In the modern business world, a robust and efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is essential for fostering long-lasting customer relationships. With a multitude of available options, selecting the best CRM solution can be challenging.
In this article, we delve into the top Salesforce alternatives, highlighting their exceptional functionality and business advantages. Discover how these CRM contenders stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the industry giant in empowering your organization's success.
What is Salesforce?
Salesforce, a distinguished leader in the CRM systems market, offers a comprehensive suite of cloud-based solutions. This CRM software is specifically designed to streamline and automate marketing, sales, service, and other related business processes. Known for its mature and feature-rich products, including sales automation, business intelligence, and customer support software, Salesforce accommodates a wide spectrum of business operations and organizational needs. Salesforce CRM platform is a ubiquitous choice across diverse industries, helping businesses worldwide improve customer engagement and achieve substantial growth.
Why Consider Alternatives to Salesforce?
It makes sense to consider alternatives to Salesforce for a variety of reasons. Common criticisms of its CRM platform include complex and expensive customization, a difficult-to-learn and navigate interface, and expensive licensing with hidden costs. These limitations, especially problematic for small and medium-sized organizations, highlight the wisdom of exploring alternative CRM platforms.
Many affordable options now rival Salesforce in technological maturity. However, when evaluating a CRM replacement, it is crucial to weigh all factors to ensure the new system aligns with your organization's needs and customer interactions, minimizes disruptions to your team, and ultimately enhances your long-term business objectives.
What Should You Look for in a Salesforce Alternative?
To select a Salesforce CRM alternative that is comparable in terms of technological maturity and business value, consider the following criteria thoroughly:
- Functional scope: Ensure that the solution offers the features and tools your business requires, such as marketing automation, pipeline management for sales teams, contact management, email marketing tools, etc. However, stay away from platforms that offer unbundled CRM capabilities. Overpaying for unused or unfamiliar functionality is impractical and inefficient.
- Customization capabilities: Look for a solution that is not only flexible for customization but also user-friendly, enabling non-technical users to make necessary adjustments without extensive IT involvement.
- Ease of use: Choose a CRM with an intuitive, modern interface that facilitates user adoption. A clean design fosters productivity and encourages employees to leverage the CRM system to its fullest potential.
- Integration capabilities: Given that a CRM system is just one part of your IT ecosystem, the chosen solution should seamlessly exchange data with other systems, for example, marketing automation tools or accounting software. Integration should be straightforward, without significant development costs.
- Deployment options: While many CRM solutions are cloud-based, some organizations prioritize on-premises deployment due to data security concerns. Choose a CRM that aligns with your specific deployment requirements.
- Scalability: Consider a CRM system that can scale with your business, preventing the need for disruptive transitions to new CRM software as your organization expands.
- Post-sales services: Adequate training resources are essential to ensure that your team can effectively use the CRM, while responsive customer support is crucial for troubleshooting issues and continuous optimization of the CRM's functionality.
- Pricing: Evaluate the total cost of ownership, considering not only the initial license costs but also ongoing expenses and hidden charges. Ensure the pricing structure aligns with your budget.
By assessing these parameters, you can confidently choose a Salesforce CRM alternative that not only matches Salesforce's technological maturity but also aligns with your specific business needs, ensuring a smooth transition and long-term success.
12 Best Salesforce Alternatives to Choose in 2025
1. Creatio
Creatio CRM is the best alternative to Salesforce for businesses seeking customizable top-tier CRM and workflow automation capabilities seamlessly integrated within a unified, no-code platform.
Creatio’s exceptional customization and configuration capabilities, underpinned by a no-code approach and innovative composable architecture, make it highly adaptable for various industries, workflows and use cases. Opposite to Salesforce, businesses do not require trained IT developers to build new automated workflows and business apps to assist their unique business operations, enabling companies to save resources and safeguard themselves from talent shortage.
Creatio’s portfolio includes Studio Creatio, a no-code platform for business process automation, and three CRM products:
Moreover, Creatio’s fully transparent, composable pricing model empowers users to add specific capabilities and apps as required without inflating the total cost of ownership.
Creatio has recently been recognized as a sole leader in The Forrester Wave™: Low-Code Development Platforms For Citizen Developers report, highlighting it as the best option for enterprises that want well-governed citizen development and superior automation at scale.
Creatio is an ideal choice for medium to large organizations, and its recognition by key industry analysts underlines its quality and performance. This makes Creatio a strong contender for businesses seeking an adaptable, efficient, cost-effective CRM solution.
Creatio key features:
- Exceptional customization and configuration capabilities
- Innovative composable no-code architecture
- Fully transparent pricing model
- Gen AI tools and machine learning capabilities
- Tailored out-of-the-box solutions for 20 industries
Creatio limitations:
- Creatio may present a learning curve for people unfamiliar with no-code development
Creatio pricing options:
Creatio offers a unique composable pricing model where you can choose which products to purchase. The core platform offers three plans: Growth for $25, Enterprise for $55, and Unlimited for $85 per user monthly. Its customer relationship management products, Sales, Marketing, and Service, are priced at $15 per user monthly and can be purchased separately. There is also a 7-day free trial.
Creatio customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.8/5
Gartner: 4.9/5
G2: 4.6/5
A New Era AI CRM
Automate campaigns, pipelines, and service flows with Creatio's AI-native CRM
2. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM offers a compelling alternative to Salesforce CRM with its unified, cloud-based platform for managing sales, marketing, and support functions.
Its extensive capabilities, including salesforce automation, robust analytics, AI-driven insights, and intuitive customization, cater to businesses of all sizes. Zoho CRM's flexibility in plan upgrades and add-ons ensures scalability as your business grows. Small and midsize enterprises, in particular, will appreciate the cost-effective pricing options. Zoho even offers a free version for up to three users.
With its breadth of features and affordability, Zoho CRM is an ideal choice for those seeking a powerful, budget-friendly CRM solution.
Zoho CRM key features:
- Flexible plan upgrades and add-ons
- Intuitive customization
- AI-driven insights
- Robust analytics
Zoho CRM limitations:
- Reporting and predictive features lack depths
Zoho CRM pricing options:
Zoho CRM offers four plans: a Standard plan for $20, a Professional for $35, and Enterprise for $50, and an Ultimate for $65 per user monthly. Notably, AI predicting and analytics are only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate plans. A free trial is available
Zoho CRM customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.3/5
Gartner: 4.2/5
G2: 4.1/5
3. HubSpot
HubSpot CRM is an attractive alternative to Salesforce CRM, especially for small to mid-sized businesses seeking an all-in-one CRM solution.
HubSpot offers a suite of cloud-based tools that facilitate lead capture, customer interaction management, process automation, and deal closure. Notably, the introduction of Operations Hub enhances the CRM platform by automating processes, unifying data, and streamlining customer interactions.
HubSpot’s strengths lie in digital sales capabilities, support for various channels, predictive lead scoring, ease of deployment, and a free CRM option with no contact or user limits.
With prices starting at $30, HubSpot CRM is an ideal choice for smaller teams looking to streamline marketing and sales processes.
Hubspot key features:
- Powerful marketing automation capabilities
- Extensive marketing analytics
- Ease of deployment
Hubspot limitations:
- Limited customization options
Hubspot pricing options:
Hubspot’s pricing model differs from other vendors since it doesn’t consider the number of users in its pricing. The two monthly plans Hubspot offers are Professional for $1180 and Enterprise for $3910. There’s also a free tool with limited capabilities available for individuals.
See also: Top 10 HubSpot Alternatives & Competitors
4. Freshworks
Freshworks CRM presents an enticing alternative to Salesforce CRM, especially for fast-growing businesses with expanding sales and marketing automation needs.
Freshworks' cloud-based suite of business tools seamlessly integrates Freshmarketer, Freshsales, Freshdesk, and Freshchat, providing modern, user-friendly experiences for managing customer data and coordinating teams. Its strengths lie in digital sales and service capabilities, supporting contemporary messaging channels, and automating actions and engagement sequences.
With pricing starting at $15 and free versions available for each product, Freshworks is an ideal choice for small teams seeking an easy-to-deploy and user-friendly CRM solution that aligns with their straightforward requirements.
Freshworks key features:
- Lots of customization options
- User-friendly clean layout
Freshworks limitations:
- Not suited to robust enterprise scenarios and complex customization requirements
- Inconveniently bundled products: Freshservice needs to be purchased separately
Freshworks pricing options:
Freshworks CRM offers three plans: Growth for $9, Pro for $39, and Enterprise for $59 per user/month. This CRM includes marketing and sales automation. The other customer service software product can only be purchased separately; its Growth plan is $29, the Pro plan is $69, and the Enterprise plan is $109. It also offers a free trial.
Freshworks customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.5/5
Gartner: 4.4/5
G2: 4.5/5
5. Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a robust contender to Salesforce CRM, providing a comparable platform with numerous benefits. Its suite includes Dynamics 365 Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Commerce, and Customer Insights, each equipped with top-notch AI (Artificial Intelligence), business intelligence, and low-code features.
The strengths of Microsoft Dynamics 365 lie in its product breadth, seamless integration with Microsoft products, on-premises solutions, and a robust ecosystem of marketplace applications. However, some users find licensing inflexibility and product complexity challenging.
While Microsoft's licensing costs are higher than some competitors, they remain more cost-effective than Salesforce, making it an ideal choice for midsize and larger enterprises, especially those already utilizing Microsoft products or requiring a mature, on-premises solution.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 key features:
- Full suite of products for marketing, sales, customer service, commerce, and customer insights
- Top-notch AI features
- Robust business intelligence tools
- Low-code features
Microsoft Dynamics 365 limitations:
- Inflexible licensing and product complexity may be challenging to some users
Microsoft Dynamics 365 pricing options:
MS Dynamics pricing is separated into various products they offer, all ranging from $50 per user/month to $180 per user/month.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.4/5
Gartner: 4.3/5
G2: 3.8/5
6. Vtiger CRM
Vtiger is a great alternative to Salesforce for small businesses seeking an affordable and easy-to-use platform. It caters to both B2B and B2C markets, and various industries, including construction, financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and real estate.
Vtiger offers several powerful features such as Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), opportunity revenue schedules, and a sales learning management system. Customizable automation is enabled by Insights Designer and Process Designer. It integrates GenAI technology with its own Calculus AI add-on, enabling functions like email subject generation, email drafting, and querying.
Vtiger offers helpful features for the SMB segment, such as activity and opportunity management, making it a great choice for businesses looking for a powerful and affordable solution.
Vtiger CRM key features:
- Transparent pricing and a free option of the platform
- Robust sales functionality
- Calculus AI for content generation
Vtiger CRM limitations:
- Underperforming sales forecasting and predictive analytics
Vtiger CRM pricing options:
Vtiger offers three plans: Growth for $15 per user/month, Professional for $42 per user/month, and Enterprise for $58 per user/month.
Vtiger CRM customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.4/5
Gartner: 4.2/5
G2: 4.3/5
7. Oracle CX Cloud
Oracle CX offers a compelling substitute to Salesforce CRM, establishing itself as an industry titan with impressive product maturity.
Oracle CX, part of Oracle's extensive cloud product range, provides a complete suite of customer experience solutions to improve multi-touchpoint engagements. Its strengths lie in the depth of its products, robust analytics capabilities, and enterprise-level scalability, although some users find it heavy on customization.
While it is more expensive than some competitors, Oracle CX is a feature-rich CRM solution suitable for businesses of all sizes. It is an excellent choice for midmarket to enterprise customers seeking to boost their multichannel sales and marketing efforts or service workflows.
Oracle CX key features:
- Comprehensive cloud product range
- Robust analytics capabilities
- Enterprise-level scalability and customization
Oracle CX limitations:
Oracle CX pricing options:
Oracle CX Cloud offers four different plans: Professional for $65 per user/month, Standard for $100 per user/month, Enterprise for $200 per user/month, and Premium for $300 per user/month.
Oracle CX customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.4/5
Gartner: 4.3/5
G2: 3.9/5
8. SAP
SAP CRM's extensive range of reliable, enterprise-grade apps makes it a strong competitor to Salesforce CRM.
A notable feature is its built-in integration with SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), facilitating a comprehensive, centralized perspective of customer and financial data. With robust sales operations functions encompassing sales pipeline management, forecasting, quoting, and order capture, it caters to large and mid-sized enterprises.
Despite its potential shortcomings in terms of modern channel support and AI capabilities, SAP CRM can be an appealing choice for businesses looking for integrated and scalable CRM software.
SAP CRM key features:
- Built-in integration with SAP ERP
- Robust sales operations functions
SAP CRM limitations:
- Shortcomings in modern channel support and AI capabilities
SAP CRM pricing options:
The pricing starts at $58 and is calculated based on the number of users and your chosen solutions. To get the exact price, you’ll have to contact SAP’s sales representative.
SAP CRM customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.3/5
Gartner: 4.2/5
G2: 4.1/5
9. Pegasystems
Pegasystems CRM stands as a robust substitute for Salesforce CRM, especially for large enterprises managing high-complexity processes.
Pegasystems' strength lies in its real-time decisioning engine, powering a suite of process-centric applications spanning marketing, sales, and customer service tools. While acknowledged for configurability and robust process automation capabilities, the learning curve may be steep.
It is a worthy investment for companies requiring a sophisticated, adaptable CRM tool tailored to dynamic industries like healthcare, insurance, and financial services.
Pega CRM key features:
- Real-time decisioning engine
- Configurability and robust process automation capabilities
- Adaptable solutions for selected industries are available
Pega CRM limitations:
- The learning curve may be steep due to extensive and complex configurability
Pega CRM pricing options:
Pega CRM has four pricing editions, from $97 to $260.
Pega CRM customer ratings:
Capterra: 3.9/5
Gartner: 4.8/5
G2: 4.0/5
10. Zendesk Suite
Zendesk Sell CRM serves as a compelling alternative to Salesforce CRM, particularly for organizations seeking streamlined customer service and full sales process automation.
It excels in digital engagement, offering versatile channel support, including modern messaging and rule-driven chatbots, which benefits companies with high lead and inquiry volumes. Zendesk's CRM is user-friendly and straightforward, making it accessible to a wide range of users.
A stand-out feature is undoubtedly Zendesk’s customer service suite, which is fully integrated with Zendesk Sell CRM. While it excels in many areas, it could improve real-time intelligence and process management.
Overall, it is an attractive choice for midsize and larger companies with substantial interaction volumes and a strong digital presence.
Zendesk Suite key features:
- Robust service automation capabilities
- Support for multiple channels
- User-friendly UI
Zendesk Suite limitations:
- Weak real-time intelligence and process management
Zendesk Suite pricing options:
Zendesk offers three pricing editions, from $69 to $149 per user/month.
Zendesk customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.4/5
Gartner: 4.2/5
G2: 4.2/5
11. Insightly
Insightly CRM is an attractive alternative to Salesforce CRM, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises seeking a cost-effective and robust sales CRM.
Insightly's cloud-based platform combines contact and lead management, project management, and comprehensive features to automate repetitive tasks in one user-friendly offering. It elevates sales and marketing initiatives, consolidates customer data, and streamlines work management, making it an ideal choice for organizations seeking to enhance operational efficiency. Notable strengths include its ease of use, reporting and analytics capabilities, and integration features.
With its affordable pricing plans, it is a cost-effective option for businesses seeking to optimize their CRM processes without breaking the bank.
Insightly key features:
- User-friendly cloud-based tool
- Robust project management features
- Excellent reporting capabilities
Insightly limitations:
- Limited integrations that are difficult to set up
Insightly pricing options:
Insightly CRM offers three plans: Plus ($29 per user/month), Professional ($49 per user/month), and Enterprise ($99 per user/month). A free trial is available.
Insightly customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.1/5
Gartner: 4.2/5
G2: 4.2/5
12. Monday.com
Monday.com offers a flexible and versatile alternative to Salesforce CRM. While it is not a dedicated CRM, its cloud-based work management platform allows users to customize boards and workflows for customer-related activities.
It excels in adaptability, accommodating various workflows, including CRM, project management, and software development. Additionally, Monday.com provides a dedicated, ready-made sales platform.
Monday Sales and CRM software is an ideal choice for small and mid-sized businesses and those who prefer Kanban boards for organizing information. Monday’s adaptability and affordability make it a compelling alternative to traditional CRM solutions.
Monday.com key features:
- Adaptability and versatility in terms of board and workflow customization
- Robust project management tools
Monday.com limitations:
- It is not a dedicated CRM solution and, therefore, lacks some sales automation tools.
Monday.com pricing options:
Monday CRM offers three plans: Basic ($15 per user/month), Standard ($20 per user/month), and Pro ($33 per user/month). A free version of the tool is available.
Monday.com customer ratings:
Capterra: 4.6/5
Gartner: 4.5/5
G2: 4.7/5
Conclusion
Choosing the right CRM system is essential for building long-lasting relationships with customers in the ever-evolving business environment. Although Salesforce has been the industry leader in CRM for a long time, many strong competitors deserve further investigation. These alternatives are characterized by their exceptional capabilities and business benefits, offering the potential to match the CRM giant in driving customer satisfaction and your organization's success.
As we have seen, Creatio, one such contender, offers top-tier CRM and workflow automation capabilities, underpinned by a composable no-code approach and an innovative pricing model. These alternatives present opportunities to align your CRM needs with your business objectives, guaranteeing a smooth transition and sustained prosperity in the long run.
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