AI directory · 5 tools

Sales and CRM tools with AI for small businesses

A CRM keeps your contacts, deals and follow-ups in one place. Many now add AI helpers that draft emails, summarize deals or find new leads. A small business can use one to stop leads from slipping away.

By Andy Kang · Facts checked November 6, 2026

Key takeaways

Some tools are a full CRM while others mainly help you find new leads.
AI features often sit on higher plans, so check which plan includes them.
Prices differ by seat and by billing period, so compare the same terms.

Sales and CRM at a glance

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Paid plans from
HubSpot	Businesses that want a free CRM to start	Yes	$7 per seat per month for new customers paying annually, or $10 per seat per month paying monthly
Pipedrive	Small sales teams that think in pipeline stages	No	Lite: US$14 per seat per month, billed annually
Apollo.io	Teams that run outbound email to new prospects	Yes	Not listed
Zoho CRM	Small teams that want to start with a free CRM	Yes	Not listed
Salesforce	Businesses that expect to grow into a larger CRM	Not listed	$25 per user per month for Starter Suite

Prices as listed on each vendor’s pricing page. Follow a tool’s page for its source.

The tools

HubSpot

by HubSpot

A CRM with built-in marketing, sales and service tools and Breeze AI.

Best for Businesses that want a free CRM to start

Free plan, paid plans from $7 per seat per month for new customers paying annually, or $10 per seat per month paying monthly

Pipedrive

by Pipedrive

A sales pipeline CRM with an AI sales assistant.

Best for Small sales teams that think in pipeline stages

No free plan, paid plans from Lite: US$14 per seat per month, billed annually

Apollo.io

by Apollo.io

A contact database and outreach tool for finding and emailing new leads.

Best for Teams that run outbound email to new prospects

Free plan

Zoho CRM

by Zoho

A CRM with a free edition and Zia AI on higher editions.

Best for Small teams that want to start with a free CRM

Free plan

Salesforce

by Salesforce

A large CRM with small-business suites and Agentforce AI.

Best for Businesses that expect to grow into a larger CRM

Paid plans from $25 per user per month for Starter Suite

How to choose

List what you need most, such as tracking deals, sending email or finding new contacts.
Check which plan includes the AI features you want to use.
Add up the cost for the number of people who will log in.
Read the vendor's data note and find out who can turn AI training on or off.

Head-to-head comparisons

Guides

Sales and CRM: common questions

Which Sales and CRM tools have a free plan?

Several tools in the Sales and CRM category offer a free plan or a free trial. Each tool page here shows what its pricing page says.

Do Sales and CRM tools use my customer data to train AI?

Vendors differ. Some say they may train their own models unless an admin opts out, so read each tool's data note.

About the author

Andy Kang, AI Partner Team. Andy Kang writes the AI directory for AI Partner Team, which sets up and builds AI tools for small businesses alongside managed IT. Each page is written from the vendor’s own pricing, help and trust pages, and shows the day those pages were checked.

Facts come from the vendor’s own website and help docs, linked on every page.
Each page shows the date we last read those sources.
We do not score or rank tools. We say who each one suits and who it does not.
If a vendor does not publish a price, we say so instead of guessing.

Free IT check

Want sales and crm set up for your team?

We reply within 1 business hour, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Pacific.