Freshsales review
Updated September 28, 2026 · ForgeCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Freshsales suits small businesses that want a full CRM with automation and can start at $9 per user, under the €21.92 for this CRM group. The trade-off is help after signup, since support runs on help centre and community and a trial of 21 days gives room to judge the paid tiers.
Key facts
- Best for
- A full CRM with automation for a small business working to a tight per user budget.
- Price per user from
- $9 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan
- Yes (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free trial length
- 21 days (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Plan tiers
- Growth, Pro, Enterprise (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Product
- CRM (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Help-centre, Community (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Audience
- Small business
- Pricing model
- Free plan, Free trial
- Official website
- freshworks.com
Business tools
- Price from
- $9 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan
- Yes (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Usage limits
- 21-day full CRM access (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free trial length
- 21 days (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Tool type
- Automation (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Help-centre, Community (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Audience
- Small business
- Pricing model
- Free plan, Free trial
Pros and cons
Pros
- Entry pricing of $9 per user sits below CreatorHero at $39.99 and Infloww at $40, so a per user budget stretches further here.
- A free plan and a trial of 21 days give a small business two ways to judge the CRM before money moves.
- It is aimed at small businesses per small business, a segment that covers 98.1% of the brands compared on price.
- The free plan and free trial model pairs a free plan with a free trial, a setup shared by 83.5% of the brands ranked on price.
- Automation sits inside the product per automation, and a help centre covers 69.1% of the CRMs compared, so routine follow up and self serve answers are part of the package.
Cons
- Support runs on help centre and community, so there is no live channel in the mix for a quick answer while a team is setting up.
- The published figure is a starting number against a Growth, Pro, Enterprise tier list, so a team should price the tier it lands on rather than read the entry rate as the whole bill.
- The budget end of this field is crowded, with Freshsales at 6 of 61 brands on price per user, so cheaper options exist above it.
Who it suits
- Small businesses that want contacts, deals and automation in one system rather than a CRM plus a separate automation tool.
- Teams that want a free plan and a trial of 21 days to size the product before spending.
- Buyers working from a per user budget, since $9 leaves headroom for more seats.
Who should look elsewhere
- Shoppers who want help beyond a help centre and community, since support runs on help centre and community.
- Buyers who want to compare tools should also price CreatorHero at $39.99 and Infloww at $40, since both ask more per user than the entry rate here.
- Readers paying in euro should weigh Dolisoft at €14 before comparing line by line, because the currency is not the same.
Intro and renewal prices
Freshsales publishes one starting number: $9 per user. That is the entry rate, and it is the figure to drop into a first budget rather than a mid contract average. Behind it sit Growth, Pro, Enterprise, so a reader should price the tier a team expects to settle on and treat the published rate as the floor. A free plan sits under the paid tiers, and a trial of 21 days opens the full CRM before anything is committed. Because the listed figure is stated as a starting point, anyone budgeting beyond the opening term should work from the tier rather than the headline rate. The practical read for a small business is that the entry number keeps a seat count affordable, and the tier choice is what moves the figure later.
What you get free
Freshsales includes a free plan, so a small business can look inside the CRM before opening a paid tier. The other route in is the trial, and it runs for 21 days with the full CRM in scope for that window. The two work together: the free plan suits a team that wants the tool live for the long run, while the trial suits a team that wants everything switched on for a set period. What the free option covers is stated separately from the paid tiers, so the question for a reader is how many people need access and what the paid step looks like afterwards. Both routes sit under the same pricing page, which is the pairing most buyers in this category compare against.
How Freshsales compares
9.4 vs 8.7- 9.4 vs 9.3
9.4 vs 8.9- 9.4 vs 9.2
- 9.4 vs 9.3
9.4 vs 9.4
9.4 vs 8.5- 9.4 vs 9.2
- 9.4 vs 8.7
- 9.4 vs 8.0
- 9.4 vs 9.5
9.4 vs 9.4
9.4 vs 9.4- 9.4 vs 9.3
9.4 vs 9.1
9.4 vs 9.1
9.4 vs 9.1- 9.4 vs 9.0
9.4 vs 9.0- 9.4 vs 8.9
9.4 vs 8.9
9.4 vs 8.8- 9.4 vs 8.7
9.4 vs 8.5
9.4 vs 8.5
9.4 vs 8.5
9.4 vs 8.5
9.4 vs 8.5
9.4 vs 8.0
9.4 vs 8.0
9.4 vs 8.0
Frequently asked questions
How much does Freshsales cost per user?+
Freshsales lists an entry rate of $9 per user. That is the starting figure for its CRM, and the plans behind it are named Growth, Pro, Enterprise. Budgets built on the entry number should leave room for the tier a team ends up on, since the published rate is the floor rather than a mid contract average.
Is there a free plan?+
Yes, Freshsales includes a free plan alongside its paid tiers, so a small team can run the CRM before spending. The other route in is a free trial of 21 days, which suits a buyer who wants the full product for a set window first and decides afterwards.
How long is the free trial and what does it open?+
The trial runs for 21 days, and full CRM access is the stated scope for that window, covering contacts, deals and the automation side. That is long enough to follow a real sales cycle rather than a single login, and the free plan is the natural option to compare it against.
Which plan tiers does Freshsales have?+
Freshsales names Growth, Pro, Enterprise as its tiers, and the entry rate of $9 per user is the number most readers start from. A per user rate shows the shape of the bill but not which features land in a plan, so the tier matters as much as the figure. A team that only needs contacts and deals can read up from the entry tier.
What support does Freshsales offer?+
Support runs on help centre and community. That means a help centre for answers and a community for peer questions, which suits a team comfortable searching for fixes. Anyone who wants a live channel on a paid tier should read that list before committing, because the mix is narrow rather than broad.
Who is Freshsales built for?+
It is aimed at small businesses per small business, and the tool type is automation, so automation sits inside the CRM rather than beside it. That suits a team wanting one system for contacts, deals and routine follow up, and a small business that would rather not stitch two tools together for the same job.
How does Freshsales compare on price with other CRMs?+
The entry rate of $9 per user is below the €21.92 for the CRM group, and Freshsales ranks at 6 of 61 brands on this measure. On price alone it is a low cost option, and a free plan keeps the opening step available.
Does the price change after a trial ends?+
The published figure is an entry rate of $9 per user, and a trial of 21 days is what stands between a reader and a paid tier. A reader weighing renewals should treat the entry number as the floor and confirm the rate for the tier that fits, because the tier choice sets the figure that follows.
Sources
- support.freshsales.io/support/home checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Tool type
“Align your sales and marketing teams with an all-in-one CRM”
- freshworks.com/crm/pricing checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Audience, Free plan, Pricing model, Plan tiers, Price from, Price per user from, Product, Support channels, Usage limits
“For startups and SMBs”
- freshworks.com/crm/signup checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Free trial length
“Try Freshsales for 21 days”
Compiled from 3 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Not confirmed yet: Free plan limits.
Related by the facts
Freshsales
A full CRM with automation for a small business working to a tight per user budget.