10 Best Contact Management Software for Small Business in 2023
This article is part of a larger series onCRM.
Contact management is an essential feature in customer relationship management (CRM) systems. It lets teams store, organize, and search for customer or lead data, such as identifiable information like names, phone numbers, or addresses. It records behavioral information like lead activity and descriptive data like a contact’s industry. We evaluated dozens of CRM systems to identify the best contact management software for small business sales teams.
- Best overall with unlimited contacts:HubSpot CRM
- Best for a 360-degree view of contacts:Freshsales
- Best for intelligent contact data enrichment:Pipedrive
- Best for Google and LinkedIn integration:Copper CRM
- Best for contact management workflow automation:Zoho CRM
- Best for contact management marketing:Bitrix24
- Best for referral lead generation:Apptivo
- Best free contact management and cross-channel communication platform:EngageBay
- Best contact management tool for high-volume calls:Close CRM
- Best no-frills contact management software:Really Simple Systems
Best Contact Management Software Compared
Provider |
Free Plan |
Starting Price for Paid Plans (per User)* |
我们的CRM老鼠ing out of 5 |
---|---|---|---|
|
Yes, unlimited users |
$45 per month for 2 users |
4.80 |
|
Yes, up to three users under the Growth plan |
$15 |
4.74 |
|
No free plan |
$14.90 |
4.74 |
|
No free plan |
$23 |
4.55 |
|
Yes, up to 3 users |
$14 |
4.53 |
|
Yes, unlimited users |
$49, includes 5 user seats |
4.50 |
|
No free plan |
$8 |
4.45 |
|
Yes, up to 15 users |
$11.95 |
4.39 |
|
No free plan |
$25 |
4.11 |
|
Yes, up to 2 users |
$14 |
4.09 |
*Based on annual billing on a per-user monthly basis; monthly billing is also available for slightly higher rates.
HubSpot CRM: Best Overall Contact Manager Software
Pros
- Free plan for unlimited users
- Includes data and lead management features plus chat, phone, and email communication tools
- Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
Cons
- Free plan limited to up to five contact lists and does not include lead rotation
- Data management customization options like required fields and record layouts require Professional plan
- Lead scoring features get expensive
- You need a massive volume of allocation for contacts:HubSpot CRM has an allowance for 1 million contacts and company records in its database—virtually unlimited. Users can add new contacts using a prospect’s corporate email address or pull them straight from their inbox or form submissions. HubSpot will then automatically create an associated company record and populate both records with revenue, industry, and contact details.
- You need robust marketing automation tools to engage with your contacts:HubSpot CRM is an easy-to-useCRM system, well-acclaimed for its marketing capabilities and direct sales features. It offers a vast library of email templates for users to engage with their contacts. You can easily segregate their contacts based on their industry, job titles, and past activities.
- You need an affordable lead scoring tool:The lead scoring features are helpful in contact management for qualifying opportunities. Unfortunately for HubSpot, this function is unavailable until the Professional plan, which gets expensive regardless of bundling or paying for the individual module.
- Alternative:Zoho CRM offers lead scoring rules under its lowest-priced plan, Standard. Those who want more sophisticated scoring rules can sign up for its Enterprise plan, which is still significantly more affordable than HubSpot’s Professional plan.
HubSpot的CRM定价方案& *概述
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan has a 14-day free trial.
Our Expert Opinion
HubSpot CRM is simple contact management software for small business teams that offers a range of tools to manage contacts effectively, including activity tracking, notes, and communication features. Its free version suits startups and small businesses that need a simple tool to record their contact engagement. Additionally, the paid versions have more advanced features like sales forecasting and analytics tools.
Read ourHubSpot reviewto learn more about its features and get insights into subscription plan comparisons.
Freshsales: Best for 360-degree View of Contacts
Pros
- Provides a detailed view of customer activities
- Offers lifecycle stages identification for contacts
- Has a robust in-app caller to easily engage with contacts
Cons
- Free usage is capped at three users
- Two-way email sync not included on free plan
- You want a detailed activity history of your contact engagement:Freshsales’ contact management has an activity timeline feature that provides a chronological view of a customer’s engagement with your business. Users can view audience interactions like their website and email activities and gain complete visibility into their engagement with your brand.
- You want to assess the lifecycle stages of your contacts:Users can set lifecycle stages based on where customers are in their purchasing journey, including prospects, marketing or salesqualified leads, and existing customers. They can customize sub-stages based on their business process to mapsales and marketing activities.
- You need a robust in-app caller to engage with contacts:Freshsales’ calling features enable users to communicate easily with their contacts. With various functionalities like call transfers, recording, logging, and after-call work, sales teams can easily connect with contacts directly from the CRM system.
- You want to use your email in yourCRM for free:While Freshsales has an allocation for free usage, it is limited to three users under the Standard plan.
- Alternative:HubSpot offers unlimited user allocation under its free plan with access to contact management features.
- You need project management tools built into your CRM:While Freshsales is excellent for lead and deal management and engaging with customers through various channels, there’s no built-in project management tool.
- Alternative:Zoho CRM allows sales teams to view the number of projects associated with a contact and monitor their progress throughout thesales pipeline stages. Vendors, clients, and third-party individuals can access projects and collaborate with the sales team.
Freshsales Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan provides a 14-day free trial.
Our Expert Opinion
Freshsales is a scalable sales CRM and contact management software. Its in-app cloud phone lets you easily communicate with your contacts through its desktop or mobile app. It also offersessential CRM functionalities账户、销售管道,和交易管理。If your team needs a reliable contact management tool, the Standard plan is enough. However, upgrade to higher-priced plans if you want access to advanced tools like lead scoring.
Interested in Freshsales? Check out ourFreshsales review详细功能、定价、information.
Pipedrive: Best for Intelligent Contact Data Enrichment
Pros
- Smart Contact Data feature effectively pulls contact information on the web
- Features an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered sales assistant
- 24/7 chat and email support across all plans
Cons
- Does not offer a free plan
- Lead generation tools cost extra
- Calling features are only available in higher tiers
- You need tools for intelligent contact data gathering:Pipedrive’s Smart Contact Data feature lets you quickly gain valuable insights about your contacts by retrieving web data from various sources using email and public data. These include LinkedIn, social media activities, and website activities. Through the Smart Contact Data, agents save hours of research time since they don’t have to manually identify their most highly qualified prospects.
- You need an AI-powered sales assistant to engage your contacts effectively:Pipedrive’s AI-powered sales assistant, called Smart AI, lets you engage contacts better because it provides you with insights and advice on the best course of action to take with contacts, leads, and deals. The tool tracks email opens, keeps tabs on community discussions, receives activity reminders, and gets personalized productivity tips.
- You need a free plan:Pipedrive has no free-forever plan for businesses on a shoestring budget or those wishing to try it without risk.
- Alternatives:HubSpot has a free plan for unlimited users, including mobile functions. You can also try Freshsales as it comes for free for up to three users in its Growth plan.
- You want an affordable in-app phone to stay in touch with contacts:Pipedrive’s calling feature is only available in higher-tier plans.
- Alternative:Freshsales provides a built-in telephone system on its cheapest plan, Growth, which users can use for free if their team has only three registered users.
Pipedrive Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 14-day free trial.
Our Expert Opinion
Pipedrive is a robust CRM and customer contact software with tools for managing leads, deals, contacts, and activities. It also provides a visual sales pipeline. Plus, users who need primary contact management data can subscribe to its entry-level plan. However, subscribe to their Advanced plan or higher if you want access to its Smart Data Contact feature.
铜rious about Pipedrive? Our in-depthPipedrive reviewprovides information to help you decide how its features may suit your business.
Copper CRM: Best for Google & LinkedIn Integration
Pros
- Integrates with LinkedIn for contact enrichment and conversation tracking
- Same look and feel with Google Workspace
- Simple to use
Cons
- Does not offer a free plan
- Except for Google Workspace products, all integrations require higher-priced plans
- No advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools
- You need aCRM that integrates with Google Workspace:Copper CRM is designed to integrate with Google Workspace apps and has the same look and feel. Its integration with Google makes it easy for agents to update information on leads, prospects, and customers based on their interaction and communication in Gmail.
- You generate leads from LinkedIn:Copper’s integration with LinkedIn (via Surfe) allows users to enrich their contacts and search for emails from potential leads. They can find qualified emails and phone numbers through the integration and sync their LinkedIn conversations. They can also integrate and edit their Copper data fields to LinkedIn and sync and track all their LinkedIn interactions.
- You’re a small sales team looking for a free CRM:While Copper CRM offers a lightweight plan with basic contact and pipeline management tools, it does not have a free option.
- Alternative:HubSpot CRM and Bitrix24 offer free plans to help small sales teams organize their leads and contacts.
- 你是一个启动需要一个免费或低成本的CRMlution for lead management and marketing automation:While it offers useful contact management tools, Copper CRM lacks essential features in its lower-tiered plans likelead management, marketing automation, and customizations.
- Alternative:Zoho CRM is ourtop recommended CRM for startups and small businesses. It offers robust customization options available in free and affordable plans.
Copper CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available at a slightly higher rate.
Our Expert Opinion
Copper is an easy-to-use contact manager software for businesses that use Google Workspace and thosegenerating leadsfrom LinkedIn. It’s not the best option for businesses on a tight budget or for those looking for advanced marketing automation at an affordable price. This is because Copper CRM lacks a free plan and requires a subscription to higher-priced plans to access advanced marketing tools.
Check out ourCopper CRM reviewto explore the other benefits your company can gain from using this software.
Zoho CRM: Best for Workflow Automation
Pros
- Affordable, scalable pricing options
- Robust system customization capabilities
- Lots of automation options, especially with contact management workflows
Cons
- Free plan limited to three users
- 铜stom data fields not available for free
- Need some level of CRM experience to navigate the platform
- You need automation features to manage your contacts:Between the Zia artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow features, Zoho CRM has plenty of automation capabilities. Teams can auto-add contact records to the database through social media and web-to-contact online forms. Plus, they can keep the information fresh through data enrichment and prioritize opportunities based on lead scoring criteria. The Zia insights also tell users the best time to contact someone and which tasks to focus on.
- You need a free or affordably priced all-around CRM:With free and low-priced plans available for evolving teams, Zoho CRM is one of the most scalable CRM solutions on this list. It supports sales and marketing as well as customer case management in one highly customizable system. Users can track leads and accounts on its app, log notes, calls, and events, and communicate with contacts via email, text, and telephone.
- Users looking for an intuitive CRM tool:Zoho CRM has advanced AI features, but its interface requires a learning curve, so it does not score well in the usability column.
- Alternative:Freshsales offers a user-friendly interface that is sleek and simple, even for beginners.
- Those needing a free plan for unlimited users:Zoho CRM is indeed feature-rich, but its free plan is limited to three users.
- Alternative:HubSpot’s free plan has unlimited seats, which fits organizations that don’t want to get aCRM subscriptionyet.
Zoho CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 14-day free trial.
Our Expert Opinion
Zoho CRM’s strengths are its lead and contact management features, reporting, email marketing, and conversational AI. Those needing only one pipeline to monitor their sales can use the free plan. But consider the paid plans if you require multiple pipelines and advanced features like lead scoring and sales forecasting.
Want to learn more about Zoho? Read our in-depthZoho CRM reviewfor everything you need to know and whether it’s best for your business.
Bitrix24: Best for Contact Management Marketing & Ecommerce
Pros
- Free plan for unlimited users
- Offers ecommerce tools like customer management, purchase history, and inventory
- Feature-packed with essential CRM tools like lead and deal management, forecasting, and scoring
Cons
- App experiences technical glitches
- Feature-rich, but not the most intuitive or easy to navigate for novice users
- You need a robust contact management marketing tool for your ecommerce business:Create and launch marketing campaigns via email, SMS, and voice broadcasting to nurture leads and expand your ecommerce customer pool. To track the results of your marketing efforts, use its Sales Intelligence module to receive detailed sales analytics and marketing reports to understand how to get the best return on investment (ROI).
- You need anindustry-specific CRMfor ecommerce:Bitrix24 offers ecommerce features, including basic inventory management for tracking product stock, stock receipts, and orders. This enables users to manage their online store and never miss orders or urgent customer queries.
- You need a simple CRM:While Bitrix24 is packed with features, it can be confusing to navigate the platform for beginners as there are multiple tabs of features displayed on its dashboard. Some users also mentioned it’s not easy to install, and technical experience is required.
- Alternatives:Users who want a CRM that can be used out of the box and is easy to navigate can go for Really Simple Systems or HubSpot.
Bitrix24 Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 30-day free trial.
Our Expert Opinion
Bitrix24 is a feature-rich CRM and contact management system with specialized functionalities helpful for businesses running ecommerce stores. Its free version is an excellent option for small online store owners needing a simple contact management tool. However, those requiring advanced contact management functionalities like in-app phone integration, email, and web-to-CRM forms must subscribe to paid plans.
Read ourBitrix24 reviewand subscribe to the free plan to experience how this platform’s capabilities can help grow your business.
Apptivo: Best for Referral Lead Generation
Pros
- Low-cost, scalable pricing options
- Most contact management tools are available for free
- Solid usability ratings
Cons
- No free plan
- Deal and opportunity management not included in Free plan
- Quotes management not available until Ultimate plan
- Yougenerate leads through referrals:One of Apptivo’s standout features is the low-cost and easy-to-use referral tracking capabilities. Teams can organize identifiable and behavioral data on their leads and monitor the lead source and who referred them to their business. Users can also create customizable reports that present exactly who the top referral sources are—letting them prioritize and enhance partner relationships.
- You want an all-around comprehensive CRM:Apptivo is an excellent CRM solution for managing contacts, deals, leads, and inventory. Additionally, teams can use this platform to create quotes, estimates, and purchase orders, sent easily to contacts within the system. Marketing modules also allow users to create mass emails, create and store email templates, and automate campaign deployment.
- You need a free plan:Apptivo does not offer a free-forever plan for businesses on a tight budget or those that want to try it out risk-free.
- Alternatives:HubSpot offers a free plan for unlimited users, which includes mobile capabilities. Freshsales also offers its Growth plan for free for up to three users.
Apptivo Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Our Expert Opinion
Apptivo offers industry-specific features and lets you manage your customers and streamline your sales processes. Its Lite plan is sufficient for those needing a reliable contact management tool, as this feature is available across all plans. However, we recommend considering the higher-tier plans if you’re scaling your business and need advanced CRM tools, such as sales and marketing automation.
To learn more, read ourApptivo reviewto learn how this platform’s capabilities can help you grow your business.
EngageBay: Best Free Contact Management System
Pros
- Offers free and affordable pricing plans
- Has cross-channel communication platforms to engage with contacts
Cons
- Has no SMS (short message service) function
- Offers few customization options for email templates
- You are a startup or small business looking for free or low-cost contact management software:EngageBay offers free plans for sales, marketing, andcustomer service teams. It also has an All-in-One option with a combination of features for all three functions, making it ideal for teams with a limited budget for a CRM subscription.
- You need a cross-channel communication platform to engage with contacts:EngageBay提供多个ways to interact with contacts, allowing you to have contextual, meaningful engagement and communication with your customers and prospects. It enables you to automate and send bulk emails, call contacts, use live chat, and integrate social media messengers from within the system.
- You need a user-friendly CRM:While EngageBay is packed with features, recurring reviews about the platform say it’s not intuitive to navigate, especially for beginners.
- Alternatives:Users who want a CRM that can be used out of the box and is easy to navigate can consider Really Simple Systems or Copper.
EngageBay Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available at a slightly higher rate.
Our Expert Opinion
EngageBay is a free CRM with multi-channel communication features to engage contacts. Its free plan includes live chat, email marketing and auto-responders, and a landing page builder, ideal for small teams needing basic contact management and engagement tools. If you plan to subscribe to a paid plan, we recommend considering other providers that are easier to navigate and have more advanced features.
Close CRM: Best for High-volume Calls & Contact Filtering
Pros
- Advanced call features include forwarding, power dialing, predictive dialing, and automated call outreach
- Call coaching features including listening, whispering, and barging on sales rep calls fortraining purposes
Cons
- No free plan and starting price is higher than other popular CRMs
- Limited customer support channels
- You need a robust in-app caller to engage with your contacts:Close CRM is ideal for users who primarily use phones to engage with contacts. Teams can place and receive phone calls through integration withvoice-over-internet protocol (VoIP)phone provider Twilio. They can forward calls to other reps and record conversations. The system also streamlines activities by assigning calls to agents automatically and providing a power dialer to make calls hands-free.
- You need good contact filtering tools:Close CRM has good filtering capabilities. You can add filters to find contacts with a particular title, name, or more than one email or phone number. Filters can also be combined to create more targeted searches.
- You want a more affordable contact management software option:Close CRM doesn’t offer a free plan, and its lowest-priced plan starts at $25 per user, which could be steep for some businesses.
- Alternatives:Consider EngageBay or HubSpot CRM, both offering a free plan. Subscribe to EngageBay if you want a cross-channel communication platform or HubSpot CRM if you prefer a platform with excellent email marketing tools.
- You need extensive customer support:While Close CRM is a feature-packed CRM, it’s not the most customer-support friendly as it has no live chat and phone support options.
- Alternatives:Users who want a provider with extensive customer support options should consider HubSpot. Its support channels include email, in-app chat, and phone.
Close CRM Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Our Expert Opinion
Close is a CRM and contact management tool with features for deal, pipeline, task, and opportunity management. Its standout features are its contact filtering functionalities and a power dialer. However, one of its biggest drawbacks is its lack of a free plan and limited customer support.
Read our in-depthClose CRMand sign up for a free trial to explore its features to determine if it addresses your business needs.
Really Simple Systems: Best No-frills Contact Software
Pros
- User-friendly contact management software
- Offers free sales forecasting tools
Cons
- Mostly offers basic functionalities
- Doesn’t have free marketing tools
- You need a low-cost, simple contact database:Really Simple Systems has an excellent, easy-to-navigate contact management system. Using the database tools requires minimal effort and tech experience. It also includes data storage, pipeline stage tracking, and task and event management.
- You want free forecasting tools:Revenue forecasting is an advanced CRM feature and isn’t typically free. Really Simple Systems’ free-forever plan has a forecasting tool for up to two users. It lets users set weighted deal values and closing probabilities to help generate sales estimates.
- You want free marketing tools:Really Simple Systems’ marketing tools are a required paid add-on or included in the highest-priced plan.
- Alternative:HubSpot is the best alternative for marketing capabilities. It has most of the email and ad tools on the free plan, and it’s easy to navigate.
- You want to access AI features:Really Simple Systems keeps its features and interface simple and doesn’t offer advanced tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) for analytics or automation.
- Alternative:Zoho CRM has a sales assistant called Zia AI tool that provides suggestions for the next-best actions to engage contacts.
Really Simple Systems Pricing Plan & Overview*
*定价是基于年度计费的计费breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost.
Our Expert Opinion
Really Simple Systems, as its name implies, is a simple and easy CRM solution. It primarily offers basic features and doesn’t require a substantial learning curve. It’s an excellent option for users wanting a straightforward and systematic way to record and keep track of their contact engagement activities. However, it’s not ideal if you’re looking for advanced CRM features, like artificial intelligence (AI) sales tools.
Learn more about this product in ourReally Simple Systems reviewto see if it’s right for your business.
How We Evaluated the Best Contact Manager Software
To determine the best contact management software for small business, we considered product features specific to managing lead or customer information. These include contact data storage and enrichment, lead scoring, customer segmentation, and automated record entry. We also looked into each product in terms of typical attributes such as price, generalCRM features, ease of use, and customer support.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best software to manage contacts:
20% of Overall Score
The pricing considers free plan availability, various scalable pricing options users can purchase affordably, and the availability for a subscriber to either pay monthly or save by paying annually. Additionally, we looked at the costs specifically for contact management capabilities, modules, and tools.
25% of Overall Score
In addition to contact management-specific features, we look at the overall functionality necessary for a CRM. This includes variousCRM integrationoptions, reporting and analytics tools, customizable sales pipelines, and a mobile app. We also evaluate other standard capabilities in most CRM systems, such as task management and automated workflow options.
20% of Overall Score
One of the critical evaluation criteria involved the features relating directly to managing contact, lead, and customer information. For instance, data storage and organization features are a must for contact management. Filtering tools, list segmentation, lead scoring, and automated data collection are essential features.
20% of Overall Score
Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email. We also look at online resources for users to review, like tutorials, forums, and training modules.
15% of Overall Score
Besides firsthand experience, we looked at what users had to say about each provider. The criterion considers how customers feel about the platform, its ease of use, and overall value for money based on their reviews.
Bottom Line
Contact database software is one of the most basic features of a CRM system. Usage of this feature varies from basic functionalities, such as recording and saving contact details, to more complex ones, such as omnichannel communication and contact behavior analytics. While HubSpot CRM was our top pick for the best overall contact manager solution, other products may suit particular business needs better.