7 Top-Rated Affordable Contact Management Software
Spreadsheets with an endless list of names, phone numbers, and email addresses may not effectively capture and organize leads. Instead, switching to a contact management solution can increase lead management efficiency as it automatically identifies duplicate contacts, helps segment the audience, and tracks all touchpoints with potential clients.
However, if you are just switching to a contact management tool from using spreadsheets, we suggest you start with an affordable option.
To help you find the right tool, we have highlighted the seven top-rated affordable contact management software based on their pricing, as found on vendor websites and verified software reviews. Based on our research, we've considered products priced less than $23 per month as affordable software and have arranged them in ascending order. Read more.
The tools listed in this article are categorized as customer relationship management (CRM) software, business management software, and marketing software. Irrespective of the category they belong to, the tools offer a contact database, data import/export, interaction tracking, and search filters as core features.
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between January 2022 - January 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
1. Bigin by Zoho CRM
Bigin, a CRM software by Zoho, comes with a no-code form builder that allows you to create and share forms to collect customer information or feedback without coding. You can build these forms by dragging and dropping fields, such as name, email, and phone number, and organizing them on a blank page. These forms can be embedded on a website or shared via several channels, including emails, text messages, and social media platforms.
Product features of interest*:
Data import and export: Transfer contact information to and from the system to simplify data management. Importing allows for easy integration of existing data from various sources, such as spreadsheets and databases, while exporting facilitates sharing or using contact data in other applications.
Real-time notifications: Get instant alerts about key activity or updates, including recently added contacts, changes to existing contacts, or new emails. Real-time notifications enhance responsiveness and help to maintain up-to-date information.
Duplicate cleanup: Automatically scans the database to find contacts with similar information, such as names, email addresses, or phone numbers. Once duplicates are detected, the software either automatically merges them or prompts you for action.
Starting price: $7 per user per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, FAQs, video tutorials, community forum, emails, chat, and phone support
Who should consider Bigin by Zoho CRM?
Small businesses struggling with traditional contact management practices, including using spreadsheets, can consider Bigin to simplify their contact management operations without adopting a complicated tool initially. This CRM platform helps import contact information from spreadsheets, eliminating the need for manual data entry. It allows you to categorize the imported details. The tool then automatically stores the data in relevant folders. Furthermore, it allows you to view import history, helping to avoid duplicate data imports.
2. Apptivo
Apptivo is a business management platform offering over 65 integrated applications, including a Contacts app. This app centralizes client and customer contact information, simplifying communication with clients and across teams. It features customizable, pre-designed email templates for quick and efficient emailing directly from your contact list. Besides, Apptivo assigns spam scores to your emails, helping you optimize them and ensure they reach the intended recipients effectively.
Product features of interest*:
Data backup: Safeguard contact information by creating secure, regular database backups. A well-maintained data backup can help you retrieve details in case of any data loss or system failure.
Role-based security: Create different access levels based on user roles to ensure that sensitive contact information is only accessible to authorized personnel. It lets administrators control who can view, edit, or delete contact data, enhancing data security and privacy.
List management: Organize and segment contacts into several lists based on criteria such as demographics, interaction history, or customer preferences. Such segmentation facilitates targeted communication, allowing for more personalized outreach to different groups within the contact database.
Starting price: $8 per user per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, phone support, and inquiry via a web form
Who should consider Apptivo?
Apptivo can benefit email marketing professionals looking for a tool to help them send emails to targeted audiences. The tool's audience segmentation feature allows users to personalize emails for each group. Additionally, its spam check feature helps to optimize email content, reducing the likelihood of spam emails. This enhances the chances of your emails reaching the intended recipients, increasing the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
Pro tip
Opt for a contact management tool that supports data import from various sources to ensure a comprehensive and up-to-date contact database. Such tools allow for integrating contacts from different platforms, such as emails, social media, and business software, providing a complete view of customer information.
3. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a CRM and pipeline management software that helps track and manage sales processes. It integrates customer data from emails, social media, and web forms, offering a comprehensive view of contacts. The software allows you to track each contact's interaction history, making it easier to identify potential leads and tailor the sales pipeline to suit your business needs better. Access to targeted customer data can help you enhance sales management and customer relationship efforts.
Product features of interest*:
Lead generation: Capture the information of potential customers by integrating web forms on the website or via email or social media platforms. Once captured, this lead data is organized and stored in the contact management system, making it easier for sales and marketing teams to follow up, engage, and convert them into customers.
Website visitor tracking: Monitor and analyze the behavior of website visitors. This feature provides insights into several metrics, such as page views, unique visitors, average session time, and visitor behavior, helping you understand customer interests and preferences.
Activity reminder: Get notified about scheduled tasks, meetings, calls, or follow-ups with clients or prospects. This feature ensures that every important activity is noticed, enhancing productivity and maintaining consistent client engagement.
Starting price: $9.90 per user per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, emails, chat, and phone support
Who should consider Pipedrive?
Sales managers can benefit from Pipedrive as the tool provides a consolidated view of all the contacts and helps identify potential leads. It lets users focus on nurturing potential leads by scheduling sales calls or sending targeted campaigns. Additionally, Pipedrive generates new leads by capturing website visitors’ data and monitoring their activities. This also helps identify user trends and decide how to launch personalized campaigns.
4. CRM.io
CRM.io is a CRM tool with a Google Chrome extension, allowing you to access the tool directly from the Chrome browser. This extension enables you to manage your contact lists and CRM data without logging into the CRM.io application. Additionally, this affordable CRM tool integrates with your phone, permitting you to make outbound calls to leads and contacts directly from within the CRM tool. This integration allows you to manage and track all the customer interactions from a single interface.
Product features of interest*:
Document management: Store, organize, and access various documents related to contacts within the system. It enables efficient handling of files such as contracts, proposals, and correspondence within the same platform.
Account management: Track interactions, transactions, and other key details for each client and customer and centralize all information by creating individual accounts. This lets you maintain detailed customer profiles, better understand their needs, and provide personalized service.
Sales automation: Automate tasks such as lead tracking, follow-ups, and updating sales stages. This automation will free up your time, allowing you to focus on more strategic activities. It also ensures consistent customer engagement and enhances efficiency.
Starting price: $9.99 per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, emails, and phone support
Who should consider CRM.io?
Outbound sales teams can leverage CRM.io to enhance their operations using a built-in CRM telephony integration feature for making outbound calls to clients and customers. This functionality allows team leaders to oversee customer interactions and analyze call data. The tool’s Chrome browser extension offers the convenience of generating these reports without logging into the system, allowing leaders to access important data quickly.
Pro tip
Select a contact management tool with a mobile app, as it ensures easy accessibility and flexibility. It allows you to access and manage customer information on the go, ensuring you can promptly respond to client needs anytime, anywhere.
5. monday sales CRM
monday sales CRM solution includes artificial intelligence-based email composition abilities and advanced HTML editing that speeds up email writing. This affordable CRM tool integrates with Gmail and Outlook and creates a log of every incoming and outgoing email. It also notifies you whenever a lead opens or responds to your email. The tool allows you to send mass emails to multiple prospects and leads, enhancing outreach efficiency.
Product features of interest*:
Sales forecasting: Predict future sales trends using current and historical sales data. This prediction helps anticipate sales volumes, enabling better resource planning and strategy formulation.
Call logging: Automatically record details, such as call duration, time, and participant details of phone conversations with clients or leads. This feature includes attaching important points discussed during the call, helping maintain comprehensive communication records.
Team goals: Set and view goals for individual team members or the entire team to track their performance over time. This feature aids in aligning team efforts with business objectives and contributes to more effective sales management.
Starting price: $12 per user per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, how-to guides, emails, and chat support
Who should consider monday sales CRM?
Sales managers can opt for monday sales CRM solution to analyze the historical and current leads interaction and sales data and make future sales predictions. The platform's reporting dashboard tracks various sales metrics and KPIs, helping monitor progress and identify trends. This valuable insight allows sales managers to anticipate future sales, manage expectations, and plan resources accordingly, aiding in strategic planning and target setting.
6. EngageBay
EngageBay is a marketing, sales, and support software solution that facilitates cross-channel communication. It creates a single inbox for all conversations across channels, including social media and emails. You can use this unified inbox to deliver promotional campaigns to the customers or provide assistance. Additionally, it offers the convenience of monitoring customer activities through a single interface, enhancing overall operational efficiency.
Product features of interest*:
Email marketing: Create and distribute targeted, personalized emails to your contacts. These emails include email campaigns, newsletters, and promotional materials. This feature allows you to track open and click rates and analyze campaign performance.
360-degree customer view: Consolidate all customer information into a single, accessible profile. This view includes contact details, communication history, purchase records, and customer interactions across various channels. It provides a complete and unified understanding of each customer, enabling personalized engagement.
Landing pages: Create and customize web pages designed to capture visitor information. The feature includes tools for designing, publishing, and tracking the performance of these pages, thereby facilitating effective lead generation and customer engagement.
Starting price: $12.74 per user per month
Billing cycle: Biennial
Customer support options: Knowledge base, video tutorials, and chat support
Who should consider EngageBay?
EngageBay can help small business managers launch marketing campaigns, track sales, and assist customers via a single interface. It consolidates communications across various channels into one inbox for efficient monitoring. Furthermore, the tool provides a complete customer overview on a single screen. Users can view customer information, including contact details, lead scores, and interaction history, simplifying customer relationship management.
Pro tip
Check the scalability of the contact management tool you’re considering to ensure the tool can adapt to increasing customer data and evolving business needs. The enhanced flexibility ensures that the tool can accommodate more contacts, complex data, and additional features as the business expands without requiring a complete system overhaul.
7. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM, another tool by Zoho, is an advanced CRM software solution. It includes sales automation features, allowing you to automate routine sales, marketing, and support functions. These include tracking contacts, sending follow-up letters or emails, and updating leads scores. Besides, this CRM system can automatically capture lead information from multiple sources, including emails, social platforms, and websites, and score them. Additionally, it provides a visual representation of the deal pipeline, offering a clear view of ongoing deals, thus enhancing sales management and decision-making processes.
Product features of interest*:
Sales process builder: Design and implement a step-by-step sales process tailored to your business’s specific needs and customer journey. It helps to standardize sales activities, ensure consistency, and guide sales teams through each stage of the sales cycle, from lead generation to closing deals.
Customer portal: Provide a dedicated online space for customers to access their personal information, transaction history, and support requests. This self-service portal allows customers to view and manage their interactions with the business, submit inquiries, and access resources or documentation.
Gamification: Add game-like elements to encourage and motivate your sales teams. It involves setting up competitions, tracking performance metrics, and rewarding accomplishments. This feature aims to boost team engagement and productivity by making daily tasks more engaging and competitive.
Starting price: $14 per user per month
Billing cycle: Annual
Customer support options: Knowledge base, FAQs, video tutorials, and chat support
Who should consider Zoho CRM?
Business leaders focused on improving internal business processes can consider Zoho CRM for its automation capabilities. This CRM system simplifies routine activities such as team task assignment, lead generation, and sales forecasting. It aids in crafting an elaborate sales process, guiding the sales team at every stage. Moreover, Zoho CRM enhances team motivation through gamification, setting objectives, and rewarding achievements with badges, fostering a dynamic and productive sales environment.
How much does contact management software cost?
A contact management tool can cost as low as $7 per user per month or all the way up to $101.99+ per user per month, depending on various factors—features, number of users, infrastructure requirements, business size/type, training availability, deployment options, integrations, and storage. Most contact management solutions typically include the following pricing plans:
Free trial: No-cost trial plans of up to 30 days, giving users access to either all or limited features of the software. These are ideal for businesses that wish to try out a tool before purchasing it.
Free version: Free software plans offer basic features and limited premium feature access. These are ideal for small business owners with a limited budget.
Entry-level: Starts at $7 per user per month and offers limited features, such as contact storage, categorizing, and lead management. These are ideal for small businesses with basic contact management needs.
Mid-tier: Ranges from $12 to $55.24 per user per month and offers advanced features such as email campaign management, project management, and reporting. These are ideal for businesses that have outgrown basic contact management needs but don’t require the full range of functionality offered by enterprise-level tools.
High-end: Advanced plans going up to $101.99 per user per month offer marketing automation, comprehensive analytics, and priority customer service. These are ideal for large enterprises.
Hidden costs associated with affordable contact management software
Besides the software license itself, there may be additional costs associated with affordable contact management software, including:
Storage limits: Once you exceed a plan's storage limit, additional charges for extra space can be significant.
Functionality upgrades: Functionalities such as full mobile and offline access are sometimes available only in upgrade plans, which come at an additional monthly cost per user.
Training and implementation: Hiring a consultant to ensure successful implementation of the tool and opting for employee training can lead to significant costs.
Frequently asked questions when selecting affordable contact management software
Here are some questions to ask contact management software providers before making a final purchase:
Does the tool allow batch processing?
Batch processing capabilities allow you to handle large volumes of data efficiently. Checking for this feature in advance will enable you to perform actions such as updating records, sending emails, or tagging contacts in bulk, saving time and effort. This feature is particularly useful for businesses with extensive contact lists, enabling them to manage and maintain their database more effectively.
Does the tool support gamification?
Gamification helps keep the sales team engaged and motivated by introducing elements such as competitions, achievements, and rewards. Inquire about this feature from your vendor so that you can foster a dynamic and competitive work environment. This approach can significantly increase productivity and morale as it turns routine tasks into interactive challenges.
Does the tool have team collaboration features?
Team collaboration features, such as shared contact database, activity tracking, task assignment, and internal communication tools, are essential for fostering collaborative teamwork. Ensuring their availability in your contact management system enables seamless communication and coordination among team members and keeps everyone aligned and informed.
Methodology
For this article, we selected the top seven products that met the following criteria:
Each product should be a part of Software Advice’s Frontrunners Report 2023 for contact management software.
We assessed all 25 products in the Frontrunners report for their monthly pricing (as of Jan. 11, 2024) and considered the products with publicly available pricing information. Based on the assessment, the average price was calculated to be $22. Products with a monthly subscription price lower than $22 were then shortlisted to be included in this list and arranged in ascending order.
Each product must include a contact database, data import/export, interaction tracking, and search filters as core features.
Each product must meet our market definition for contact management software: “Contact management software enables the storage, tracking, and management of contact information throughout an organization. The software allows organizations to function more effectively by providing them with the essential contact information of customers, contractors, vendors, and more.”
*Our research team identified these features from vendor websites (as of Jan 11, 2024) based on their analysis of what users find valuable in or expect from contact management software. This list is not exhaustive. For additional features, refer to the vendor's website.
We select and rank products based on an objective methodology developed by our research team. While some vendors may pay us when they receive web traffic or leads, this has no influence on our methodology.
Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from Software Advice’s contact management software directory. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in the Software Advice directory that offer them.