If you want to stay free, HubSpot's free CRM covers 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit, and Capsule's free plan covers 2 users and 250 contacts. If you are leaving Zoho for a simpler sales tool, Pipedrive ($14 a seat a month billed yearly) and Nutshell (from $13 a user a month billed yearly) are the closest swaps on price. Choose by the problem that made you leave: support and billing, ease of use, or features, and read the refund and renewal terms before you sign a yearly plan.
Zoho CRM is free for 3 users and its paid plans run $14 to $52 a user a month billed yearly, which is hard to beat on price. People still leave it, most often over slow support, charges after a cancellation request, and a busy interface that takes time to learn.
This guide is for small and midsize teams weighing a switch. We list what each alternative costs per user, whether it has a free plan, what the top plan costs, and how it handles billing and refunds, since billing trouble is one of the main reasons people search for a Zoho replacement.
Below you will find our picks, a price table, why people leave Zoho CRM, how to move your data, and how to cancel Zoho without a surprise renewal.
Why people look for Zoho CRM alternatives
Zoho’s own review record points to four repeated complaints. Each one suggests a different replacement.
- Slow or scripted support. If you need a person on the phone, look at vendors that sell support as part of the plan, such as Salesforce’s Premier Success (30% of net license fees) or Pipedrive’s extended phone support on Ultimate, and test support during the free trial.
- Charges after canceling and refund delays. Zoho refunds the first 45 days of a yearly plan, which is more than Pipedrive or HubSpot offer. If billing is your worry, start on monthly billing wherever you go and read the renewal terms. monday CRM gives a prorated refund within 30 days of a yearly purchase.
- Accounts or domains restricted without a clear reason. Export your data on a schedule, whatever CRM you use, so a lockout does not stop your sales work.
- A busy interface and learning curve. Pipedrive, Capsule, Nutshell and folk are narrower tools built around a pipeline or contact list, and most teams get started faster on them.
Zoho’s BBB profile was Not Rated with 52 complaints in 3 years, and its Trustpilot score was 3.8 out of 5 across all Zoho products, as of October 2026.
Free Zoho CRM alternatives
If Zoho’s free plan for 3 users was the draw, two alternatives keep a permanent free tier:
- HubSpot free CRM: up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no expiration date, with contact management, deal pipelines and reporting dashboards.
- Capsule Free: up to 2 users, 250 contacts, 1 sales pipeline and 5 custom fields.
Salesforce also lists a Free Suite for up to 2 users, but you must log in at least every 60 days to keep it. For a solo seller with a handful of clients, a shared spreadsheet with a follow-up date column is still a workable free option until you need reminders and pipeline reports.
How much Zoho CRM alternatives cost
| CRM |
Entry plan, per user a month |
Top listed plan |
Free plan |
| Zoho CRM |
$14 billed yearly ($20 monthly) |
$52 billed yearly |
Yes, 3 users |
| Nutshell |
$13 billed yearly ($19 monthly) |
$79 billed yearly |
No, 14-day trial |
| monday CRM |
$12 billed yearly ($18 monthly), 3 seat minimum |
$28 (Pro); Ultimate custom |
No, 14-day trial |
| Pipedrive |
$14 billed yearly ($24 monthly) |
$79 billed yearly |
No, 14-day trial |
| HubSpot |
$15 a seat new customer offer; $20 list |
$150 a seat (Sales Hub Enterprise) |
Yes, 2 users |
| Capsule |
$18 billed yearly |
Up to $72 |
Yes, 2 users |
| folk |
$24 billed yearly ($30 monthly) |
From $80 billed yearly |
No, 2-week trial |
| Salesforce |
$25 (Starter Suite) |
$550 (Sales Cloud Max, billed yearly) |
Free Suite, 2 users |
Prices as listed October 2026, before taxes. Watch for seat minimums (monday CRM bills at least 3 seats), one-time onboarding fees (HubSpot charges $1,500 on Sales Hub Professional), and paid add-ons that Zoho includes in its tiers.
How to choose a Zoho CRM replacement
- Name the reason you are leaving. Price, support, ease of use or features each point to a different pick.
- Count real seats. Multiply the per-user price by your team size and check for minimums.
- Check what is extra. Email sync, automations, lead capture and e-signatures are add-ons or higher tiers at some vendors.
- Read the refund and renewal terms. Several CRMs refund nothing once a term starts.
- Run the trial with your own data. Import a sample of contacts and deals and test the reports you use every week.
How to move your data out of Zoho CRM
Export each module you use (leads, contacts, accounts, deals, notes and activities) to CSV before you cancel, since canceling a paid plan moves you to the free edition and some features go with it. Most of our picks offer a CSV import with field mapping, and HubSpot, Pipedrive and Capsule list Zoho among the CRMs they can import from or connect to. Keep the Zoho export files until you have checked record counts in the new CRM.
Red flags when you switch
- Prices shown only on yearly billing, with a much higher monthly rate.
- Promotional prices for new customers with no end date shown.
- Required onboarding fees on mid-tier plans.
- Terms that say fees are non-refundable and that you cannot lower seats during a term.
- Automatic renewal with a short window to cancel before the renewal date.
Terms to know
- Seat
- One paid user license; most CRMs price per seat each month.
- Billed yearly
- Paying for 12 months up front, usually at a lower monthly rate than month-to-month billing.
- Pipeline
- The stages a deal moves through, from first contact to closed sale.
- Onboarding fee
- A one-time setup charge some vendors require on higher plans.
- Seat minimum
- The smallest number of users a plan will bill for, even if fewer people use it.
- Auto-renewal
- A subscription that renews and charges your card unless you cancel before the renewal date.
