HubSpot suits small businesses that want a free CRM with email tracking, meeting scheduling, live chat and quotes built in, for up to two users and 1,000 contacts. Zoho CRM suits teams of up to three who want a free CRM inside a wider family of free Zoho apps. Both free plans have no end date, so the choice comes down to team size and the tools you'll connect.
HubSpot and Zoho are two of the names small businesses meet first when they search for a free CRM. Both give away a starter CRM, and both hope you'll grow into more of their software. The free plans differ in who they're built for.
HubSpot and Zoho CRM compared
| HubSpot | Zoho CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free CRM with no expiration date | Free edition, free forever, no trial period |
| Users on free | Up to two | Up to 3 |
| Contacts on free | 1,000 | Not stated as a contact cap on the free CRM page |
| Storage | No limits on customer data | 1GB of cloud space per organisation |
| Built-in sales tools | Email tracking, templates, meeting scheduling, quotes | Sales and marketing features in the free edition |
| Chat | Live chat | Via Zoho SalesIQ (free edition) |
| AI | Breeze Assistant | Not detailed on the free CRM page |
| Wider family | Marketing, Sales, Service, Content, Data and Revenue Hubs | Mail, SalesIQ, Campaigns, Survey, Analytics, Projects, Desk, Forms |
| Card at sign-up | Not stated | No credit card required |
Inside HubSpot's free CRM
HubSpot's free CRM page lists contact, deal and task management, email tracking and engagement notifications, email templates and scheduling, document sharing, meeting scheduling, live chat, sales quotes, reporting dashboards and the Breeze Assistant. You can import an existing CRM, and every HubSpot Hub has a free plan you can bolt on.
- A pipeline view of every deal.
- Meeting links prospects can book directly.
- Live chat on your website feeding the same records.
Inside Zoho's free edition
Zoho's free CRM page describes a fully featured free edition with sales and marketing features, integrations and cloud storage, for up to 3 users. Every organisation gets 1GB of cloud space. The bigger draw is the family: free editions of Zoho Mail, SalesIQ, Campaigns, Survey, Analytics, Projects, Desk and Forms connect to it with one login.
- No trial clock and no forced upgrade.
- One sign-in across the Zoho portfolio.
- Bigin, Zoho's simpler CRM, for teams leaving spreadsheets.
Growing beyond the free CRM
Both companies plan for you to grow, but in different shapes. HubSpot adds Hubs: Marketing, Sales, Service, Content, Data and Revenue, each with a free plan and premium plans, all sitting on the same customer records. Zoho grows sideways into separate apps, with CRM Plus as a unified platform and Zia Agents for building AI agents, which Zoho says you can build and deploy for free. Think about which of those paths you'd rather be on in two years' time.
The user and contact limits
The HubSpot free CRM page puts numbers on its free plan: up to two users, 1,000 contacts, no limits on customer data and no expiration date. Zoho's free edition supports up to 3 users with 1GB of cloud space per organisation. A three-person team fits Zoho's free plan and not HubSpot's; a solo founder with a large list should watch HubSpot's 1,000-contact line.
I've also compared HubSpot and Pipedrive if you're weighing a sales-pipeline tool too.
Which business suits which CRM
Choose HubSpot if you're one or two people who want email tracking, a booking link and live chat working out of the box, and you might add HubSpot's marketing tools later. Choose Zoho CRM if you're a small team of three who'd like free email, help desk and survey tools from the same company. If you're new to CRMs altogether, start with my guide to the simplest CRM for a small business.
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My advice on HubSpot or Zoho
Count your users and your contacts, then list the two other tools you'd want connected on day one. If those are a booking link and website chat, HubSpot's free CRM covers them. If they're email and a help desk, Zoho's family covers them. Import a small slice of your contacts into each before you move the lot.
Do you make a CRM or sales tool? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place in comparisons like this one.
Frequently asked questions
Is HubSpot CRM free?
Yes. HubSpot says its free CRM is free with no expiration date, for up to two users and 1,000 contacts.
How many users does Zoho CRM's free plan allow?
Up to 3. Zoho's free edition is free forever with no trial period, and each organisation gets 1GB of cloud space.
Does HubSpot's free CRM include live chat?
Yes. HubSpot lists live chat, meeting scheduling, email tracking, sales quotes and reporting dashboards in its free CRM.
Do I need a credit card for Zoho CRM's free plan?
No. Zoho says no credit card is required to sign up for the free edition.
