Best 9 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms for New Businesses
In the dynamic world of startups, finding the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial for managing customer interactions, sales, and project management effectively. Here's a roundup of the top 9 CRM systems for startups in 2025, along with their key features, benefits, and pricing.
1. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM offers a balance of cost, customization, and AI-powered lead management, making it an excellent choice for startups. Key features include lead management with lead scoring and assignment, integrations with Google Workspace, Office 365, MailChimp, Zendesk, and multichannel communication. Pricing starts from $14/user/month, with a free forever plan offering basic features and a 15-day free trial.
2. Salesforce
Salesforce is a premier CRM system, ideal for startups aiming to scale quickly with enterprise needs. It offers AI-powered sales insights and lead scoring, real-time data analysis, email integration with Gmail/Outlook, and advanced automation workflows in higher tiers. Pricing plans range from $25/user/month (Essentials) to $300/user/month (Unlimited), with a 30-day free trial available.
3. Pipedrive
Pipedrive excels in visual, activity-based sales pipelines that keep teams focused on deal-driving actions. Key features include a visual sales pipeline, activity tracking and task automation, AI-powered assistant, and real-time sales insights. Pricing starts around $14/user/month (billed annually).
4. BIGContacts
BIGContacts offers a very affordable entry point with comprehensive contact and workflow management. Key features include contact management, workflow automation, email marketing, pipeline tracking, and task management. Pricing starts from $9.99/user/month, with a free plan available for up to 100 contacts and a 15-day free trial.
5. Copper CRM
Ideal for startups that use Google Workspace as their primary productivity suite, Copper CRM integrates directly with Google Workspace, offering features like contact management, email tracking, and pipeline management. Pricing details were not available at the time of research.
6. Streak CRM
Streak CRM integrates directly into Gmail, making it ideal for startups that use Gmail as their primary communication tool. Key features include email tracking, pipeline management, task and calendar management, and shared team inboxes. Pricing details were not available at the time of research.
7. Salesforce Essentials
Salesforce Essentials is an entry-level CRM system tailored for small businesses, offering features like sales tracking, customizable dashboards, AI-driven insights, and integration with other Salesforce tools. Pricing starts from $25/user/month.
8. Freshsales CRM
Freshsales CRM offers features like sales tracking, customizable dashboards, reporting, AI-driven insights, and integration with other Freshworks tools, making it a suitable choice for startups that use Freshworks products. Pricing starts around $15/user/month (varies by plan).
9. Monday.com CRM
Monday.com CRM is a visual and collaborative CRM, perfect for startups that value team collaboration. Key features include visual project and task management, customizable workflows, integration with a wide range of apps, and sales and customer management. Pricing details were not available at the time of research.
Notable Benefits
- Zoho CRM balances cost, customization, and AI-powered lead management, making it an excellent startup choice.
- Salesforce is feature-rich and AI-driven, suited for startups aiming to scale quickly with enterprise needs.
- Pipedrive excels in visual, activity-based sales pipelines that keep teams focused on deal-driving actions.
- BIGContacts offers a very affordable entry point with comprehensive contact and workflow management.
- Zendesk Sell provides strong customer service integration, with a valuable free 6-month offer aimed at startups.
Pricing Notes
Most CRMs offer a free trial period and tiered pricing plans that scale based on features and user count, generally ranging from about $9.99 to $300 per user/month, with startups typically focusing on entry to mid-level tiers. Pricing details for some CRMs were not available at the time of research.
This overview synthesizes feature and pricing data primarily from monday.com CRM guide (2025), bigcontacts pricing comparison (2025), Thena lightweight CRMs list (2025), and Appvizer startup CRMs review (2025).
- Team collaboration is crucial for startups using Monday.com CRM, as it offers a visual and collaborative CRM system that allows for customizable workflows.
- For startups aiming to scale quickly with enterprise needs, social media scheduling and integrations with Gmail/Outlook are beneficial in Salesforce, an AI-driven CRM system.
- With industry advancements in technology, finding a CRM system like BIGContacts that offers affordable pricing and comprehensive contact and workflow management becomes essential for finance management in startups.
- In the rapidly evolving business landscape, staying updated with the latest industry trends requires a CRM system such as Salesforce Essentials, offering AI-driven insights and integration with other Salesforce tools.
- To keep teams focused on deal-driving actions, startups may consider adopting Pipedrive, a CRM that excels in visual, activity-based sales pipelines.
- Harnessing the power of technology, Zoho CRM provides an ideal balance of cost, customization, and AI-powered lead management for startups.
- To manage sales effectively, startups may find it advantageous to use a CRM like Freshsales that offers features like sales tracking, reporting, and integration with other Freshworks tools.
- Startups that use Google Workspace as their primary productivity suite may find Copper CRM beneficial, as it integrates directly with Google Workspace, offering features like contact management and email tracking.
- Streak CRM, which integrates directly into Gmail, offers significant advantages for startups that use Gmail as their primary communication tool, with features like email tracking, pipeline management, and task management.