Expert Guide

The Cheapest CRM Software for a Team of 10 in 2026

Eight CRM plans priced for ten users on yearly billing, with the seat cap, lead limit or add-on that changes each annual total.

Louis CorneloupFounder, Dupple · 930,000+ readers · Updated Oct 2026

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 8 tools compared

TL;DR

For ten people billed yearly, Nutshell Foundation is the cheapest CRM we could price on a vendor page: $7 per user a month, or $840 a year. Its plan stops at 100 open leads, so a busier pipeline moves the team up to Freshworks CRM Growth at $1,080 a year. Bitrix24 Standard is a flat $1,188 a year for up to 50 users, and Close costs the most here at $4,200 a year on Essentials.

Key facts8 tools compared: Nutshell (Foundation), Freshworks CRM (Growth), Bitrix24 (Standard), Less…

Updated: October 14, 2026
Top pick: Nutshell (Foundation) (best for: Ten-person teams with a modest pipeline that want the lowest annual bill)
Top pick price as of October 14, 2026: Nutshell (Foundation): $7 per user a month billed annually ($13 monthly); 14-day trial, no free plan.

8 tools compared: Nutshell (Foundation), Freshworks CRM (Growth), Bitrix24 (Standard), Less Annoying CRM, Copper (Basic), folk (Standard), Salesforce (Starter Suite), Close (Essentials)
Freshworks CRM (Growth) (best for: Small teams that want sales pipelines, email, phone and basic workflows on one bill): $9 per user a month billed annually; 21-day trial, no free plan; add-ons cost extra.
Bitrix24 (Standard) (best for: Growing teams that want one flat bill and do not want to count seats): US$99 a month for the organization, billed annually, for up to 50 users; free plan for 1-2 users.
Less Annoying CRM (best for: Teams that want every feature on one plan and no annual commitment): $15 per user a month, billed monthly only; one plan with all features; 30-day trial, no free plan.

A cheap CRM is only cheap at the headcount it was priced for. Most vendors quote a per-user price, so the annual bill moves with every hire, and a seat cap or lead limit often forces a bigger plan before the team has actually grown.

This page prices one scenario: ten users on yearly billing, the size of a small sales team.

Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page and checked on 10 October 2026.

Toolradar data: 503 tools are evaluated on the CRM ranking at toolradar.com/best/crm-software, updated October 2026.

This page prices only the plans whose vendors publish a per-seat or flat figure on their own pages, so its list is much shorter than the directory.

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

Cheapest CRM Software 2026: What 10 Users Cost per Year: 8 tools compared, updated Oct 2026
Tool	Pricing	Best for
Nutshell (Foundation)	$7 per user a month billed annually ($13 monthly); 14-day trial, no free plan.	Ten-person teams with a modest pipeline that want the lowest annual bill
Freshworks CRM (Growth)	$9 per user a month billed annually; 21-day trial, no free plan; add-ons cost extra.	Small teams that want sales pipelines, email, phone and basic workflows on one bill
Bitrix24 (Standard)	US$99 a month for the organization, billed annually, for up to 50 users; free plan for 1-2 users.	Growing teams that want one flat bill and do not want to count seats
Less Annoying CRM	$15 per user a month, billed monthly only; one plan with all features; 30-day trial, no free plan.	Teams that want every feature on one plan and no annual commitment
Copper (Basic)	$23 per seat a month, paid annually ($29 monthly); 2,500-contact limit; free trial, no free plan.	Small teams with fewer than 2,500 contacts that need pipelines and project tracking
folk (Standard)	$24 per member a month billed yearly ($30 monthly); unlimited members; 2-week trial, no free plan.	Teams that run sales from their inbox and want enrichment and email sync in one tool
Salesforce (Starter Suite)	$25 per user a month, billed monthly or annually; Salesforce calls it a starting price, transaction fees extra.	Small businesses that want marketing, sales and service tools in one suite
Close (Essentials)	$35 per user a month billed annually ($49 monthly); no user cap listed; Solo is limited to one user.	Sales teams that call, text and email prospects from one inbox

Pricing read from each vendor's own published pricing page, checked Oct 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.

Nutshell (Foundation)

Top Pick

Best for: Ten-person teams with a modest pipeline that want the lowest annual bill

Pricing$7 per user a month billed annually ($13 monthly); 14-day trial, no free plan.

+Ten seats cost $840 a year on yearly billing, the lowest total among the plans priced here.

+Unlimited contacts and storage are included on every plan, and Nutshell sets no seat minimum or maximum.

−Foundation caps open leads at 100, so a busier pipeline means switching to Freshworks CRM Growth, which costs $1,080 a year for ten seats.

−Email marketing is billed on top, scaled to the number of marketable contacts.

Visit Nutshell (Foundation) →

Freshworks CRM (Growth)

Best for: Small teams that want sales pipelines, email, phone and basic workflows on one bill

Pricing$9 per user a month billed annually; 21-day trial, no free plan; add-ons cost extra.

+Growth includes contact lifecycle stages, Kanban views, chat, email, phone and basic workflows.

+Pro, at $39 a seat billed annually, adds sales sequences, territory management and contact scoring.

−Branded documents cost $19 a seat a month as an add-on, and AI agent sessions are extra.

−Growth has basic workflows only, so sequences and territory rules mean paying for Pro.

Visit Freshworks CRM (Growth) →

Bitrix24 (Standard)

Best for: Growing teams that want one flat bill and do not want to count seats

PricingUS$99 a month for the organization, billed annually, for up to 50 users; free plan for 1-2 users.

+Standard adds unlimited leads, invoices, a web form designer and e-signature to Basic's sales pipelines.

+Adding people costs nothing until the 51st user, which matters for a team that is still hiring.

−Basic at US$49 a month on annual billing covers five users, so ten people need Standard.

−The free plan covers one or two users only, which rules out a free start for a ten-person team.

Visit Bitrix24 (Standard) →

Less Annoying CRM

Best for: Teams that want every feature on one plan and no annual commitment

Pricing$15 per user a month, billed monthly only; one plan with all features; 30-day trial, no free plan.

+Every feature sits on the one plan, with free upgrades and free support for every customer.

+25 GB of file storage per user comes with the single plan.

−The pricing page shows no annual option, so the yearly total is twelve monthly bills.

−No free plan. The 30-day trial is the only no-cost option, and it ends in a bill.

Visit Less Annoying CRM →

Copper (Basic)

Best for: Small teams with fewer than 2,500 contacts that need pipelines and project tracking

Pricing$23 per seat a month, paid annually ($29 monthly); 2,500-contact limit; free trial, no free plan.

+Basic includes pipelines, task automation, project management and contact enrichment.

+Business removes the contact limit and adds custom reports, multi-currency and premium support.

−Professional at $59 a seat on annual billing more than doubles the ten-seat bill, to $7,080 a year.

−Basic's 2,500-contact cap ends the cheap tier for any team with a larger list.

Visit Copper (Basic) →

folk (Standard)

Best for: Teams that run sales from their inbox and want enrichment and email sync in one tool

Pricing$24 per member a month billed yearly ($30 monthly); unlimited members; 2-week trial, no free plan.

+Standard includes pipeline management, email campaigns, contact enrichment and 5,000-plus integrations.

+Members are unlimited on every paid plan, so headcount is the only price driver.

−Premium at $48 a member a month on annual billing adds custom objects, email sequences and API access.

−Adding or removing a member prorates the next bill, which makes the yearly total harder to forecast.

Visit folk (Standard) →

Salesforce (Starter Suite)

Best for: Small businesses that want marketing, sales and service tools in one suite

Pricing$25 per user a month, billed monthly or annually; Salesforce calls it a starting price, transaction fees extra.

+Monthly or annual billing, so a team can start without committing to a full year.

+Covers marketing, sales, service and commerce tools in one place, which can replace separate subscriptions.

−Transaction fees apply and Salesforce gives no figure for them, so the $3,000 total is a floor, not a quote.

−Growing past Starter means moving to Pro Suite, which this comparison does not price.

Visit Salesforce (Starter Suite) →

Close (Essentials)

Best for: Sales teams that call, text and email prospects from one inbox

Pricing$35 per user a month billed annually ($49 monthly); no user cap listed; Solo is limited to one user.

+Built-in forms, email, calling and SMS in one centralized inbox, with team collaboration features.

+Includes 1,000 AI credits per user a month, pooled across the team up to 10,000 a month.

−Workflows and the power dialer need Growth at $99 a seat a month on annual billing, nearly three times Essentials.

−Calling is charged by usage and phone lines start at $1 a month, so the bill is not fixed.

Visit Close (Essentials) →

What it is

Cheapest here means the lowest annual bill for a stated team, not the lowest sticker price. A seat price looks small until it is multiplied by ten people and twelve months, and a plan that suits a solo founder can stop at one user.

The scenario is ten users on annual billing, which is where most vendors cut the price. Nutshell's monthly seat costs nearly double its yearly price, and Copper and folk run about a quarter higher month to month.

Free tiers do not carry this team.

Zoho CRM's free plan covers three users, Capsule's covers two, and Bitrix24's covers one or two. For the limits behind those caps, read our best free CRM guide.

Why it matters

The cap decides the bill more often than the price does. Nutshell Foundation is the cheapest plan at ten seats, but it stops at 100 open leads, and that limit is what moves a growing team to a higher tier. Copper Basic holds 2,500 contacts before a team needs Professional at $59 a seat.

Bitrix24 charges per organization, so its price stays flat for up to 50 users, but Basic covers only five people, which means ten need Standard.

Flat pricing changes the crossover. Freshworks CRM's Growth seat passes Bitrix24's $1,188 at twelve seats, and Nutshell's yearly seat passes it at fifteen.

Below those team sizes the per-seat plans win, and above them the flat plan is the cheaper bill. Read the crossover against the hiring plan, not today's headcount. Our ranked CRM guide judges the same vendors on fit rather than cost.

Key features to look for

Per-seat math

Multiply the annual seat price by ten people and twelve months, so a seat at $23 becomes $2,760 a year for a team of ten.

Billing term

Annual billing lowers the seat price at most vendors here. Nutshell's seat nearly halves when you pay yearly, while Copper and folk each drop by a few dollars. Less Annoying CRM offers monthly billing only.

Caps that force a tier

User caps (Bitrix24 Basic: five users), lead caps (Nutshell Foundation: 100 open leads) and contact caps (Copper Basic: 2,500). Each one can end the cheapest plan before the team outgrows its seats.

Usage and add-on fees

Email marketing at Nutshell, branded documents at Freshworks, metered calling at Close and transaction fees at Salesforce all sit on top of the seat price.

Pricing

Methodology. We priced ten users on yearly billing for every vendor that publishes a per-seat or flat price on its own pricing page. Per-seat totals are the annual seat price times ten and times twelve. Bitrix24 charges a flat organization price, so its total is the plan price times twelve.

Less Annoying CRM bills monthly only, so its total is the monthly price times twelve.

Checked on vendor pages on 10 October 2026: Nutshell, Freshworks CRM, Bitrix24, Less Annoying CRM, Copper, folk, Salesforce and Close.

We re-check these figures every 60 days.

Not ranked. HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Capsule, Pipedrive and Insightly sit outside the table, because we could not confirm a USD per-seat price for them on their own pricing pages today.

The free-plan limits of Zoho and Capsule are covered in the paragraphs above.

Related reading: our Gmail CRM guide ranks these tools on fit, folk and Pipedrive have full reviews, and project management software covers the work after the deal closes.

Toolradar also has profiles for Nutshell, Bitrix24 and Close.

Plan	Price	Best for
Nutshell Foundation	$7/user/mo, billed annually	Up to 100 open leads; email marketing billed extra
Freshworks CRM Growth	$9/user/mo, billed annually	Contact lifecycle stages, Kanban, chat, email, phone and basic workflows
Bitrix24 Standard	US$99/org/mo, billed annually	Up to 50 users; unlimited leads, invoices and e-signature
Less Annoying CRM	$15/user/mo, billed monthly	Every feature on one plan; 25 GB file storage per user
Copper Basic	$23/seat/mo, paid annually	2,500 contacts; pipelines, task automation and project management
folk Standard	$24/member/mo, billed yearly	Unlimited members; pipelines, email campaigns and contact enrichment
Salesforce Starter Suite	$25/user/mo, billed monthly or annually	Marketing, sales, service and commerce tools; transaction fees extra
Close Essentials	$35/user/mo, billed annually	Team features, built-in email, calling and SMS; calling metered
Bitrix24 Basic	US$49/org/mo, billed annually	Five users included, so it cannot cover a team of ten
Close Solo	$9/user/mo, billed annually	One user only; 10,000 leads

Mistakes to avoid

×Pricing the headcount you have today. Per-seat totals rise with every hire, so price the team you expect in twelve months.

×Ignoring the cap. Nutshell's 100 open leads and Copper's 2,500 contacts end the cheapest tier before the team does.

×Paying monthly. Annual billing cuts the seat price at most vendors here, and the gap is widest at Nutshell, whose monthly seat costs nearly double.

×Forgetting usage charges. Calling at Close, transaction fees at Salesforce and email sends at Nutshell all sit on top of the seat price.

Expert tips

→Test the cap, not only the interface. A 14-day Nutshell trial or a 21-day Freshworks trial shows whether the features work, but not whether 100 open leads holds for your pipeline.

→Run the three-seat check before you sign. At three users Nutshell Foundation costs $252 a year against Bitrix24's flat yearly total, so the flat plan only pays off as the team grows.

→Estimate calling minutes before you commit to Close. Calling is metered, so a team that dials all day pays more than the seat price suggests.

The bottom line

For ten people billed yearly, start with Nutshell Foundation at $840 a year if 100 open leads covers the pipeline. Move to Freshworks CRM Growth when the pipeline outgrows that cap, and budget for Pro at $39 a seat if the team needs sales sequences.

Switch to Bitrix24 Standard once the team passes fourteen seats, since its flat price then beats Nutshell's per-seat total.

Close only makes sense when built-in calling and SMS are part of the daily job, because at $4,200 a year for ten people it is the priciest option here.

Pair the CRM with free cloud storage for proposal files, and compare sales intelligence tools separately, since prospect data carries its own price.

Cite this: Techpresso, "Cheapest CRM Software 2026: What 10 Users Cost per Year", October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest CRM software for 10 users?

Nutshell Foundation, at $7 per user a month on yearly billing, which comes to $840 a year for ten people, as read on Nutshell's pricing page on 10 October 2026. The plan caps open leads at 100, and email marketing is billed on top.

Is there a free CRM that covers 10 users?

Not among the vendors priced on this page. Every free plan covered here stops at three users or fewer, so ten people need a paid plan. The free tiers are for testing the software before buying.

When does Bitrix24 become the cheapest option?

Its Standard plan is a flat $1,188 a year on yearly billing for up to 50 users. Freshworks CRM Growth passes that total at twelve seats and Nutshell Foundation at fifteen, so the flat plan is the cheaper bill for any team of fifteen or more on this list.

Is Close worth the price for a small sales team?

It depends on whether the team calls. Essentials costs $35 a user a month on yearly billing, which is $4,200 a year for ten people and the highest total on this list. That pays for built-in calling, SMS and email in one inbox. Calling is metered on top, and workflows need Growth at $99 a seat. A team that mostly emails should price the cheaper plans first.

Do yearly plans really save money on CRM software?

At most vendors here, yes. Nutshell's seat nearly halves when you pay yearly, Copper's falls from $29 to $23, and folk's from $30 to $24. Less Annoying CRM lists only a monthly price, so ten seats cost $1,800 a year at twelve monthly bills, with no annual saving on offer.

Sources

Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.