What small business software really costs
We read the pricing pages, the footnotes and the fee schedules, so you know the bill before you talk to sales. Every guide lists the vendor pages its numbers came from.
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Latest price checks
List prices in US dollars, from each vendor's own page.
- Small-business CRM Bigin is $7 a user billed annually, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive $14, HubSpot Starter $20 at list price.
- POS systems Square and SumUp have $0 plans. Most in-person card rates start at 2.6% plus 10¢ or 15¢ a payment.
- Website builders Squarespace sells from Basic at $19 a month billed annually. Wix, Webflow and Shopify start selling at $29.
- Free accounting Zoho Books is free up to $50K revenue a year. Wave Starter is free with unlimited invoices and bills.
- Free SEO tools Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and PageSpeed Insights cost nothing. Semrush free: 10 reports a day.
- Salesforce Free Suite for 2 users. Starter Suite $25 a user. Pro Suite $100 a user, billed annually.
- Insurance CRM Insureio starts at $25 a month. AgencyZoom is $149 a month for up to 7 users.
The gap adds up
The same five-person team, priced on six CRMs. From Salesforce Alternatives for Small Businesses That Cost Less.
What five CRM users cost in the first year
Show the numbers
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Bigin by Zoho | $420 |
| monday CRM Basic | $720 |
| Zoho CRM Standard | $840 |
| Pipedrive Lite | $840 |
| HubSpot Starter | $1,200 |
| Salesforce Starter Suite | $1,500 |
| Salesforce Pro Suite | $6,000 |
| HubSpot Sales Pro | $6,900 |
CRM
What HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce and other CRMs really cost a small business, which plan you need, and the cheaper alternatives worth a look.
Accounting & Payroll
QuickBooks, payroll and invoicing software for small businesses: current prices, add-on fees and the alternatives that cost less.
Email Marketing
Constant Contact, Mailchimp and the cheaper email tools compared on price per contact, sending limits and the features small businesses use.
SEO Tools
Semrush, Ahrefs and the cheaper SEO tools compared on price, limits and what a small business or freelancer actually needs.
Website Builders
Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and other website builders compared on real monthly cost, templates, ecommerce and what each plan includes.
Social Media
Hootsuite, Buffer and other social media schedulers compared on price, channels and features for small business marketing teams.
Industry Software
Booking, billing and practice software for salons, law firms and other trades, compared on monthly price, per-staff fees and payment processing rates.
Business Phones
Virtual phone systems and VoIP providers for small businesses compared on per-user price, calling features and contract terms.
How we check prices
Prices come from the vendor's own pricing page, opened when we write or update a guide. Where a vendor shows a promotion, we give the list price as well and say what the offer requires.
If we can't confirm a number, it isn't on the page. Some vendors show different prices depending on the country you browse from; we only quote US dollar prices we have seen.
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