Agencies need a pipeline for new business and a way to track client work after the deal closes. These picks cover both, from free to flexible boards.
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What an agency needs from a CRM
An agency sells, then delivers. New-business deals need a pipeline, and once a client signs, the account manager needs the same record to track the work and spot the next upsell.
So check two things: whether the CRM can hold client work after the close, and what it costs for a team of 5 to 10 where not everyone sells. Figures below are billed annually unless noted.
Why the picks are in this order
1. HubSpot
HubSpot is first because an agency can run new business on it for $0 and keep sales, marketing and service on one contact record as clients grow. The free plan covers 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit.
Starter is $20 per seat at the normal price, with up to 15 pipelines and 50 workflows, per HubSpot's sales pricing. Separate pipelines for new business and renewals fit inside that limit. For 5 users Starter is $1,200 a year.
2. monday CRM
monday CRM is second because it covers delivery as well as sales. Its product page says it "supports both pre- and post-sales processes on one platform" and "puts marketing, sales, and delivery on one platform," with flexible boards, fields, views and automations.
Standard is $17 per seat billed yearly ($25 monthly) with 250 automations a month, per monday CRM pricing. Five seats cost $1,020 a year. It ranks below HubSpot because there's no free plan and seats come in buckets with a 3-seat minimum: a 6-person agency pays for 10 seats, $2,040 a year on Standard.
3. Capsule
Capsule is third for small agencies that want projects inside a plain CRM. Its Growth plan includes 5 project boards to "run separate project boards for different products, teams or processes," and Advanced includes 50, per Capsule's pricing. Workflows can run inside pipeline and project boards.
Growth is $36 per user billed annually ($40 monthly), so 5 users cost $2,160 a year. It's behind monday because project boards don't start until Growth; the free plan (2 users, 250 contacts) and Starter ($18) don't list them. It rates 4.7/5 on G2 and charges no setup or onboarding fee.
4. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is fourth because it's a strong new-business pipeline, but its plans center on selling: Lite covers pipeline, leads and calendar management, and Growth adds email sync and automations, per Pipedrive's pricing. Our research didn't find client-delivery tools in those plan descriptions.
Growth is $39 per seat billed annually ($49 monthly), or $2,340 a year for 5 users. Every plan bills monthly with no setup fee, which helps an agency whose headcount moves with its client list.
What to watch out for
Count everyone who will log in. monday CRM and Capsule both price per user, so account managers and producers who update boards add to the bill, not just sellers.
monday's buckets jump from 5 to 10 to 15 seats, and teams over 40 users are asked to request a quote. At 50 seats, $10,200 a year is the self-serve list rate.
HubSpot Professional, the step up for sequences and lead scoring, is $90 per seat billed annually with an annual commitment and a required $1,500 onboarding fee: $6,900 in year one for 5 users.
Pipedrive's fees are non-refundable, including on an annual plan cancelled early, per its terms.
How we checked
We compared each vendor's pricing, terms and product pages and its G2 reviews, checked on Nov 12, 2026. This is research-based: we did not run these CRMs ourselves. Picks are ordered by how well each covers both new business and client work after the deal, and what that costs for 5 users.