers are repeat customers but for different companies so linking the two entities is really helpful." (Jaime Yarwood, assistant company secretary, 2021)
Read all Less Annoying CRM reviews here.
What features does a CRM tool offer?
A small business CRM solution offers the following core features:
Contact management: Store your customers’ contact information, including their names, addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts, in a centralized platform.
Interaction tracking: Capture client interactions across communication channels, including emails, website, and social media, and centralize all customer interaction data into a common dashboard.
Lead management: Store information about leads and contacts, and track them across the sales pipeline.
All products listed in this report include the features mentioned above. Besides these core features, customer relationship management software commonly tends to offer:
Activity dashboard
Alerts/notifications
Calendar management
Calendar/reminder system
Contact database
Data import/export
Document storage
Email management
Project management
Sales automation
Lead qualification
Marketing automation
Mobile access
Pipeline management
Quotes/estimates
Reporting/analytics
Sales pipeline management
How to choose the right CRM software for small businesses
Here are some factors to consider while shortlisting the best CRM software for your small business:
Demarcate the must-have features. Identify CRM software features relevant to your business type. For example, suppose you’re a B2B sales business. In that case, you’ll need lead and pipeline management or sales forecasting capabilities, but if you’re a customer service-focused business, you might require features for ticketing systems and customer interaction tracking instead. Make a list of such must-have or non-negotiable features. Contact management, email marketing integration, workflow automation, and reporting and analytics are a few other CRM-specific features to consider.
Evaluate automation capabilities. Automation can reduce the need for manual tasks and improve workflow efficiency. Look for CRM software that automates repetitive tasks such as data entry, follow-up emails, and lead nurturing. Automating these processes helps you save time, stay organized, respond to leads faster, and maintain strong customer relationships. Small businesses should also prioritize automated reminders for appointments or customer outreach, automated marketing campaigns, and automated workflow triggers.
Assess reporting and analytics functionality. Data-driven decisions are essential for growth, so ensure your CRM software provides reporting and analytics tools. Such tools should offer insights into customer behavior, sales performance, and campaign effectiveness. Choose a CRM system that allows you to generate customizable reports to track key performance indicators (KPIs), such as lead conversion rates, sales forecasts, and customer retention metrics. Comprehensive analytics help small businesses optimize their strategies and make informed decisions for long-term success.
Common questions to ask vendors when purchasing CRM software for small businesses
Ask software providers the following questions to ensure you find the best CRM software for your small business:
Every business has unique processes, and a CRM tool that can be tailored to match your sales cycle, customer management approach, and reporting needs will provide better value. Without customization, your team may have to work around the software, reducing efficiency. Ask about the extent of customization options, such as custom fields, workflows, and user permissions. Also, check if the vendor offers industry-specific versions or modules.
Data is the backbone of CRM systems. Losing customer data or sales records could severely impact operations. Regular and secure backups ensure that your data is protected in the event of a system failure or cyberattack and that recovery is swift, minimizing business disruptions. Understand the frequency of backups (daily, hourly, real-time), the method of data recovery, and how long it might take to restore data in case of a failure. Also, verify if the backup is stored in multiple locations for additional security.
As your small business expands, you’ll need more advanced CRM capabilities to manage a larger customer base, additional users, and more complex processes. A scalable CRM tool saves you from the hassle of switching systems down the line and supports long-term growth. Check if the CRM platform can handle an increasing number of users, clients, and data without performance degradation. Also, assess whether the vendor offers different pricing tiers and features that can be added as your business grows.