Choosing between Pipedrive and Freshsales can significantly impact your sales team's performance and ROI. Both CRMs offer great features but serve different business needs. This detailed comparison will help you decide which platform aligns best with your company's requirements, budget, and growth plans.
What are Pipedrive and Freshsales?
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM known for its intuitive visual pipeline management and deal tracking capabilities. Its strengths lie in providing clear visibility into your sales process with a straightforward, customizable interface that sales teams find easy to navigate.
Freshsales
Freshsales, developed by Freshworks, offers a more complete CRM with built-in phone functionality, AI-powered tools, and integrated marketing features. It provides a broader suite of capabilities beyond traditional sales management.
👉 Want to compare Pipedrive with other CRMs? Read more:
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Pipedrive vs Freshsales: Overview
Pipedrive vs Freshsales: User interface
Both CRMs are known for their user-friendly interfaces, but they take slightly different approaches to user experience.
Pipedrive's interface
Pipedrive's visual pipeline is quite because of its drag-and-drop system. The interface is clean and intuitive, featuring a kanban-style board that makes deal tracking effortless and immediately understandable. Users appreciate the customization options that allow them to adjust feature widget positions in the sidebar based on their workflow priorities. Additionally, the platform comes equipped with pinnable filters and sort options that make navigating between different views seamless.
What makes Pipedrive special is its laser focus on sales pipeline visualization and deal tracking. The visual nature of the platform means sales representatives can easily see where each opportunity stands in the sales process. Many users report being able to get up and running with Pipedrive within an hour, making it well-suited for teams that are new to CRM systems or those transitioning from spreadsheet-based tracking methods.
Freshsales' interface
Freshsales takes a different but equally effective approach with its modern, straightforward interface. The clean, intuitive layout prioritizes simplicity without sacrificing functionality. One of its best features is its adaptability, offering multiple view options including kanban, table, and summary views to accommodate different working styles and reporting needs.
The platform allows for impressive customization at the user level, with the ability to modify fields in deal cards based on individual preferences. This personalization ensures that sales teams can focus on the information most relevant to their specific needs. Unlike Pipedrive's singular focus on pipeline visualization, Freshsales' interface is designed to incorporate additional features seamlessly, especially its built-in calling capabilities which are accessible directly from the main dashboard. This integrated approach means users spend less time switching between different tools and more time engaging with prospects.
Verdict
Both platforms score highly for ease of use, making this category a tie. Pipedrive works well with its visual pipeline management and intuitive deal tracking, while Freshsales offers a clean interface with multiple view options. Your preference will depend on whether you prioritize specialized sales visualization (Pipedrive) or a broader feature set with a clean interface (Freshsales).
Pipedrive vs Freshsales: Pricing comparison
When evaluating Pipedrive against Freshsales, pricing is often a decisive factor for businesses of all sizes.
Freshsales pricing
Freshsales offers a free plan and three paid tiers with straightforward pricing:
- Free Plan: Available for up to 3 users, includes contact management, deal management, tasks, built-in phone, live chat, and mobile app access
- Growth: €9/user/month ($11/month-to-month) - Adds call recording, parallel calling, 20 workflows per user, 2GB storage per user, API access, and basic predictive contact scoring
- Pro: €39/user/month ($47/month-to-month) - Includes multiple sales pipelines, advanced CRM customization, auto-assignment rules, sales forecasting, AI-powered tools like contact scoring and deal insights
- Enterprise: €59/user/month ($71/month-to-month) - Adds field-level permissions, custom modules, forecasting insights by Freddy AI, workflows for custom modules, and audit logs
Additional costs include:
- Workflows: €5 for 10 workflows
- Phone Credits: Starting at €5
- CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote): €19 per user/month
Pipedrive pricing
Pipedrive offers five paid tiers without a free plan option:
- Essential: €14/user/month ($24/month-to-month) - Includes lead and deal management, customizable pipelines, and email sync
- Advanced: €39/user/month ($44/month-to-month) - Adds email automation, two-way email sync, and group emailing
- Professional: €49/user/month ($69/month-to-month) - Adds AI Sales Assistant, revenue forecasting, smart documents with e-signatures
- Power: €64/user/month ($84/month-to-month) - Includes better security, unlimited access to reports, and phone support
- Enterprise: €99/user/month ($129/month-to-month) - Offers dedicated success manager, better security, and unlimited Pipedrive custom fields
Add-ons available:
- Projects: From €6.70/user/month
- Campaigns: From €13.33/company/month
- LeadBooster: From €32.50/company/month
- Smart Docs: From €32.50/company/month
- Web Visitors: From €41/company/month
Plan-by-plan comparison
When comparing entry-level options, Freshsales provides exceptional value with its free plan for up to three users that includes essential CRM features and built-in phone capabilities. In contrast, Pipedrive's lowest-tier Essential plan starts at €14/user/month, making it considerably more expensive for small teams. However, Pipedrive does include greater customization options at this level, such as the ability to create up to 30 custom fields per company, which Freshsales reserves for higher tiers.
In the mid-tier range, both platforms offer plans at €39/user/month, creating an interesting comparison point. Freshsales Pro plan highlights AI capabilities, providing contact scoring and deal insights powered by Freddy AI, along with auto-assignment rules and territory management. Pipedrive's Advanced plan takes a different approach, focusing on communication tools with email automation, two-way email sync, and group emailing features. The choice between these comparable options ultimately depends on whether your team prioritizes AI assistance or email functionality.
At the upper end of the spectrum, the difference becomes more pronounced. Freshsales Enterprise tier is priced at €59/user/month, making it significantly more affordable than Pipedrive's €99/user/month Enterprise option – a substantial €40 difference per user. Despite the lower price, Freshsales continues to deliver pretty good AI-powered features at this level while adding field-level permissions and custom modules. Pipedrive justifies its premium pricing with greater customization flexibility, unlimited custom fields, and dedicated customer success management, which may appeal to larger organizations with complex requirements.
Pricing verdict
Freshsales might give you better overall value if we're talking about a small or medium business:
- The free plan allows small teams (up to 3 users) to access essential CRM features without any cost
- Growth plan offers built-in phone capabilities at €9/user/month, they don't include call features until Pipedrive's Professional plan (€49/user/month)
- Even at the enterprise level, Freshsales is €40/user/month cheaper than Pipedrive's equivalent offering
Pipedrive's pricing strategy heavily incentivizes annual commitments (40-70% price difference versus monthly billing), creating a significant financial penalty for month-to-month flexibility. While it lacks a free tier, Pipedrive does offer a 14-day free trial. Nothing wrong if you want the budget and want to go for it, though.
But for teams that prioritize highly visual pipelines and don't need built-in calling features, Pipedrive's Essential plan may provide sufficient value. However, businesses seeking phone integration will find Freshsales more cost-effective across all tiers
Lead and deal management
Pipedrive
The heart of Pipedrive's value proposition is its great visual pipeline management. Sales teams enjoy the intuitive drag-and-drop interface that transforms deal management into an almost tactile experience. Even at lower pricing tiers, users can customize deal cards with up to 30 custom fields, ensuring every critical piece of information is tracked. Pipedrive web forms allow you to capture leads directly on your website and automatically add them to your pipeline. The platform's support for unlimited customizable pipelines gives organizations complete flexibility to tailor the CRM to match their unique sales processes.
Freshsales
Taking a more intelligence-driven approach, Freshsales leverages AI to transform lead management. The platform's notable feature is its Freddy AI-powered contact scoring system that automatically evaluates leads based on conversion potential, helping teams prioritize their efforts strategically. Database integrity remains pristine thanks to Smart Matches, which intelligently identifies and prevents contact duplicates without manual intervention. Beyond these intelligent features, the system offers versatile pipeline visualization options including kanban, funnel, and timeline views. Lead generation bots handle routine tasks like scheduling meetings, allowing sales representatives to focus on high-value activities rather than administrative work.
Verdict
While Pipedrive has superior visual pipeline management with unlimited customizable pipelines and exceptional deal tracking visualization, Freshsales moves ahead with its AI-powered lead scoring and intelligent duplicate detection, making it the better option for complete lead management. Freshsales' automated approach to prioritizing and qualifying leads gives it the advantage for teams that value efficiency in lead handling over pure pipeline visualization.
Communication tools
Pipedrive
For email-centric teams, Pipedrive delivers thorough tracking and integration capabilities that provide valuable insights into customer engagement. Sales representatives can leverage customizable email templates to streamline their outreach efforts. However, the platform recently discontinued its built-in calling feature (formerly known as Caller), creating a significant gap in its communication toolset. Teams that rely heavily on phone-based sales must now integrate with third-party calling solutions, potentially increasing both complexity and costs. While web-to-mobile calling is available in higher-tier plans, this limited functionality falls short of delivering a complete calling solution.
Freshsales
Communication capabilities truly work well in Freshsales, anchored by its fully-integrated phone system available across all pricing tiers. Sales teams can purchase local and toll-free numbers worldwide to establish presence in various markets, while making and receiving calls directly within the CRM interface. Advanced functionality includes features like call recording for training and quality assurance, call masking to protect personal numbers, and basic call queues for efficient inbound call management. The Pro plan introduces a power dialer that automates consecutive calls, while parallel calling and queue transfer capabilities improve team collaboration for complex sales scenarios. Beyond calling features, the platform matches Pipedrive's email capabilities with good tracking and templating tools.
Verdict
Freshsales clearly wins in the communication tools category with its fully-equipped phone system included in all plans, including the free version. Pipedrive's lack of native calling features forces users to rely on third-party integrations, creating additional complexity and potential costs for teams that rely heavily on phone-based sales activities.
Automation capabilities
Pipedrive
Starting at the Advanced plan level ($39/user/month), automation becomes a cornerstone of Pipedrive's functionality. The system helps keep the sales process moving without manual intervention by automatically creating leads or advancing deals through pipeline stages based on predefined triggers. Intelligent recommendations appear throughout the platform, suggesting relevant app integrations based on usage patterns to help optimize workflows. Email sequences with personalization capabilities nurture leads through the sales funnel automatically. For more advanced marketing automation needs, users can add the Campaign add-on, though this comes at an additional cost of $13.33/company/month.
Freshsales
Workflow automation takes center stage in Freshsales at the Pro plan tier ($39/user/month). Rather than focusing exclusively on deal progression, the platform takes a holistic approach by automating a wide range of repetitive tasks. Follow-up emails send themselves, fields update automatically based on specific actions, and routine data entry happens behind the scenes. Time-saving features like automatic lead assignment instantly route new prospects to the appropriate representatives, while call interactions are logged without manual effort. The system provides ready-to-use workflow templates for common automation scenarios, allowing teams to implement sophisticated processes quickly without building them from scratch.
Verdict
This category is a tie, as both platforms offer similar automation capabilities at comparable price points. Pipedrive's workflow automation focuses more on sales processes and deal progression, while Freshsales offers broader automation, on different activities. The choice between them will depend on whether a team prioritizes deal-focused automation or seeks to automate a wider range of CRM activities.
AI capabilities
Pipedrive
Advanced intelligence features become available in Pipedrive starting with the Professional plan ($49/user/month). The centerpiece is the AI-powered Sales Assistant that functions as a virtual coach, analyzing activities and offering personalized suggestions to improve performance. Communication becomes more efficient through AI email creation tools that help draft effective messages with minimal effort. When conversations grow lengthy, the email summarization feature automatically condenses threads into digestible summaries. The system's intelligence extends to data enrichment, with smart contact information retrieval pulling relevant details from the web to create more useful customer profiles. Based on user behavior patterns, the platform even recommends the most useful app integrations to improve productivity.
Freshsales
The Freddy AI suite forms the intelligence backbone of Freshsales, offering multiple tools designed to improve sales effectiveness. Customer inquiries receive quick responses through Freddy Self Service, handling routine questions without human intervention. Sales performance improves with Freddy Copilot, which analyzes representative activities and suggests concrete improvements. The system's predictive capabilities help with Freddy Insights, which identifies promising sales opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. Contact data remains rich and actionable thanks to AI-powered scoring and enrichment, automatically evaluating lead potential and supplementing information to give sales teams a complete picture of every prospect.
Verdict
This is a tie, as both CRMs offer valuable AI capabilities tailored to their respective strengths. Pipedrive's AI focuses on sales assistance, smart communication tools, and email creation, while Freshsales uses AI for lead scoring, opportunity identification, and performance improvement. Teams will benefit from either platform's AI offerings, with the choice depending on whether they prioritize communication efficiency or lead intelligence.
Reporting and analytics
Pipedrive
At the core of Pipedrive's analytical capabilities are its highly visual dashboards that transform complex sales data into clear, actionable insights. Users can create customized collections of reports that spotlight the metrics most relevant to their business goals. Collaboration becomes seamless through shareable dashboard links that keep stakeholders informed without requiring CRM access. The platform's reporting flexibility extends to custom field reports, allowing teams to analyze specialized data points unique to their sales process. Forward-looking teams can benefit from revenue forecasting tools that predict future performance based on pipeline metrics. Goal-setting features for both companies and individual users establish clear targets, while thorough team performance tracking identifies both strengths and improvement opportunities across the sales organization.
Freshsales
Data visualization takes different forms in Freshsales through specialized dashboards tailored to distinct business functions. The sales dashboard provides a thorough overview of key performance indicators including win rates, sales cycles, and territory-specific metrics. For lead generation teams, dedicated analytics track conversion rates and prospect engagement across multiple channels. The platform offers both curated out-of-the-box reports for quick insights and custom reporting capabilities for deeper analysis. Customer service teams benefit from chatbot analytics that measure automated conversation effectiveness, while management can evaluate team performance through dedicated metrics. The CSAT survey functionality provides direct customer feedback measurement, and conversation tracking analytics help improve response times and service quality.
Verdict
Both platforms have great reporting tools, resulting in a tie. Pipedrive works well in customizable visual dashboards and revenue forecasting, while Freshsales offers specialized analytics for lead generation and chatbot performance. Which system provides greater value depends on whether a business prioritizes pipeline visualization and forecasting or prefers more specialized functional reporting across different business activities.
Mobile capabilities
Pipedrive
Taking the CRM experience on the road, Pipedrive's mobile application for iOS and Android ensures sales teams stay productive regardless of location. Even without internet connectivity, the app's offline functionality allows users to continue working uninterrupted, with changes synchronizing automatically once connection is restored. Voice-to-text capabilities eliminate the need for typing, allowing representatives to quickly capture important details after meetings. The web-to-mobile calling feature enables users to initiate calls from the desktop platform and seamlessly transfer them to their mobile devices. Time management remains efficient through task and event scheduling functions, while the ability to move deals through pipeline stages keeps sales processes flowing even when away from the office. Integration with third-party apps ensures the mobile experience maintains connection with other essential business tools.
Freshsales
Designed with field sales in mind, the Freshsales mobile app for Android and iOS devices puts CRM power in users' pockets. The full contact, deal, and account management features ensure full visibility into customer relationships while on the move. Representatives can track sales activities in real-time and capture critical information immediately after customer interactions. The document scanning capability transforms physical paperwork into digital records instantly, eliminating manual data entry later. For in-person meetings, the unique check-in feature confirms representative presence and shares location data with the team. Following customer conversations, users can immediately schedule follow-up activities to maintain momentum. Like Pipedrive, the app functions offline, allowing data entry and review without internet connectivity, with changes synchronizing once connection is restored.
Verdict
This is a tie, as both mobile apps provide similarly strong functionality tailored to mobile sales environments. Pipedrive offers voice-to-text and web-to-mobile calling for improved communication, while Freshsales includes unique features like document scanning and check-ins for field sales teams. The choice between them depends on specific mobile workflow requirements and which specialized features align best with a team's daily activities.
Integrations
Pipedrive
Connectivity is one of Pipedrive's greatest strengths, with an extensive ecosystem of over 350 native integrations that expand its functionality across virtually every business need. The platform's marketplace serves as a central hub for discovering and implementing third-party applications that improve CRM capabilities without complex coding. For organizations with specialized requirements, a great API enables development teams to create custom integrations tailored to unique business processes. Common connections include popular productivity tools like Slack and Google Workspace, video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, and essential business systems that go from marketing automation, accounting, to and project management. This rich integration environment ensures Pipedrive can serve as the central hub in a connected technology stack rather than an isolated system.
Read more: Pipedrive marketing automation guide
Freshsales
While more limited in quantity, Freshsales offers approximately 30 native integrations focused on quality connections with essential business tools. The platform creates a seamless experience within the Freshworks ecosystem, connecting effortlessly with sister products like Freshdesk for customer support and Freshmarketer for marketing automation. For extending beyond native integrations, the system provides API access that allows development teams to build custom connections to specialized business systems. The platform's Zapier compatibility significantly expands its reach, enabling connections with thousands of additional applications without custom coding. Though fewer in number than Pipedrive's offerings, the available integrations cover critical business functions including email platforms, calendar systems, and communication tools.
Verdict
Pipedrive wins decisively in the integrations category with its extensive marketplace offering more than 10 times the native integrations of Freshsales. For businesses with complex technology ecosystems or specialized integration needs, Pipedrive's broader connectivity options provide significantly more flexibility without requiring custom development. While Freshsales covers essential integration needs, organizations requiring extensive third-party connections will find Pipedrive's ecosystem more useful and immediately accessible.
Customer support
Pipedrive
Assistance is always available through Pipedrive's multi-channel support system. All users, regardless of plan level, can access 24/7 live chat support for immediate assistance with urgent issues. Email support provides an alternative channel for less time-sensitive questions, ensuring all inquiries receive appropriate attention. For organizations on higher-tier plans (Power and Enterprise), phone support offers direct conversation with support specialists. The platform's extensive knowledge base serves as a thorough self-help resource, containing detailed articles and step-by-step guides covering virtually every feature. An active community forum connects users with peers facing similar challenges, creating a collaborative problem-solving environment. Visual learners benefit from the extensive library of video tutorials that demonstrate key functions and best practices through clear demonstrations.
Freshsales
Customer care is central in Freshsales' support strategy, with remarkably democratic access to assistance channels. Unlike many competitors that reserve premium support for higher-tier customers, Freshsales provides 24/5 chat, email, and phone support for all users – including those on the free plan. The knowledge base offers thorough documentation on all platform features with clear, actionable guidance. Community forums facilitate peer-to-peer assistance and feature sharing among the user base. For enterprise customers, the dedicated account manager service provides personalized guidance from a support specialist familiar with the organization's specific implementation and requirements. This tiered approach ensures all users receive essential support while providing improved services for larger implementations.
Verdict
This is a tie, with each platform offering unique strengths in their support approach. Pipedrive provides truly around-the-clock assistance with 24/7 chat support, while Freshsales democratizes access by offering phone support across all plans, including its free tier. The choice between them depends on whether constant availability or broad channel access across all pricing levels is more important to an organization's support needs.
Pipedrive or Freshsales: Which CRM is right for you?
Choose Pipedrive if:
- Your primary focus is visual sales pipeline management
- You need extensive third-party integrations
- You prefer a specialized CRM focused solely on sales processes
- Your team values customizable dashboards and reporting
- You require strong document management capabilities
- You're looking for clear sales pipeline visualization tools
Choose Freshsales if:
- You need built-in calling capabilities
- You want AI-powered lead scoring and qualification
- You're looking for a more affordable solution with a free plan
- You need advanced workflow automation across sales and marketing
- You want a CRM that's part of a broader business suite
- Phone-based sales are central to your business model
Pipedrive and Freshsales represent two different approaches to CRM. Pipedrive takes a "more depth, less breadth" approach, focusing on being the best sales pipeline management tool possible while relying on integrations for additional functionality. Freshsales offers "more breadth, less depth," providing a wider range of features like built-in calling and AI capabilities at the expense of some pipeline customization.
For businesses primarily focused on sales pipeline visualization with a preference for a specialized tool that integrates with their existing tech stack, Pipedrive is the better choice.
For companies seeking an affordable, all-in-one solution with built-in calling capabilities and AI-powered lead scoring, Freshsales offers greater value, especially with its free plan for up to three users.
The best CRM for your business ultimately depends on your specific needs, team size, budget, and how you prioritize pipeline management versus broader functionality. Both platforms offer free trials, allowing you to test them before making a final decision.
