For a team of three, Zoho CRM’s free edition lasts longer, because it’s the only one of the two that fits: it allows 3 users, and HubSpot’s allows 2 users.
For one or two people, the deciding caps are your list and your saved emails. HubSpot’s free plan holds 1,000 contacts and lets you save email templates, up to 3 per account. Zoho CRM’s stores 5,000 records (10 MB), notes included, and holds 10 templates. Both send one-to-one email from a contact’s record. HubSpot’s real edge on free is a monthly allowance of marketing emails to your list, with its branding on them, which Zoho CRM’s free edition doesn’t offer. When you outgrow either, the first paid step differs: HubSpot Starter for three is $60 a month at the regular price ($30 a month for new customers, for a limited time), and Zoho CRM Standard for four is $80 a month.
The caps side by side
Here is everything each free plan includes and what ends it, as each vendor states it. The page each figure was read from is named beside its date.
HubSpot
- What the free plan includes
- Users: 2
- Contacts: 1,000
- Canned snippets: Up to 3
- Email templates: Up to 3 per account
- 1-to-1 email: Includes HubSpot branding
- What ends it
- A third user, contact 1,001, a fourth snippet or email template, or any paid feature such as removing HubSpot branding.
Checked
- Also from hubspot.com/products/crm, checked
Zoho CRM
- What the free plan includes
- Users: 3
- Email templates: 10
- Data export: 10 a day
- Data storage: 5,000 records (10 MB)
- API calls: 5,000 per day
- What ends it
- A fourth user or an eleventh email template. Data storage is 5,000 records (10 MB): an account that needs to keep more than that no longer fits the Free edition.
Checked
One cap here isn’t really a cap. Zoho CRM’s free edition limits exports to 10 a day. That’s a daily limit that resets, so a regular backup won’t end the free edition.
And here’s what each costs a team of three over the first year, which is the clearest way to see who lasts longer at that size. Zoho’s other CRM, Bigin, gets its own row: its free edition is for one person, so at three it’s a paid plan, and it’s a separate product from Zoho CRM.
| Tool | Plan | Basis | First 12 months | Required one-time fees | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Starter | 12 months at the regular price | $720 | None listed | October 5, 2026 |
| Zoho CRM | Free plan | Free plan. Nothing to pay. | $0 | None listed | October 5, 2026 |
| Bigin (by Zoho) | Bigin Express | 12 months at the list price | $324 | None listed | October 5, 2026 |
HubSpot Starter: Regular price listed: $20 a month. Lower price shown: $10 a month, for new customers, for a limited time. No end date is stated for the lower price. The 12-month figure uses the regular price: the lower price has no stated end date, so it is not projected over the year.
Which one ends first at your size?
On your own. Both fit. If your list is large, HubSpot’s contact cap is the one to check: past 1,000 contacts, it no longer fits, while Zoho CRM’s storage holds more, though notes count toward it. If you answer enquiries from saved emails, HubSpot’s template cap comes first. Both let you send one-to-one email from a contact’s record. HubSpot’s free plan puts its branding on those emails. Zoho CRM’s free edition sends them within a daily allowance and can’t track the replies until you connect your mailbox, which is a paid step. If you’d like to send the occasional marketing email to your whole list without paying, only HubSpot’s free plan does that, with its branding. Bigin’s free edition, Zoho’s other CRM, also fits one person.
Two of you. Both still fit on users, so the same three checks decide it: your list, your saved emails, and whether you want free marketing email to your list. For most pairs with more than a handful of templates, Zoho CRM’s free edition lasts longer.
Three of you. Only Zoho CRM’s fits. HubSpot’s free plan ends at the third user, so staying on HubSpot means paying for Starter.
Four or more. Neither fits. Zoho’s help center says the free edition can’t add user licenses, so a fourth person means a paid plan for everyone on either side.
What the first paid step costs
On HubSpot, the step is Starter, and you’ll usually take it at a third person or at the template cap. Starter for two is $40 a month at the regular price ($20 a month for new customers, for a limited time), and for three it’s $60 a month at the regular price ($30 a month for new customers, for a limited time). HubSpot calls the lower price a limited-time offer for new customers and gives no end date, so budget on the regular one. Starter lifts the template cap and removes the branding. If HubSpot’s contact cap is what stopped you, know that its pages don’t give Starter a stored-contact number. Starter’s included marketing contacts measure the people you send marketing email to, not how many you can keep, so confirm the figure with HubSpot before you pay.
On Zoho CRM, the step is Standard, and you’ll usually take it at a fourth person, or when you want mass email or your mailbox connected so replies land on each contact’s record. Standard for four is $80 a month. Bigin Express (by Zoho) for four is $36 a month, but that’s a move to a different product, with a fresh setup and an import, not an upgrade.
A worked example
Say you run a three-person translation agency. All three of you handle client enquiries, you have about two thousand clients and freelance translators in a spreadsheet, and you send six saved emails all the time: the quote, the rush-fee note, the delivery note, the payment reminder, the feedback request, and the onboarding pack.
Three users already rules out HubSpot’s free plan. Your list is also past its 1,000 contacts, and six templates is over its cap, so on HubSpot you’d be paying $60 a month at the regular price ($30 a month for new customers, for a limited time) from day one.
Zoho CRM’s free edition fits three users and holds 10 templates, so your six fit. Two thousand contacts sit well inside its 5,000 records (10 MB), with room for notes. That’s the one that lasts longer for you. Watch two things: storage as your notes pile up, and the day a fourth person joins, when the choice is Standard or a move to Bigin.
Our view
For a small team choosing between these two, Zoho CRM’s free edition lasts longer in most cases. It fits three people, holds more templates, and stores more. HubSpot’s free plan earns its place for one or two people who want to send marketing email to their list without paying, and whose list and saved emails sit inside its caps. What choosing Zoho CRM gives up is a connected mailbox and mass email until you pay for Standard. What choosing HubSpot gives up is room: at a third person, a big list, or a fourth template, you’re paying.
Your next step
Write down three numbers this week: the people who’ll need a login in the next six months, the contacts you’d import, and the saved emails you use. If the first is three, or the second is past HubSpot’s contact cap, or the third is more than a handful, start Zoho CRM’s free edition and import your list the same evening; Zoho CRM and Bigin pricing covers what comes after it. If you’re one or two people with a short list who want to send it the occasional marketing email for free, HubSpot’s free plan fits, and HubSpot CRM pricing shows what Starter costs when you outgrow it. When a free CRM plan is enough compares every free plan in this guide.