EngageBay
All-in-one free plan with CRM, email marketing, autoresponders, sequences, and live chat — marketed free for 15 users, but capped at 250 contacts on $0.
- Best for
- Marketing-led small teams that want CRM + email sequences on $0
- Price
- Free plan (permanent); paid All-in-One from Basic
- HQ
- United States
- Profile updated
- September 26, 2026
Worth it for your operation?
Pros
- Permanent free All-in-One tier with CRM, email, sequences, and autoresponders
- Marketed free for 15 users — strong seat story for tiny teams
- Limited reporting dashboard and API (500 calls/month) on free
- Landing pages and lead grabbers included in the free narrative
Watch-outs
- 250-contact ceiling is one of the tightest in this ranking
- WhatsApp appears as an integration, not a native free inbox — flag stays false
- Free reporting and automation depth are limited versus Zoho’s free edition
- Easy to outgrow the contact cap before you outgrow the seat count
Score by criterion
The dark mark on each bar is the average of the 8 CRMs in this ranking. Criteria with higher weight pull the overall score more.
A deal or opportunity board you can run on the free plan without upgrading to see stages.
A rule, sequence, or autoresponder that fires on its own on the $0 plan. Task reminders alone do not count.
Send or sync email inside the product, plus a sales report or dashboard beyond the pipeline board — all on the free plan.
Native SMS or messaging inbox on the contact or deal on the free plan. WhatsApp Business API on free also counts. Marketplace apps, browser extensions, and paid-plan-only channels do not.
How far the permanent $0 plan goes on users, contacts, and storage before you must pay. An expiring trial does not count as a ceiling.
How quickly a small team can put contacts and deals into daily use on the free plan without a consultant.
What ships natively
We only mark “yes” when the feature is part of the product — marketplace integrations or third-party apps do not count.
- Yes
3+ users on free
The free plan lists 3 or more users, or unlimited users
- No
5k+ contacts on free
The free plan page lists 5,000 or more contacts, or says there is no cap
- Yes
Sales pipeline
Visual sales pipeline
- Yes
Automation on free
A rule, sequence, or autoresponder that fires on its own on the free plan. Task reminders do not count
- Yes
Email on free
Send, sync, or track email inside the product on the free plan
- Yes
Reports on free
Sales report or dashboard on the free plan, beyond the pipeline board
- No
Native messaging
Native SMS or messaging inbox on the lead/contact card (history preserved). WhatsApp Business API also counts. Marketplace apps, Zapier, browser extensions, website chat buttons, and sibling-SKU modules do not
- Yes
API on free
Documented product API on the free plan. Zapier or Make alone do not count
Editorial analysis
EngageBay in detail
EngageBay’s free plan is a marketing bay with a CRM attached. Sequences and autoresponders on $0 are the wedge; 250 contacts is the brake.
Who it is for
Solo marketers and tiny US teams that nurture a small list and want CRM + email in one login. Anyone importing a 2,000-row CSV should look at Zoho or Attio instead.
What drives the score
Automation helps (sequences/autoresponders on free). Ceiling is hurt by 250 contacts despite the 15-user marketing. Messaging stays low on the free plan under the native-inbox rule. Pipeline and email are present.
How we read the sources
Based on EngageBay All-in-One pricing (free column limits) and the WhatsApp integration page (integration, not scored as native).
Frequently asked questions
Is EngageBay free for 15 users?
EngageBay markets the product as free for 15 users across signup and integration pages. The All-in-One free column still lists 250 contacts and limited API calls — confirm the seat and contact caps shown at signup before you migrate a list.
Why isn’t WhatsApp marked native?
EngageBay documents WhatsApp as an integration. Same rule as everywhere on bestCRM — marketplace or connected-channel WhatsApp does not count as a native free-plan inbox on the contact.
Sources consulted
Everything on this profile comes from the pages below. We did not lab-test the platform.
Profile updated September 26, 2026. Found something outdated? Corrections are welcome.