The best CRM for most Australian small businesses is Pipedrive, for its simple, visual sales pipeline at $23 a user. HubSpot is the best free starting point, Zoho CRM the best value at $14 a user with a free plan, and Freshsales the best budget option with a built-in phone.
Independent guide by MerchantCompare. Prices last checked . How we compare
Pipedrive is the small-business favourite because it does one thing exceptionally well: a clear, visual sales pipeline that a non-technical team actually uses. It is quick to set up and popular with Australian SMBs.
Watch out: No free plan, so you pay from day one at $23 a user.
HubSpot has the most generous free CRM, with unlimited users and up to a million contacts, plus the largest integration ecosystem. Ideal for a small business starting out, with room to grow into paid tiers later.
Watch out: A steep price jump at the Professional tier if you outgrow the free and Starter plans.
Zoho CRM offers strong capability at the lowest paid price, $14 a user, with a free plan for up to 3 users and native AUD pricing. A great fit for cost-conscious small businesses, especially Zoho ecosystem users.
Watch out: The interface is busier than the focused tools like Pipedrive.
Freshsales packs a built-in phone and AI into an affordable $13 a user plan, with a free tier for 3 users. Good for a small sales team that wants calling and automation without paying enterprise prices.
Watch out: A smaller ecosystem than HubSpot or Zoho.
Enter your business details to see what each option would cost you. Prices are live from our database and shown in Australian dollars.
| 4 Providers | Pipedrive | HubSpot | Zoho CRM | Freshsales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Est. Cost /mo (AUD) | $114/mo | $0/moCheapest | $70/mo | $63/mo |
| Costs & Pricing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Essential | Free | Standard | Growth |
| Price per user /mo | $23/user/mo (Essential) | $28/seat/mo (Starter) | $14/user/mo (Standard) | $13/user/mo (Growth) |
| Free tier | No | Yes (unlimited users) | Yes (3 users) | Yes (3 users) |
| Monthly base fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Contact limit (entry plan) | Unlimited | 1,000 (Starter) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Setup/onboarding fee | None | None (Starter) | None | None |
| Minimum seats | None | None | None | None |
| Contract required | No | No | No | No |
| Sales & Pipeline | ||||
| Pipeline management | Yes (best-in-class) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Marketing automation | Advanced+ | Yes (Starter+) | Professional+ | Yes (Growth+) |
| Reporting/dashboards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI features | Yes (Pipedrive AI) | Yes (Breeze AI) | Yes (Zia AI) | Yes (Freddy AI) |
| Workflow automation | Yes (Advanced+) | Yes (Starter+) | Yes | Yes |
| Features & Integrations | ||||
| Integrations ecosystem | 400+ | 1,000+ | 1,000+ | 200+ |
| Built-in phone/calling | Via integrations | Yes | Via integrations | Yes (built-in) |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer support | Business hours | 24/7 chat | Business hours | Business hours |
A CRM is only worth paying for if your team actually uses it, which is why small businesses should weigh simplicity as heavily as features. The trap is buying a powerful enterprise platform that sits half-configured because it is too complex, when a focused, visual tool would have been adopted in a week. Below are our ranked picks for a small team, then a live calculator to cost each at your user count.
Small businesses weigh CRM on ease of adoption first, then price per user and whether there is a free path. We ranked on how quickly a non-technical team can get value, the per-user cost and any free plan, the integrations that matter for a small business stack, and whether the CRM grows with you. Pricing is live from our database in Australian dollars.
Adoption beats features. A CRM your salespeople update daily, because it is fast and visual, delivers more than a feature-rich platform they avoid. Prioritise a clean pipeline view and low setup effort. After that, weigh the per-user cost across your real team size, and check whether a free plan covers you while you are small, since several here offer one.
Several CRMs offer genuinely useful free plans: HubSpot for unlimited users, Zoho and Freshsales for up to three. A free plan is the right start for a very small team, but watch the upgrade triggers, contact limits, missing automation, or a steep jump to the next tier (HubSpot's Professional plan is the classic example). Pick a tool whose paid pricing you are comfortable with before you commit your data.
For most Australian small businesses, Pipedrive is the pick: the visual pipeline gets used, and that is what makes a CRM pay off. Start on HubSpot if you want the most capable free plan with room to grow, choose Zoho CRM for the best value at $14 a user, and Freshsales if you want a built-in phone on a budget. Use the calculator above to cost each at your team size.
Pipedrive is the best overall for most small businesses, thanks to its simple visual pipeline that teams actually use, at $23 a user. If you want to start free, HubSpot is the best free CRM, and Zoho CRM is the best value at $14 a user with a free plan.
Yes. HubSpot offers the most generous free CRM, with unlimited users and up to a million contacts. Zoho CRM and Freshsales both have free plans for up to 3 users. These suit a small team starting out before moving to a paid tier as you grow.
Most small-business CRMs are priced per user per month: Freshsales from $13, Zoho CRM from $14, Pipedrive from $23, and HubSpot Starter from $28 a seat. Free plans exist from HubSpot, Zoho and Freshsales. The calculator above costs each at your team size.
Pipedrive is widely considered the easiest for a small sales team, with a clean visual pipeline and minimal setup. Freshsales is also straightforward. HubSpot is approachable on the free plan, while Salesforce and Zoho offer more power at the cost of simplicity.
We are independent and not owned by any provider. Our picks weigh price, features and Australian fit for small business, using live pricing from our database, last checked 31 May 2026. The comparison table lets you estimate each option at your own numbers. See How we compare for our full method.