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If you've ever felt bogged down by the complexities of CRM systems like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, you're not alone. Pipedrive, launched in 2010, aimed to tackle that problem head-on with a CRM that catered to the day-to-day needs of sales teams, rather than upper management.
100,000 customers later, it’s safe to say that Pipedrive has filled a crucial gap in the market, proving its ability to simplify the sales process for small-to-medium businesses worldwide.
With a user-friendly interface, Pipedrive offers intuitive sales features like its popular Sales Assistant, which recently got an AI-powered upgrade to help sellers more accurately predict deal won probabilities, and identify the right deals to focus on.
And, while some have criticized its narrow focus on sales, Pipedrive has clearly paid attention, with the recent introduction of Campaigns, an integrated email marketing solution.
But is all this enough to help Pipedrive beat the countless other all-in-one CRMs already on the market?
In this Pipedrive CRM review, we’re going to look at everything from its value for money, how easy it is to get set up, and the kind of support available, so you can make an informed decision on whether or not Pipedrive is right for you.
Pipedrive CRM Summary
In a nutshell, Pipedrive CRM is an affordable and easy-to-use cloud tool with a good range of features and customization options. Prices range from $24/month/user (Essentials plan) to $129 (Enterprise plan).
The Advanced plan ($44/month/user) includes features such as two-way email sync, customizable email templates, email open and click tracking and automation workflows, making it the best plan for growing businesses.
Includes 30 custom fields, customizable pipelines and Sales Assistant. Up to 15 reports per user.
$ 44
Advanced
Includes two-way email sync, automations and web-to-mobile calls. Up to 30 reports per user.
$ 64
Professional
Sync up to 5 email accounts. Includes automatic assignment, revenue forecast reports and team management features. Up to 150 reports per user.
$ 79
Power
Includes project management features, phone support, unlimited dashboards and up to 250 reports per user.
$ 129
Enterprise
Includes security alerts and rules, plus unlimited reports, dashboards and custom fields.
Monthly pricing, discounts applied to annual subscriptions. Find out more about Pipedrive’s pricing in our complete guide.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Pros
Easy to Use
The software is well designed and easy to navigate – even for complete beginners!
Affordable
Prices start from $24/month/user and go up incrementally, making it an affordable service for small businesses.
Pipeline Management
You’re given unlimited pipelines and properties to help with the organization of your sales process.
Support
Pipedrive CRM provides support via chat and email around the clock on all plans.
Quick search functionality
Pipedrive’s universal search bar makes locating any contact, deal, activity or file a breeze.
AI Sales Assistant
The Sales Assistant utilizes AI to analyze sales data and provide personalized recommendations, empowering sales teams to make data-driven decisions and achieve better results in their sales efforts. With over 60% of Pipedrive’s customers using it, it’s clearly a popular feature!
Cons
2-Way Syncing
Syncing with your email client (e.g. Gmail) is reserved for higher plans. The workaround (see below) is a bit clunky.
No free plan
Unfortunately, Pipedrive doesn’t have a free plan. Though you can try the software out for free for 14 days.
Limited workflows and automations
These are only available on the Advanced plan and above, and the workflow editor isn’t as flexible as we’ve found in other CRMs
No lead scoring
Unfortunately this feature isn’t available within Pipeline, although you can integrate a third-party tool
Is Pipedrive CRM the right CRM software for you?
Recommended if:
Not recommended if:
For those looking specifically for a tool to help them manage their sales process
Its clean design means that beginners will find it easy to navigate and make the most of the features available without getting overwhelmed.
If you’re looking for a free CRM then I’m afraid Pipedrive won’t be for you
Instead, check out HubSpot or Freshworks – though bear in mind that their free plans come with their own limitations. Also, if you’re in need of an all-in-one sales and marketing service, Pipedrive is lacking marketing features such as email marketing.
Rating Details
Ease of Use Info popup
Pipedrive has clearly invested resources into designing a user-friendly product. The main menu is accessible from the left sidebar and is well laid out and intuitive to navigate, even for complete CRM novices. In fact, it’s even possible to select what features you want to show in this menu, and which should be hidden – a level of customization that goes beyond what most CRMs offer.
Pipeline Management Info popup
Unlimited customizable pipelines with deal cards that can be dragged and dropped to the right stage (both stages and the data shown on the deal card can be customized). You can easily change the names of the pipeline columns to reflect your sales process. You also have various views (pipeline, list and forecast). The list view is great if you want to perform a bulk action like moving multiple deals over to the completed column, for example.
Contact/Deal Management Info popup
Add notes, tasks, additional information, files and invoices to each person/deal/organization. Unlimited properties to add/filter by. Leads, contacts and deals are separated so that you don’t end up with a lot of prequalified leads in your deal pipeline.
One criticism: its AI-powered field mapping for new contact lists isn’t always accurate, so be sure to double-check everything when you’re uploading lists. However, I do like how easy it is to create custom fields, even in the middle of the contact upload process.
Email Features Info popup
Syncing with your email client is reserved for higher plans ($44/month/user), which gives you the advantage of seeing any email correspondence linked to a specific contact or deal. There is an alternative called Smart Bcc although it’s a little fiddly. Group emailing and templates are available on higher plans.
Pipedrive’s email marketing add-on, Campaigns, is simple enough to use and offers a convenient way to keep your sales and marketing campaigns in one place. However, its drag-and-drop editor only includes a limited range of content blocks, and its automation feature also felt a little rudimentary.
Automation Info popup
Workflow automations are available on Advanced plan and above. There are around 40 templates to help you get started quickly, with automations such as email-based campaigns and automated follow-ups. The workflow editor however is not as flexible as we’ve seen with other CRMs. Separately, you can also set up automated assignment rules to specify which salesperson a lead or deal should go to.
Reporting Info popup
Customizable reports and dashboards are easily accessible from the Insights section of your main menu. There is a huge range of deal-based, activity-based and campaign reports to choose from, although your plan will determine the number of reports you can generate. Revenue forecasts are only available on the Professional plan and higher.
Lead Scoring
Surprisingly, Pipedrive doesn’t offer lead scoring features, which is something we commonly see in other CRMs. However, it’s possible to connect it to a third-party lead scoring app like Outfunnel. Smart contact data (from web and social sources) is available on the Advanced plan and higher, though a score is not generated.
Live Chat
Available with its LeadBooster add-on for $49/company/month. If you’re not interested in the other tools that come with this add-on, it’s quite a lot extra to pay for live chat – I recommend checking out these dedicated live chat tools.
Web Tracking
The Web Visitors add-on (powered by Leadfeeder) lets you know which companies are visiting your website. This is available for an extra $41/month.
Security Info popup
Two-factor authentication login and user access restrictions and logs on the Essential plan. Professional plan comes with a security dashboard, rules and alerts.
Languages
Available in over 20 different languages, though support languages are more limited.
Integrations & Apps
400+ integrations with a wide range of tools, which are cleverly categorized by revenue cycle stage. If it’s missing a particular app you need, there is an open API configuration to facilitate a connection with third-party services, and the option to integrate with Zapier. Mobile app available for download on both Android and iOS.
Support
Extensive knowledge base, courses, chat and email support around the clock on all plans.
Overall Rating
4.3
Pipedrive fulfills its promise to help users visualize their sales processes and get more done. It is easy to use whilst still offering a good deal of functionality. However, it charges more for extra features and is missing a few key tools such as lead scoring that can also help to simplify the sales management process.
Pipedrive's Top Features
As you can see from what we’ve already covered in this Pipedrive review, it offers a good range of pro features for sales and marketing teams. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the top features.
Lead/Deal Management
Pipeline management is a crucial factor when selecting a CRM, and Pipedrive excels in both functionality and ease of use. Its visually-rich interface features a drag-and-drop pipeline, providing users with a clear overview of sales priorities. Additionally, it simplifies the process of tracking calls and conversations with contacts, enabling you to focus on activities that drive conversions.
The smart docs feature is another valuable addition, allowing sales teams to automatically generate and send trackable documents, including new business proposals. This is a real plus as it allows you to contact your prospects at exactly the right time and hopefully win more deals.
AI Features
Pipedrive offers its own AI-powered Sales Assistant tool (available on the Professional plan and higher), which is a valuable resource for sales forecasting, task management, and data insights. The Sales Assistant can identify patterns, provide recommendations for optimizing performance, and suggest actions to prioritize. It can also help you craft personalized emails from simple prompts, which is a real time-saver.
In terms of automation, it will guide you through the workflow and provide useful automation tips as you go.
Conclusion
In my opinion, and after extensive testing, Pipedrive CRM is an excellent CRM software for small to medium-sized businesses, especially if your campaigns are primarily sales-driven. It has all the features you need to manage your contacts, leads and deals with ease, and it’ll help save you time with its templates, group emails and workflow automation.
The LeadBooster add-on is a little pricey in my opinion, especially since you’ll need to purchase extra credits if you want to contact more than 10 people from the Prospector feature. Web forms, part of this feature, should really be included on the Essentials plan.
While the lack of standard features such as lead scoring might be off-putting at first, the AI-powered Sales Assistant acts as a useful alternative, offering customized advice on deals and activities that may need more attention.
In terms of bang for buck, despite the fact that it doesn’t offer a free plan, the prices are very reasonable and on par with other popular small business CRM tools. For me, the fact that it’s so easy to use is a big plus. Pipedrive removes the complexity that often comes with CRM software, making it a great option for those with little experience.
We really rate both these CRM tools for their variety of features and excellent user experience. You can see exactly how each service faired in our Pipedrive vs HubSpot comparison.
Yes! You can easily manage your contacts and sales processes with Pipedrive.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use but powerful CRM tool, you’ll also want to look at the alternatives to Pipedrive.
I’d say HubSpot is the most well-known, offering a very generous free CRM plan. What’s not so attractive is the price jump when you move onto a paid plan.
Other CRM tools to check out are Freshworks and ActiveCampaign CRM. These both offer an interesting mix of sales and marketing features. ActiveCampaign is a particularly good choice for those serious about finding a CRM with advanced automation.
EngageBay is another solid alternative, offering a wide range of features (including email marketing, landing pages, live chat, SMS marketing, and a helpdesk) at an affordable price.
Zoho CRM is a big name, and though it’s been around for a while, we don’t necessarily recommend it due to some user experience issues.
Hey, I'm Roberta! Having worked as a digital marketer for a host of online businesses, I've tried, tested, fallen in love with and despaired with so many marketing tools. I'm excited to help you find the email marketing and CRM tools you need to thrive.
Hi, I'm Inka! I spent the earlier part of my career in agency land, helping businesses of all sizes get their email marketing campaigns up and running. Now, at EmailTooltester, I'm using my experience to help businesses like yours find the best email marketing services for your needs.
01 Aug 2024 – Price increase for Advanced plan
16 Jul 2024 – Top features section added
10 Jul 2024 – Pricing updates
20 Mar 2024 – Email marketing now available; general update
20 Sept 2023 – Prices updated
20 Jan 2023 – Logo and Blog banner update
30 Aug 2022 – Prices updated
10 Nov 2021 – General update
15 Jul 2021 – Added FAQ
01 Dec 2021 – Added video
Our Methodology
This review has been written and researched following our EmailToolTester methodology.
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