Costs and pricing
Part of Is a free CRM enough for a UK small business?
Is a free CRM enough for a UK small business?
Free CRM tiers can cover a UK micro-business, but VAT records, UK GDPR duties and support limits decide whether free stays enough as the firm grows.
What to take away
- A free CRM is often enough for a sole trader with one pipeline and under a few hundred records.
- Free tiers rarely break UK rules, but your VAT records and UK GDPR duties apply whatever you pay.
- Support, export rights and automation limits are the usual reasons firms upgrade.
- Test one real workflow, and the export route, before you load live customer data.
Where free tiers usually stop
HubSpot, Zoho and Capsule all publish a free plan, and each draws its limits somewhere different. Zoho lists its free edition at up to three users and 5,000 records. Capsule lists its free plan at two users and 250 contacts.
HubSpot's free tier sets its limits in the tools it includes, so read the product page for the seat and export terms. Check each vendor's pricing page before you commit, because the figures move.
Where free CRM tiers stop
Free tier
- User seats
- One or two logins
- Stored records
- A few hundred to a few thousand
- Automation runs
- Basic rules, few runs
- Report history
- Limited
- Support
- Community or email only
- Exit route
- Export may be blocked
Paid tier
- User seats
- Per-seat pricing
- Stored records
- Higher or unlimited
- Automation runs
- Workflows and integrations
- Report history
- Full history
- Support
- Named contact, response promise
- Exit route
- Export contacts, notes, attachments
Typical caps cover user seats, stored records, automation runs and report history. Support is usually community or email only, with no named contact and no response promise.
The exit route matters more than the price. If you cannot export contacts, notes and attachments into a file you can open, a free tier turns into an exit cost later. Our breakdown of CRM costs that quotes usually omit covers migration and admin time.
The UK rules that do not care what you pay
A free plan does not reduce a statutory duty. Sole traders must keep business records for Self Assessment, and GOV.UK's page on becoming a sole trader explains what to keep.
UK duties free CRM must meet
- Keep business records for Self Assessment
- Hold VAT figures for returns
- VAT registration threshold£90,000 since 1 April 2024
- Lawful basis for customer data
- Retention rule for records
- Working way to correct or erase a record
VAT adds a second layer. The registration threshold has been £90,000 since 1 April 2024, and a CRM has to hold the figures your returns need. The VAT registration guidance states the current test.
Data protection applies on the same terms. You are the controller of the customer records you hold, whether the software is free or paid. That means a lawful basis, a retention rule and a working way to correct or erase a record. The ICO's guide to UK GDPR sets out the principles.
Free against paid, judged on four tests
Judge both options on identical tests and write down what you would accept.
Four tests: free vs paid
Free tier
- User seats
- One or two logins
- Record limits
- A few hundred to a few thousand
- Automation
- Basic rules, few runs
- Support and terms
- Community or email, standard terms
Paid tier
- User seats
- Per-seat pricing
- Record limits
- Higher or unlimited
- Automation
- Workflows and integrations
- Support and terms
- Named support, negotiated terms
Free tier, as a rule
- User seats
- One or two logins
- Record limits
- A few hundred to a few thousand contacts
- Automation
- Basic rules and few runs
- Support and terms
- Community or email, standard terms
Paid tier, as a rule
- User seats
- Per-seat pricing
- Record limits
- Higher or unlimited
- Automation
- Workflows and integrations
- Support and terms
- Named support, negotiated terms
Why it matters in the UK
- User seats
- A growing team hits the cap first
- Record limits
- Tax and consent records accumulate
- Automation
- The cap decides which follow-ups run
- Support and terms
- A data breach needs a named contact and clear terms
Treat the table as a prompt, not a price list. Vendors revise tiers, so read the current published terms.
A short decision sequence for UK micro-firms
Work through five steps before you pay for anything.
- List the records you must keep for tax and the fields you truly use.
- Run one real workflow, from enquiry to invoice, inside the free tier.
- Export everything to a file and open it in a spreadsheet.
- Read the processing terms and note where the data is stored. Ask whether the free tier keeps records on UK or EU servers or in the United States, because a transfer outside the UK needs its own safeguard under UK GDPR.
- Price a paid tier only when a limit blocks work you already do.
When free stops being cheaper
A free tier costs time rather than money, and that can hide the real bill. An illustrative example: an owner who bills £60 an hour and loses two hours a week to copy and paste gives up about £500 a month in billable time.
An illustrative paid quote at £25 per user per month for three users is £75 a month, or £900 a year. Both figures are illustrative, not market rates. The comparison only works if your own numbers replace these.
Accuracy is part of the duty too. A CRM data cleaning checklist turns a vague tidy-up into a repeatable task with an owner.
Support expectations in a British small firm
A UK buyer usually wants a named contact, a written reply time and someone who answers the phone. Free plans rarely offer any of that.
Decide in advance what you need when something breaks. If a failed import would cost you a week of trading, budget for support rather than hope.
Set the trigger now: the tier, the feature and the monthly figure at which you would switch. Write it into the same note as your retention rule.
Common questions
Is a free CRM enough for a UK sole trader?
Usually yes, provided one person owns the pipeline and the record count stays modest. The constraint is rarely the licence fee. It is the admin time that arrives with the tenth enquiry of the week.
Do I need a paid CRM to comply with UK GDPR?
No. Compliance rests on how you handle records, not on what the software costs. A free tool meets the rules if you set a retention period and fix inaccurate entries.
What is the best free CRM for a UK small business?
There is no single best, because seat limits, record caps and export formats differ. Shortlist against your own workflow, then test the export before you move real data across.
If you are one person with a few hundred contacts, and you need a CSV export and email support, a free tier is usually enough. If you need a second seat or shared automations, budget for a paid tier.
When should a small firm move from free to paid?
When a limit blocks work you already do: a second user, an automation you rely on, or support you need in writing. A discounted upgrade is not a reason on its own.
