Twelve CRM, email, scheduling and collaboration platforms tested — including the best free CRM and the best AI tools for marketing teams.
Business software is usually chosen by procurement and lived in by everyone else. Optimise for what your counterparties already trust: the objectively "best" CRM or e-signature tool is worthless if the other side refuses to use it.
These twelve are grouped by what a small team actually buys first — CRM and marketing, scheduling, communication, design and payments.
HubSpot bundles CRM, email marketing, landing pages and content tools with a free tier that is genuinely usable, which is why most small teams should start there rather than stitching five tools together. Mailchimp remains the simplest route into email automation and newsletters if you only need email. Typeform gets noticeably higher completion rates on forms and surveys than a standard form builder.
HubSpot is the answer for a first CRM: free to start, and deep enough that you will not have to re-platform when you grow. Salesforce is what you move to when you need custom objects and enterprise sales operations — and you will pay for that power in complexity.
Calendly removes the email back-and-forth: share a link, let prospects pick a slot, and it respects the buffers you set. It is the rare tool that pays for itself in the first week.
Slack keeps conversations searchable and integrates with thousands of tools, which is why it becomes a team's nervous system. Microsoft Teams is the obvious pick if you already pay for Microsoft 365. Zoom still wins for external calls and webinars, and Loom replaces a surprising number of meetings with a short screen recording.
Figma is where interface design and prototyping happen, with feedback in the same file. Miro is the better canvas for brainstorming, mapping and workshops with a group.
Stripe is the default for taking payments online: developer-friendly APIs, and everything from subscriptions to invoicing built on top. It is infrastructure rather than a tool you shop for, but it is the decision that is hardest to reverse later.
Business software is usually chosen by procurement and lived in by everyone else. Optimise for what your counterparties already trust — the objectively 'best' CRM or e-signature tool is worthless if the other side refuses to use it.
All-in-one CRM platform with marketing, sales, service, and content tools.
HubSpot. Its free tier covers contacts, deals and email well enough for a small team, and you can grow into the paid tiers without migrating. Salesforce is for enterprise requirements, not for a first CRM.
HubSpot for CRM plus campaigns in one place, Mailchimp if you only need email, and Jasper or Copy.ai (in our writing category) for producing the copy itself.
Teams if your organisation already lives in Microsoft 365 — it is included. Zoom for external calls, webinars and anything where the other side may not have an account.
Not necessarily. If email is your only channel, Mailchimp is simpler and cheaper. Move to HubSpot when you need to track deals and contacts alongside the email.