Zoho CRM Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
Zoho CRM alternatives: HubSpot CRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•CRM & Client Management
Verdict:Leave Zoho CRM when the bill is per seat and most of your team only reads the pipeline. Zoho's free plan covers 3 users, and its paid prices are quote-based, so get the quote before you budget. HubSpot CRM is a fair step up for a small team. It is free for 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit, and Starter is $7 per seat a month, but the free cap is the limit you will hit first. EspoCRM is the free route for a team with a developer. It is AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, and its cloud Basic plan is $15 per user a month with a three-user minimum. Twenty offers a modern open-source core under AGPL-3.0 that you can self-host, and its cloud Pro plan is $9 per user a month billed annually. Odoo fits a business that needs CRM beside invoicing and inventory, with a LGPL-3.0 Community edition. Pipedrive has no free plan; check its pricing page for current prices. The trade-off is admin work. Self-hosting saves seat fees but takes your time. Pick HubSpot for a free start, Twenty or EspoCRM for self-hosting, and Odoo when the CRM must sit beside finance.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot CRM | Free (2 users, 1,000 contacts, no time limit); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) | Web browser | A free start for a small team | 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 | Self-hosted CRM with a developer | 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 | Modern self-hosted CRM | Docs only |
| Odoo | Free (One App Free plan on Odoo Online, unlimited users) | Web browser, Self-hosted | CRM with finance in one system | Docs only |
| Pipedrive | See pricing page | Web browser | Sales pipeline views for paid teams | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free CRM to start, with fewer than 1,000 contacts (HubSpot CRM is the pick)
- You want to self-host a CRM (EspoCRM is the pick)
- You want a modern self-hosted CRM with a cloud option (Twenty is the pick)
- You need CRM beside invoicing and inventory (Odoo is the pick)
- Your paid sales team needs a pipeline view (Pipedrive is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Zoho CRM features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Zoho CRM today: Free (3 users) (Zoho CRM pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Zoho CRM alternatives
Zoho CRM's free plan stops at 3 users, 10 custom email templates, 5,000 API calls a day and 10 data exports, and its feature list shows no AI. Workflows, forecasting and custom modules come with Standard, while the developer sandbox, field-level encryption and approval processes sit on Enterprise. Each step up changes what the CRM can do, so the cost of staying grows with the team's needs, not only with its headcount.
HubSpot CRM
Compared with Zoho CRM: Free for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit. Starter is $7 per seat a month. Zoho's free plan covers 3 users, so HubSpot's free tier suits a small contact list, not a large database.
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: A free start for a small team.
EspoCRM
Compared with Zoho CRM: AGPL-3.0 open-source CRM, free to self-host with no user cap stated. Cloud Basic is $15 per user a month with a three-user minimum. You own the server and lose Zoho's app ecosystem, but avoid per-seat fees on your own host.
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: Self-hosted CRM with a developer.
Worth knowing: 30-day free trial for cloud.
Twenty
Compared with Zoho CRM: AGPL-3.0 open-source core you can self-host for free. Cloud Pro is $9 per user a month billed annually. It has a lighter, modern feel than Zoho CRM, though it does not bundle Zoho's wide suite of office apps.
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: Modern self-hosted CRM.
Odoo
Compared with Zoho CRM: Community edition is LGPL-3.0 and self-hostable, with one app free on Odoo Online and unlimited users. It puts CRM beside invoicing and inventory, so you gain ERP breadth and accept a heavier install.
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: CRM with finance in one system.
Pipedrive
Compared with Zoho CRM: Sales-pipeline CRM with no free plan in our data. Its pricing page could not be read on 2026-10-22, so confirm current plans before comparing costs with Zoho CRM. The deal-stage view suits sales-led teams.
Price: See pricing page (Pipedrive pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Sales pipeline views for paid teams.
Which one to pick
- You want a free CRM to start, with fewer than 1,000 contacts: HubSpot CRM
- You want to self-host a CRM: EspoCRM
- You want a modern self-hosted CRM with a cloud option: Twenty
- You need CRM beside invoicing and inventory: Odoo
- Your paid sales team needs a pipeline view: Pipedrive
Limits of this review
Docs-only for HubSpot CRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo, Pipedrive: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Zoho CRM. 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: Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, EspoCRM, Twenty, Odoo, Pipedrive. 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.