Pipedrive CRM review – a simple, great-value system Costing just £14 per month, our Pipedrive review ranks it as one of our top CRMs for usability. But how do its pros and cons serve your small business’ needs? Written by Helena Young Updated on 29 March 2023 Our Research Our team of writers and researchers review CRM software by rating each product against the key features businesses care about: ease of use; value for money; the ability to scale, plus the depth of functionality and advanced options. Written and reviewed by: Helena Young Lead Writer Startups.co.uk is reader supported – we may earn a commission from our recommendations, at no extra cost to you and without impacting our editorial impartiality. The CRM market is more competitive than ever, with some big brands offering cutting edge features at low costs. There are even free CRM software options to choose between.With this in mind, Pipedrive has plenty of competitors to stand out from. That said, the brand is holding its own admirably against the Salesforces and HubSpots of this world.Our researchers have awarded Pipedrive an overall 4.3 out of 5 as it puts up a strong performance on the contact management front thanks to its outstanding reporting and organisational tools. It’s an easy-to-use, sales-focused CRM system. The platform’s lowest-tiered plan – Pipedrive Essential – costs £14 per user, per month.As the cost of living crisis drags on and customers become more stingy with their wallets, having a CRM system that helps you better manage your customer network and helps you retain clients is key. Pipedrive helps you have a good overview of your customer relations performance.However, there are some areas in which Pipedrive is lacking, like marketing and customer service. So how does it compare to rivals? What are the best Pipedrive alternatives? And is it a good choice for your firm? Our below Pipedrive review will help you make a confident decision about whether or not to purchase a Pipedrive plan. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward BEST PLAN FOR SMEs Pipedrive Essential Pipedrive Advanced Pipedrive Professional Pipedrive Enterprise Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Features Lead, deal, calendar and pipeline managementSimple data import and easy customization24/7 support275+ integrations Features Full email sync with templates and schedulingGroup emailing plus open and click trackingWorkflow builder with triggered automations Features One-click calling and call trackingCreate, manage and eSign documents and contractsRevenue projections, forecastsEnhanced custom reporting Features Visibility settingsHeightened security preferencesNo feature limits Read More About CRM This page is part of a larger series on CRM. Read more about the top CRM systems in our full guide: Best CRM Software for Small Businesses This review will cover: How much does Pipedrive cost? Does Pipedrive have a free plan? What are the best Pipedrive alternatives? Methodology: how did we review Pipedrive? Final review of Pipedrive How much does Pipedrive cost? Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Pipedrive Essential Pipedrive Advanced Pipedrive Professional Price per month (billed annually) £14 per user Price per month (billed annually) £29 per user Price per month (billed annually) £49 per user Price per month (billed monthly) £24 per user Price per month (billed monthly) £39 per user Price per month (billed monthly) £64 per user Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Adopting new technologies can often be a big expense for small businesses. But it’s also an important investment for growth.In fact, a survey by software company Xero found that small businesses which readily adopt new technology enjoy, on average, 120% higher revenue.Pipedrive Essential:£14 per user, per month (billed annually)£24 per user, per month (billed monthly) Does have Unlimited contacts 24/7 live chat and online support Lots of communication integrations Full set of security tools Visual sales pipeline Calendar view Email inbox Doesn't have Custom dashboard Many marketing tools Revenue reports Pipedrive Essential is the best option for small business users that don’t have a lot of tech experience, who want a powerful CRM plan that’s low maintenance to use.As evidence, it took our testers just under 14 minutes to import all of our mock customer data into the Pipedrive backend.The Essential package is largely focused on tracking and organising sales. However, as Pipedrive doesn’t do so well for online brand-building, it’s better for businesses that already have a marketing strategy in place.When we compared Pipedrive Essential to rival CRM brands, Freshsales Suite has slightly more functionality for £1.90 less per user, per month.However, the areas where Pipedrive is lacking can be improved with a simple third-party integration.Say you’re an online seller who wants to design a branded invoice for your customers using Pipedrive. You could do this easily by downloading accounting software like Quickbooks or Xero. What do Pipedrive’s users think of the platform? Business consultancy firm Gray Matters switched to Pipedrive from Google Sheets. A spokesperson there told Startups:“Being a business that helps others with their sales and business development, it’s really important that we practice what we preach.“We’ve used pretty much every CRM out there and this is by far the most user-friendly, so when they say it’s built by sales people for sales people, they are not lying.” Pipedrive Advanced:£29 per user, per month (billed annually)£39 per user, per month (billed monthly) Does have Deal and activity reports Ability to send emails from CRM Lead scoring Preset dashboard Doesn't have Custom dashboard Custom reports Revenue forecast tools Social media integration Considering the sizable increase in cost, Pipedrive Advanced doesn’t offer small business users a huge amount over the Essential plan.Its main specialism is data storage and presentation. In terms of sales records, you can format all customer transactions into deal or activity reports.Using the ‘Lead Booster’ add-on (for an extra £25 per month), users can access more complex functions. For example, our testers were able to use the booster to build a chatbot in just over one minute – the quickest of all the brands we analysed.We were surprised by the lack of any social media functionality included in Pipedrive Advanced or the Lead Booster, however.We think Pipedrive Advanced is best for businesses with larger budgets and multiple departments. Its added reporting capabilities make it a must for firms that need to regularly communicate sales figures to higher-ups.Pipedrive Professional:£49 per user, per month (billed annually)£64 per user, per month (billed monthly) Does have Custom dashboard 60 automated workflows Custom reports Doesn't have Auto responses Customer service tools Ability to accept payments A lot of marketing campaign tools At £49 per user, Pipedrive Professional will be out of range for most small business budgets.However, if your organisation is a small team that handles very large online sales volumes – for example, if you’re dropshipping – Pipedrive Professional is worth the expense.With 60 automated workflows available, you’ll be able to set up ‘triggers’ that automatically perform a task. For example, sending a welcome email to a new customer when they are added to your database.Plus, impressive security features mean that customer data will be well protected if you’re storing sensitive information, like medical records. That’s why we made it our top healthcare marketing CRM for confidentiality.Pipedrive Enterprise: £99 per user, per monthAt £99 per user, per month, Pipedrive Enterprise is not designed for small businesses.You’ll get onboarding assistance and 100 automated workflows, but its feature set just isn’t premium enough to justify the added expense. Read more Best CRM software for retail Does Pipedrive have a free plan?If you’re looking for a completely free CRM system, you won’t find it with Pipedrive.The platform does offer 14-day free trials of any of its payment plans, however.We think the best free CRM solutions are: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward TOP CRM FOR SMEs monday CRM Individual ClickUp Free HubSpot Free Price per month (billed annually) Free Price per month (billed annually) Free Price per month (billed annually) £0 Users Up to 2 Users Unlimited Users Unlimited Features Unlimited boardsUnlimited docs200+ templatesOver 20 column types Features Unlimited tasksUnlimited membersTwo-factor authentication24/7 supportReal-time chat Features 2,000 emails per month5 active contact listsUp to 3 dashboards permitted Get started: Try monday CRM Get started: Try ClickUp Get started: Try HubSpot If you’re looking to find the best low-budget CRM option, you can also use our simple online free quote-matching tool.Tell us a few basic facts about your business, and we’ll find the best provider that suits your specific needs. What are the best Pipedrive alternatives? Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward TOP CRM FOR SMEs Pipedrive monday CRM Zendesk Freshsales Zoho CRM Bigin Salesforce CRM Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Free trial? ✓ Score out of 5: 4.3 Score out of 5: 4.3 Score out of 5: 4.1 Score out of 5: 4.5 Score out of 5: 4.6 Score out of 5: 4.3 Score out of 5: 3.8 Features: Unlimited contacts permittedCommunication, ecommerce, and accounting integrationsAllows unlimited custom fields Features: Huge range of CRM board templatesMessage board for dashboard collaborationWidgets available for bespoke metricsUnlimited contacts and dashboards Features: Communication integration for team workingFast-loading dashboard for large datasets2 million contact limit Features: Freddy AI tool gives you insights ready-madeCommunication, ecommerce, and accounting integrationsBig library of preset templates Features: 21 features available on free planAutomated reports included on free planUser permissions available for larger teams Features: 50,000 contact limitEcommerce integrationsWebformsList segmentation Features: Automatic data captureMobile access and administrationSalesforce Inbox10 user limit As the above chart shows, Pipedrive pricing is competitive. The platform doesn’t quite rival the more wallet-friendly options like Zoho Bigin (£5 per user) and HubSpot Free.Our researchers found that the best Pipedrive alternative is Freshsales Suite.Freshsales is similarly priced, and also offers the same sales-specific focus. We give it 2.5 out of 5 for pricing overall. Methodology: how did we review Pipedrive?Our team of independent researchers looked at a selection of the best and most popular CRM software. After finding all the information we need, the researchers then compare each software against its competitors, allowing us to find the cream of the crop.The criteria we look at include:Price: Simple enough – the platform with the lowest price tag scores the bestFeatures: Again, fairly easy to assess. Whichever platforms offer the best variety of features are given a better placement than those that have a more skint collection of tools.Usability: Our researchers have a collection of tasks they need to accomplish. The ease and time through which they can accomplish these tasks is tallied up in order to see which platform is the most usable.Customer Support: Again, easy enough – look at the options available and see how each platform fares when it comes to customer support optionsCustomer Score: After looking across various review aggregate sites (eg. Trustpilot), our researchers compile a general customer score, summarizing the overall satisfaction of the publicAfter factoring in all this information, alongside the scores they received, we were able to calculate a final overall score for each project management platform. Final review of Pipedrive 4.3 out of 5 Pricing 4.1 Customisation 3.1 Features 3.9 Team Infrastructure 3.9 Customer Support 4.2 Scalability 3.2 Try Pipedrive Pipedrive is an excellent CRM for small businesses that are newly set up online, such as high street retailers.Our expert team of analysts have spent the past half decade reviewing the top small business CRM systems on the market. We think Pipedrive works best as a platform that can be set up and operated without requiring technical software knowledge.While Pipedrive only provides an average level of functionality – particularly when it comes to marketing – it easily outshines rival software for user experience.Our testing found tasks can be completed quickly and easily – even with more sophisticated tools, like chatbots.Plus, our expert review of Pipedrive found the platform has excellent integrations with ecommerce and accounting platforms, which makes it a powerful tool for sales and inventory monitoring. Try Pipedrive for free Get started with a 14-day free trial of Pipedrive Essential Try Pipedrive Our runner-up top CRM for small businesses Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews. Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags Brand-building Guides News and Features Written by: Helena Young Lead Writer Helena is Lead Writer at Startups. As resident people and premises expert, she's an authority on topics such as business energy, office and coworking spaces, and project management software. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena also manages the Startups 100 Index and is passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK.