CRM can be complicated at first. Exchanging emails with customers, and placing all the information about them, and potential deals in a second tool takes time and effort. Thus, integration with your email provider is more than essential.
With 6 million businesses, Google Workspace is widely known as one of the most used business platforms on the market. So just imagine how many of these businesses are using Gmail right at this moment. Another important fact is that research found that 53% of respondents are looking for a CRM that is simple to use, while 35% prefer a free one.
So what if you can get a free and simple CRM solution that allows you to work from Gmail? Well, this is entirely possible, and in this article, you are going to find nine options that fill these requirements.
What is CRM software, and why use it?
CRM is short for Customer Relationship Management, and it represents every kind of communication you have with clients and leads. But when we talk about CRM, people usually think of the software companies use to improve their relationships with their customers.
CRM software is any technological system useful to manage your organization’s interactions with customers, and also the potential ones. The main reason why teams use this kind of solution is to automate their processes and improve profitability.
This kind of tool makes it possible to store prospects’ contact information, identify sales opportunities, or even manage marketing campaigns.
The top 9 free CRM tools in Gmail
We have narrowed down our list of the best free CRM tools that work with or inside Gmail. They are divided into three categories, so you can choose the one that best suits what you are looking for.
The software that works in Gmail is not very common, so it is not that easy to find free options. At the same time, the popular choices are the solutions that have integrations with Google Workspace’s email provider. And last but not least, some simple extensions and add-ons offer CRM features and perform some actions in your inbox.
Most of these CRM-free versions are more suitable for individuals, freelancers, small teams, and businesses. But some of them offer unlimited users, which will fit larger groups.
Click on the tool to see further details, or just keep scrolling down to check each one of them.
Software that works inside Gmail:
Software that integrates with Gmail:
Chrome extensions or add-ons:
1. DragApp
Drag is a software that helps teams to manage their pipelines inside Gmail. Actually, it is a horizontal tool, which means it can be used for multiple workflows such as CRM, Help desk, Project Management, and Task Management. You can have all that in just one place.
Since most deals start and end as emails, Drag stops you from switching between Gmail and an external CRM tool. Moreover, you can share group emails such as [email protected], and collaborate with your team in real-time.
It’s different dashboard views (kanban, list or preview) allow you to track leads and pipelines more visually. It also offers features such as: email notes (eg. to quickly document and access information about a client or negotiation), shared drafts (so you can collaborate on replies with team members before replying to leads) and custom fields (so you can add specific fields for your workflow, like deal value or phone number).
Drag is forever free for small teams with up to 3 users, including core features to run your workflow and manage leads. For more advanced features, you can purchase a paid plan which starts from $8 per user/month.
Key features
- Shared inboxes
- Email assignment
- Shared drafts
- Email templates
- File upload
- Integrations with Google Groups and Google Calendar
- Mobile apps
Reviews
Capterra: 4.5 stars
G2:Ā 4.4 stars
2. Streak
Streak CRM is another tool that works inside Gmail. It allows you to build simple pipelines and track your sales opportunities. This tool is fully personalizable, so you can control your data as you see fit. Besides, it’s possible to share contacts, email, and files, and you need your team.
With Streak’s add-on, it’s possible to check the company information, related deals, contact information, and details of a contract. You can quickly edit all of it in Gmail. You can also save canned responses that you can reuse later. Plus, it offers mobile access for both Android and iOS.
Streak offers all the core CRM features on its free plans, with a limited number of “boxes”. For more advanced features, you can purchase a plan with prices starting at $15 per user per month.
Key features
- Private Pipelines
- Mail merge
- Email tracking & Snippets
- Google Workspace integrations
- Mobile access
- Custom columns & fields
- File attachments
Reviews
Capterra: 4.5 stars
G2: 4.5 stars
3. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a complete platform for businesses that need to manage daily tasks, projects, and CRM. Moreover, it offers extra features, such as a contact center and a website building. Different from the two previous tools, it doesn’t work inside Gmail, it just has an integration that synchronizes your emails with the platform.
Its free CRM system provides all the tools necessary for your sales team to manage pipelines: sales funnel, sales reports, 360-degree customer view, support for repeat sales, and sales automation. Bitrix also provides customer support via email, phone, live chat, social networks, and other message tools.
Bitrix’s free plan offers an unlimited number of users and 5GB of storage. To upgrade to a paid plan, the prices start at $15.36/month.
Key features
- Unlimited records
- 5GB online storage
- Email marketing
- Call center
- Custom fields
- Quotes & invoices
- Mobile CRM iOS and Android
- Free integrations (RestAPI)
Reviews
G2: 4.0 stars
Capterra: 4.5 stars
4. Agile CRM
Agile CRM is a cloud-based service for both desktop and mobile, focused on sales automation. Its Sales CRM offers integration with Gmail that allows you to access the CRM tools from within your inbox entirely.
It lets you place your appointment calendar online and automate everything in your sales pipeline. Moreover, you can have access to complete contact views, deal tracks, lead scoring, real-time alerts, and thorough analytics. In other words, everything you need to know about the lead’s journey is available on Agile.
Agile is free for up to 10 users, and its paid plans cost $8.99 per month, with more users and advanced resources.
Key features
- 50,000 Contacts & Companies
- Custom Data Fields
- Lead Scoring
- Unlimited Deals, Tasks & Documents
- Appointment Scheduling
- Custom Deal Milestones
- Email Tracking
Reviews:
Capterra: 4.2 stars
G2: 4.1 stars
5. Hubspot CRM
Hubspot offers free CRM software that integrates with Gmail. With just a click button, you can log emails sent from your inbox in Hubspot CRM.
It offers a visual dashboard that provides a clear view of your sales pipeline. Furthermore, you can generate reports on sales activity, productivity, and individual performance, so you can understand how your team is leading work.
You also have core CRM features such as email tracking, templates, meeting scheduling, and sales sequences.
Hubspot CRM is forever free, with unlimited users, data, and up to 1,000,000 contacts. Everything with no expiration date.
Key features
- Reporting dashboard
- Company insights
- Deal tracking
- Pipeline management
- Email tracking & notifications
- Prospect tracking
- Meeting scheduling
- Live chat
Reviews:
Turn Gmail into a CRM.
- 2.5x faster email responses.
- 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
- 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
6. Aritic Pinpoint
Aritic PinPoint is a full-stack marketing automation software platform for the marketing operations team at small and medium businesses. It helps you to build relationships with leads, automate marketing campaigns and convert leads to paying customers easily. Aritic PinPoint integrates with CMS, like WordPress, and Drupal, and has bi-directional native CRM integration with Salesforce, SugarCRM, Dynamic CRM, Zoho CRM, and social media platform integration with, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Foursquare, and Instagram. Aritic PinPoint is perfect for a marketing team to get going from day one. It is user-friendly and easy to understand in seconds
Key Features
- Landing page builder
- SEO tracking
- Keywords tracking
- Lead scoring
- Lead nurturing
- Email campaign automation
- Push notification campaigns
- Marketing campaign builder
- A/B testing
Reviews
Capterra: 4.5 stars
G2:Ā 4.9 stars
7. Capsule
Capsule is an online free CRM tool that integrates with Gmail with a G Suite add-on. It lets its users capture customer information, and later see current contact information, add tasks, and more inside your Gmail account. You will be able to access contact records, message history, tasks, and sales opportunities from within your Gmail.
Besides the add-on, you can also have the free version for up 2 users, 250 contacts, and 10MB of storage per account. Prices for paid plans start at $18 per user/month.
Key features
- Custom Fields
- Sales Opportunities
- Calendar
- Task Management
- Kanban Visual Pipeline
- Reportings
- Email integration
Reviews
Capterra: 4.5 stars
G2: 4.2 stars
8. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is a Chrome extension for Gmail that shows you a complete customer profile immediately upon opening an email from the customer. To start using it, you just need to open an email, and then you can choose to push details on them as leads or contacts. It’s also possible to see whether an email has attached data like tasks, previous call details, or notes from Zoho CRM.
This extension also offers a simple and easy interface to help you see all the information when you need it.
Zoho CRM is free for 3 users, with limited features. If you want to unlock more seats and advanced functionalities, prices start at $12 per user/month.
Key Features
- Automation of Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Deals
- Tasks, events, call logs, and notes
- CRM views
- Page customization
- Workflow Rules
- Advanced filters
- Standard reports
- 10 email templates
- 10 MB storage
Reviews
Capterra: 4.2 stars
G2: 3.9 stars
9. Revamp CRM
Revamp CRM is a Gmail add-on that helps teams to get access to your CRM from inside your inbox. You can simply add a new contact, notes, tasks, or deals with one click. It also provides a feature that shows a quick deals summary of won, lost, and potential sales.
The free version of Revamp is available for up to 2 users and 250 customers, which is the best fit for small teams or solo users. If you have more people in your organization, you should acquire a paid plan, with prices that start at $19 per user/month.
Key Features
- Track Customers Profiles
- Track Sales reps
- In-depth Analytics
- Customer Segmentation
- Email integration with your contacts, deals, and tasks
- Task management
- Lead Capture & Scoring
- Mobile app
Reviews
Capterra: 3.9 stars
G2: 4.3 stars
Wrapping up
Choosing software is never an easy task, right? With so many options for CRM tools, your analysis needs to be thorough, so you make the right choice that will lead your team to complete success in managing prospects and customers.
Remember to have the current scenario of your business in mind, listing your team’s needs and expectations. Then make a list of essential CRM features the ideal tool needs to have so you can improve your workflow. Also, pick an option that is easy to use so that the onboarding process can be as smooth as possible.
In case you need to buy a CRM software plan, it’s worth doing the free trial to make sure it will be an excellent fit for your team. And make sure all of the users understand how to use the new CRM. If you want to learn more essential tips before purchasing any software, we highly recommend you to read this article: 8 flawless tips to follow before buying any software.
Overall, we hope that you can find your ideal free CRM tool for Gmail so that you can keep your communication with customers always aligned and centralized in your email inbox.
Turn Gmail into a CRM.
- 2.5x faster email responses.
- 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
- 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
