Close CRM Alternatives: Strong Options Compared

Close CRM costs $9–$139 per user a month, with calling extra. We compare Pipedrive, HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Salesforce on price and fit for sales teams.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-12T13:26:15+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-12T13:26:15+00:00

Close CRM Alternatives: Strong Options Compared

Close is a sales CRM built around the phone. Its reps call, text, and email from inside one tool. Its four plans run from $9 to $139 per user per month on yearly billing. But Close is not right for every team. Workflows and the power dialer start on Growth at $99 a month. Calling and SMS cost extra. This guide compares four strong Close CRM alternatives on price, features, and fit.

Close CRM pricing, in brief

Close charges per user, per month. Solo costs $9 a month billed yearly, or $19 billed monthly. It covers one user and 10,000 leads. Essentials costs $35 a month billed yearly, or $49 monthly. It adds unlimited leads and team tools. Growth costs $99 a month billed yearly, or $109 monthly. It adds workflows, the power dialer, bulk email, and voicemail drop. Scale costs $139 a month billed yearly, or $149 monthly. It adds the predictive dialer, live call coaching, and custom roles.

There is no free plan. A 14-day free trial needs no credit card. Calling and SMS are billed as usage on top of the subscription. Outbound calls cost around $0.02 a minute. Phone numbers start at about $1 a month. Every plan includes Chloe, Close's AI sales agent, with a monthly credit pool.

Close suits inside sales teams that live on the phone. The alternatives below suit different teams. Some are cheaper. Some are broader. Some are free to start.

Close CRM alternatives at a glance

Prices are US list prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked in October and November 2026. HubSpot's Starter price is a limited-time offer. Prices change. Check the live page before you buy.

1. Pipedrive: the simplest Close alternative

Pipedrive is a sales CRM built around visual deal pipelines. It is the closest match to Close for teams that sell by phone and email but want a simpler tool. Its plans are Lite at $14 per seat a month, Growth at $39, Premium at $59, and Ultimate at $79, all billed yearly. Monthly billing costs more: $24, $49, $79, and $99.

Lite covers lead, deal, contact, and calendar management, plus AI report creation and 500-plus integrations. Growth adds full email sync and tracking, automations, and forecast reports. Premium adds lead capture and routing, custom lead scoring, and contracts with e-signatures. Ultimate adds security rules, data enrichment, and a sandbox account.

Pipedrive has no free plan. It offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. It has no mandatory onboarding fee. That matters next to HubSpot, which charges $1,500 for Professional onboarding.

Pipedrive is cheaper than Close at the automation tier. Growth at $39 a month includes automations. Close Growth costs $99 a month. The gap is $60 per seat, per month. A five-seat team saves $3,600 a year on seats alone. Pipedrive lacks Close's built-in calling depth. Teams that dial all day may miss the power dialer. Teams that manage a pipeline will not.

2. HubSpot: the free Close alternative

HubSpot is the only option here with a genuinely free CRM. The free plan covers up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts. It includes contact, deal, and task management, plus basic email tools, forms, and live chat. It costs $0 with no time limit.

Paid Sales Hub plans start with Starter at $20 per seat a month on monthly billing. A limited-time offer showed Starter at about $7 per seat a month on yearly billing for new customers. Professional costs $90 per seat a month billed yearly, or $100 monthly, plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Enterprise costs $150 per seat a month billed yearly, plus a $3,500 onboarding fee.

HubSpot's strength is breadth. It combines sales, marketing, and customer service in one platform. Its free plan is the best starting point for a one- or two-person team. Its weakness is price growth. Professional at $90 a seat plus onboarding costs far more than Pipedrive or Zoho at the same tier. Teams that need advanced workflows pay a premium.

Choose HubSpot if you want to start free, or if marketing and sales must share one system. Choose Close if your team lives on the phone and needs calling built in. Choose Pipedrive if you want a paid CRM that stays affordable as you add seats.

3. Zoho CRM: the low-cost Close alternative

Zoho CRM is free for up to 3 users. Paid editions start at $14 per user a month. Standard costs $14 billed yearly, or $20 monthly. Professional costs $23 billed yearly, or $35 monthly. Enterprise costs $40 billed yearly, or $50 monthly. Ultimate costs $52 billed yearly, or $65 monthly. Paid editions include a 15-day free trial.

Standard adds email integration, mass email, built-in calling, up to five pipelines, sales forecasting, and storage for 100,000 records. Professional adds process management, inventory, portals, and unlimited custom reports. Enterprise adds territory management, approval processes, a developer sandbox, and up to 20 pipelines.

Zoho CRM is the cheapest full CRM in this comparison. A five-seat team on Standard pays $70 a month billed yearly. The same team on Close Essentials pays $175 a month. On Professional, Zoho costs $115 a month for five seats. Close Growth costs $495 a month for five seats.

Zoho CRM suits teams already using Zoho apps. It shares customer records with Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, and the rest of the suite. Its calling tools are basic next to Close. It has no power dialer or predictive dialer. Teams that dial all day should test it first. Teams that manage deals and customers will find it capable and cheap.

4. Salesforce: the enterprise Close alternative

Salesforce is the largest CRM in the world. It suits teams that have outgrown simpler tools. Its Sales Cloud covers lead management, opportunity tracking, forecasting, and deep customization. Its app marketplace, AppExchange, is the largest in the CRM market.

Salesforce is priced by edition, with quotes for larger deployments. It is not the cheapest option. It is the most customizable. A team that needs custom objects, complex approval chains, and deep reporting will find it powerful. A small team that wants to start selling this week will find it heavy.

Choose Salesforce if your company is large, your sales process is complex, or you need integrations no smaller CRM offers. Choose Close if you want a focused sales tool with calling built in. Choose Pipedrive or Zoho if you want the same pipeline management at a fraction of the price.

How to choose between these Close alternatives

Start with how your team actually sells. Count the calls per day. If reps make dozens of outbound calls, Close's built-in dialer has real value. If reps manage a pipeline and send follow-up emails, Pipedrive or Zoho covers the work at a lower price.

Count the seats. Close and Pipedrive charge per seat. A five-seat team on Close Growth pays $495 a month billed yearly. The same team on Pipedrive Growth pays $195 a month. That $300 monthly gap buys a lot of calling credit elsewhere.

Check the free tier. HubSpot is free for two users. Zoho CRM is free for three. A tiny team can run for months without paying. Test the free plan with real deals before you buy anything.

Check the hidden costs. Close bills calls and SMS as usage. HubSpot charges onboarding fees on higher tiers. Pipedrive charges nothing beyond the seat price for its core features. Price the whole setup, not just the headline rate.

Bottom line

Pipedrive is the best all-round Close alternative for most sales teams. It costs less, it automates from Growth, and it has no onboarding fee. HubSpot is the best free start, with a real free plan for two users. Zoho CRM is the cheapest full CRM here, and the best pick for teams inside the Zoho suite. Salesforce is the pick for enterprise scale.

Close remains a strong choice for one specific team: an inside sales floor that lives on the phone. Its built-in calling, power dialer, and Chloe AI agent suit high-volume outbound work. If that is not your team, one of these four alternatives will cost less and fit better. Try the free plan or trial first. Run real deals through it for two weeks. The CRM that fits your daily work is the right one.