CRM Showdown: Salesforce vs. HubSpot vs. Zoho

Dr Hadeeqah Zaki
3 min readApr 29, 2024

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Are you still managing your business manually? If so, you might be using spreadsheets and sticky notes. All these things get your work done but take a lot of time. There is a high chance of corrupted data being lost due to human errors.

In this technical era, businesses have adopted CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to manage customer data and interactions. As of 2024, over 800 CRMs are available. Selecting the best one depends on critical priorities and budget. This article will compare the features of the top three CRMs to decide a suitable solution for your business:

1. Salesforce

Salesforce is not a random CRM company but is one of the pioneers of cloud computing. It has a leading position with a market share of 23.8%. It is highly customizable, unifying the marketing, sales, service, and IT teams worldwide in one place. Its personalized approach provides a holistic view of your customer interactions.

Being a cloud-based software, it automates managerial tasks and helps you focus on finalizing deals. Since every software has its quirks, salesforce has some cons. It can be expensive for small businesses, with premiums starting from $25. The level of automation depends on how much you pay. Thus, salesforce is suitable for enterprise owners.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot is a super powerful CRM company used by Atlassian, DoorDash, and inVision. It is user-friendly and offers you a free version with several features. Its robust approach is more inclined towards marketing and automation. HubSpot provides advanced features such as opt-in forms, a website builder, an email marketing tool, and customer service software.

The email marketing tool makes it stand out from the competition. There are some differences between free and paid versions. The free version has restrictions on the number of users. It has limits on customization, storage, and email tracking. More advanced automation tools are available for paid plans, which is why startups usually don’t opt for HubSpot.

3. Zoho

You might be wondering which tool is suitable for a small business. Well, Zoho is the ultimate solution for you. It is a budget-friendly CRM designed to connect you with customers via live chats, messages, and social engagement. Zoho offers you Canvas to create customized CRM views. It also detects deviations from expected sales and takes corrective actions.

Like every software, it also has some bugs. Though cost-effective, certain advanced features are limited to paid users. Zoho offers a simplified mobile app, but features like creating reports and changing settings are possible on a laptop. Its AI assistant, Zia, is limited to Enterprise and Ultimate plans. You can use Zoho for your startup but must buy add-ons for proper functionality.

Closure

The above three CRM giants are great, but each platform has unique features and strengths. It is vital for an owner to thoroughly examine their business requirements before choosing the right one. So what are you waiting for? Always stay ahead with the above business solutions. Explore my blog and share your thoughts in the comments on which CRM is better in your experience.

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