How much does a CRM system cost?

CRM costs at a glance: what you pay for

A CRM system involves two kinds of costs: ongoing costs for licenses, hosting and support, and one-time costs for setup, data migration and training. Many companies compare only the monthly fee per user and underestimate the second block. Yet it is the rollout that decides whether the team actually uses the CRM or whether contacts stay scattered across Excel sheets and inboxes.

It therefore makes sense to look at the total cost over several years. Add up licenses for all users, foreseeable feature upgrades, add-on apps from marketplaces and the internal time investment. Only then can you fairly compare a cloud CRM, an open-source solution and a custom-built CRM – because the lowest entry fee is not automatically the cheapest solution.

• Licenses per user per month or year
• Setup, configuration and data migration
• Integrations with email, telephony, online store or ERP
• Training and onboarding for the team
• Hosting, maintenance and support

How much do HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Zoho CRM cost?

The well-known cloud CRMs work with tiered pricing plans. HubSpot offers a free CRM core and charges for advanced sales, marketing and service features in paid editions. Salesforce bills its editions per user and offers particularly extensive customization options, which usually require expertise to set up. Pipedrive focuses on a clear pipeline view with several pricing tiers, and Zoho CRM offers a free version for very small teams in addition to its paid editions.

We deliberately do not quote specific prices here: vendors adjust plans, minimum terms and feature sets regularly, and prices often differ between monthly and annual billing. So always check the vendor's current pricing page (as of October 2026) and pay attention to which features – such as automations, reports or API access – are only included in higher tiers.

• Price per user per month – the most common model
• Tiers by feature level, from basic to enterprise
• In some cases billing by number of contacts, for example for marketing features
• Add-on modules and marketplace apps with their own fees

Free CRM system: how good are free and open-source options?

A free CRM system is a good starting point for freelancers and small teams who want to keep contacts, deals and tasks in one place. The limits usually show up as you grow: free versions often cap the number of users, storage, automations or reports. If you switch later, you have to export your data and rebuild your workflows – so plan for that step from the start.

Anyone searching for “free open source CRM” will find solutions such as SuiteCRM, EspoCRM or the community edition of Odoo. The software itself carries no license fee, but you need a server, regular updates, backups and someone to implement customizations. Open source pays off mainly if you want full control over your data and have operations and further development reliably organized.

Having a custom CRM built: when does it pay off?

A custom-built CRM pays off when your processes don't fit the mold of a standard CRM – for example in property and asset management, project business with on-site measurements, service contracts or multi-step approvals. Instead of workarounds and add-on apps, your team gets exactly the screens, fields and automations it needs day to day. Per-user license fees disappear; you pay for development, hosting and maintenance.

We know such projects from experience: with the portal & CRM for an estate agency in Speyer and a real estate CRM portal with onOffice integration, we built industry-specific solutions that bring together properties, prospects and communication. A middle path often makes sense as well – a standard CRM as the foundation, complemented by custom modules or integrations that close exactly the gaps slowing your team down day to day.

• Many users, where license costs weigh heavily
• Industry-specific workflows with no suitable standard solution
• Deep integration with ERP, online store or customer portal
• A wish for full control over data and code

Hidden CRM costs: imple­menta­tion, data migration and integrations

After licenses, the biggest cost block is usually implementation. Existing contacts from Excel, Outlook or a legacy system have to be cleaned up, duplicates removed and fields mapped correctly. The more inconsistent the source data, the greater the effort. On top of that come roles and permissions, templates for emails and quotes, and pipelines that reflect your actual sales process.

Integrations are the second major factor. A CRM only delivers its full value once it exchanges data with your mailbox, calendar, phone system, online store, ERP or accounting. Some connections exist as ready-made integrations, others require a custom connection via an API. Also plan time for training – a CRM nobody maintains ends up being the most expensive.

How to calculate your CRM budget realisti­cally

Start with a list of your core processes: How do inquiries come in, who qualifies them, how are quotes created, when does follow-up happen? This gives you your must-have and nice-to-have features. Add the number of users today and in two to three years, plus all systems that should be connected. With this information, quotes from different vendors can be compared meaningfully for the first time.

For a custom CRM or your own extensions, our packages serve as a guide: Starter from €2,500, Professional from €8,000 and Enterprise priced individually. The more integrations, roles and special processes, the more likely a project falls into the Professional or Enterprise range. After the free initial consultation you receive a transparent quote – for a clearly defined scope preferably at a fixed price. We also support you in selecting a standard CRM.