In the age of social media, AI, and the Internet, customers expect companies to provide seamless and personalized experience, from the first touchpoint to the complex customer service requests.
Modern customer relationship management software does exactly that – it leverages customer data and automation to ensure the best experience for your customers and prospects and consistent sustainable growth for your company.
When choosing a CRM solution, many companies need to decide between the on-premise vs cloud CRM, with the latter being more popular. For example, Gartner states that more than 85% of organizations will embrace a cloud-first principle by 2025.
In this article, we'll explain the benefits of cloud CRMs, their key features, and review 10 cloud CRMs for various use cases and needs.
What is Cloud-based CRM?
A cloud-based CRM is a customer relationship management system hosted on the Internet by the CRM provider, which allows users to access CRM data from anywhere (any place & any device with internet access). The teams using a cloud CRM system can work with the same data simultaneously irrespective of department.
CRM software serves as a single platform for customer data and interactions for your sales, marketing, and service teams, and automates routine tasks to amplify productivity. In the case of cloud CRM, the provider is responsible for software maintenance and updates, ensuring that your CRM system works reliably and securely.
How Does Cloud-Based CRM Work?
Cloud CRM is hosted on remote servers and is accessed through web-based applications.
Here's how it works:
Basic Architecture Instead of installing CRM software on your company's computers, the system runs on the vendor's servers in data centers. You access it through a web browser or mobile app, connecting via the internet. All your customer data, sales records, and business processes are stored and processed in the cloud.
Core Functionality The system centralizes customer information in one accessible database. Sales teams can track leads from initial contact through closing deals, recording every email, call, and meeting. Customer service representatives can view complete interaction histories when customers contact support. Marketing teams can segment customers and track campaign effectiveness.
Security and Reliability Reputable cloud CRM providers invest heavily in data security, encryption, and backup systems that most individual companies couldn't afford to implement themselves. They typically offer better uptime and disaster recovery than on-premise solutions.
Benefits of Cloud CRM Software
Cloud-based CRM systems deliver automated business processes to manage the complete customer journey – from lead nurturing to opportunity management, and continued account maintenance. Best-in-class cloud CRM solutions enable users to connect the dots between marketing, sales and customer service, allowing companies to efficiently manage customer interactions throughout the entire customer journey.
Reduction of operational costs
Cloud CRM systems require significantly less involvement of IT staff enabling business owners to save resources. The software vendor assumes responsibility for system maintenance, security updates, bug fixes, performance optimization, and technical support. This allows businesses to redirect IT resources toward strategic initiatives rather than routine system administration tasks.
Mobile access
The flexibility of CRM in cloud makes the software available whenever you need it. Moreover, you can also have access to cloud CRM software from any device: advanced cloud-based CRM systems have mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. The mobile app synchronizes with the desktop version of the system. This mobility empowers sales teams, customer service representatives, and managers to work effectively whether in the office, traveling, or working remotely.
Real-time system monitoring
Cloud deployment enables continuous online monitoring of system performance and health. Administrators receive immediate alerts about potential issues, allowing for proactive problem resolution before they impact business operations. This real-time visibility ensures optimal system performance and minimal downtime.
Enterprise-grade security
Leading cloud CRM vendors invest heavily in advanced security infrastructure that typically exceeds what individual companies can implement independently. These systems feature multi-layered security protocols, data encryption, regular security audits, automated backup systems, and disaster recovery capabilities. The vendor assumes primary responsibility for data protection, reducing security risks for the client organization.
Flexible scalability
Cloud CRM solutions provide the ability to virtually instantly scale up or down depending on the specific needs of the company, which allows buyers to pay only for the resources used at a particular time. The functionality of software products is now so wide that complex usage of the software can lead to the waste of time on unnecessary processes.
Automatic updates
Cloud CRM systems receive regular feature updates and improvements automatically, ensuring users always have access to the latest functionality without manual installations or system downtime.
Enhanced collaboration
Cloud platforms facilitate better team collaboration through shared data access, real-time updates, and integrated communication tools that keep all team members synchronized.
Superior data analytics
Cloud CRM systems often include advanced analytics and reporting capabilities powered by cloud computing resources, providing deeper insights into customer behavior and business performance.
Better integration capabilities
Modern cloud CRM platforms offer extensive integration options with other cloud-based business applications, creating comprehensive business ecosystems without complex technical implementations.
Disaster recovery and business continuity
Cloud providers maintain robust disaster recovery systems and multiple data center locations, ensuring business continuity even during local emergencies or technical failures.
Key Features of Cloud CRM
Contact and lead management
The system maintains a centralized database of all customer and prospect information, including contact details, interaction history, preferences, and demographic data. Lead scoring and tracking capabilities help sales teams prioritize prospects and monitor their progress through the sales pipeline.
360-degree customer view
Customer 360 enables you to effectively manage the data of your customers, leads and opportunities. All the history of customer interactions that entails orders, calls, messages and complaints is stored in the customer profile as well, eliminating the necessity to search for the required information in several different places.
Sales pipeline management
Visual pipeline tools show deals at various stages, from initial contact to closing. Sales representatives can track opportunities, set follow-up reminders, forecast revenue, and analyze win/loss ratios. The cloud CRM system provides visibility into sales performance and bottlenecks.
Marketing automation
Many CRM systems include tools for creating and managing email campaigns, lead nurturing sequences, and customer segmentation. Marketing teams can track campaign performance and measure return on investment.
Customer service automation
Ticketing systems, case management, and knowledge bases help support teams resolve customer issues efficiently. Service level agreements and escalation rules ensure timely responses to customer inquiries.
Workflow automation
Automated workflows can trigger actions based on specific criteria, such as sending follow-up emails, assigning tasks, or updating record fields. This reduces manual work and ensures consistent processes.
AI
Modern cloud CRM systems should include AI tools to help you analyze data, generate content, and automate routine processes. For example, Creatio.ai can analyze your pipeline, highlight top opportunities, draft personalized emails to them and suggest the best course of action to convert them based on your historical data and guidelines.
Customization options
Most cloud CRMs allow businesses to customize fields, layouts, workflows, and reports to match their specific processes and terminology, ensuring the system fits their unique requirements. Creatio offers easy-to-use, no-code tools and pre-built components, which allow business users without programming skills to build custom workflows and create new AI skills.
Integration capabilities
APIs and pre-built connectors allow the CRM to integrate with other business systems like accounting software, marketing platforms, e-commerce systems, and productivity tools, creating a unified business ecosystem.
Collaboration tools
The system enables its users to communicate with customers and within the team right from the app. Creatio allows for collaboration via multiple channels, including phone and email. The system will notify you of the most important updates, latest deals, and projects with the help of an enterprise social network (ESN). Thanks to the integration with the PBX system, users can receive and make calls directly from the system, and integration with MS Outlook provides tools to manage their contacts, opportunities, and leads from the email box, even without logging in to the system.
Reporting and analytics
Comprehensive dashboards and reports provide insights into sales performance, customer behavior, marketing campaign effectiveness, and team productivity. Customizable reports help managers make data-driven decisions and identify trends.
Mobile application
Ready-to-use mobile application enables users to access all the important data no matter where they are. The app can be used both offline and online, and regardless of the mode you choose, the required information will be accessible.
10 Best Cloud CRM Software Solutions
1. Creatio
An AI-native CRM platform that automates end-to-end customer journeys from first contact to ongoing relationship management.
What makes Creatio unique is its no-code development approach powered by AI assistance. Instead of needing technical developers, business users can create custom dashboards, workflows, and even entire applications using pre-built components that work like digital building blocks.
This means the people who best understand your business processes, i.e. your sales managers, marketing specialists, and customer service teams, can directly shape how the CRM operates.
Creatio’s extensive and accessible customization results in 70% faster implementation and 37% lower total cost of ownership compared to traditional CRM systems.
Advantages:
- Powerful AI automation that combines predictive, generative, and agentic AI patterns to enable end-to-end AI-driven CRM
- No-code tools that enable you to build custom apps and AI skills
- 20+ pre-built vertical solutions for various industries including financial services, manufacturing, and insurance.
- Extensive integration options with 2000+ connectors on Creatio Marketplace
- Comprehensive analytics supported by customizable dashboards and Creatio.ai that can surface required insights in seconds.
- Accelerated implementation
- No need for additional IT resources
- Powerful mobile platform
- Transparent and flexible pricing
- AI is a core part of the platform, not a paid add-on
- Strong enterprise security and compliance features
Disadvantages:
- Can present a slight learning curve in the beginning
Pricing:
Starts at $25 per user/month.
Best for:
Mid-size and Enterprise companies looking for a customizable cloud CRM solution to cater to their specific processes.
Experience the flexibility of cloud CRM with Creatio’s AI-powered platform
2. Salesforce Sales Cloud
The established and traditional clod CRM, offering comprehensive sales automation, customer service, and marketing tools.
Advantages:
- Comprehensive feature set and customization options
- Extensive third-party app marketplace
- Predictive AI capabilities with Einstein Analytics
- Agentic AI capabilities with Agentforce
- Robust reporting and analytics
- Strong mobile platform
Disadvantages:
- Steep learning curve and complexity
- Customization requires professional developers
- High cost and complex pricing model
- Requires significant training and onboarding
- Can be overwhelming for simple CRM needs
Pricing:
Starting at $25/user/month (Essentials), Professional at $100/user/month, Enterprise at $165/user/month
Best for:
Large enterprises with complex sales processes and dedicated CRM administrators and IT staff.
See also: Salesforce Alternatives & Competitors and Salesforce Marketing Cloud Alternatives & Competitors
3. HubSpot CRM
A user-friendly, inbound marketing-focused CRM that offers a free tier and integrates seamlessly with HubSpot's marketing and service tools.
Advantages:
- Free tier with robust functionality
- Excellent user interface and ease of use
- Strong inbound marketing integration
- Good reporting and dashboard capabilities
Disadvantages:
- Limited customization compared to enterprise solutions
- Advanced features such as AI automation and lead management require paid upgrades
- Can become expensive as you add premium features
Pricing:
Free plan available, Starter at $20/month, Professional at $1,600/month, Enterprise at $5,000/month
Best for:
Small to medium businesses, startups, and companies prioritizing marketing automation.
See also: Top 10 HubSpot Alternatives & Competitors
4. Pipedrive
A sales-focused CRM designed around visual pipeline management, emphasizing simplicity and ease of use for sales teams.
Advantages:
- Intuitive visual pipeline interface
- Powerful mobile app
- Strong sales automation features
- Good value for money
- Easy setup and onboarding
- Close integration with Google Workspace
Disadvantages:
- Limited marketing and service automation features
- Basic reporting capabilities
- Fewer integrations compared to larger platforms
- Limited customization options
Pricing:
Essential at $24/user/month, Advanced at $49/user/month, Professional at $69/user/month, Power at $79/user/month
Best for:
Small to medium-sized sales teams and businesses that are looking for easy-to-use sales process management.
5. Zoho CRM
Part of the comprehensive Zoho suite, offering good functionality at competitive prices with strong integration across Zoho applications.
Advantages:
- Very competitive pricing
- Good integration with other Zoho products
- Multi-channel communication support
- AI-powered sales assistant (Zia) (is included in Enterprise plan only)
Disadvantages:
- Interface can feel dated compared to competitors
- Limited third-party integrations outside Zoho ecosystem
- Limited customization options
Pricing:
Standard at $20/user/month, Professional at $35/user/month, Enterprise at $50/user/month, Ultimate at $65/user/month
Best for: Small to medium businesses already using Zoho products or those seeking cost-effective CRM solutions.
See also: Top 10 Zoho CRM Alternatives and Competitors
6. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
Microsoft's cloud CRM solution that integrates deeply with Office 365 and other Microsoft products, offering enterprise-grade functionality.
Advantages:
- Comprehensive features for sales automation
- Seamless integration with Microsoft Office suite
- Familiar interface for Microsoft users
- Advanced AI and analytics features
Disadvantages:
- Can be complex to set up and configure
- Requires Microsoft ecosystem for best value
- Higher learning curve for non-Microsoft users
- Pricing can escalate quickly with add-ons
Pricing:
Professional at $65/user/month, Enterprise at $105/user/month, Premium at $150/user/month
Best for: Medium to large enterprises already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.
7. Freshworks CRM
A comprehensive CRM solution that combines sales, marketing, and customer service capabilities in an intuitive platform.
Advantages:
- Clean, modern user interface
- Good balance of the depth of features and ease-of-use
- Reasonable pricing for the feature set offered
Disadvantages:
- Limited customization options
- Fewer third-party integrations than market leaders
- Reporting capabilities could be more robust
Pricing:
Free plan available, Growth at $11/user/month, Pro at $47/user/month, Enterprise at $71/user/month
Best for:
Small to medium businesses looking for a balance between functionality and ease of use.
8. Insightly
A CRM that combines traditional customer relationship management with project management capabilities, ideal for service-based businesses.
Advantages:
- Integrated project management features
- Reasonable pricing for small teams
- Decent mobile app
Disadvantages:
- Interface can feel cluttered
- Limited advanced sales automation
- Fewer integrations than competitors
Pricing:
Plus at $29/user/month, Professional at $49/user/month, Enterprise at $99/user/month
Best for:
Small to medium service-based businesses and agencies that need both CRM and project management capabilities.
9. Copper CRM
A CRM designed specifically for Google Workspace users, offering seamless integration with Gmail, Google Calendar, and other Google tools.
Advantages:
- Excellent Google Workspace integration
- Clean, intuitive interface
- Automatic data capture from Gmail
- Good mobile experience
- No setup complexity for Google users
Disadvantages:
- Limited functionality outside Google ecosystem
- Fewer advanced features than enterprise solutions
- Basic reporting capabilities
Pricing:
Starter at $12/user/month, Basic at $29/user/month, Professional at $69/user/month, Business at $134/user/month
Best for:
Small to medium businesses heavily invested in Google Workspace.
10. Monday.com CRM
A work management platform that includes CRM capabilities, known for its visual project boards and customizable workflows.
Advantages:
- Highly visual and customizable interface
- Streamlined collaboration enabled by project management tools
- Flexible workflow automation
Disadvantages:
- Not purpose-built for CRM (more general work management)
- Limited traditional CRM features compared to dedicated solutions
- Fewer industry-specific CRM functionalities
Pricing:
Basic at $15/user/month, Standard at $20/user/month, Pro at $33/user/month, Enterprise pricing available
Best for:
Small to medium businesses and teams that need flexibility and are already familiar with monday.com's work management approach.
How to Choose Cloud CRM Solution?
Define your business goals
Determine what functionality you need to meet your business targets and choose the system that meets you requirements.
Understand integration requirements
Check if the system has all the required tools to manage the basic needs, as for example tools to manage communications via email, phone and chat. There is no doubt that it’s much more convenient to have access to all important tools from a single interface, not switching between multiple applications.
Research vendor strength and reputation
Check the reviews of vendor’s customers and the recent reports of the most reputable analysts. In the reviews, you will be able to see what was expected, and what customers got eventually, how this influenced their business in terms of sales volume and productivity. Analysts’ reports will provide you insights to compare the top vendors and check if the vendor is able to meet the exact requirements of your business.
Wrapping up
Cloud CRMs offer flexibility, cost savings, and Enterprise-level security, while taking lots of IT worries off your shoulders.
The benefits of reduced infrastructure costs, enhanced mobility, automatic updates, and enterprise-grade security make cloud CRM an essential tool for companies of all sizes looking to streamline their sales processes and improve customer satisfaction.
With key features ranging from advanced pipeline management and marketing automation to AI-powered analytics and seamless integrations, modern cloud CRM platforms provide comprehensive solutions that can adapt to virtually any business model.
Creatio stands out with its unique AI-native approach and no-code customization capabilities that empower business users to create tailored workflows without technical expertise.
Sign up for a free Creatio trial and discover how it can transform your customer relationships while putting the power of customization directly in your hands.
