When you start off as an entrepreneur you need all the help you can get, whether that’s via professional advice, top-notch software to help you manage your business or ways to save money by using free solutions, so we thought you would be interested to take a look at these easiest free online database software for small businesses.
Since we’re talking about free software, we might as well suggest you also read up on the Easiest Free Animation Software for Beginners, which might also come in handy depending on your business’ profile.
Every small business should have a way to keep its database clean and organized and, sometimes, that’s best done by choosing a web solution that will take care of every aspect that you need. Sure, there are plenty of options out there that will take your money to get the job done, but there are also plenty of options that are free, which are great for when you’re starting out. If you end up figuring out you want more down the road, you can eventually move everything to a different company or upgrade your account.
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When you’re trying to grow your business, having some sort of free tool at your disposal, one that you don’t have to pay, while still getting the job done is quite important. What should such a software be able to do? Well, first off, the official name is CRM – contact relationship management. While there’s no magical solution to cure all your problem, there are certainly many out there that will provide you with the basics – you just have to dig a little and see which one suits you best.
A good CRM will be able to handle your address book by providing storage and quick retrieval of all your contact details, as well as event scheduling so you can handle all your meetings, deadlines, and team events. It would also be great if the CRM tool you find provides you a way to send emails, messages, and post on social media, as this has become such a pivotal element to any business nowadays. A to-do task list would also be ideal, as well as a way to document your relationships with your contacts, which would be great for future conversations. You might not think of this as an important feature, but take into consideration that everyone feels better when they’re talking to someone who cares about them and who pays attention, and this extends to business matters.
In order to create our list we checked out multiple lists mentioning such CRM products, trying to locate the best options out there that were either completely free or, at the very least, quite cheap. We took a look at blog posts from Capterra, Zapier, Smallbizcrm, and Business News Daily. CRM solutions that featured multiple times on these lists got extra points. Then, we took into consideration if they were all free, handing out extra points for those that were. Ultimately, those that offered free access to the most number of users got to the top of the list.
Finally, all points got added together to reveal the final score. The software on our list all have free tiers available for those who desire it, but also provide alternatives for those who want more, generally expressed in a few bucks paid per user per month. That being said, let’s take a look at the 6 easiest free online database software for small businesses.
6. HubSpot CRM
Score: 25
HubSpot CRM is a solution that offers two options – you either get the basic version for free, or you pay $50 per user per month to get access to powerful tools for your business.
The free version gives users access to a few features. For instance, users will be able to take advantage of the Gmail and Outlook integration so they can send all their emails straight from HubSpot. Users will also get access to the HubSpot API and the CRM integration, as well as the ability to schedule emails to be sent at a later time.
Limited access will be granted for several other features, including email open notifications, tracking history, email templates, and even for calls made straight out of the HubSpot Sales software, where every call is automatically logged and can even be recorded. Those who choose the pro version will have full access to all these features, and more.
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5. Capsule
Score: 27
Over at Capsule , that’s next on our list of easiest free online database software for small businesses we have a similar situation – you either choose the free version, which caters to up to 2 users, or the professional one where you pay 8 pounds per month for every user.
The free version has no expiration date so if you want to perpetually keep your business small then it should be a great option for you. The plan offers access to Capsule CRM for up to two users, provides a mere 10MB storage space, 250 contacts, and more, such as unlimited opportunities and cases, which can be shared among colleagues.
Those who choose to pay, get 2GB storage space per user, some 50,000 contacts and premium integrations for software such as MailChimp, Wufoo or more.
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4. Agile CRM
Score: 29
On the 4th spot on our list of easiest free online database software for small businesses is Agile CRM, a company that offers multiple plans. Aside from the free tier, there are three additional ones – the Starter for $9, the Regular, for $30 and the Enterprise, for $48.
Back to the free tier, which can be used by ten users. They all have access to enough space for 1,000 contacts and companies, entries they can customize to their hearts’ desire. They also have access to unlimited deals, tasks and documents, as well as a tool that allows them to make appointments.
Users can further manage marketing campaigns from the app, whether that means firing off emails, checking web engagement or checking out analytics.
Another feature that’s really cool with Agile CRM is that it comes with a Chrome extension to you can easily have access to most of the features you need instantly.
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3. Zoho CRM
Score: 29
Up next on our list of easiest free online database software for small businesses is Zoho CRM, which comes with several plans. The free edition comes with quite a few features, including access to multiple accounts, contacts, projects, web forms, visitor tracking, and more. Furthermore, you can personalize the entire CRM to suit your needs, or plan and create campaigns.
There are several additional plans. For instance, for 12 euro per user per month, customers will get everything the free version has to offer, plus sales forecasting, scoring rules, mass email capabilities, call center connectors and 100,000 records.
For 20 euros per month per user, the Professional package offers customers access to the Standard package plus email integration, social CRM, Google AdWords integration and unlimited records.
For 35 euros, customers will get the Enterprise package which adds even more features, such as conditional fields, custom modules, multiple currencies and Zia, and an AI, making it one of the easiest free online database software for small businesses.
Finally, for 100 euros per user per month, Zoho offers a Sandbox so you can simulate everything you may want, as well as a dedicated database cluster, priority support, and advanced CRM analytics, to name a few.
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2. Insightly
Score: 29
Next up on our list of easiest free online database software for small businesses is Insightly, a highly applauded CRM tool. They, too, offer multiple tiers for those looking to an easy solution to their business problems. The free tier permits access to only two people. The Basic package costs $12 per user per month, allowing you to automate your customer activity. Next, the Plus package costs $29 per user per month and offers additional support by providing customers with a way to segment, communicate and monitor outreach efforts. The Professional package costs $49 per user per month and adds workflow automation and team security to the mix, while the Enterprise package, which costs $99 per use per month allows users to properly scale your CRM to fit the requirements of the business.
The free package comes with loads of features, although it does have some limitations too, such as the maximum number of 2,500 records, or the maximum 10 mass emails you can send a day. However, it provides access to lead and sales management, task and project management, mass email and custom email templates, custom reports and charts and accounting integrations.
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1. Bitrix24
Score: 29
Up next on our list of easiest free online database software for small businesses is Bitrix24, a highly recommended CRM solution. The company offers several plans for potential customers. First, there’s the free tier where up to 12 users can take advantage of it, while also having access to 5GB of online storage. Then, the Plus tier, which costs $39 per month, gives access to the tool to 24 people. The next two tiers, – Standard for $99 per month and Professional for $199 per month offer access to an unlimited number of people, with the latter, also coming with unlimited online storage space.
The free tier comes with plenty of opportunities for users, allowing users to collaborate via email, video conference, telephone, instant messaging, group chat and more. When it comes to task and project management, those who choose to use the app for free have access to pretty much everything those who pay do, with few exceptions. For instance, they can use a daily planner, create reports, use task templates and checklists.
Similarly, when it comes to document management, free users can use the Bitrix24 Drive, edit online using Google Docs, MS Office Online or Office 365, search through documents for specific content, share documents and more. Planning your time is also easy as the tool gives users access to calendars and sync options with iOS, Android, Google, or Outlook calendars.
When it comes strictly to CRM and sales automation, Bitrix24 gives users access to invoicing features, email marketing, sales reports, face recognition, phone recording, as well as import/export. Important things can be shared via Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, VKontakte, Skype, Slack, and more. There are, of course, a lot more features that come with this tool, including access to iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac apps.
That being said, these have been the 6 easiest free online database software for small businesses.
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