Zoho CRM Review: Best Free CRM Software

After much research and analysis of customer relationship management (CRM) software, we recommend  as the best free CRM software for small business. 

Ready to choose a CRM software? Here's a breakdown of our complete coverage:

• CRM Software Buyer's Guide
• Best CRM Software 2015
• REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Small Business
• REVIEW: Best CRM Software for Very Small Business

CRM software is a must for most small businesses. It helps you find leads, keep your contacts organized and manage opportunities, among other things, making it one of the most effective ways to drive sales and grow your company. 

The problem, however, is that many CRM software products cost an arm and a leg. And most free CRM software is heavily limited in features, forcing you to purchase a costly per-month, per-user subscription plan. Moreover, you may not even think you need to such a product in the first place. This is where Zoho CRM can help. 

Whether CRM software isn't feasible for your small business budget or you're looking for a cost-effective way to see what CRM can do for you, a full-featured free solution is the answer. Read on to find out what makes Zoho CRM our top pick for the best free CRM software for small business. 

Why Zoho CRM?

A feature-rich, Web-based CRM software for small business

Despite being free, Zoho CRM offers a ton of features for small businesses. This comprehensive CRM software provides all the core functionalities you need in a CRM software — such as lead gathering, contact management and a robust set of tools to help you turn opportunities into sales — along with bevy of capabilities to help you grow your business. And as a Web-based service, you can access your data anytime, anywhere from a tablet or smartphone.

CRM features

While many free CRM software have limited features, the free version of Zoho CRM is packed with capabilities to help small businesses start, build and grow relationships with customers. It also goes beyond just simply managing contacts, gathering leads and viewing sales pipelines. Here are just some of the features the free version of Zoho CRM has to offer:

Multi-user. Whereas other free CRM software products allow only a few users before requiring you to pay, Zoho CRM lets you onboard up to 10 members of your team absolutely free.

360-view. Like its paid version, the free Zoho CRM stores and displays all the critical information you need to make wise business decisions. It delivers a 360-degree view of contacts, sales cycles and pipelines to help you drive sales, take care of customers, discover trends, identify opportunities and more. 

Automation. From lead generation to managing contacts, opportunities and workflow, the software lets you manage and automate tasks so you can spend more time selling and less time performing mundane, repetitive tasks. Calendars and call logs can also be automated to help you save time and be more productive. 

Collaboration. Zoho CRM can also function as a social media platform to help your staff collaborate and be better at their jobs. It includes a newsfeed where team members can post status updates and share files, as well as a direct messaging feature.

Social CRM. Zoho CRM integrates with Twitter and Facebook to automatically link contacts to their social media accounts. Doing so lets you connect with contacts and see their updates, as well as access the latest interactions they have had with you on social media, right from your dashboard.

Mobile CRM. Access customer data wherever you are with the Zoho CRM mobile app. You can view everything from leads and opportunities to accounts, contacts, tasks, events, messages, calls and more. An offline mode is also available if you find yourself without an Internet connection. The app is available for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. 

Third-party integration. Zoho CRM connects with a wide range of third-party apps and services to help you integrate your CRM data with the rest of your operations. For example, if you use Google Apps, Zoho CRM works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google tasks — the Zoho CRM gadget lets you save Gmail messages right into your software, as well as export events and tasks into their respective apps.

Analytics. Track sales and measure your business's and employees' performance with a wide range of reporting capabilities. 

Security. Zoho CRM gives you control over who can do what with your software. In addition to creating individual profiles for users, you can also assign roles, control access and impose restrictions.

Other benefits

As a small business, you need a CRM solution that grows with your business. Zoho CRM fits the bill because it is super-affordable and readily expandable once your business needs more from the software.

If you find that your business has outgrown the free version of Zoho CRM, paid plans start at just $12 a user per month. This plan offers everything in the free version and includes other features such as sales forecasting, customizable reports, marketing campaigns, mass email capabilities and more. 

Furthermore, you can easily upgrade from the free version to a paid version. When we reached out to Zoho, we were assured that the process was very simple and hassle-free: Just log in, then click on the Upgrade button. You'll be taken to the Subscription page, where you can choose your plan and complete the purchase. 

The rep also pointed out that Zoho CRM uses a monthly or yearly pay-as-you-go model, meaning there are no contracts. While many CRM software products lock you down for the long-term by requiring a fixed service agreement, Zoho CRM gives you more freedom, making it easy to change your plan or switch to a different provider if it doesn't fulfill your needs. 

In addition to expanding your CRM software, you can also add on other Zoho services to support your growing business. Zoho's suite of business solutions include project management app Projects, email marketing solution Campaigns, accounting software Books, collaboration tool Meeting, and many more. The biggest advantage of this is that Zoho CRM integrates seamlessly with other Zoho products, so you can automatically sync CRM-related data between solutions and efficiently manage your business from a single platform.

Customer service

Because Zoho CRM is just one Zoho's line of business solutions, you can take advantage of the company's comprehensive customer support resources. These include:

• A helpdesk system and customer self-service portal where you can submit tickets by filling out a Web form.
• Social media support by tweeting your issues to @zohocares.
• Documentations like eBooks and a User Guide to help you get started, understand its features and learn how to make the most out of the software.
• A searchable Knowledge Base with frequently asked questions and solutions for common problems.
• A community forum where you can browse issues or reach out to Zoho CRM users and experts for help.
• Weekly webinars and tutorial videos covering key features.
• Zoho Blogs for the latest news, updates and changes to the software and the rest of the Zoho platform.

We were also informed by our sales rep that the Zoho team offers one-on-one live demos of the software. The entire session takes about an hour and is held via Web conference. You can request this demo by emailing sales@zohocorp.com.

Limitations

Although there are many ways to get help using Zoho CRM, you're out of luck if you want to speak to a real-live customer service representative ASAP. The software's biggest drawback is that the free version doesn't come with phone support. The company does have 24-hour (Monday to Friday) phone support via a toll-free number, but the feature is available only to users with a paid account. 

Another limitation we came across is the software's interface. We tried the software ourselves and, like some small business owners told us, it felt clunky and not as intuitive as other software we considered. Our initial impression is that it takes too many steps to perform simple tasks, and navigating each section took some time to get used to.

Nonetheless, we still found the software to be relatively easy to use. There is a simple navigation bar at the top of the dashboard that contains a tab for each function, such as Leads, Accounts, Contacts and more. There is also a + button that lets you add new items in just one click, as well as a search bar to help you easily find content. 

Finally, note that the free version of Zoho CRM doesn't come with a lot of customization options. So if you need to tailor the software to your business's unique needs — such as by adding custom reports, your own functions and additional modules — you'll need to purchase the most expensive plan, which costs $35 per user per month. 

We chose Zoho CRM from a pool of the dozens of CRM software we considered. To read our full methodology and for a more comprehensive list of CRM software, visit our best picks page here.

 

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