10 Best Customer Database Software Solutions in 2024

Why we chose HubSpot Sales Hub

HubSpot takes the top spot because of its pricing, user experience, and integration capabilities, all while offering plenty of advanced features. HubSpot’s free plan is one of the most generous in the market, including tools like contact management, email tracking, and automation, features that go beyond what Bitrix24 offers in its free version.

HubSpot scores a remarkable 95.83/100 for pricing—no easy feat. It achieves this by offering a transparent, value-for-money approach, and offering both a 30-day free trial and a free tier, unlike competitors like Salesforce, one of HubSpot’s closest competitors, which becomes expensive quickly for small businesses​.

With a score of 95/100 in user experience, HubSpot boasts a truly intuitive design, accessibility, and mild learning curve. This makes it a better fit than platforms like Salesforce, which are often too complex for smaller teams. HubSpot is also highly scalable, scoring high on customizability and mobile accessibility, so you can start small and grow without switching platforms. And it delivers many of the tools you need right out of the box.

In September 2024, the platform added 95 new apps and 35 app updates, including major integrations with Adobe Express for content creation and Amplitude for advanced customer insights, making it a much more flexible and integrated solution than Zoho or Keap, which offer fewer integrations. HubSpot’s App Marketplace now has over 1,700 apps, further enhancing its ability to connect seamlessly with your existing tools​.

Further bolstering HubSpot’s Advanced Features score of 85/100 is its other recent updates, including advanced AI tools like Fathom AI Notetaker, which automatically syncs meeting summaries with contacts and deals, and expanded CPQ functionalities through the PandaDoc integration. 

While HubSpot’s advanced features can become costly, especially as your business scales, it still offers better value compared to Salesforce, which, though powerful, can overwhelm small teams with its complexity and higher costs. For smaller businesses, Zoho and Apptivo may be more affordable, but they lack the depth of automation and integrations that HubSpot provides​.

Why we chose monday CRM

A key design choice is its highly visual and intuitive interface, which significantly reduces the learning curve for new users and increases adoption rates. The platform’s use of a customizable and color-coded Kanban-style board for managing sales pipelines allows users to easily track progress and prioritize tasks, improving overall productivity. 

The integration of drag-and-drop functionality in these boards simplifies task management and adds a level of engagement and interactivity, which users find appealing and easy to navigate. monday CRM’s emphasis on customization enables users to tailor the platform to their specific needs, a feature that resonates well with businesses looking for flexibility in their CRM solutions.

In terms of adoption and market share, monday.com, the platform that includes monday CRM, has seen rapid growth, with millions of users globally, showcasing its increasing popularity and trust among businesses. Feature-wise, monday CRM offers a broad range of functionalities, often exceeding those of its competitors, particularly in customization and integration capabilities. The platform’s user interface is frequently praised for its intuitiveness and ease of use, a critical factor in user adoption and satisfaction. 

Additionally, monday CRM boasts a high retention rate, suggesting that once businesses adopt the platform, they are likely to continue using it, which is a testament to its effectiveness and reliability.

Why we chose Pipedrive

Pipedrive is the best solution if you’re looking for a customer database tool tailored to sales pipeline management.

The platform’s drag-and-drop sales pipeline makes it easy for you to manage deals at every stage, offering a level of customization and simplicity unmatched by competitors like even HubSpot Sales Hub, which is known for its ease of use. Pipedrive earned a perfect 100/100 in core features such as contact and deal management, automation, and reporting, so you know your sales process will be efficient at every price tier.

One of the recent enhancements that makes Pipedrive even more powerful is its automation updates. 

Now, you can set up date triggers to automatically execute tasks before, on, or after specific dates, such as sending follow-up emails or scheduling calls after a demo. The introduction of webhook actions allows for seamless integration with external apps, letting you automate the flow of data across platforms​. 

In contrast, Freshsales, while strong in basic automation, focuses more on AI-powered insights (via Freddy AI) for deal predictions and lead scoring, which helps in lead management but lacks the flexibility in workflow automation that Pipedrive offers. Freshsales also limits certain automation capabilities to higher-priced plans, making it less accessible for users on lower-tier plans. 

Additionally, Pipedrive introduced a Business Card Scanner for Android, allowing you to instantly convert physical business cards into digital contacts. This tool is particularly useful for sales teams that regularly interact with leads in person, providing a level of convenience not found in many other platforms​.

Pipedrive’s data security measures are another key reason for its top ranking. With the launch of its Trust Center, Pipedrive now offers enhanced data security measures, including ISO/IEC 27001 certification, SOC 3 compliance, and tools like single sign-on (SSO) and two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure your data remains protected​.

Finally, Pipedrive provides solid value starting at $14 per user per month. It scored 75/100 for value for money, making it a strong option for businesses seeking sales management tools without breaking the bank. However, some advanced features, like LeadBooster and Smart Docs, are available only as paid add-ons, which could increase the cost for smaller teams​. 

Why we chose Zoho

Zoho offers unique advantages over its closest competitors like Salesforce and HubSpot. One of the first things that stands out is Zoho’s pricing model. Unlike Salesforce, which ties businesses into long-term contracts and adds expenses through costly upgrades, Zoho provides flexibility, including a free plan and affordable pricing tiers with bulk discounts. This makes Zoho a better fit for budget-conscious needs while also allowing room for future scaling without heavy financial commitments.

Beyond pricing, the general features and interface of Zoho feels more user-friendly compared to competitors. Zoho is fully cloud-based, with a mobile app that makes it easy to manage customer relationships on the go. Many users report that Salesforce can feel overwhelming with its complex interface. Zoho strikes a balance by offering strong customization without sacrificing ease of use. It also provides extensive training resources to ensure users get the most out of its features, which helps ease transition to the platform.

Automation capabilities like lead scoring, which are simple to set up and manage, help streamline workflows. Salesforce and HubSpot offer similar tools, but Zoho’s integration of real-time data enrichment at no extra cost gives it an edge.

The advanced features Zoho offers, especially its AI assistant Zia, offer predictive analytics and customizable automation. While other platforms like Salesforce also boast AI capabilities, Zoho provides similar, if not superior, tools at a more accessible price point. The platform’s flexibility in automating workflows, managing follow-ups, and supporting internal collaboration allows you to optimize team efficiency across the board.

Integration is another significant advantage. Zoho’s ecosystem is tightly integrated, not only with its own suite of apps like Zoho Books and Zoho Desk but also with other popular business tools such as Mailchimp and QuickBooks. The platform’s API is highly customizable, which allows you to tailor it precisely to our existing workflows. In contrast, competitors like Salesforce require more investment and sometimes additional third-party tools to achieve the same level of seamless integration.

Zoho’s design also makes it easy to get started. Its learning curve is mild compared to more complex platforms like Salesforce, and it provides plenty of customization options so you can adapt the system to your business needs. Though its mobile app isn’t as feature-rich as the desktop version, the platform’s overall accessibility and responsiveness still made daily tasks much easier to manage.

Recent updates like the ability to add multiple records to subforms and perform root-cause analysis in the VoC module are exactly the kinds of time-saving tools many businesses are looking for in a modern CRM. Features like these, along with its new document storage powered by WorkDrive, have continued to enhance the platform, keeping it flexible and relevant as you grow.

Why we chose Bitrix24

We chose Bitrix24 for its extensive, user-friendly free plan that’s perfect for small teams needing a powerful yet approachable customer database solution. With Bitrix24, you get nearly all the essential CRM features right out of the box—lead and contact management, task automation, and workflow organization—without needing a paid plan. 

Bitrix24’s all-in-one platform makes it easy to keep everything in one place, from project management to collaboration tools, meaning you and your team can handle customer relationships, projects, and internal communication seamlessly within a single dashboard. Key sections, like the Activity Stream and the CRM tab, provide an intuitive experience, helping you quickly manage contacts, add notes, and collaborate without needing extensive training or technical expertise.

Compared to alternatives like Zoho and Salesforce, Bitrix24 offers an integrated approach that’s particularly appealing for non-technical users or teams looking for an efficient, user-friendly experience. 

Unlike other free CRMs, Bitrix24’s latest updates, such as task automation with sequential assignments and enhanced BI tools for visualizing key data on deals and leads, bring capabilities often found only in paid plans of competitors. For small businesses or teams that prioritize cost-effective solutions with robust capabilities, Bitrix24’s free plan provides advanced functionality and flexibility unmatched by most 

Drawbacks include a lag in customer support responsiveness and scalability for some advanced business needs.

Why we chose Zendesk Sell

If your business relies heavily on both sales and customer support, Zendesk Sell offers a unique advantage by integrating these functions into one seamless experience. It combines ease of use, strong automation, and mobile functionality, making it an ideal choice for teams that want to improve both sales processes and customer support efficiency.

This integration is perfect for businesses that want their sales teams to have full visibility into support issues, enabling better collaboration and smoother transitions between departments. While HubSpot Sales Hub is an all-in-one CRM, Zendesk Sell focuses on giving your sales reps access to detailed support information, allowing for more informed sales strategies and better customer relationships​.

Zendesk Sell centralizes communication by storing all emails, calls, and texts related to a deal in one place. This is something Pipedrive doesn’t offer to the same extent in terms of integrating multi-channel support directly with sales functions. Additionally, Zendesk Sell’s automation features let you set up tasks and reminders automatically, and recent updates such as omnichannel routing with custom queues and round robin assignment further improve efficiency for teams managing both sales and support inquiries​.

Zendesk Sell also boasts a strong mobile app. This is a key feature for teams needing to stay connected, a feature that competitors like Zoho and monday CRM offer but not with the same depth of integration with customer support tools​.

In October 2024, Zendesk rolled out automated redaction of sensitive information and ticket merging suggestions improve operational security and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks, enhancing productivity for agents.

While Salesforce Sales Cloud is more customizable for large enterprises, Zendesk Sell is better suited for teams that require affordability and strong integration between sales and customer service. At $19 per user per month, Zendesk Sell offers good value, although it scored 50/100 for value for money because some of its more advanced features, like lead scoring and AI analytics, are locked behind higher-tier plans​. 

If affordability is your main concern in choosing a customer information database software, Bitrix24 or HubSpot Sales Hub offer feature-rich free plans. However, remember they lack the advanced support integration of Zendesk Sell.

Why we chose Apptivo

Apptivo was an obvious pick because of its advanced lead tracking and management capabilities. Most of these features are quite simple and function intuitively to keep your team moving instead of spending hours a day working through a clunky, outdated user interface.

Apptivo’s product design and user experience (UX) are strategically crafted to cater to the diverse needs of its users, particularly small to medium-sized businesses. One of the key design choices is the highly customizable dashboard, which allows users to tailor the interface according to their specific business processes and priorities.

This flexibility in customization has been reported by users to significantly enhance productivity, as it enables them to access the most relevant information quickly. Another notable aspect is the intuitive navigation and coherent layout of the platform, which reduces the learning curve for new users, a feature often appreciated in user feedback.

Apptivo also integrates a consistent color scheme and visual elements across its various modules, contributing to a seamless user experience and reducing visual clutter, which can be overwhelming in complex CRM systems. The mobile responsiveness of Apptivo is another design choice that positively impacts users, offering them the convenience of managing their customer relationships on the go.

While not the largest player, the software shows a steady growth trajectory, particularly in the small to medium business segment, suggesting increasing adoption and trust among this crucial demographic. Feature-wise, Apptivo offers over 50 integrated business apps, which is significantly higher than some competitors who offer around 30-40 apps, providing a more comprehensive solution. Its customization capabilities also score high, offering more flexibility compared to some rivals that have more rigid systems.

Why we chose Salesforce Sales Cloud

We chose Salesforce Sales Cloud as the best customer database solution for enterprises due to its unmatched scalability, advanced AI tools, and customization options. Salesforce’s Einstein AI provides predictive lead scoring and analytics, giving sales teams real-time insights into customer behavior and opportunities—features that competitors like HubSpot Sales Hub and Pipedrive lack at this level. While HubSpot offers AI capabilities, its depth in predictive analytics falls short compared to Einstein, which can forecast trends and automate next steps for enterprise teams​.

Another key strength of Salesforce is its customizability. You can tailor every aspect of the system— from custom objects to workflow automations— to match your business needs. Freshsales, by contrast, offers fewer customization options and primarily focuses on lead management and basic sales automation, making it better suited for small to mid-sized teams. Pipedrive, although excelling in pipeline management, lacks Salesforce’s ability to handle more complex workflows, multi-channel communication, and AI-powered automation, which are critical for large enterprises​.

When compared to Zendesk Sell, which integrates well with customer support, Salesforce’s strength lies in its multi-department integration across sales, marketing, and service through tools like Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud. This provides a seamless experience across the entire customer journey, whereas Zendesk Sell is more specialized in support-focused workflows​.

Recent updates to Salesforce further solidify its enterprise readiness, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement and enhanced data security features like content sniffing protection and session ID flow protection, ensuring top-tier security for large organizations handling sensitive customer data​. Salesforce’s extensive AppExchange also provides access to thousands of third-party tools, far outpacing Zoho and Bitrix24, which offer fewer integrations​. This makes Salesforce the go-to choice for enterprises needing a highly customizable, scalable, and secure CRM solution.

Although Salesforce Sales Cloud scored 100/100 for features like contact and account management, reporting, and AI analytics, its complex pricing structure (scoring 54.17 for pricing) and steep learning curve might make it challenging for smaller teams without dedicated admin support​. 

However, for enterprises looking for a solution that can scale and evolve with their growth, Salesforce is the top choice. Additionally, recent updates such as enhanced multi-factor authentication (MFA) and content sniffing protection reinforce Salesforce’s commitment to enterprise-level security.

Why we chose Keap

Keap is included in our list due its ability to function as an interdepartmental collaboration tool. Multiple people can access accounts simultaneously cutting back on locked pages that keep your staff from being as productive as possible. For example, if your sales and marketing team both work out of the same database solution, Keap might be the right choice for you.

Keap CRM’s product design and user experience (UX) are thoughtfully engineered to streamline and simplify the complexities of customer relationship management, especially for small businesses and entrepreneurs. A standout feature in Keap’s design is its clean and intuitive interface, which significantly reduces the learning curve for new users, a benefit frequently highlighted in user testimonials. The dashboard is meticulously organized, presenting a clear overview of sales pipelines, upcoming tasks, and client communications, which effectively aids users in managing their day-to-day operations more efficiently.

Keap’s decision to integrate email marketing and automation tools directly within the CRM platform is another critical design choice, enabling users to execute marketing campaigns without the need for additional software. This integration has been reported to save time and enhance productivity, as users can manage contacts and campaigns in one place. Additionally, Keap’s mobile app design mirrors the simplicity and functionality of its desktop version, offering users the flexibility to manage customer relationships on the go.

In customer satisfaction scores, Keap often achieves ratings above 4 out of 5, reflecting strong user approval, particularly for its user-friendly interface and robust automation features. Market penetration data shows Keap as a favored choice among small businesses and entrepreneurs, attributed to its targeted features and pricing structure, which is competitively lower or on par with similar-tier competitors.

The software offers a comprehensive range of functionalities including advanced automation, email marketing, and e-commerce integration, which, in user reviews, often surpasses the offerings of some competitors who may lack in one or more of these areas. The software’s email deliverability rates are also commendable, frequently outperforming industry averages, a critical factor for businesses relying on email marketing. Additionally, Keap’s reported uptime exceeds 99%, ensuring reliable access for users, a crucial aspect where it often matches or exceeds competitor standards.

Why we chose Freshsales

Frehsales offers an intuitive interface and streamlined onboarding process compared to competitors like HubSpot and Zoho CRM. Freshsales consistently excels in interface design and usability, offering an easily navigable, visually clean dashboard, scoring 100 for both ease of use and interface design. This lowers the learning curve significantly for new users, while @mentions in notes and AI-driven sales battle cards streamline collaboration, which is a step ahead of Zoho CRM’s more complex customization tools.

In contrast to Salesforce’s often overwhelming setup, Freshsales offers more customizability (scoring 100) with simplified automation and a user-friendly customization process for sales pipelines, contacts, and reports. For businesses prioritizing smooth integration and ease of management, Freshsales’ recent LinkedIn Marketing Forms integration and upgraded contact data import functionality enhance lead management without overwhelming technicalities.

Additionally, Freshsales leads in affordability (with a score of 100 in value for money) and support for small teams by offering flexible pricing plans and an accessible free trial—an area where HubSpot lags with more restrictive pricing for full-feature access. Freshsales also benefits from API improvements for faster access and responsiveness, setting it apart from competitors who may face slower response times for API requests, particularly under high data loads. These updates, combined with Freshsales’ superior speed and responsiveness (100), make it a clear choice for businesses that value both performance and simplicity.