Nutshell review
Updated September 28, 2026 · ForgeCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Nutshell suits small businesses that want a straightforward CRM and can live with a trial rather than a permanent free plan. Fees of $13 per user sit under the site median of €21.75, and help runs on email, chat and phone.
Key facts
- Best for
- Small businesses wanting a CRM priced below the group median, with a trial and phone support.
- Price per user from
- $13 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan
- No (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan limits
- No free plan, 14-day free trial (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free trial length
- 14 days (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Plan tiers
- Foundation, Growth, Pro, Business, Enterprise (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Product
- CRM (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Email, Chat, Phone, Help-centre (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Audience
- Small business
- Pricing model
- Free trial
- Official website
- nutshell.com
Email marketing
- Price at 1,000 contacts
- $13 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Price at 10,000 contacts
- $13 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan limits
- No free plan, 14-day free trial (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free trial length
- 14 days (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Email, Chat, Phone, Help-centre (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Audience
- Small business
- Pricing model
- Free trial
Pros and cons
Pros
- Contact pricing holds steady: $13 for a smaller list and $13 for a much larger one, so list growth does not move the figure.
- The ladder runs Foundation, Growth, Pro, Business, Enterprise, so a small team can enter low and step up as the sales process grows.
- Built for small business buyers, the same focus that 98.1% of the CRM brands in this comparison share.
- Per user fees of $13 sit under the CRM group median of €21.92, so entry lands below the middle of the field.
- Support runs on email, chat and phone, and phone is carried by 41.5% of the CRM brands here, so live help is part of the mix.
Cons
- There is no free plan, so the 14 day trial is the only free look before paying $13 per user.
- Freshsales lists $9 per user, under Nutshell's $13, so the cheapest seat sits elsewhere.
- Support runs on email, chat and phone only, so there is no community forum for peer answers.
Who it suits
- Small sales teams happy to pay above Freshsales at $9 per user for a tool aimed at small business buyers.
- Teams that pick up the phone rather than only type, since Nutshell lists phone, chat, email and a help centre in email, chat and phone to weigh against Infloww.
- Trial-first buyers, where a 14 day trial lets a team test Nutshell alongside Infloww or CreatorHero before paying.
Who should look elsewhere
- Bargain first: Freshsales at $9 per user is the cheaper seat than $13.
- Anyone who wants a permanent free tier, since there is no free plan and only a 14 day trial, so compare Infloww or CreatorHero instead.
- Shoppers focused purely on per user cost, since Infloww at $40 and CreatorHero at $39.99 both sit above $13.
What it does well
The plan ladder runs Foundation, Growth, Pro, Business, Enterprise, so a small team can enter at the bottom rung and step up as its process grows, with the upper tiers holding the heavier parts. There is no permanent free tier and the way in is a trial, so anything you read about feature depth applies to a paid plan. That makes the tier choice the real decision here, not what to switch on first.
Free plan and trial
There is no free plan. What stands in its place is a trial of 14 days, which matches the CRM field's typical 14 day trial, so the window is neither unusually long nor unusually short. With no free tier afterwards, the trial is the whole free window, and a team that has not settled on a paid plan by the end of it has nothing left to test on.
Plans and pricing
The Foundation plan lists fees of $13 per user, under the site median of €21.75 per user and under the CRM group median of €21.92, which places Nutshell among the cheaper options without making it the cheapest. Contact pricing on the same Foundation plan holds at $13 for a smaller list and $13 for a much larger one, so list growth does not move the number. There is no free plan, so the 14 day trial is the only stretch before billing starts.
How Nutshell compares
9.5 vs 8.7
9.5 vs 8.9- 9.5 vs 9.1
- 9.5 vs 8.6
- 9.5 vs 9.4
9.5 vs 9.4
9.5 vs 9.3
9.5 vs 9.2
9.5 vs 9.1
9.5 vs 8.9
9.5 vs 8.5
9.5 vs 8.5
9.5 vs 8.0
Frequently asked questions
How much does Nutshell cost per user?+
Fees of $13 per user on the Foundation plan, which is the published entry figure across the ladder. That sits under the site median of €21.75 per user and under the CRM group median of €21.92. Freshsales is the cheaper option, at $9 per user.
Does Nutshell have a free plan?+
No. Nutshell has no free plan, and the only free route in is a trial of 14 days, so nothing carries on at no cost afterwards. Buyers who need a permanent free tier should weigh Freshsales and Infloww instead of signing up on the strength of a trial.
How long is the Nutshell free trial?+
The trial runs 14 days. The typical trial across the CRM brands in this comparison is 14 days, so Nutshell sits at the common length rather than offering an unusually long window. Teams that need longer to evaluate should plan for a paid tier from the start.
What does Nutshell cost for a larger email contact list?+
Contact pricing matches the CRM seat figure: $13 for a smaller list and $13 for a much larger one on the Foundation plan. Across the brands here the typical cost at a larger list is €49, so Nutshell sits well below the middle for a growing database.
Which plans does Nutshell offer?+
The ladder runs Foundation, Growth, Pro, Business, Enterprise, so a new team can start on Foundation and step up later without changing vendors. The published per user figure of $13 is the entry rung, and what each higher tier adds is the substance of the plan comparison.
How do you get help from Nutshell?+
Support runs on email, chat and phone. A help centre is carried by 69.1% of the CRM brands here and phone support by 41.5%, so Nutshell answers across several routes rather than one.
Who is Nutshell aimed at?+
The stated audience is small business, and 98.1% of the CRM brands in this comparison share that focus, so the product is shaped for smaller sales teams rather than large operations. Teams needing a different shape should look at the alternatives listed here.
Where does Nutshell's price rank against other CRMs?+
It sits at 11 of 61 brands on price per user, and the site's cost score is 6.9. Its $13 per user is under the CRM group median of €21.92, so it prices below the middle of the field it is compared in.
Sources
- support.nutshell.com/en/articles/8428991-training-support... checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Support channels
“get in touch with us via chat or email”
- nutshell.com checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Audience, Product
“Powerful & Easy-to-Use CRM for Small Businesses”
- nutshell.com/pricing checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Free plan, Free plan limits, Free trial length, Pricing model, Plan tiers, Price at 10,000 contacts, Price at 1,000 contacts, Price per user from
“Try free for 14 days, no credit card required”
Compiled from 3 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Related by the facts
Nutshell
Small businesses wanting a CRM priced below the group median, with a trial and phone support.