Freshsales
Freshworks CRM free plan for up to 3 users — contacts, accounts, deals, Kanban, and productivity apps (Gmail/Outlook). Basic workflows and richer AI/phone packs sit on Growth+.
- Best for
- Phone- and email-oriented sales teams of up to three people
- Price
- Free plan (permanent, up to 3 users); Growth from $9/user/mo billed annually
- HQ
- United States (Freshworks Inc., San Mateo)
- Profile updated
- September 26, 2026
Worth it for your operation?
Pros
- Permanent free plan for up to 3 users with published USD paid ladder above it
- Contact, account, and deal management with Kanban on free (per Freshworks support)
- Gmail, Outlook, Calendar, Zoom, and Teams apps called out for the free plan
- Clear upgrade path from Free → Growth at a public $9/user starting price
Watch-outs
- Basic workflows are a Growth feature on the public pricing cards — not free
- No public 5,000+ contact guarantee on free; suite pages emphasize low marketing-contact caps
- WhatsApp / other messaging channels are not a free-plan native inbox
- 21-day full-product trial is separate — do not confuse it with the permanent Free plan
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
- No
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
- No
API on free
Documented product API on the free plan. Zapier or Make alone do not count
Editorial analysis
Freshsales in detail
Freshsales Free is a clean three-person sales CRM from a US-listed vendor. Strong on deals and email apps; light on free-plan automation.
Who it is for
US SMB sales pods that live in Gmail/Outlook and want Kanban deals without Zoho’s broader suite. Teams that need workflow automation on day one of $0 should prefer Zoho or Attio.
What drives the score
Pipeline and learning curve are strengths. Email is true via documented productivity apps; reports mid via sales dashboard language on compare. Automation and messaging stay low on free. Ceiling mid — three users help; contact generosity is not clearly at the 5k bar.
How we read the sources
Based on Freshsales pricing, the pricing-compare Free column, and Freshworks’ “activate the free plan” support article.
Frequently asked questions
Is Freshsales Free different from the 21-day trial?
Yes. Sign-up often starts with a full-product trial. Freshworks documents a separate Free plan limited to 3 users after the trial. Activate Free deliberately if you intend to stay at $0.
Why is automation false?
Freshsales’ Growth pricing card lists “Basic workflows.” This vertical only marks automation when the free plan itself documents rules or sequences. Task reminders and manual follow-up do not count.
Sources consulted
Everything on this profile comes from the pages below. We did not lab-test the platform.
- Freshsales pricing(www.freshworks.com)
- Freshsales pricing compare(www.freshworks.com)
- How to activate the Freshsales free plan(crmsupport.freshworks.com)
Profile updated September 26, 2026. Found something outdated? Corrections are welcome.