Best CRM for Freelancers in 2026: 7 Tools Compared on Price and Fit

What Is a CRM for Freelancers?

A CRM for freelancers is software that keeps every lead and client in one place, reminds you when to follow up, and turns a yes into a signed contract and a paid invoice. Sales CRMs such as HubSpot and Pipedrive stop at the deal. Freelance tools such as AgencyKit, HoneyBook, Moxie, Dubsado and Bonsai carry on through the proposal, the contract and the payment.

What a freelance CRM needs to do

Six things are worth checking before you pick one:

• Follow-up reminders. A freelance CRM earns its keep the day it reminds you about a lead you would have forgotten.
• Lead capture. An inquiry form on your website should land in the pipeline without copying and pasting.
• Proposal to invoice on one record. A client you just won shouldn’t have to be typed in three more times.
• Online payments in your currency. A CRM that invoices but can’t take a card payment sends you back to chasing bank transfers.
• Time tracking, if you bill hourly. Hours tracked in the same tool flow straight onto the invoice.
• A price that survives your first hire. Per-seat pricing doubles the bill the day a second person joins.

The Best CRMs for Freelancers in 2026 at a Glance

The starting prices for the best CRMs for freelancers, as listed on each vendor’s pricing page on October 8, 2026, in US dollars:

The 7 Best CRMs for Freelancers, Reviewed

1. AgencyKit: best for freelancers who bill hours or plan to hire

AgencyKit is a client-to-cash CRM that runs a lead from the first inquiry to the paid invoice, and it bills one flat price per account instead of per user. AgencyKit costs $9 a month on Starter, $39 on Agency and $69 on Agency Pro, or $90, $390 and $690 a year.

The AgencyKit leads pipeline is on every plan, Starter included. Every call, WhatsApp message, email or meeting gets logged with its outcome, and a call marked “no answer” books the next follow-up for you after 1 day, then 3, then 7. A lead that sits in one stage for 7 days turns amber and at 14 days turns red, so the deals going cold are the first ones you see. The pipeline also shows a weighted forecast, flags duplicate leads by email or phone, and pulls inquiries in from a form on your website.

When a lead says yes, AgencyKit turns it into a client and carries its details into the proposal, the contract and the invoice. Time tracking is on every AgencyKit plan, and billable hours flow onto the invoice. Online payments through Stripe, PayPal or Paymob, e-signatures and a client portal start on the $39 Agency plan, which also covers up to 10 team members at the same price.

Where it falls short: AgencyKit Starter at $9 a month caps you at 10 clients and 50 invoices and doesn’t take online payments or e-signatures, so most working freelancers end up on Agency at $39 a month. AgencyKit Agency costs more than Moxie Starter and more than HoneyBook Starter. AgencyKit has no accounting or tax tools like Bonsai’s, and its workflow automation doesn’t go as deep as Dubsado’s.

Pick AgencyKit if you bill by the hour, follow up with leads by phone or WhatsApp, invoice in a currency other than US dollars, or expect to bring on help within the year.

2. HoneyBook: best for creative services that sell on client experience

HoneyBook costs $29, $49 or $109 a month on its Starter, Essentials and Premium plans billed yearly, or $36, $59 and $129 month to month. Every HoneyBook plan includes unlimited clients and projects, proposals, contracts, invoices, online payments and a client portal, and starts with a 30-day free trial with no credit card.

Where it falls short: HoneyBook Starter has no team members and a scheduler limited to one session. A team needs HoneyBook Essentials for up to 2 team members, or Premium at $109 a month billed yearly for more. HoneyBook card payments cost from 2.9% plus 25¢ each, and HoneyBook has no built-in time tracking.

Pick HoneyBook if you’re a photographer, designer or planner whose clients judge you partly on how the booking and the paperwork feel. Our HoneyBook pricing breakdown goes plan by plan.

3. Moxie: the cheapest all-in-one for a solo freelancer

Moxie costs $12 a month on Starter, $25 on Pro and $40 on Teams, or $10, $20 and $32 a month billed yearly. Moxie Starter already includes client management, a sales pipeline, proposals and contracts, invoicing and payments, time tracking and meeting schedulers, which is more than most tools put on their entry plan.

For a solo freelancer, Moxie Starter gives you more on its entry plan than AgencyKit Starter does, and at $10 to $12 a month it costs less than the AgencyKit Agency plan.

Where it falls short: Moxie’s white-labeled client portal and workflow automations start on Pro at $25 a month. Moxie Teams stops at five team members, and the Moxie pricing page lists no plan for a larger team.

Pick Moxie if you work alone, want the most for the least, and expect to stay at five people or fewer. See Moxie pricing for the plan details.

4. Dubsado: best for automated workflows and forms

Dubsado costs $35 a month on Starter and $55 on Premier, or $335 and $525 a year, and both Dubsado plans include the account owner plus 3 more users at no extra charge. Dubsado Starter covers unlimited clients and projects, invoicing with payment plans, form and email templates, and client portals.

Where it falls short: Dubsado puts scheduling, automated workflows, public proposals and the Zapier integration on Premier only, and Dubsado Starter allows one active lead capture form. A fourth additional user on Dubsado adds $25 a month, and each extra brand costs $10 a month.

Pick Dubsado if you want every step after an inquiry to run on its own and you’re willing to spend time building the workflows first. See Dubsado pricing for the user and brand charges.

5. Bonsai: best for accounting and taxes in the same tool

Bonsai charges per user: $15 a month on Basic, $25 on Essentials, $39 on Premium and $59 on Elite, or $9, $19, $29 and $49 billed yearly. Proposals and contracts start on Bonsai Essentials, and the Bonsai free trial lasts 7 days.

Bonsai includes time tracking and a wide set of accounting, expense and tax tools that most CRMs on this list leave out.

Where it falls short: Bonsai multiplies by headcount. Bonsai Essentials billed yearly is $19 a month for one person and $76 a month for four.

Pick Bonsai if you work alone and want invoicing, bookkeeping and tax tools behind one login. See Bonsai pricing for every plan.

6. HubSpot: the best free CRM for tracking leads

HubSpot’s free tools cost $0 for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with no time limit and no credit card. HubSpot Starter lists at $20 a seat a month, and a limited-time discount for new customers was running when we checked.

Where it falls short: HubSpot is built for sales and marketing teams, so a freelancer usually ends up adding a second tool for contracts, invoices and time tracking. The free HubSpot plan stops at 1,000 contacts and 2 users.

Pick HubSpot if you mostly need to remember who you talked to and when, and you already invoice somewhere else.

7. Pipedrive: best for a B2B sales pipeline

Pipedrive charges per seat: $14 a month on Lite, $39 on Growth, $59 on Premium and $79 on Ultimate billed yearly, or $24, $49, $79 and $99 month to month. Every Pipedrive plan comes with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.

Where it falls short: Pipedrive’s plans are built around deals rather than invoices. Documents come through the Pipedrive Smart Docs add-on from $32.50 a month, and project delivery through the Projects add-on from $16.

Pick Pipedrive if you’re a consultant or developer who sells to companies, juggles many open deals, and lives in the pipeline view.

What a Freelance CRM Really Costs: One Person vs a Team of Four

Pricing pages show the price for one person. Here is what each CRM for freelancers costs per year on annual billing, for one freelancer and for a team of four, on the cheapest plan that covers proposals, contracts, invoices and online payments. These totals are our own arithmetic from each vendor’s listed prices, not figures the vendors publish.

AgencyKit Starter is $90 a year if you don’t need online payments or e-signatures. For a team of four, Dubsado Starter is the cheapest all-in-one at $335 a year, because three extra users are included. At five people Moxie Teams is the cheapest at $384 a year. From six people on, AgencyKit Agency at $390 a year is the cheapest, because it covers up to 10 team members at one price. Our guide on per-account vs per-seat pricing shows why the gap keeps growing as you hire.

Is There a Free CRM for Freelancers?

Yes. HubSpot’s free CRM is the strongest free option for freelancers: $0 for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with no time limit. AgencyKit, HoneyBook, Moxie, Dubsado, Bonsai and Pipedrive all offer free trials, from 7 days on Bonsai to 21 days on Dubsado and 30 days on HoneyBook.

A spreadsheet is a free CRM too, and it works while you can still remember every follow-up. The first lead that slips through is usually the sign you need reminders, and reminders are the first thing a real CRM adds.

A free CRM can cost you somewhere else. HubSpot’s free tools don’t send contracts or invoices, so the second tool you add for those is the real price of the free plan.

Can You Use Notion or Google Sheets as a CRM?

Yes. A Google Sheet, an Excel file or a Notion database works as a CRM for a freelancer with a handful of open leads, as long as every lead has a stage and a next follow-up date. The weakness of a spreadsheet CRM is that it only reminds you when you open it.

A spreadsheet CRM also can’t log a call from your phone, take a card payment, or turn a won lead into a contract and an invoice. A good moment to move to a real CRM is the first time a follow-up slips through, or when clients start asking to pay online.

How to Choose: Sales CRM or Client-to-Cash CRM?

The quickest way to choose a CRM as a freelancer is to start from how you get paid, not from the feature list.

• If you only need to track leads and already invoice elsewhere, start with HubSpot’s free CRM.
• If you sell to companies and run many open deals at once, Pipedrive’s pipeline view is built for you.
• If you work alone and want proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking for the lowest price, Moxie Starter at $10 to $12 a month is hard to beat.
• If the client experience is part of what you sell, HoneyBook is the polished pick for creative services.
• If you want every step after an inquiry automated, Dubsado’s workflows go deepest.
• If bookkeeping and taxes matter as much as the CRM, Bonsai bundles them.
• If you bill hours, follow up by phone or WhatsApp, take card payments through Paymob as well as Stripe and PayPal, or plan to hire, AgencyKit covers it on one per-account price.

Thinking beyond the CRM? Our roundup of the best all-in-one freelancer software compares the whole client-to-cash stack, and how to manage multiple clients as a freelancer covers the habits a CRM supports.