Pipedriveâs price starts at $12.50 per user per month, which is an attractive number when compared to other CRMs, but that entry-level price point lacks many of their marquee features. This âessentialsâ version leaves much to be desired, with emails only functioning on a BCC basis, no email or task automation, and no user/admin permissions. Bumping up to the $24 âadvancedâ version includes these features, but you still donât get one-click calling, unlimited meeting scheduling, multiple dashboards, and revenue forecasting, which are reserved only for the $49.90 âprofessionalâ version. Lastly, the âenterpriseâ edition, at $100 per user per month, is the only version that includes unlimited support.
â Worth mentioning: Nutshellâs support is always free for everyone, and is available via live chat and email.
When considering Pipedrive, be aware of the platformâs limitations. Countless users express frustration with their phone support, citing long wait times and responses that donât actually address the usersâ concerns. âOne tech even went so far as to forge a past email response after I complained that they had gone dark on me.â Furthermore, even the expensive plans often donât report on what users actually want, like viewing how many touches a prospect got, setting custom date ranges, or reporting on activities across users. Most importantly, Pipedrive only offers set-up support to their customers who pay for the $100/month version.
A Pipedrive customer would pay $1,000 a month for ten users, reports and email sync, and a dedicated customer success manager. Nutshell customers would pay $390.
Pipedrive Alternatives
If you’re considering Pipedrive, it’s likely that you’ve heard of these alternatives or seen them on software review sites. While the bulk of their features are similar, each has its own unique pros and cons which, depending on your needs, could make or break your CRM experience.
Summary: Nutshell is an award-winning growth software platform that helps B2B sales and marketing teams work together to close more deals. Powerful enough to support any element of your business and simple enough to implement without a paid admin or IT department, Nutshell is favored among small to medium-sized companies who know better than to overpay for software theyâll never use. Furthermore, Nutshell’s features often outshine the competitorsâ in terms of both usability and comprehensiveness, according to customer reviews.
Watch out for: Users indicate that the feel of the mobile application doesnât match the PC interface with which they are familiar.
đ New in 2022:Nutshell Forms now allows users to create beautiful, custom forms to be hosted on any website or landing page. All information captured by Nutshell Forms is beamed directly into the CRM, completely hassle-free. How will you use forms?
Salesforce CRM
Starter: $25/mo
Full package: $300/mo
Workflow customization tools
Analytics
Marketing leads management
Sales team communication
Summary: Salesforce is a comprehensive and robust software solution platform centered around its lead management and CRM functionality. With Salesforce (and its associated cloud applications) itâs possible to do just about anything: Customer journey-related custom sales workflows, plugin application builders, and integrations with your existing systems, to name a few. Be warned that the basic setup fee starts around $5,000, but if you want the above-mentioned functionality, your setup will start at $50,000.
Watch out for: They charge double their enterprise price ($150/user) for the version with unlimited support. According to users, this is because the software is extremely difficult to use and requires constant interaction with Salesforce representatives. Furthermore, very few of the (costly) add-ons actually apply to small or medium-sized businesses.
Summary: HubSpot is a CRM, marketing automation tool, and customer service hub all built into one. With HubSpot, you can create custom web pages, forms, and emails, and tie them together into complicated, automated workflows. HubSpot is a great option for sales and marketing teams who can afford the big spend and donât have the time or resources to integrate their CRM with other, similar features.
Watch out for: Donât be fooled by the free versionâitâs barely more functional than an excel workbook. If you want to use all of HubSpotâs features, itâs going to cost a small fortune. Furthermore, those who arenât HTML pros will need HubSpot to design their marketing pages for them.
Summary: Zoho CRM is one application that exists in Zohoâs diverse ecosystem of bite-sized applications, which are typically sold in bundles. The CRM offers basic contact management tools, as well as automation, like converting website visitors into leads automatically. The reporting in Zoho is also top-notch, allowing users to report across products, locations, accounts, and statuses, as well as providing useful sales forecasting.
Watch out for: Zoho has lots of add-on applications that vary in price, making it difficult to get a quote without going through demos, trials, and hassle. For the complete package, you may need to buy additional applications a la carte.
Insightly
Starter: $29/mo
Full package: $99/mo
Notable features:
Integrates with Gsuite, Microsoft, Mailchimp, and more
Custom dashboards
Custom pipeline builder
Opportunity reports
Summary: Insightly is a CRM favored by companies with straightforward sales processes. Their simple user interface allows for the creation of custom pipelines and provides all the tools and functionality needed to manage them. Insightly offers strong filtering that allows large lists to be sorted into manageable groups.
Chrome extension, Gmail inbox, and other Gsuite app support
Summary: Copper CRM is an innovative approach to customer relationship management. Describing itself as a ârelational CRMâ as opposed to a âtransactional CRM,â its focus is to exist solely in the Gsuite space to facilitate faster and more effective use of the Google app suite. Its Chrome extension comes in handy for scheduling meetings and creating follow-ups over email without going out of the way.
Watch out for: Copper is designed for Google users only, so it wonât play nicely with any of your non-Google software. Copperâs onboarding is expensive and is only included in their most expensive package.
Summary: Spiro.ai is an AI-based CRM that uses algorithms to minimize the amount of busywork salespeople have to do, freeing them up to close more deals. For example, when you type someoneâs email into Spiro, it finds all of their info on the web (so does Nutshell) and when you send an email with a line like âIâll call you tomorrow,â the system actually reminds you to call them tomorrow. None of their positive reviews seem to be written by the ones paying for it.
Watch out for: Spiro has a tremendous price tag compared to their functionality; a salesperson who quickly creates tasks already wonât benefit much from having Spiroâs AI do it for them.
The Bottom Line
Shopping for a CRM is tough because youâre essentially choosing which software is going to run your sales operations for a while. There are many hidden factors at play that wonât show up on a typical CRMâs âfeaturesâ page, like ramp-up time, implementation costs, additional services needed, quality of customer support, and more. In order to ensure youâre making the right choice, the best approach is to take a free trial and see if the CRM can really support all of your requirements without breaking the bank. Software review sites are also invaluable because customers will often tell the stories that CRM salespeople canât.
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