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Salesforce alternatives

Salesforce's advertised $25/seat Starter price is misleading — our review notes most organisations land on the $175+/seat Enterprise tier once they need real automation. These are the alternatives our reviews name, each with the reason it made the list. Most Salesforce-adjacent search demand in our keyword research actually routes to HubSpot's own tool page rather than this one, so this list stays short and specific rather than padded.

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team · Sep 30, 2026 · no sponsored placements

Top Salesforce alternatives

Ranked by our editorial score.

  1. Freshsales CRM & SalesLighter option

    A fraction of Salesforce's price with no dedicated admin required to set up, for SMB teams that don't need deep custom objects or enterprise governance.

    vs Salesforce: Better value (8 vs 5) · Easier to use (8 vs 4) · Fewer integrations (7 vs 10)

    Source: our Freshsales review

    Comparison: “vs Salesforce: Freshsales costs a fraction of Salesforce's price and requires no dedicated admin to set up, but Salesforce offers far deeper customization, enterprise-grade reporting, and a vastly larger marketplace of integrations.”

    Our score7.8 / 10
    Starts at$9/molower listed price
    Free planYes
    Read review Freshsales
  2. HubSpot Marketing AutomationLighter option

    A genuinely free CRM tier for teams that need core sales pipeline tracking without Salesforce's administrative overhead or cost.

    vs Salesforce: Better value (6 vs 5) · Easier to use (7 vs 4) · Better support (8 vs 7)

    Source: our Salesforce review

    Lighter alternative: “HubSpot CRM (free tier available) for teams that need core sales pipeline without the administrative overhead or cost of Salesforce.”

    Our score7.8 / 10
    Starts at$20/molower listed price
    Free planYes
    Read review HubSpot
  3. Zoho CRM CRM & SalesLighter option

    Comparable automation and forecasting for SMBs at a fraction of Salesforce's cost, bundled with a wider suite of Zoho business apps.

    vs Salesforce: Better value (9 vs 5) · Easier to use (6 vs 4) · Fewer integrations (8 vs 10)

    Source: our Salesforce review

    Comparison: “vs Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM is substantially cheaper and bundles a wider suite of business apps (HR, finance, helpdesk) under one vendor, but Salesforce has significantly deeper customization capabilities, more enterprise-grade AI features (Einstein), and a larger ecosystem of certified implementation partners.”

    Our score7.7 / 10
    Starts at$14/molower listed price
    Free planYes
    Read review Zoho CRM
  4. Pipedrive CRM & SalesLighter option

    A pipeline-first CRM that implements in 2-3 weeks instead of months, at a far lower per-seat cost — for SMB sales teams that don't need Salesforce's enterprise depth.

    vs Salesforce: Better value (6 vs 5) · Easier to use (9 vs 4) · Fewer features (7 vs 9) · Fewer integrations (8 vs 10)

    Source: our Pipedrive review

    Comparison: “vs Salesforce: Pipedrive typically takes 2-3 weeks to implement versus months for Salesforce, and is far cheaper per seat; Salesforce offers deeper enterprise automation, a 7,000+ app AppExchange ecosystem, and more mature AI (Einstein), making it the default for large enterprises.”

    Our score7.3 / 10
    Starts at$14/molower listed price
    Free planNo
    Read review Pipedrive

* “Lower listed price” compares the entry prices in our reviews. Where the two tools price differently (per seat, per contact, per email sent), the cheaper option depends on your list size and sending volume.

How they compare

Our five sub-scores out of 10. Bold means at least a point above Salesforce.

ToolScoreFeaturesValueEase of useEcosystemSupportStarts atFree plan
Salesforce(replacing)7.0954107$25/moYes
Freshsales7.888877$9/moYes
HubSpot7.896798$20/moYes
Zoho CRM7.789686$14/moYes
Pipedrive7.376987$14/moNo

Free alternatives to Salesforce

3 of the 4 alternatives have a free plan.

Freshsales, HubSpot, Zoho CRM

What each free plan includes
Free (3 users); paid from $9/user/mo
Free CRM; Starter from $20/seat/mo
Free (3 users); paid from $14/user/mo

Lower listed starting price than Salesforce ($25/mo): Freshsales ($9/mo), HubSpot ($20/mo), Zoho CRM ($14/mo), Pipedrive ($14/mo). Pricing models differ, so compare at your own list size.

How we picked them

Every alternative here is named in one of our own reviews — either in the Salesforce review (as a lighter or more powerful option, or in a head-to-head comparison) or in the other tool's review. Each relationship was then checked by hand: would someone replacing Salesforce reasonably consider this tool? Rankings follow our editorial score only; no tool pays to be listed or ranked.

Relationships drafted from our catalogue reviews on 30 September 2026 for this local preview. Before publication each row is confirmed by a Conversion Gems editor.

2 tools our reviews mention alongside Salesforce that we left out, and why
  • microsoft-dynamics-365 — Named in Salesforce's own comparison text, but Microsoft Dynamics 365 has no standalone catalogue page.
  • agentforce-1-sales — Salesforce's own listed step-up alternative is its own highest-tier add-on product, not a separate switchable CRM.

Questions about Salesforce alternatives