A CRM costs $9 to $25 per user per month on entry tiers billed annually, $23 to $100 per user on the mid tiers most teams end up needing, and $150 to $550 per user at the enterprise end. A five-person team should budget $45 to $125 a month on an entry plan and $115 to $500 on a mid tier. Add one-time onboarding fees (HubSpot charges $1,500 for Professional), seat minimums (monday CRM bills at least 3 seats) and the hours you spend on setup.
Every CRM pricing page leads with its cheapest number. Almost nobody pays that number for long. Seats grow, the one feature you need sits a tier up, and a few vendors add fees that never appear in the headline price.
This guide gives you the real figures: ten CRMs priced at 1, 5 and 20 seats on the entry and mid tiers, a table of hidden costs, and a formula you can run for your own team in five minutes. All prices are US list prices, billed annually, checked on each vendor's pricing page in September 2026.
The three CRM price bands
CRM pricing falls into three bands. The band matters more than the brand.
- Entry, $9–$25 per user per month. Contacts, deals, one pipeline, email sync, basic reports. HubSpot Starter, Freshsales Growth and Bigin Express sit at $9; Salesforce Starter Suite tops the band at $25. Insightly Plus ($29) and Dynamics 365 Sales Professional ($65) price above it.
- Mid, $23–$100 per user per month. Workflow automation, forecasting, sequences and custom reports. Zoho Professional is $23, Pipedrive Growth and Freshsales Pro are $39, HubSpot Professional is $90, Salesforce Pro Suite is $100. monday Standard ($17) is a mid tier priced like an entry tier.
- Upper, $59–$550 per user per month. Role-based permissions, territories, advanced AI, dedicated support. Freshsales Enterprise is $59, HubSpot Enterprise $150, Salesforce Sales Cloud $195 to $550.
Most teams of five to twenty land in the mid band within a year. Budget for that, not the homepage price.
CRM pricing at 1, 5 and 20 seats: entry tiers
The table multiplies each vendor's lowest paid plan by three team sizes. The arithmetic is simple: 5 seats on Pipedrive Lite = 5 × $14 = $70 a month, or $840 a year. Where a free plan covers the headcount, the table says so.
| CRM | Entry plan (annual) | 1 seat | 5 seats | 20 seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | Starter Suite $25 | $25 | $125 | $500 |
| HubSpot | Starter $9 | $9 (free plan covers 2 users) | $45 | $180 |
| Pipedrive | Lite $14 | $14 | $70 | $280 |
| Zoho CRM | Standard $14 | $14 (free plan covers 3 users) | $70 | $280 |
| Freshsales | Growth $9 | $9 (free plan covers 3 users) | $45 | $180 |
| monday CRM | Basic $12, 3-seat minimum | $36 (billed as 3 seats) | $60 | $240 |
| Bigin by Zoho | Express $9 | $9 (free plan covers 1 user) | $45 | $180 |
| Less Annoying CRM | $15 flat, one plan | $15 | $75 | $300 |
| Insightly | Plus $29 | $29 | $145 | $580 |
| Dynamics 365 Sales | Sales Professional $65 | $65 | $325 | $1,300 |
Two things stand out. The spread at 20 seats is $180 to $1,300 a month for tools that all store contacts and deals. And monday CRM's 3-seat minimum means a solo user pays $36. If you are one to three people, the free plans from HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Freshsales and Bigin make this row $0; our best free CRM guide compares them.
What the mid tier costs: the plan most teams actually need
Entry tiers record what happened. Mid tiers act on it: automated follow-ups, stage-change workflows, forecasting and custom dashboards almost always sit here. If you are buying a CRM because "we keep missing follow-ups", this is the table that matters.
| CRM | Mid plan (annual) | 1 seat | 5 seats | 20 seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | Pro Suite $100, annual contract | $100 | $500 | $2,000 |
| HubSpot | Professional $90 + $1,500 onboarding | $90 | $450 | $1,800 |
| Pipedrive | Growth $39 | $39 | $195 | $780 |
| Zoho CRM | Professional $23 | $23 | $115 | $460 |
| Freshsales | Pro $39 | $39 | $195 | $780 |
| monday CRM | Standard $17, 3-seat minimum | $51 (billed as 3 seats) | $85 | $340 |
| Bigin by Zoho | Premier $12 | $12 | $60 | $240 |
| Less Annoying CRM | $15, single plan | $15 | $75 | $300 |
| Insightly | Professional $49 | $49 | $245 | $980 |
| Dynamics 365 Sales | Sales Enterprise $105 | $105 | $525 | $2,100 |
Look at the step between the two tables. Zoho moves from $14 to $23. Pipedrive moves from $14 to $39. Salesforce quadruples from $25 to $100, and HubSpot goes from $9 to $90 plus a one-time fee. The size of that step is the most useful thing to know about a CRM before you commit a team to it. The HubSpot vs Pipedrive and Pipedrive vs Zoho comparisons walk the ladders side by side.
The hidden costs that never appear on the pricing page
Per-seat price is the visible cost. These six add to it; two can double a small team's bill.
| Hidden cost | Who charges it | What it adds | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time onboarding fee | HubSpot: $1,500 on Professional, $3,500 on Enterprise. Mandatory. | $125 a month over year one for Professional | Divide by 12 and add to your monthly figure |
| Seat minimum | monday CRM bills 3 seats on every plan | A solo user pays $36 for Basic, not $12 | Check minimums first if you are under three people |
| Usage-based add-ons | Freshsales Freddy AI $49 per 100 sessions; Zoho telephony minutes beyond the allowance; Pipedrive Campaigns; Salesforce transaction fees on Suites | Varies with use; hard to predict | Run one trial month, measure, then decide who needs it |
| Monthly-billing premium | HubSpot Starter $15 monthly vs $9 annual; Zoho Standard $20 vs $14; monday Basic $18 vs $12 | 43% to 67% more per seat | Pay monthly for 60 days, then switch to annual |
| Annual contract lock-in | Salesforce Pro Suite and Sales Cloud are annual contracts | You keep paying for seats you drop mid-year | Buy today's headcount; add seats as you hire |
| Tier jumps | Salesforce Starter $25 to Pro Suite $100; HubSpot Starter $9 to Professional $90 | 4× to 10× per seat, often for one feature | Name the feature forcing the jump; check which tools include it lower down |
Rule of thumb: if you plan to pay monthly, add 50% to every price in this article. HubSpot Starter goes from $9 to $15, Zoho Standard from $14 to $20, monday Basic from $12 to $18. Annual billing is the biggest discount available on any CRM, and it is printed on the pricing page rather than hidden in a negotiation.
Want the full tier ladders side by side?
Our ranked guide lists every plan for six CRMs, who each one suits, and what a 10-person team pays on each. Pricing verified this month.
A total-cost formula you can run in five minutes
Here is the formula we use for every team we price:
Real monthly cost = (seats × per-seat price at the tier you need) + add-ons + (one-time fees ÷ 12) + (setup hours × your hourly cost ÷ 12)
- Count the seats you will have in 12 months. Not today's headcount. If you are hiring two reps in Q2, price for them now. Ask whether view-only users are cheaper or free.
- Name the one feature that decides your tier. Automated follow-ups, forecasting, custom reports or role permissions. Find the lowest tier that has it. That is your tier, not the one the rep suggests.
- Multiply seats by the annual per-seat price. Use the two tables above. Respect seat minimums: 2 people on monday CRM pay for 3.
- Add the add-ons you will really turn on. Calling minutes, AI sessions, email campaigns. If you do not know, budget one trial month and measure.
- Spread one-time fees over 12 months. HubSpot Professional's $1,500 onboarding fee becomes $125 a month in year one.
- Add your own setup time. Pick a realistic hours figure and an hourly cost for whoever does it. $0 on the invoice is not $0 to the business. Our CRM implementation checklist gives hour estimates by team size.
Two worked examples
The hourly figures below are assumptions you should replace with your own. Everything else is list price.
Example 1: a four-person consultancy
Needs: one shared pipeline, email sync, a meeting scheduler. No automation yet. Tier: entry. Setup: the owner does it in about 10 hours, assumed at $50 an hour, so $500 once.
Four seats cost $36 a month on HubSpot Starter (4 × $9), $56 on Zoho CRM Standard or Pipedrive Lite (4 × $14) and $60 on Less Annoying CRM (4 × $15). Real monthly cost on HubSpot Starter in year one: $36 + $0 add-ons + $0 fees + ($500 ÷ 12 = $42) = about $78 a month, or $932 for the year. From year two it drops to $36. If the consultancy were three people, Zoho CRM's or Freshsales' free plan would make the subscription $0.
Example 2: a twelve-person sales team
Needs: automated follow-ups, forecasting, sequences, a manager dashboard. Tier: mid. Setup: an ops lead spends about 40 hours, assumed at $50 an hour, or $2,000. Salesforce usually adds an administrator or consultant; that cost is quote-based, shown as "plus admin".
| Option | Monthly (12 seats) | Year-one subscription | One-time costs | Year-one total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| monday CRM Standard | 12 × $17 = $204 | $2,448 | $2,000 setup | $4,448 |
| Zoho CRM Professional | 12 × $23 = $276 | $3,312 | $2,000 setup | $5,312 |
| Pipedrive Growth | 12 × $39 = $468 | $5,616 | $2,000 setup | $7,616 |
| HubSpot Professional | 12 × $90 = $1,080 | $12,960 | $1,500 onboarding + $2,000 setup | $16,460 |
| Salesforce Pro Suite | 12 × $100 = $1,200 | $14,400 | $2,000 setup, plus admin | $16,400 plus admin |
Same headcount, same job, and roughly $12,000 of difference in year one. That gap is why the tier decision matters more than any 10% discount a rep offers. It does not mean the cheapest row is right: HubSpot bundles marketing on the same record and Salesforce scales further. It means you should know the number before the demo.
How to lower the bill without buying the wrong tool
- Start free if you are one to three people. HubSpot (2 users), Zoho CRM and Freshsales (3 users) and Bigin (1 user) have permanent free plans. Our post on the signs you have outgrown a free CRM lists the upgrade triggers.
- Switch to annual billing after 60 days. It saves 43% to 67% per seat once your team is logging in daily.
- Buy the mid tier only when one feature demands it. "We might need forecasting" is not a reason to pay $39 instead of $14 for twelve people. That is $300 a month for a maybe.
- Ask about seat types. HubSpot, for one, sells cheaper core seats alongside full sales seats. Managers who only read dashboards may not need the expensive kind.
- Treat AI as a paid trial. Freddy AI at $49 per 100 sessions pays off for some reps, not all. Measure first.
What most people miss: the most expensive CRM is the one your team stops using. Ten seats on Pipedrive Growth cost $390 a month whether reps log calls or not. Spend the first month on adoption, not features. Our implementation checklist covers the sequence; if you are still on a sheet, read CRM vs spreadsheet first.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a CRM cost per month for a small business?
Between $0 and about $125 a month for a team of five. Free plans from HubSpot (2 users), Zoho CRM and Freshsales (3 users) cover the smallest teams. Entry paid tiers run $9 to $25 per user, so five seats cost $45 on HubSpot Starter or Freshsales Growth, $70 on Pipedrive Lite or Zoho Standard, and $125 on Salesforce Starter Suite, billed annually.
What is the cheapest CRM?
The lowest list prices are $9 per user per month on HubSpot Starter, Freshsales Growth and Bigin Express, billed annually. Free plans cost nothing for 1 to 3 users. The cheapest plan is not always the cheapest CRM: a $9 tool that lacks the one feature you need pushes you to a $39 or $90 tier sooner than a $14 tool that includes it.
Why do CRM prices jump so much between tiers?
Because vendors place the features most teams eventually need, such as workflow automation, forecasting and sequences, on the mid tier. Salesforce goes from $25 on Starter Suite to $100 on Pro Suite. HubSpot goes from $9 on Starter to $90 on Professional. Zoho CRM ($14 to $23) and monday CRM ($12 to $17) have the gentlest steps.
Do CRMs charge setup or onboarding fees?
Some do. HubSpot charges a mandatory one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 for Professional and $3,500 for Enterprise. Salesforce enterprise editions usually need an administrator or consultant, which is a real cost even though Salesforce does not list a fee. Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Freshsales, monday CRM and Bigin do not list onboarding fees.
Is annual billing worth it?
Yes, once you have used the tool for a month or two. Monthly billing costs 43 to 67 percent more per seat: HubSpot Starter is $15 monthly against $9 annual, Zoho Standard $20 against $14, monday Basic $18 against $12. Use monthly billing during evaluation, then switch to annual once the team is using the CRM daily.
How much does a CRM cost for 20 users?
Between $180 and $1,300 a month on entry tiers and $240 to $2,100 on mid tiers, billed annually. Twenty seats cost $180 on HubSpot Starter or Freshsales Growth, $280 on Pipedrive Lite or Zoho Standard, $500 on Salesforce Starter Suite, $780 on Pipedrive Growth and $1,800 on HubSpot Professional plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.
Conclusion
The decision rule is short. Count the seats you will have in a year, name the one feature that sets your tier, multiply, then add fees, add-ons and setup hours. Do it for two or three tools and the answer is usually obvious. A five-person team on an entry tier pays $45 to $125 a month; a twelve-person team on a mid tier pays $204 to $1,200 before fees.
For the full plan ladders of six CRMs with our scores and who each one suits, see the best CRM software guide. Prices there are verified on the same schedule as this post.