The shortlist, ranked
1
HubSpot CRM
87/100 · Free, paid from $7/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
Free CRM with deal pipeline, contact management, email tracking, and meeting scheduling — plus the Breeze AI assistant on every plan, including free. Scales from solo consultant to full agency without switching platforms.
Why it's on the list: The free tier is genuinely useful — 2 seats, up to 1,000 contacts, deal pipeline, email tracking, and the Breeze AI assistant at no cost. Most solo consultants don't outgrow it for a while, and it connects to nearly every tool in this catalog.
When to skip it: If you manage fewer than 5 clients total and use referrals exclusively, a spreadsheet works fine. HubSpot shines when your pipeline has volume.
Full review →2
Pipedrive
84/100 · From $14/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
Visual sales pipeline CRM for small teams. No free plan; Lite from $14/seat/mo billed yearly (14-day trial).
Why it's on the list: The clearest pipeline view of any CRM here: you always see which proposals are waiting, what the next step is and what is likely to close.
When to skip it: No free plan, and prices are per seat. If you only track a handful of relationships, HubSpot CRM Free, Attio Free or a spreadsheet is enough.
Full review →3
Attio
81/100 · Free, paid from $35/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
Modern, flexible CRM that builds itself from your email and calendar. Free up to 3 seats; Plus $35/user/mo billed yearly.
Why it's on the list: Free for up to 3 seats, and records build themselves from your inbox and calendar, so there is almost no manual data entry.
When to skip it: Paid tiers are expensive per seat. If you mainly need a sales pipeline with phone and email tools, Pipedrive or HubSpot cost less.
Full review →4
folk
77/100 · From $24/mo · Strongest area: Strong on outcomes
Lightweight relationship CRM with a LinkedIn extension and email campaigns. No free plan; Standard $24/member/mo billed yearly.
Why it's on the list: Built for relationship-led selling: capture a contact from LinkedIn in one click and follow up from the same place.
When to skip it: No free plan, and the account is locked after the trial. If you need deep sales automation or reporting, Pipedrive or HubSpot are stronger.
Full review →