Every free CRM is an on-ramp with a designed exit — a cap that ends your free run at the worst possible moment, usually right after you have committed your data. The useful question is not "which free CRM is best" but which cap will your business hit last. Three limits decide that: seats (how many people can log in), records (how many contacts and deals you can store), and features (automation, reporting, API access). This guide ranks the real free plans of 2026 by those caps — including our own OG CRM, with the disclosure that we publish it.
The Three Caps That End a Free Plan
- Seats. HubSpot caps at 2 free users, Zoho at 3, most others at 1–3. Headcount grows whether revenue does — this is the most common exit.
- Records. Zoho's ~5,000 records is generous; Capsule allows 250 contacts; Freshsales roughly 1,000. A contact database only grows — every inquiry and business card is a row.
- Features. Workflow automation, custom reports, and integrations live behind the paywall on almost every free plan. Check whether your key automation — assign a lead, remind a rep — is included.
Free Plans Compared
HubSpot CRM Free — the default recommendation for a reason: contacts, companies, one deal pipeline, email tracking, a meeting scheduler, and live chat at $0 with no time limit. The ecosystem is the strength — the same account powers HubSpot's marketing and service hubs later, so no re-platforming. The binding caps: 2 users, roughly 1,000 contacts, one automated action, and HubSpot branding on emails. Paid upgrades start at $20/seat/month.
Zoho CRM Free — the longest-lasting free tier for a growing team: 3 users, ~5,000 records, workflow automation, email templates, tasks, and 5,000 API calls/day. It is the pick when seat count or record volume ends the HubSpot free run — and Zoho Standard starts at just $14/user/month. The trade-off is a denser UI and an ecosystem pull toward other Zoho apps.
OG CRM Free — the outlier on one axis that matters to small teams: it is the only free plan here with ticketing built into the same record as contacts and deals. Up to 100 contacts, basic ticket management, email support, and basic reporting — free forever, from an EU vendor. For a 2–5 person team that needs CRM and a helpdesk in one place, that collapses two subscriptions into one login. Pro is EUR 8 per user per month — the cheapest upgrade in this list.
Worth knowing: Freshsales (3 free users, dialer and chat widget) is strong for outbound sales. Bitrix24 advertises unlimited users but gates telephony and automation. EngageBay gives 15 seats but only 250 contacts — a record cap you hit in months. Attio (3 users, 50,000 records) suits startups that want a modern data model over a classical pipeline. Pipedrive has no free plan at all — only a 14-day trial.
The Helpdesk Question Most Comparisons Skip
Most "free CRM" lists score only the sales side. But the moment a customer emails a problem, a CRM without ticketing forces a second tool — and a second bill. On free plans the state of play: OG CRM includes basic ticketing on the customer record; HubSpot free includes basic ticketing for its 2 seats; Zoho keeps support in a separate product (Zoho Desk, free for up to 3 agents) — capable, but another system to integrate. If sales and support share the same customers, plan for both on day one — see our buyer's guide to combined CRM + ticketing.
What the Upgrade Actually Costs
- OG CRM Pro: EUR 8/user/month — 14-day trial, no card. Cheapest exit of the group.
- Zoho Standard: $14/user/month billed annually.
- Freshsales Growth: from ~$9/user/month.
- HubSpot Starter: $20/seat/month list (frequent promos below that) — but the jump to Professional is $90/seat plus a mandatory $1,500 onboarding fee, the real cliff in the lineup.
Model the second tier, not the first — that is where the pricing model reveals itself. For the full breakdown of paid tiers for a 5-person team, see HubSpot vs Zoho vs OG CRM: 2026 pricing compared.
How to Choose
- Count your seats in 12 months. If you will exceed 2–3 users, start on the plan whose next tier you can afford — not the one with the most free seats today.
- Estimate record growth. Inbound-heavy businesses hit record caps before seat caps.
- Check the one automation you need. Lead assignment and follow-up reminders are the most common paywalled feature.
- Decide if support belongs in the CRM. If yes, the free-plan field narrows fast.
- Verify data residency. EU companies should confirm hosting region and DPA availability before importing personal data — OG CRM is built and hosted by an EU company in Vienna.
Whichever plan you start on, clean the data before you import: deduplicate contacts with the free CSV Deduplicator and catch bad addresses with the Email List Validator. Ready to try the free plan with ticketing included? Start with OG CRM Free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a free CRM actually free forever?
The reputable ones are — HubSpot, Zoho, and OG CRM all offer permanent free plans with no expiry. "Free" ends when you hit a cap: seats, records, or a paywalled feature like automation. Trial-based "free" (Pipedrive, most Salesforce entry points) expires in 14–30 days — a different product entirely.
Which free CRM allows the most users?
Bitrix24 and EngageBay advertise the largest free seat counts (unlimited and 15 respectively), but both compensate with tight record caps or gated features. Among the mainstream three: Zoho allows 3 free users, HubSpot 2, and OG CRM's free plan is capped by contacts (100) rather than designed around seats.
Which free CRM includes a helpdesk?
OG CRM is the only free plan with ticketing built into the same customer record as contacts and deals. HubSpot free includes basic ticketing for its 2 seats. Zoho offers a separate free helpdesk (Zoho Desk, up to 3 agents) that integrates with — but lives outside — the CRM.
Can I export my data if I outgrow the free plan?
All three mainstream options export contacts and deals to CSV — portability is not the risk. The real lock-in is operational: pipelines, automations, and integrations you rebuild on upgrade or migration. Export a backup before any plan change, and dedupe the file first with our CSV Deduplicator.
What breaks first on a free plan?
For most teams: the seat cap, then automation. A third hire ends HubSpot's free plan; a manual follow-up process that costs an hour a day justifies a paid tier sooner than any record limit. Buy the upgrade when a cap costs you time weekly — not when a vendor email says you should.
