Best CRM for Solo Founders in 2026: 7 Options Compared

For most solo founders, the best CRM is a free one. HubSpot's free CRM, Attio Free and Bigin Free each cover a single seller at $0, so start there. Move to Pipedrive when running a sales pipeline is your main job, choose folk if your work is relationship-led, and stay on a spreadsheet or Notion until you have more leads than you can keep in your head.

This list compares seven options for one-person companies. Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on 6 Nov 2026, and the recommendations in between are our editorial view.

TL;DR#

• Start free. HubSpot says its free CRM is "100% free with no expiration date" for up to two users and 1,000 contacts (HubSpot). Attio Free allows up to 3 seats (Attio), and Bigin's Free plan covers a single user (Bigin).
• Pipedrive for pipeline-heavy selling. Lite is US$14 per seat per month billed annually, with a free 14-day trial and no credit card (Pipedrive).
• folk for relationship-led work. Standard is $24 per member per month billed yearly, or $30 monthly (folk).
• Cheapest paid seat. Bigin Express is US$7 per user per month billed yearly (Bigin).
• Spreadsheet first if volume is low. Under about 20 live leads, a sheet or Notion database is usually enough.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this guide and is a launch site for bootstrapped products. Prices come from the linked vendor pages as checked on 6 Nov 2026; ZeroRaised has no commercial or affiliate relationship with any company named, and nothing on this list is sponsored.

A CRM (customer relationship management tool) is a database of the people you sell to, with the history of each conversation and the next step you owe them. For a solo founder, its one real job is making sure no promising lead goes quiet because you forgot to reply.

How we chose these CRMs#

We looked for tools a single founder can adopt in an afternoon and afford on customer revenue. That ruled out products that only make sense with a sales team, onboarding calls and an admin. We judged each option on three things:

1. Cost for one seat, using only the prices published on the vendor's page.
2. Fit for the way solo founders sell, which is usually founder-led: a mix of inbound sign-ups, warm intros and a few outbound emails each week.
3. How easy it is to leave, because your first CRM is rarely your last.

If you are still working out how you sell, read our founder-led sales strategy guide first. The tool should follow the process, not the other way round.

Quick comparison: CRM prices for solo founders#

Prices are as shown on each vendor's page on 6 Nov 2026. HubSpot notes a new-customer discount on Starter, and OnePageCRM showed prices in GBP.

1. HubSpot free CRM: best free starting point#

HubSpot's free CRM is the default recommendation for a reason. The product page says it is "100% free with no expiration date", and its FAQ says: "With up to two users, 1,000 contacts, and no limits on customer data, HubSpot's free CRM functionality is 100% free" (HubSpot).

For one founder, 1,000 contacts is a lot of runway. Most people starting founder-led sales will not get close to it in the first year, and the free tier does not run out after a trial period.

Pricing: Free for up to two users and 1,000 contacts. Starter starts at $15 per month per seat (the page notes a new-customer discount), Professional from $50 per seat per month and Enterprise from $75 per seat per month.

Choose it if: you want a free CRM you will not outgrow quickly, and you may later want marketing or support tools in the same place.

Skip it if: you find large, feature-dense apps slow to work in. A CRM you avoid opening is worse than a spreadsheet you check every day.

2. Attio: best for founders who want to shape their own data#

Attio has a free plan for up to 3 seats, which is generous for a one-person company and leaves space for a co-founder or contractor later (Attio).

Attio suits founders who like to design their own records and views rather than accept a fixed sales pipeline. If your "customers" include investors, partners, beta testers and podcast hosts as well as buyers, a flexible model helps.

Pricing: Free at $0 per user per month for up to 3 seats. Plus is $35 per user per month billed annually or $44 monthly, for up to 10 seats. Pro is $79 per user per month annually or $99 monthly. Enterprise is custom. There is a 14-day Pro trial, and Attio runs a startup programme offering "up to 80% off" for eligible startups, which you apply for through the pricing page.

Choose it if: you want a free CRM with room to customise, and you are comfortable setting up your own structure.

Skip it if: you want something that works out of the box with no setup decisions.

3. folk: best for relationship-led selling#

folk is positioned around contacts and relationships rather than a heavy deal pipeline. That suits founders who sell through their network, partnerships, community or LinkedIn conversations more than through a funnel of cold leads.

Pricing: Standard is $24 per member per month billed yearly or $30 monthly. Premium is $48 per member per month yearly or $60 monthly, and Enterprise starts from $80 per member per month yearly. The page offers a free trial rather than a permanent free plan (folk).

Choose it if: most of your sales start as relationships and you want a tidy, people-first contact list.

Skip it if: you need a free plan. At $24 a month on yearly billing, folk is a paid decision from day one.

4. Pipedrive: best when selling is the job#

Pipedrive is built around the deal pipeline, with deals moving through stages you define. If you spend most of your week on demos, proposals and follow-ups, that visual pipeline is exactly what you want to look at every morning.

Pricing: Billed annually, Lite is US$14 per seat per month ($168 a year), Growth is US$39, Premium is US$59 and Ultimate is US$79. There is a free 14-day trial, with no credit card required (Pipedrive).

Choose it if: you sell a higher-priced product with a clear multi-step sales process, such as B2B SaaS with demos or annual contracts.

Skip it if: you sell low-priced self-serve plans where customers sign up without speaking to you. You do not need a pipeline tool for checkouts.

5. Bigin by Zoho: best budget upgrade from free#

Bigin is Zoho's CRM for small businesses, and it has the cheapest paid tier we found. Its Free plan covers a single user, which is exactly the solo-founder case (Bigin).

Pricing: Free at US$0 for a single user. Express is US$7 per user per month billed yearly (US$9 monthly), Premier is US$12 yearly (US$15 monthly) and Bigin 360 is US$18 yearly (US$21 monthly).

Choose it if: you want to start free and pay as little as possible when you do upgrade.

Skip it if: you expect to add teammates quickly and want a free plan that covers more than one person. Attio Free or HubSpot's free CRM cover more users at $0.

6. OnePageCRM: best for action-focused follow-ups#

OnePageCRM's pricing page headline says every plan includes unlimited contacts, deals, fields and tags (OnePageCRM). For a founder who mainly wants a clear list of who to follow up with next, that removes one common worry about outgrowing a tier.

Pricing: When we checked, the page showed prices in GBP: Professional £8.25 per user per month on annual billing, Business £15.95 and Max £22.25. We have not converted these, because your price may depend on your region and currency.

Choose it if: you want unlimited records at a low per-seat price and you mainly want a clear view of who to follow up with next.

Skip it if: you need a permanent free plan; our check of the pricing page did not show one.

7. Notion as a CRM: best if you have under 20 leads#

Plenty of founders run their sales from a Notion database, and at low volume it works. Notion's Free plan is $0 per member per month, Plus is $10 per member per month and Business is $20 (Notion). On Free, a solo user gets unlimited blocks, so a contact database will not hit a block limit if you are the only member.

A simple setup needs four properties: company, status (lead, talking, trial, customer, lost), next step and next step date. Add a filtered view of everything due this week and you have a working CRM.

Choose it if: you already plan your product in Notion and have a short list of leads.

Skip it if: you need email tracking, automatic activity logs or pipeline reports. Those are the features that make a real CRM worth paying for, and you will feel their absence as volume grows.

Should you stay on a spreadsheet?#

Often, yes. A CRM is overhead, and an empty enterprise CRM with three contacts in it is a common way to feel busy without selling. Use this table to decide.

If most of your answers land in the left column, keep the spreadsheet and spend the time selling. Our guide to getting your first 10 paying customers covers what to do with those leads.

When you do switch, keep your sheet's columns simple (name, company, status, next step, date) so the move to a CRM is a straightforward import rather than a clean-up project.

Which CRM should you pick?#

Here is our short version, based on the prices above and the way most solo founders sell:

• You want free and might grow: HubSpot's free CRM.
• You want free with flexibility: Attio Free.
• You want the cheapest paid upgrade: Bigin, starting free and moving to Express at US$7 per user per month billed yearly.
• Selling is your main activity: Pipedrive, starting with the 14-day trial.
• You sell through relationships: folk.
• You want unlimited records and a follow-up list: OnePageCRM.
• You have a handful of leads: a spreadsheet or Notion.

Whichever you choose, set one rule: every contact has a next step and a date. That habit does more for revenue than any feature on a pricing page. Once leads are flowing, pricing becomes the next lever, and our guide on how to price a SaaS product picks up from there.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the best free CRM for a solo founder?#

HubSpot's free CRM, Attio Free and Bigin Free all cost $0 for one person. HubSpot says its free CRM is 100% free with up to two users and 1,000 contacts, Attio Free allows up to 3 seats, and Bigin Free is for a single user. Pick the one whose interface you will actually open every day.

Do solo founders even need a CRM?#

Not always. If you have fewer than about 20 active leads and follow up reliably, a spreadsheet or Notion database is enough. A CRM earns its place when you start forgetting follow-ups, losing context on conversations, or running more than one sales process at once.

Is Pipedrive worth it for one person?#

It can be if selling is your main job. Pipedrive's Lite plan is US$14 per seat per month billed annually ($168 a year), with a free 14-day trial and no credit card required. If you only sell occasionally, a free CRM will do the same basic job.

Can I use Notion as a CRM?#

Yes, for light use. A Notion database with a status property, a next-step date and a notes page per contact works as a simple CRM. Notion's Free plan is $0 per member per month and Plus is $10. You give up the dedicated sales features a CRM offers, which is fine until volume grows.

Which CRM is cheapest once I need to pay?#

Of the prices we checked, Bigin Express is the lowest at US$7 per user per month billed yearly (US$9 monthly). OnePageCRM Professional is £8.25 per user per month on annual billing, and Pipedrive Lite is US$14 per seat per month billed annually.

Where ZeroRaised fits#

ZeroRaised is a launch directory for products built without institutional VC or accelerator equity. Once your CRM is set up and you are ready for more leads, you can submit your product for free. For more practical guides on selling, pricing and launching without investors, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

A listing is one source of attention among many. We do not promise traffic, sign-ups or revenue; consistent follow-up is what turns leads into customers.

Sources#

• HubSpot free CRM, checked 6 Nov 2026
• Attio pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026
• folk pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026
• Pipedrive pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026
• Bigin by Zoho pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026
• OnePageCRM pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026
• Notion pricing, checked 6 Nov 2026