Clean pipeline; email sync and automation need the $39 tier. Why?
5
Capsule →profileScored on: Starter$18/user/mo (Starter)Free plan. 14-day trial
7.5
7
7
7
10
Simple relationship book; most AI and automation sits on Growth. Why?
Scores come from public evidence (vendor pricing pages, help docs, feature pages), checked 2026-10-22. We have not run hands-on tests yet. They are planned, and these scores will be updated. See every source ↓
The cap is the test. A CRM only stays on this list when a solo consultant can run the pipeline on a published plan at or under $20 a month.
How this ranking was scored: desk research, version 1, checked 2026-10-22. We checked each tool against the public checklist below using vendor pricing pages, help-center docs and feature pages. Every point links to its source under “Why each tool scored what it did”. Plan scored: Best plan at or under $20/month (annual price used only when no monthly price is published). Ties on the checklist go to the cheaper plan.
We have not run hands-on tests yet. They are planned with the fixture in tests/crm/scenario-01.md, and scores will be updated when they are done.
Why each tool scored what it did
Each Quality and Speed check is worth 2 points (2 = verified on the plan scored, 1 = limited, add-on, higher tier or conflicting docs, 0 = not available or not verifiable). Price bands, monthly list price: $0 = 10 · ≤$10 = 9 · ≤$15 = 8 · ≤$20 = 7 · ≤$25 = 6 · ≤$30 = 5 · ≤$40 = 4 · ≤$50 = 3 · ≤$75 = 2 · more = 1.
Quality checklist
Visual deal pipeline
Gmail/Outlook email sync on the plan
Tasks and follow-up reminders
AI features on the plan
Pipeline reports / dashboards on the plan
Speed checklist
Workflow automation on the plan
Web forms / lead capture
Official iOS and Android apps
Calendar sync or booking
Email templates or bulk email on the plan
1. BiginQ 10 · S 10 · P 8 · E 10 → 9.6
Plan scored: Premier ($15/mo). Premier is $15/user/mo monthly ($12 yearly), under the cap. bigin.com
Quality 10/10
2Visual deal pipeline. Team pipelines (5) bigin.com
2Gmail/Outlook email sync on the plan. Email integration with Gmail, Outlook (Express and up) bigin.com
2Tasks and follow-up reminders. Calls, tasks and events bigin.com
2AI features on the plan. AI Writing Assistant, record summary, 1,000 AI credits on Premier bigin.com
2Pipeline reports / dashboards on the plan. Customizable dashboards bigin.com
Speed 10/10
2Workflow automation on the plan. Advanced automation (50) bigin.com
2Web forms / lead capture. No-code web forms bigin.com
2Official iOS and Android apps. iOS, iPadOS, Android apps bigin.com
2Calendar sync or booking. Booking page + Google Workspace/Outlook bigin.com
2Email templates or bulk email on the plan. Mass emails with insights bigin.com
Ease 10/10
4Free plan / trial. Free plan for 1 user; 15-day trial bigin.com
2Self-serve, no sales call. Self-serve signup and cancel; no sales call needed for this plan bigin.com
2Nothing to install. Runs in the browser; nothing to install bigin.com
2Single seat allowed. Can be bought for a single user bigin.com
2. HubSpotQ 10 · S 8 · P 10 · E 10 → 9.5
Plan scored: Free CRM ($0/mo). Free CRM covers every checklist item we could verify; Starter is $20/seat/mo in the product catalog. hubspot.com
Quality 10/10
2Visual deal pipeline. Deal pipelines on Free hubspot.com
2Gmail/Outlook email sync on the plan. Email tracking, templates and scheduling on Free hubspot.com
2Tasks and follow-up reminders. Tasks & activities hubspot.com
2AI features on the plan. Breeze Assistant + AI email writer on Free hubspot.com
2Pipeline reports / dashboards on the plan. Reporting dashboard on Free hubspot.com
Speed 8/10
0Workflow automation on the plan. Workflow automation not listed for Free hubspot.com
2Web forms / lead capture. Form builder on Free hubspot.com
2Official iOS and Android apps. iOS and Android app hubspot.com
2Calendar sync or booking. Meeting scheduler syncs with calendar hubspot.com
2Email templates or bulk email on the plan. Email templates on Free hubspot.com
Ease 10/10
4Free plan / trial. Free with no expiry, no card (up to 2 users) hubspot.com
2Self-serve, no sales call. Self-serve signup and cancel; no sales call needed for this plan hubspot.com
2Nothing to install. Runs in the browser; nothing to install hubspot.com
2Single seat allowed. Can be bought for a single user hubspot.com
3. AttioQ 9 · S 9 · P 10 · E 10 → 9.4
Plan scored: Free ($0/mo). Plus is $44/mo monthly ($35 yearly), over the cap, so Free is the plan scored. attio.com
Quality 9/10
2Visual deal pipeline. Pipeline and deals attio.com
2Gmail/Outlook email sync on the plan. Email and calendar sync on Free (1 account) attio.com
2Tasks and follow-up reminders. Tasks with due dates linked to records attio.com
2AI features on the plan. Ask Attio and AI agents on Free attio.com
1Pipeline reports / dashboards on the plan. Up to 3 insight reports; funnel reports are Plus attio.com
Speed 9/10
2Workflow automation on the plan. Workflows on Free attio.com
2Web forms / lead capture. Forms app creates CRM records attio.com
2Official iOS and Android apps. iOS app and Android app attio.com
2Calendar sync or booking. Calendar sync on Free attio.com
1Email templates or bulk email on the plan. Free: 200 emails/mo, 10 at once attio.com
Ease 10/10
4Free plan / trial. Free plan up to 3 seats attio.com
2Self-serve, no sales call. Self-serve signup and cancel; no sales call needed for this plan attio.com
2Nothing to install. Runs in the browser; nothing to install attio.com
2Single seat allowed. Can be bought for a single user attio.com
4. PipedriveQ 9 · S 7 · P 8 · E 9 → 8.3
Plan scored: Lite ($14/mo). Lite is $14/seat/mo billed annually ($168/yr); no monthly price shown on the page. pipedrive.com
Quality 9/10
2Visual deal pipeline. Lead, calendar and pipeline management pipedrive.com
1Gmail/Outlook email sync on the plan. Full email sync is on Growth ($39) pipedrive.com
2Tasks and follow-up reminders. Activities and calendar events pipedrive.com
2AI features on the plan. AI report creation + meeting intelligence on Lite pipedrive.com
2Pipeline reports / dashboards on the plan. AI-powered report creation pipedrive.com
Speed 7/10
1Workflow automation on the plan. Automations are on Growth pipedrive.com
1Web forms / lead capture. LeadBooster is an add-on pipedrive.com
2Official iOS and Android apps. Mobile app (cited on pricing page) pipedrive.com
2Calendar sync or booking. Calendar management on Lite pipedrive.com
1Email templates or bulk email on the plan. Bulk email is on Growth pipedrive.com
Ease 9/10
3Free plan / trial. 14-day trial, no credit card; no free plan pipedrive.com
2Self-serve, no sales call. Self-serve signup and cancel; no sales call needed for this plan pipedrive.com
2Nothing to install. Runs in the browser; nothing to install pipedrive.com
2Single seat allowed. Can be bought for a single user pipedrive.com
5. CapsuleQ 7 · S 7 · P 7 · E 10 → 7.5
Plan scored: Starter ($18/mo). Starter is $18/user/mo billed annually (monthly figure did not render). capsulecrm.com
