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If you’re considering Pipedrive and Insightly but struggling to choose between them, you’ve come to the right place. On this page, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of each CRM platform. Then we’ll explore how they compare on several key aspects of a good CRM. Keep reading to learn more about how Pipedrive and Insightly stack up!
If you clicked on this page, there’s a good chance you’re looking for a customer relationship management (CRM) platform for your company, and you’re considering Pipedrive and Insightly as possible options. That means you’re probably wondering which of those two tools is better.
If so, you’re in the right place—that’s just what we’re going to explore on this page. We’ll first look at some general pros and cons for each CRM tool. Then we’ll compare them on several key aspects of a good CRM.
Keep reading to learn how Insightly and Pipedrive stack up against one another.
Let’s see how Insightly and Pipedrive compare to one another when it comes to some of the most important qualities of a CRM. This comparison is summarized in the chart below.
Let’s dive in a little deeper to see how Pipedrive and Insightly compare to one another in each of these areas.
When it comes to pricing, Insightly’s barrier to entry is a little more costly, but it still provides reasonable value for money. Both CRMs offer a few different plans that escalate in price, with the most expensive being Insightly’s Enterprise plan, which costs $99+ per user per month.
Insightly also offers a Professional plan at $49 per user per month, and its entry-level plan is the Plus plan, which costs $29 per user per month. But some advanced features and customization capabilities are limited to higher plans.
Pipedrive’s plans range from $14 to $79 across four plans: Lite at $24 per user per month, Growth at $49 per user per month, Premium at $79 per user per month, and Ultimate at $99 per user per month.
That said, it’s important to note that Pipedrive’s core email marketing, lead capture, web visitor tracking, and other features require paid add-ons—including Campaigns, LeadBooster, Web Visitors, and Smart Docs. As a result, costs can stack up considerably as your needs grow.
Verdict: It’s a tie. Pipedrive looks cheaper upfront, but relies on multiple add-ons. Insightly is more straightforward, but places richer analytics and customization in higher tiers. Your total cost depends on which features you actually need.
Pipedrive does not cap the number of contacts in your account and offers unlimited data storage across plans. However, most accounts have a hard ceiling of 300,000 combined active leads and deals. This gives teams plenty of room for contacts and data, with the caveat that opportunity volume is throttled.
Insightly applies clear, plan-level ceilings to both records and file storage: Plus allows 100,000 records/10GB, Professional increases this to 250,000/100GB, and Enterprise to 500,000/250GB. These limits are straightforward and predictable, but can constrain fast-growing databases.
Verdict: With no contact cap and advertised unlimited storage, Pipedrive imposes fewer hard constraints, while Insightly’s tiered record/storage limits can require earlier plan upgrades. If you expect very large data volumes, Pipedrive offers more headroom.
Pipedrive is not an incredibly complicated CRM. Having said that, it does come with a steep learning curve, as we saw earlier in the pros and cons section. That means that it can take a while to get results from it, and it doesn’t score as well on ease of use.
Insightly, on the other hand, is known for being easy to navigate and use. In fact, ease of use is one of its biggest strengths. Reviewers highlight Insightly’s intuitive UI and quick onboarding for SMBs.
Verdict: Insightly comes out on top in this category. Pipedrive’s board is clean, but understanding each feature well enough to get the most out of the CRM takes time. Insightly earns points for an approachable interface that scales across sales and delivery workflows.
Reporting is fairly good with both Pipedrive and Insightly. However, it’s considered one of the best aspects of Pipedrive, giving you plenty of in-depth sales insights. Users also often comment on how easy it is to setup and use Pipedrive’s reporting features.
But Insightly also scores well in this category, with customers often praising how customizable its reports are. Custom dashboard cards and charts (leads, opportunities, projects, custom objects) are available on higher tiers and offer broader, flexible analytics.
Verdict: While reporting features are strong on both sides, Insightly provides a little more bang for your buck. Pipedrive covers standard pipeline health on lower plans, with the option to do more on more expensive plans. Insightly’s configurable dashboards and charting provide more room to answer nuanced questions without leaving your CRM.
Pipedrive offers many different integration options—over 500, to be exact. Some of these integrations are native to the platform, but others require an API to connect the two tools. Although Pipedrive’s integrations catalog is small, it still offers connections to many of the core applications SMBs need.
The same is true of Insightly—its integration options are a mix of native and API. However, Insightly offers a much larger number of integration options (over 2000). Insightly also offers a paid AppConnect solution—an integration automation tool used to simplify potential complex app integrations, so that businesses can connect their preferred software with Insightly’s CRM.
Verdict: Both platforms lean heavily on third-party integrations for core functionality essential to sales and marketing teams, like text messaging and in-app calling. But Insightly offers a bigger range of integrations and an option to streamline integration setup, making it the leader in this category.
Sales automation is another of Pipedrive’s strong suits, as we saw in the pros and cons section. It offers customized workflow options to help you automate sales tasks in just the right way for your business. However, automations are limited per company, complex automations can be tricky to set up, and some key automations are reserved for users on Pipedrive’s more expensive Premium and Ultimate plans.
Insightly doesn’t stand out quite as much as Pipedrive in this category, but it also has good sales automation capabilities, which should be more than sufficient for most businesses. On the plus side, Insightly’s core automation capabilities are available to users on all plans.
Verdict: There are pros and cons on either side. If you’re looking for built-in workflows that are easy to implement and get the job done, Insightly is the best option for your business. Should your business require more complex automations and have the budget and expertise to set them up, Pipedrive would be the better choice.
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Let’s start by looking at some of the advantages of using Pipedrive. Here are three primary elements that set it apart:
Let’s start by looking at some of the advantages of using Pipedrive. Here are three primary elements that set it apart:
Now let’s look at some of the benefits of using Insightly. Here are a few of the biggest ones:
Just like Pipedrive, Insightly has a few downsides. Those disadvantages include:
By now, you’re probably wondering: Should you get Pipedrive or Insightly? Which tool is better for your business?
The answer depends on your particular needs. As we just saw, Pipedrive is the better tool for companies that prioritize reporting and sales automation, but Insightly is a superior option for ease of use and integration.
Of course, there are some areas where both tools are weak, like customer support. For that reason, you may not want to settle for Pipedrive or Insightly and invest in another, more suitable CRM option instead.
Looking for an Insightly and Pipedrive CRM alternative that brings you the best of both and so much more? Look no further than Nutshell.
Our CRM delivers top-tier sales automation, customized reporting, industry-leading AI features, and access to a world-class customer service team to help you make the most of your CRM.
Not sure about using Nutshell for your business? Check out our 14-day free trial today to see what it can do for you!
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Alan P. Skytop Business Loans
Don’t get sucked in by ‘featureitis.’ Buy what your staff will actually use. Nutshell beat out Insightly, Nimble, Zoho and Salesforce for our needs.
Chris B
Nutshell has helped my staff clear up literally 50% of their time.
Jennifer A. Eclectic Music
I’ve honestly had more problems than solutions when it comes to using Monday. It was very visually pleasing, but that’s as far as the benefits went.
Kevin K. Media Production
Great way to track management with clients. Love that I can BCC and the from my google account goes right into the right account in Nutshell. Also love that I can set tasks to remind myself to follow up
Holly C
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