Best CRM for small business in the UK: HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive compared

UK prices compared

All prices are per user (or seat) per month, excluding VAT.

A few notes on these figures:

• Plans are matched by position, not by features. Each row shows each provider’s plan at that step of its own range. HubSpot sells its Professional and Enterprise tiers per hub, so those rows use Sales Hub, its sales product. Compare the feature tables before you treat two plans as equivalent.

• HubSpot Starter shows “Starts at £7/mo/seat” with £18 struck through. HubSpot says this is special Starter pricing for new customers and that select offers are for a limited time, so expect the price to go up later. Starter includes 500 HubSpot Credits.

• Zoho CRM says local taxes such as VAT are charged on top of the prices shown.

• Pipedrive showed prices in US dollars on its UK pricing page when we checked, so we haven’t converted them. Pipedrive says paying annually saves up to 42% compared with paying monthly. See Pipedrive's pricing page for pounds.

Free options and their limits

HubSpot says its free tools are free for up to 2 users and need no credit card. The free plan covers HubSpot’s free marketing, sales, service, content and data tools, and the paid Starter tier adds more to each.

Zoho CRM Free is “forever free, for 3 users”. It includes contact management, follow-up reminders, workflow automation and up to 10 custom email templates. The bigger features, such as multiple sales pipelines (Standard) and AI agents (Professional), are in the paid plans.

Pipedrive has no free plan. Its 14-day free trial doesn’t need a card, so you can set up your real pipeline before you decide.

A free plan is a good way to find out whether your team will actually use a CRM. The biggest risk with any CRM isn’t the price. It’s ending up with a system nobody keeps up to date.

Automation: where a CRM earns its keep

A CRM saves the most time when it works on its own: new enquiries land as contacts, the right person gets a task and the customer gets a quick reply. When you compare plans, check these:

• Workflows and sequences. Pipedrive lists automations and nurturing sequences among the features on its paid plans. Zoho CRM includes workflow automation even on its Free plan and adds process management on Professional. For HubSpot, check the feature table for the plan you’re looking at.
• Connections to your other tools. Pipedrive lists more than 500 integrations, including Zapier. Tools like Zapier, Make and n8n can connect any of the three to your website forms, inbox or calendar. Our n8n vs Make vs Zapier guide compares them.
• Duplicates. Automations that create contacts can easily create the same person twice. Read how to automate website enquiries without duplicate CRM contacts before you switch anything on.
• AI features. All three list AI tools on their pricing pages: Pipedrive has its Nova meeting assistant and AI email writing, Zoho CRM lists AI agents from Professional, and HubSpot lists AI tools such as an AI Content Writer and an AI Prospecting Agent. Check which plan includes the ones you want and whether they use up extra credits.

UK specifics: GDPR and your accounts

• GDPR. A CRM holds personal data, so you’re responsible for what goes into it, how long you keep it and who can see it. Check where each provider stores data and what its data processing terms say. Our UK GDPR checklist for AI and customer data covers the basics.
• Xero and QuickBooks. If you want deals or invoices to flow into your accounts, check each CRM’s app marketplace for your accounting tool before you commit. Zoho, for example, lists a QuickBooks integration among its Enterprise plan features. Where there’s no direct connection, an automation tool can usually fill the gap. See how to send invoices to Xero with Make, with UK VAT.
• VAT. Prices in this guide exclude VAT. If you can’t reclaim it, add 20% so you’re comparing like with like.

When to get help setting it up

A free plan is easy to try on your own. Help is worth paying for when you want to move years of contacts out of spreadsheets, connect the CRM to your website, inbox and accounts, or build automations you can rely on.

In our directory, 112 agencies in the UK mention CRM automation. 47 agencies mention HubSpot and 15 agencies mention Pipedrive. Browse CRM automation agencies or marketing automation agencies, or use Get matched and we’ll suggest suitable agencies at no cost.