It’s the giant elephant in the room when buyers go shopping for project management software and customer relationship management (CRM) software: should you get an all-in-one solution, use plugins, or keep both entities separate?
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The question is deceptively complicated. CRM buyers are not typically project management buyers, and vice-versa. Because of that, the existing articles and guides all treat one or the other as simply a feature or add-on for the other. But this isn’t accurate.
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The reality is that neither industry speaks the other’s language, and, for the most part, project managers and salespeople really should keep their software separate.
What are the similarities between CRM and project management software?
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a cloud-based sales and marketing solution that offers customer relationship management (CRM), marketing automation, and e-commerce functionalities in one suite. Keap helps small businesses across various. Monday.com, a powerful CRM software, makes an ideal solution for customer relationship management with a highly secure and reliable environment for your customer data and privacy. Its ease of use means smooth on-boarding and fast adoption for your team.
With all that said, there is overlap between the two kinds of software. Across multiple solutions, we found that most (not all) CRMs and project management solutions have the following qualities:
- Both tend to have a project management or project planning component.
- Both have an email element—whether that be integration or email marketing.
- Both contain a scheduling and/or time-tracking tool.
- Both tend to have a mobile integration feature.
- Both have a system for organizing contacts
In other words, how the software is used tends to be similar—users rely on email, time tracking, and mobile. While neither offers the full functionality of the other, both CRM and PM software tend to offer the basic features of one another.
What are the differences between CRM and project management software?
There are far more differences between CRM software and project management software than similarities because the two software types offer different functions to businesses. CRM software is designed to manage customer data and relationships. It’s a software type that focuses on the business’s external activities.
Project management software is dedicated to projects, or large business goals with clear start and end dates, deliverables, and budget restraints. These projects can either be internal developments (like patching software) or external products (creating a building for a commercial construction company).
The following is mostly CRM-specific functionality:
- Customer support
- Follow-up tracking
- Interaction tracking
- Q&A tracking
- Quotes and proposal tools
- Referral tracking
- Sales performance management
- Social components
- Specified cell-center management feature (as opposed to a general contact management feature, which both solutions often have)
- Visitor tracking
The most-popular CRM tools include Salesforce, Zoho, SAP, ACT!, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Project management software’s features are a little different. They include:
- Advanced collaboration tools
- Agile support
- Budget management
- Milestone tracking
- Portfolio management
- Project planning
- Task completion tracking
- Workflow reports
The most-popular project management software include Microsoft Project, Atlassian, Podio, Wrike, and Basecamp.
Why not buy an all-in-one solution?
1. CRM focuses on the long term; project management works on a by-project basis.
At the end of the day, the end users of CRM software are likely not going to be the same people using project management software (there are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but this is an overarching commonality).
Because customer relationship management software focuses on the long-term success of clients, and project management software focuses on start and end dates, it makes sense to keep these two platforms separate. While businesses may have multiple projects for a singular client, there’s no reason to have all of that customer’s information cluttering the project workstream. A lot of the customer data will be irrelevant to the project itself.
2. All-in-one programs are rare and expensive.
There aren’t many software options that offer both true CRM and project management capabilities. Existing solutions today include JobNimbus and Insightly. But why opt for these programs when you can get free and open source project management and free CRM solutions? Those options are outstanding for small businesses with a tight budget.
What about CRM software options with project management plugins and vice-versa?
A plugin is a compromise and should be dealt with on a company-specific basis. For many companies, they don’t need a robust project management solution, but they do need a task manager to go with their CRM. It makes a lot of sense for a company to invest in a standout CRM system with that plugin feature.
As for project management software, sometimes teams need a very specific type of PM software, like Agile project management software, and only have to manage a few external clients. The opposite would apply to them; get a strong project management system with a CRM plugin.
I reached out to Andy Mahood of Taskfeed, one of Salesforce’s best project management plugins. He also argues that some plugins are just as good as software itself (though I would add that it’s much tougher to demo and find the right software solution with the right plugin on your own!). He disagrees with my conclusions strongly, and not without merit. He writes,
“If you are business who runs client projects then your projects should be linked to, if not inside your CRM. This could be client projects for a marketing agency, professional services business, or post-sales customer onboarding project for a B2B SaaS business, examples are numerous.
When your project management is baked into your CRM you can track leads, manage sales and deliver the project all within the same app. Imagine moving seamlessly from a won deal straight through to delivery of the project within the same system without retyping details. Templates can be defined for repeatable aspects of projects and project dashboards show performance across teams. Your customer projects and tasks will sit alongside your customers, contacts, and deals. This you should realize is no small thing and can in itself deliver substantial competitive advantage. Not only do you increase visibility and communication but you have a single hub for reporting.”
Indeed, if you can find veritable plugins that offer robust solutions for your CRM and project management software, run with it.
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Just make sure that that’s what you really want.
More?
I’m sure that Andy Mahood isn’t the only person who disagrees with me. Do you think you should keep your CRM and project management software separate? Should you integrate the two? What has your experience been one way or the other?
I look forward to seeing your stories and comments below!
Looking for Project Management software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Project Management software solutions.
Here’re the top 7 free CRM solutions with the highest user ratings.
What is CRM Software?
Customer relationship management (CRM) software allows businesses to better manage customer interactions, support, and relationships through reliable systems and processes. It also integrates organizational processes across marketing, sales, and customer service.
Let me ask you a few questions:
- Does your business use spreadsheets to manage customers?
- Do you want to modernize your sales operations?
- Do budget constraints prevent you from purchasing a full software suite?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need a solution ASAP. Usually, this means purchasing software or hiring consultants. However, you may not have to spend any money at all. There are many free and open source customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that offer the same functionality and benefits as a paid tool.
A free tool will offer you the productivity of using sales and CRM software without spending any money. What you need to do is search for a free or open-source CRM tool that offers the features you need to meet your long-term business needs.
And that’s where this report can help you. To help you find the right free CRM solution, we analyzed about 160 free and open source solutions on Capterra. Then, we shortlisted the seven best solutions in the market.
What does “best” mean? Each of the seven tools listed in this piece has a minimum user rating of 4.36 out of 5 from 2018 to 2019. This rating is the average overall rating for CRM solutions on Capterra. You can find our full methodology here. Products are presented in alphabetical order.
7 best free and open source CRM solutions
Jump to:
Flowlu
Freshsales
HubSpot CRM
Really Simple Systems CRM
SuiteCRM
Vtiger CRM
Yetiforce
1. Flowlu CRM
Flowlu CRM is a cloud-based tool for businesses of all sizes. Its free version offers CRM features such as lead management, contact management, quoting, invoicing, and project management.
Flowlu’s unique selling point (USP) is that it also offers a few business management features such as project management and accounting. This makes it ideal for first-time CRM software buyers who want to automate functions such as sales, marketing, customer service, and finance.
If after using Flowlu you want to upgrade, you can pay for advanced features such as API integration, access control, time tracking, cash flow management, and a knowledge base.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers said that the business management functionality saves time since you don’t have to toggle between different apps. They noted that the knowledge base feature is easy to use and helps the customer support staff quickly address all queries. | Some users feel that Flowlu’s task management interface could be simplified. They noted that the numerous features in the free version, such as contact management, financial management, and task management, can take some time to familiarize. |
Cost to upgrade: Apart from the free version, Flowlu has four pricing plans: Team, Business, Professional, and Enterprise. The Team edition is priced at $29 per month for up to eight users.
Most suitable for: Businesses of all sizes that are looking to manage various functions, such as sales, marketing, and finance, with the help of software.
Mobile apps: Android, iOS
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Opportunity management in Flowlu
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2. Freshsales
Freshsales is a CRM tool for businesses of all sizes. Its freemium plan offers contact management, lead management, email marketing, and interaction management.
The USP of the Freshsales freemium offering is the unlimited number of users and contacts. This plan also offers phone and email support.
The paid versions offer features such as sales pipeline management, SMS integration, built-in phone, workflows, multicurrency support, and a mobile app. Freshsales can be deployed on premise or on the cloud.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers find the integration with Microsoft Office and GSuite helpful in syncing emails and calendars. They also said that Freshsales’s interface is easy to learn and navigate. This lets them create, assign, and track tickets with ease. | Some reviewers feel that the reporting module could be made customizable. They also mentioned that it can take time to completely familiarize yourself with the upgraded version because of a high number of features in the paid plans. |
Cost to upgrade: There are four upgrade options: Blossom, Garden, Estate, and Forest. The Blossom plan starts at $19 per user per month.
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Most suitable for: Businesses of all sizes that need a free solution for more than two users.
Mobile apps: Android, iOS
Lead scoring dashboard in Freshsales
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM solution for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Its free version includes contact management, email scheduling, live chat, and meeting management.
HubSpot’s USP is its contact activity tracking. The free version lets you track the activity of contacts on your website for up to seven days after they are added to your contact list.
HubSpot’s CRM is completely free and there are no upgrade costs. But you may need to purchase other HubSpot products, such as Marketing Hub(for marketing automation), Sales Hub (for sales automation), and Service Hub (for customer service automation), to support the CRM.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers said that the Kanban board functionality helps them manage deals efficiently as the dashboard shows a snapshot of all the deals. They also noted that HubSpot’s integration with Gmail and Outlook was useful in mailing out the campaigns. | Some buyers feel that the contact management functionality could be improved. For instance, HubSpot doesn’t let them add multiple email addresses to a contact or merge two companies in the database. Users also felt that HubSpot could include more detailed reports in the free version. |
Cost to upgrade: HubSpot CRM is free for all users. However, you have to pay for other HubSpot products that support and enhance the CRM’s functionality.
Most suitable for: SMBs that are currently using spreadsheets to manage customer communications and want to improve contact lists with basic CRM software.
Mobile apps: Android, iOS
Deals pipeline in HubSpot CRM (Source)
4. Really Simple Systems CRM
Really Simple Systems CRM is for small businesses. Its free version supports up to two users and includes sales pipeline management, document management, contact management, and reporting functionalities.
The free version’s USP is the API integration. It lets you connect your other applications, such as accounting and project management, and handle 50 API calls per day.
Really Simple System CRM’s paid versions offer access control, advanced reports, single sign-on, and marketing automation functionalities.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers like the product customizations. They can customize data fields in the contact database, accounts, opportunities, and reports. They also find the task management functionality effective in managing customer interactions. | Reviewers feel that the software’s interface could be made easier to navigate. Some also said that the reports aren’t easy to configure. |
Cost to upgrade: The vendor offers three upgrade plans: Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. The Starter package is priced at $15 per user per month.
Most suitable for: Small businesses looking for a free CRM solution that integrates seamlessly with the business software they currently use.
Mobile apps: Android, iOSS
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5. SuiteCRM
SuiteCRM is an open source CRM solution for businesses of all sizes. It allows users to manage customer interactions across sales, marketing, and customer service teams.
SuiteCRM offers different open source solutions for startups, small businesses, and enterprises, making it suitable for businesses of any size and type.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers find the product’s features, such as contact management, project management, and billing, helpful for different departments such as sales, marketing, and finance. They also said that the reports are highly detailed and allow you to easily analyze the performance of your sales and marketing operations. | Users noted that the free version doesn’t include agents-based customer support (though you can ask questions on its community page). Some also pointed out that it requires technical skills to customize SuiteCRM’s features. |
Cost to upgrade: SuiteCRM is an open source product. It is available for free.
Most suitable for: Businesses of all sizes looking for an open source CRM software.
Mobile apps: Android, iOS
Lead management in SuiteCRM (Source)
6. Vtiger CRM
Vtiger CRM works well for SMBs and can be deployed either on-premise or on the cloud. The open source (i.e., the free) version includes contact management, marketing automation, sales automation, and customer support modules.
The open source version’s highlight is its Microsoft Outlook plug-in, which allows users to send emails and sync their calendar with Outlook.
Vtiger also offers paid cloud-based plans for managing sales, marketing, and help desk operations.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Capterra reviewers said that Vtiger’s management console is easy to use and helpful in tracking and managing cases online. They also said that the open source version was easily customizable to their business’ needs. | Reviewers find the product’s email templates slightly outdated and feel that the vendor should update the templates and offer more options. Some also find the lack of Facebook and WhatsApp integrations a disadvantage because sometimes customers prefer to communicate via these channels. |
Cost to upgrade: The open source version of Vtiger is free for everyone.
Most suitable for: Businesses of all sizes looking for a CRM solution that integrates with their Microsoft Outlook account.
Mobile apps: Android, iOS
Sales opportunity tracking in Vtiger CRM
7. Yetiforce
Yetiforce is also an open source CRM solution for businesses of all sizes. It has the highest recommended rating on this list. The software helps businesses manage leads, store contacts, track meetings on their calendar, send email campaigns, and manage customer interactions.
Yetiforce maintains an active GitHub repository for tech-related queries to help tech teams customize the product.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Yetiforce is a GDPR-compliant software, which makes it ideal for businesses that have operations in the European Union. Reviewers find Yetiforce’s interface easy to customize to their requirements. | Though reviewers find the GitHub community helpful in answering their technical queries, they feel that the product documentation could be more detailed. Some also pointed out that the software can be difficult to use for employees who have limited technical proficiency. |
Cost to upgrade: Yetiforce is an open source solution, and therefore, available for free.
Most suitable for: Businesses of all sizes that have global operations, especially in Europe.
Mobile apps: Not available
Leads dashboard in Yetiforce
The final verdict: Which free or open source solution should you purchase?
After reviewing our list of free and open source CRM solutions, the next step is to find a solution that best fits your business needs. Follow these steps to find the right product for your business:
- Decide whether you need a free or open source solution. Compare each solution’s total cost of ownership (TCO) by checking the costs of implementation, data storage, training, IT staff hiring, upgrades, and other important factors.
- Ask your IT staff/consultants/third-party IT services provider whether they can implement an open source CRM on your existing network infrastructure.
- Review this list and select the features that will meet your vital business needs. Eliminate products that don’t offer the essential features.
- Compare the free usage limits (such as the number of free emails or contacts) and shortlist products based on your current requirements.
- Compare the upgrade costs of the various products and select one that will fit your budget when (or if) you upgrade the solution in the future.
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If you need CRM solutions for a specific operating system, you can find CRM software for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone.
If you are currently using a free CRM solution that’s working well for you, let us know about your experience in the comments section below.
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For more information on CRM systems, check out the following resources: |
Methodology
This article was updated Aug. 2, 2019. Products considered for this article fulfill the following criteria:
Free products
For the purposes of this article, we classified a product as free if:
- It offers a free, standalone version of the software.
- It is not a trial version of the software where you must purchase a paid version after a limited amount of time.
Open source products
For open source software to be evaluated for this article, the tool has to make its source code open to everyone to inspect, modify, and enhance. The source code must also have been updated (full version or small fix) within the past 12 months and must support one of the following operating systems: Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Selection criteria
The products that met the above criteria were then evaluated against our CRM software definition—customer relationship management software helps organizations manage information (e.g., contact details) about current and potential customers. CRM is a technique of putting customers at the heart of your business and using data about them to tailor a unique experience for each individual.
The software consolidates customer information in one repository so that businesses can better organize and manage relationships, automates the common processes, and provides tools for monitoring performance and productivity.
This check verified the basic CRM capabilities and appropriateness for the category. A product was classified as CRM software if it contained all the core features—contact management, interaction tracking, and lead management.
Software that met the market definition also needed a minimum of 10 reviews published on the CRM software category page between May 8, 2018, and May 7, 2019.
Disclaimer
The content in this piece provides opinions and points of view expressed by users and does not represent the views of Capterra.
Looking for Customer Relationship Management software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Customer Relationship Management software solutions.