Best Free CRM Systems (April 2024) – Forbes Advisor Canada

When analyzing the best free CRM software available, Forbes Advisor considered an array of factors, including features, customer support, ease of use, user experiences and integrations. Assigning a weighted score to each value, we then narrowed the field to the seven best free CRMs on the market.

While not every CRM on this list includes each of these features, many do, or have enough value-added benefits to make up for the feature that’s missing. In addition to features, we considered how user-friendly the CRMs were and what kind of customer support they offered. We also analyzed user reviews, to get a sense of what real users thought of the CRMs.

Pricing – 10%

First, every provider had to offer a free forever plan in order to qualify for our best free CRM list. However, not all free plans are created equal, so we considered factors such as how many users are included with the free version, how much storage is included and any other limitations. We also considered the cost of premium plans as businesses often grow out of free plans and it’s important to choose a CRM that offers budget-friendly paid plans for when you need more features.

General Features – 40%

The first set of features we considered in evaluating the best free CRMs were core features such as pipeline management, analytics tools, integrations, customizable dashboards, the availability of a document library and a mobile app. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.

Additional Features – 15%

The second set of features we considered were additional features that were not included in the general features category, such as email marketing and multi-currency support. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.

Reviews and Ratings- 5%

The third set of features we considered were reviews and recognition. We assigned a weighted score to each feature, based on its perceived importance, and then totalled the scores to arrive at a percentage of the total score that each feature represented.

Expert Score – 30%

Lastly, we considered our own expertise from first-hand experience using these CRMs. This category includes factors such as value for price, popularity and ease of use.

To calculate the total score for each CRM, we added up the scores for each criterion and multiplied by the corresponding weight. The maximum total score for each CRM was 5.00.

We used this methodology to ensure that the best free CRMs were chosen based on a comprehensive evaluation of their features and user experiences.

Canadian specific editing (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.