8 Excellent Alternatives to Salesforce CRM Systems for All Business Needs

Salesforce is a versatile CRM system that provides standard-setting services to thousands of organizations.

Knowing we have options for CRMs that could outperform the sales force and suit our different business needs is best. In this regard, I have put together other alternatives to Salesforce CRM.

This article aims to aid you in selecting the ideal CRM for your business and enhance how you create, develop, and handle your leads, opportunities, and customer database.

What is Salesforce CRM?

Salesforce CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management CRM platform designed to help businesses manage customer data, sales process, track activities and transactions, and interact with clients all through the portal.

The platform also provides features for sales forecasting, lead management, and analytics, allowing businesses to monitor and analyze their sales data in real-time.

Features 

Contact management 

This feature enables users to store and manage customer information on one centralized platform. It allows users to segment contacts based on various criteria such as location, job title and also send them personalized emails.

Lead management 

This feature allows users to track leads and nurture them through the sales process. It allows users to understand who among the leads is more important and prioritize them.

Report

The report feature in Salesforce CRM helps users measure, track, and analyze the performance of their sales, marketing, and customer service teams. It provides insights on customer behavior, sales performance, and ROI.

Dashboard

Dashboards give users an overview of their business's performance. They can view their customer, sales, and lead analysis in one single, consolidated interface.

Calendar

The calendar feature helps users to easily schedule events, meetings, and tasks with their customers and team. It also enables users to set reminders for upcoming activities.

Salesforcast

Sales forecasts help users visualize future sales based on historical data. It provides users with insights on how their sales will progress in the future and helps them make better decisions.

Quote

The quotes feature in Salesforce CRM helps users to create and manage quotations and order forms. It allows users to quickly respond to customer inquiries and close more deals.

Salesforce Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Extensive customization options
• Powerful reporting capabilities
• Integrations with other platforms

Cons

• It is expensive
• Time-consuming to maintain

Pricing 

Salesforce offers a range of pricing plans to cater to the different needs of several businesses. The categories of the pricing plans include small businesses, sales, services and so on.

The Starter plan starts at $25 per month, billed annually, and the full pricing packages are given on their official website.

Why do you need salesforce alternatives?

Specific needs: Some businesses might need specific features unavailable in Salesforce. For instance, if a business requires a CRM with Kanban-style tracking, they may prefer Microsoft dynamics, known for its excellent capabilities. 

This could be a dealbreaker for those who need these features for their operations.

Cost: Some businesses may find Salesforce's pricing plans too expensive. This will compel such businesses to consider more affordable alternatives that offer similar features and functionalities.

Automation: If your business heavily relies on automation, then Salesforce alternatives like ClientVenue might be a better fit.

Best Salesforce CRM alternatives

1. ClientVenue

ClientVenue is a powerful platform that helps small to medium-sized businesses and agencies manage all aspects of their client relations in an efficient and streamlined manner.

It is designed to simplify your work by offering comprehensive support for project management, scheduling, billing and invoicing, and revenue tracking. This comprehensive support starts from the initial contact with a client to the final payment.

Features 

• Billing and invoicing
• Project management
• Reporting
• Resource management
• Scheduling

Pros

• Improved and seamless collaboration in business processes
• Efficient time-tracking tools
• Automated workflow and project execution
• It is highly customizable

Cons

• I have not encountered any drawbacks yet

Pricing

ClientVenue has two plans with a 14 day full featured trial attach to them.

Professional: It is priced at $25 per user per month and comes with several features, including unlimited projects, a 10 GB storage drive, timesheets and resource management, client invoicing and payments, a branded white label portal, people performance reports, integrations, and priority support.

Enterprise: It costs $40 per user per month and includes everything offered in the Professional Plan, along with additional benefits like client accounts, a 100 GB storage drive, a dedicated services selling page, a dedicated accounts manager, custom development, 1-on-1 custom onboarding and coaching, and daily standups.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one software platform that helps businesses manage and grow their customer base. It connects marketing, sales, content management, and customer service.

The software platform comprises multiple products. Each product in the platform is powerful on its own, but the real benefit comes from using them together.

Features 

• Contact management
• Dashboard
• Automated CRM database
• Automated workflow
• Email analytics

Pros 

• It is comprehensive
• It has high flexibility
• Powerful segmentation options
• Developer-friendly and marketer-friendly

Cons

• Reporting is limited
• It is too expensive for some businesses
• Templates are hard to modify
• It has a complex setup 

Pricing 

HubSpot offers two pricing plans for Business and Enterprise and Individual and a small teams.

• Business and Enterprise: This plan is subdivided into Professional and Enterprise.

Professional: The Professional package, priced at $890 per month on monthly billing or $800 per month on annual billing, is a comprehensive marketing software that includes automation, reporting, and campaign features. Professional users can access teams, custom reporting, social media, campaign reporting, and omnichannel marketing automation.

Enterprise: The Enterprise package is HubSpot's most powerful marketing software. It provides advanced control and flexibility for businesses, starting at $3,600 monthly and billed annually at $43,200. In addition to the features of the Professional package, Enterprise users can access partitioning, custom objects, custom behavioral events, multi-touch revenue attribution, and hierarchical teams.

• Individual and Small teams: This plan offers three packages, Free tool, Starter and Professional, designed for individuals and small teams, as well as a new customer plan which is Starter CRM Suite.

Free Tool: The free Tools package includes free marketing, sales, service, CMS, and operations tools.

Starter: This package starts at $20 per month on monthly billing or $18 per month on annual billing. It offers essential marketing tools, 1,000 marketing contacts, and free tools with increased limits, as well as removing HubSpot branding from live chat, forms, landing pages, email marketing, and payments.

Professional: The Professional package starts at $890 per month on monthly billing or $800 per month on annual billing and offers comprehensive marketing software for automation, reporting, and campaigns. It also includes 2,000 marketing contacts.

Starter CRM Suite: This plan is priced at $50 monthly and $30 monthly on annual billing. It is an offer available for new HubSpot customers only, excluding those in Australia and New Zealand, and is comprised of Marketing Hub Starter (Includes 1,000 Marketing Contacts), Sales Hub Starter (Includes 2 paid users), Service Hub Starter (Includes 2 paid users) and CMS Hub Starter.

3. Freshworks CRM

Freshworks CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software designed to help businesses manage customer interactions and relationships more effectively. 

It offers a range of tools and features that can help businesses streamline their sales processes, improve their customer support, and optimize their marketing efforts.

Features 

• Team management
• Reports and analytics
• Email tracking system
• Sales management
• Integration

Pros 

• Easy-to-use mobile app
• Power analytics and reporting
• Flexible CRM solution
• Unique AI assistant for automating tasks

Cons

• Cluttered deal management dashboard
• The user interface isn’t modern

Pricing 

Freshworks CRM offers three pricing plans: Growth, Pro, and Enterprise, and they all come with a free trial period, and users can choose to start with a free plan or upgrade as per their needs.

Growth: The Growth plan is free for up to three users and is priced at $15/user/month annually and $18/user/month when billed monthly. It includes contact, account, deal management, built-in chat, email, and phone features, AI-powered contact scoring, up to 2,000 bot sessions/month, sales sequences, and one CPQ license.

Pro: The Pro plan is priced at $39/user/month when billed annually and $47/user/month monthly. It includes growth, multiple sales pipelines, time-based workflows, AI-powered deal insights and next-best-action, up to 3,000 bot sessions/month, sales teams and territory management.

Enterprise: The Enterprise plan is priced at $69/user/month when billed annually and $83/user/month when billed monthly. The most advanced plan includes everything in Pro, custom modules, AI-based forecasting insights, audit logs, up to 5,000 bot sessions/month, and a dedicated account manager.

4. NetSuite CRM

NetSuite CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management software designed to help businesses and sales team manage customer interactions, streamline sales processes, and provide end-to-end visibility across the customer lifecycle.

It is part of the NetSuite business management and ERP solution suite offered by Oracle, which caters to small, medium-sized, and large businesses in various industries.

Features 

• Customer management
• Reporting and Analytics
• Real-time dashboards
• Time tracking
• Campaign management

Pros 

• Tracks and records all client activities
• Comprehensive CRM solution
• Management of contacts
• Monitors employee productivity

Con 

• Not a stand-alone solution
• Customization is limited
• Difficulty in Setup

Pricing 

Netsuite CRM pricing is made available to subscribers. The subscribers are given an annual license fee comprising three main components: core platform, optional modules and the number of users. There is also a one-time implementation fee for the initial setup.

5. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed for sales reps to manage their sales pipeline, build customer relationships, and track various aspects of the customer.

In addition to its core CRM functionality, Pipedrive offers a project management tool to help users easily transition to their workflow's project and delivery phase after a deal is won.

Features 

• Contact management
• Sales pipeline management
• Reports and analytics
• Automation
• Integration

Pros 

• User-friendly interface
• It is highly customizable
• It features automation
• Sales pipeline visualization

Cons

• Limited reporting capabilities
• Features are limited
• No built-in email chat support

Pricing 

Essential Plan: This plan costs $9.90 per user per month when billed annually or $11.90 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan is designed for small businesses wanting to organize and set up simple sales processes. It includes lead, deal, calendar, pipeline management, simple data import, easy customization, 24/7 support, and 300+ integrations. There is also a free 14-day trial available with no credit card required.

Advanced Plan: This plan costs $19.90 per user per month when billed annually or $24.90 per user per month when billed monthly. In addition to the features in the Essential plan, it offers full email sync with templates and scheduling, group emailing, open and clicks tracking, and customizable automation with an in-depth automation builder. There is also a free 14-day trial available.

Professional Plan: This plan costs $39.90 per user per month when billed annually or $49 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan includes all the features in the Advanced plan plus the ability to create, manage and eSign documents and contracts, revenue projections, forecasts, and enhanced custom reporting. There is also a free 14-day trial available.

Enterprise Plan: This plan is a customized plan designed to meet the customer's specific needs and costs $59.90 per user per month when billed annually or $74.90 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan includes all the features in the Professional plan plus unlimited user permission and visibility settings, additional and heightened security preferences, an implementation program, and phone support. There are no feature usage limits, and a free 14-day trial is also available.

6. Monday

Monday is a cloud-based platform that allows users to create customized project management software and applications. It is designed to streamline work processes, tools, and files into one central location, a Work OS.

Features

• Collaboration Tools
• Customizable dashboard
• Integration
• Multiple views
• Time tracking

Pros

• Easy and efficient collaboration

• It is customizable 
• Integration with other platforms
• Powerful time tracking
• It is user-friendly

Cons

• It is too costly for small startups
• Learning curve for new users
• Customization is limited

Pricing

Monday provides a variety of pricing options that cater to different needs. 

Individual: This plan is free and offers access to several features, such as the ability to create up to 3 boards, over 200 templates, and use more than 20 column types. 

Basic: This is priced at $8 per seat per month and includes all the Individual plan features, unlimited items, 5 GB of file storage, and more. 

Standard: The Standard plan, priced at $10 per seat per month, includes all the features of the Basic plan along with additional features such as timeline and Gantt views, guest access, and automation. 

Pro: The Pro plan costs $16 per seat per month and includes all the features of the Standard plan as well as private boards and documents, time tracking, and more. 

Enterprise: Businesses operating at an enterprise scale can opt for a customized plan offered by Monday that includes tailored onboarding, advanced reporting, multi-level permissions, support, and other features.

7. VCita

VCita is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software that helps small businesses manage client interactions, appointments, and billing. VCita's goal is to simplify the management of a business's daily operations so that owners can focus on growing their business.

Features 

• Integration
• Calendar management
• Invoice and billing
• Online scheduling

Pros 

• Easy and intuitive interface
• Availability of native integrations
• It is comprehensive

Cons

• The features are limited
• Limited customer care service
• The display is clustered

Pricing

Essentials: This plan costs $24 per month if billed annually or $29 per month if billed monthly and includes features such as a client management system, secure client portal, online scheduling, Zoom integration, and business performance reports.

Business: The business plan costs $49 per month if billed annually or $59 per month if billed monthly and includes all the features of the Essentials plan, as well as customized billing and invoicing workflows, e-signable estimates, payment integrations with Stripe, Square, Paypal, and Venmo, online lead capturing widget, email and SMS marketing campaigns, and automated reminders.

Platinum: This plan costs $83 per month if billed annually or $99 per month if billed monthly and includes all the features of the Business plan, as well as Reserve with Google integration, two-way texting with clients, and higher monthly SMS credits for both US and international users.

8. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management software designed to help businesses manage and automate their sales, marketing, and customer support processes.

Zoho CRM is customizable, scalable, and can be integrated with other Zoho and third-party applications to provide a complete business solution.

Features 

• Process management
• Email analytics
• Customizable reports
• Dashboards
• workflow automation

Pros

• It is an all-in-one platform
• It is customizable
• Easy to use
• High level of security

Cons

• Integration with other platforms is limited
• The learning curve for new users
• Mobile app limitation

Pricing

Zoho CRM offers several pricing plans to suit the needs and size of the client organization.

Standard Plan: This plan costs $18 per user per month if billed monthly or $12 per user per month if billed annually. It is ideal for automating and optimizing the sales cycle.

Professional Plan: This plan is priced at $30 per user per month when billed monthly or $20 per user per month when billed annually. It is designed to help businesses improve customer acquisition and accelerate growth.

Enterprise Plan: This plan is priced at $45 per user per month when billed monthly or $35 per user per month when billed annually. It offers complete CRM functionalities to manage global CX operations.

Ultimate Plan: This plan is priced at $100 per user per month when billed annually. It provides dedicated BI capabilities to help businesses scale exponentially.

Why ClientVenue is the best Salesforce alternative

ClientVenue as software is designed with powerful automation capabilities, making it the perfect solution for many businesses. Its customizable workflows, templates, and triggers enable users to easily automate tasks like sending invoices, contracts and questionnaires.

ClientVenue has a user-friendly interface, enabling its users to navigate it easily. For added convenience, video tutorials and customer support are also available to help users get started and maximize its features.

ClientVenue helps to keep everything organized and on track with features like task lists, time tracking, and calendar integration.

Whatever the size of your business, ClientVenue has everything you need to automate your processes, manage your projects, and ultimately achieve your goals.

ClientVenue's Top Features

Scheduling

Another great feature of ClientVenue is its scheduling tool. You can effortlessly optimize workflows, manage resources, and plan shifts by dragging and dropping tasks. Moreover, this tool lets you stay on top of all your tasks and deadlines.

Customizable Workflows

ClientVenue allows users to create customizable workflows for sending invoices, contracts, and questionnaires. This feature enables you to automate repetitive tasks, ensuring everything is organized and on track.

Billing and Invoicing

ClientVenue is an excellent platform for billing and invoicing. It allows you to manage all your invoices, payment plans, and billing statements in one place, making tracking payments and billing history easy.

Reporting

If you need to generate reports on project progress and performance, ClientVenue's reporting capabilities have you covered. You can create custom reports to ensure projects are completed efficiently.

Resource Management

With ClientVenue's resource management feature, you can get an overview of project resources, including tools, materials, personnel, contractors, and vendors. This feature helps you maintain a project timeline and ensure everything runs smoothly.

Project Management

ClientVenue is unmatched when it comes to project management. With this tool, you can plan and execute projects from start to finish and track progress in real-time, ensuring that everything stays on track.

Integrations

ClientVenue offers integration with other tools, such as Slack and Dropbox, making sharing files easy and keeping everyone on the same page.

Streamlined Client Communications

ClientVenue provides a centralized hub for managing all client communications. This feature eliminates the need to juggle multiple channels and potentially miss important messages.

Conclusion

Among the Salesforce alternatives, ClientVenue is a great Salesforce CRM alternative that stands out. It is an excellent and highly user-friendly platform, making it easy to use even if you're not tech-savvy. Additionally, you can customize the clean interface to suit your preferences.

Even better, small teams can take advantage of a two-week trial period. This lets you try it out and see if it meets your needs. Plus, their pricing plans are flexible. This enables you to choose one that fits your budget.

ClientVenue is the most affordable and user-friendly Salesforce alternative and is worth giving a shot at.