Salesforce Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Salesforce alternatives: SuiteCRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•CRM & Client Management
Verdict:Salesforce is a platform, not just a CRM, so the first question is how much of it you really use. Its Starter Suite is listed at $25 per user per month, and the comparison table on its page also shows a Free Suite at $0. Many small teams on Salesforce use only contacts, deals and email logging, and for that, lighter tools fit well. HubSpot CRM is free for two users and 1,000 contacts, and Zoho CRM's free edition covers three users. Both are hosted, so there is nothing to maintain. If you want to own the software, SuiteCRM and EspoCRM are both AGPL-3.0 and free to download, while Twenty is a newer open-source CRM with a free self-hosted core. Odoo makes sense when you want CRM plus accounting or inventory in one system. Self-hosting means you handle upgrades, backups and security, and open-source CRMs have far fewer integrations than Salesforce's AppExchange. That is the central trade-off. If you rely on custom objects, approval flows, partner portals or a large admin and developer team, the migration cost will probably exceed the savings, and staying is right. If you run a team under fifteen people with a simple pipeline, moving to HubSpot or EspoCRM is realistic. Export your data first and test with a copy, since we have not tested any import from Salesforce here.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SuiteCRM | Free (free open-source download; you pay for hosting and support); paid from £50 per month (fully managed hosting, from) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that want an open-source CRM they can host | Docs only |
| EspoCRM | Free (free self-hosted download); paid from $15 per user/month (Cloud Basic, 3-user minimum, billed per 6 months or 1 year) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Small teams that want a lighter self-hosted CRM | Docs only |
| Twenty | Free (self-host the open-source core for free); paid from $9 per user/month, billed yearly (Cloud Pro) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Startups that want a modern open-source CRM | Docs only |
| Odoo | Free (One App Free plan on Odoo Online, unlimited users) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Companies wanting CRM and back office together | Docs only |
| HubSpot CRM | Free (2 users, 1,000 contacts, no time limit); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) | Web browser | Small sales teams that want an easy hosted CRM | Docs only |
| Zoho CRM | Free (3 users) | Web browser | Small teams that want a broad hosted CRM | Docs only |
| monday.com | Free (up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs); paid from $9 per seat/month, billed annually, 3-seat minimum for paid plans | Web, iOS, Android | Project management | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free hosted CRM with minimal setup (HubSpot CRM is the pick)
- You want an open-source CRM to host yourself (SuiteCRM is the pick)
- You want a modern open-source CRM with a cloud option (Twenty is the pick)
- You need CRM plus accounting or inventory (Odoo is the pick)
- You want a lightweight self-hosted CRM (EspoCRM is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Salesforce features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Salesforce today: Free (Free Suite tier listed in the plan comparison); paid from $25 per user/month (Starter Suite, billed monthly or annually) (Salesforce pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Salesforce alternatives
Sales Cloud scales fast by edition. Starter Suite is $25 per user per month and Pro Suite is $100, billed annually only; Core is $195, Advanced $395 and Max $550. Quoting and forecasting begin at Pro, enhanced security and expanded AI capacity at Core, and the full AI suite and Agentforce for Sales at Advanced. Add-ons are priced separately: Agentforce for Sales from $125 per user per month, Revenue Intelligence from $220, and Sales Programs from $100. The page marks all prices as subject to change.
SuiteCRM
Compared with Salesforce: Open-source (AGPL-3.0) CRM with Salesforce-like sales modules. Smaller ecosystem than Salesforce's AppExchange and a dated interface, but free to download; managed hosting starts at 50 GBP a month.
Price: Free (free open-source download; you pay for hosting and support); paid from £50 per month (fully managed hosting, from) (SuiteCRM pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 5.8k GitHub stars · latest release v7.15.2 (Jul 31, 2026) · last commit Oct 23, 2026
Best for: Teams that want an open-source CRM they can host.
Worth knowing: Licence checked on the SuiteCRM 7 repo; SuiteCRM 8 is a separate repo.
EspoCRM
Compared with Salesforce: AGPL-3.0 CRM with leads, accounts, workflows and a free self-hosted download. Far fewer integrations and consultants than Salesforce, but cloud starts at $15 per user monthly with 3 users minimum.
Price: Free (free self-hosted download); paid from $15 per user/month (Cloud Basic, 3-user minimum, billed per 6 months or 1 year) (EspoCRM pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 3.5k GitHub stars · latest release 10.0.11 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Small teams that want a lighter self-hosted CRM.
Worth knowing: 30-day free trial for cloud.
Twenty
Compared with Salesforce: Open-source core self-hosted free, with Cloud Pro at $9 per user yearly. Its repo describes it as an open alternative to Salesforce, but it is young and has fewer features and integrations.
Price: Free (self-host the open-source core for free); paid from $9 per user/month, billed yearly (Cloud Pro) (Twenty pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (some files under a commercial Enterprise license) (open source).
Project activity: 59.9k GitHub stars · latest release twenty/v2.52.0 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 28, 2026
Best for: Startups that want a modern open-source CRM.
Odoo
Compared with Salesforce: Community edition is LGPL-3.0, and Odoo Online has a free single-app plan with unlimited users. CRM is one app in a wider suite, so less sales-specific depth than Salesforce but accounting and inventory sit next door.
Price: Free (One App Free plan on Odoo Online, unlimited users) (Odoo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. LGPL-3.0 (Community edition) (open source).
Project activity: 55.4k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 28, 2026
Best for: Companies wanting CRM and back office together.
HubSpot CRM
Compared with Salesforce: Free for 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit; Starter is listed at $7 per seat. Easier to learn than Salesforce, but less customisable and caps appear quickly.
Price: Free (2 users, 1,000 contacts, no time limit); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) (HubSpot CRM pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small sales teams that want an easy hosted CRM.
Zoho CRM
Compared with Salesforce: Free edition covers 3 users, against Salesforce's trial. It is a cheaper full-suite CRM, though it has less enterprise customisation and you should check its pricing page for Standard plan prices.
Price: Free (3 users) (Zoho CRM pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small teams that want a broad hosted CRM.
Other popular options (paid)
monday.com
Compared with Salesforce: Free for up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs; paid plans start at $9 per seat a month billed annually, with a 3-seat minimum. A far lower entry cost than Salesforce for a small team.
Price: Free (up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs); paid from $9 per seat/month, billed annually, 3-seat minimum for paid plans (monday.com pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want a free hosted CRM with minimal setup: HubSpot CRM
- You want an open-source CRM to host yourself: SuiteCRM
- You want a modern open-source CRM with a cloud option: Twenty
- You need CRM plus accounting or inventory: Odoo
- You want a lightweight self-hosted CRM: EspoCRM
Limits of this review
Docs-only for SuiteCRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Salesforce. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Salesforce, SuiteCRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM, monday.com. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.