Best CRM For
Best CRM for Outbound Sales
Quick answer: Close is the best CRM for outbound sales because calling and email sequencing are built into the core product rather than bolted on, while Pipedrive is the better pick if your outbound motion is simpler and price-sensitive.
What an outbound sales CRM actually needs to do
Outbound sales lives or dies on volume and follow-through: how many calls and emails a rep can get through in a day, how quickly a new lead gets touched, and whether anything falls through the cracks between touch five and touch six. A CRM built for inbound or account management doesn't automatically handle that well — outbound teams need calling and sequencing built into the workflow, not stapled on through a third-party integration that adds friction to every single touch.
The five tools below all get used for outbound sales in practice, but they take very different approaches to how central calling and sequencing are to the product.
Top picks at a glance
| CRM | Best for | Calling built in | Email sequences | Starting price tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Outbound-first teams | Yes, core feature | Yes, native | Mid |
| Pipedrive | Simple outbound pipeline | Add-on/integration | Limited native | Budget |
| Zoho CRM | Outbound + broader ops suite | Via telephony integration | Yes | Budget–mid |
| HubSpot | Outbound plus marketing | Yes, in Sales Hub | Yes (paid tiers) | Free tier available |
| Nutshell | Small teams wanting support | Click-to-call | Yes (Nutshell Campaigns) | Budget |
1. Close — best overall for outbound sales
Close was built for teams that spend their day calling and emailing prospects, not managing long relationship pipelines. Calling, SMS, and multi-step email sequences all live inside the same screen as the deal record, so a rep can dial a lead, log the outcome, and queue the next touch without switching tools. That matters more than it sounds — every extra click between calls is time not spent talking to prospects.
Pros
- Power dialer and predictive dialer built in, not an add-on
- Multi-channel sequences (call, email, SMS) in one workflow
- Interface is fast and built around rep productivity
Cons
- No free tier
- Less suited to teams that don't sell by phone or email
2. Pipedrive — best for a simple, no-frills outbound pipeline
Pipedrive doesn't try to be a sales engagement platform, and that's part of its appeal for smaller outbound teams. The visual pipeline makes it obvious which leads need a next touch, and its lower price point means a growing outbound team isn't paying for features it isn't using yet. Calling requires connecting a phone integration rather than using something native, which is the main tradeoff against a purpose-built outbound tool.
Pros
- Clean, fast pipeline view
- Affordable at entry tiers
- Large marketplace of calling/dialer integrations
Cons
- No deep native calling or sequencing without add-ons
- Reporting on outbound activity is basic on lower plans
3. Zoho CRM — best if you want outbound tools bundled with a wider ops suite
Zoho's advantage for outbound teams is scope: it connects to Zoho's own telephony (and third-party providers) for calling, includes workflow automation for lead routing, and sits inside a much larger suite of business apps if you ever need to connect finance, support, or marketing tools. For a team that expects to outgrow "just a CRM," that flexibility is worth the slightly steeper learning curve.
Pros
- Deep automation and workflow rules for lead routing
- Telephony integrations support outbound calling
- Scales into a much larger app ecosystem
Cons
- Calling isn't native the way it is in Close
- More configuration required to get outbound workflows dialed in
Other solid options
HubSpot is worth considering if your outbound motion sits alongside marketing and you want lead source data feeding directly into your sequences — its free tier is a real starting point, though calling and sequencing depth are gated behind paid Sales Hub tiers. Nutshell is a reasonable fit for a small outbound team that values responsive support over deep automation; its calling is click-to-call rather than a true dialer, but it's paired with genuinely helpful onboarding.
Pricing (entry-level plans)
| CRM | Starting price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Close | Solo $9 · Essentials $35 · Growth $99 · Scale $139 | Per user/month. Free 14-day trial, no credit card required. |
| Pipedrive | Lite $14 · Growth $39 · Premium $59 · Ultimate $79 | Per seat/month, billed annually (monthly billing costs more). 14-day free trial. |
| HubSpot | Free $0 · Starter from ~$15–20 · Professional/Enterprise Suite bundles from ~$1,000+/mo | HubSpot prices per "Hub" (Marketing/Sales/Service/etc.) and by contact tier, so the total varies a lot by what you bundle. |
| Zoho CRM | Standard €14 · Professional €23 · Enterprise €40 · Ultimate €52 | Per user/month (EUR pricing shown; check your region for local currency). |
Prices above are current as of writing and shown for the entry-level tiers — always confirm the latest numbers on each provider's pricing page before buying, since SaaS pricing changes often.
“They won't ask you for your firstborn, and it was developed as a CRM first, as opposed to HubSpot, which was originally a marketing platform.”
How to choose
Start with how central calling and sequencing are to your actual sales motion. If reps spend most of the day dialing and sending structured follow-ups, a tool like Close that treats those as first-class features will save real time over stitching together a pipeline tool and a separate dialer. If your outbound motion is lighter or you need the CRM to double as a marketing or ops hub, the broader platforms are worth the tradeoff in calling depth.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best CRM overall for this use case?
Close is our top overall pick for this use case, based on ease of setup, pricing, and fit for typical workflows — though the right choice depends on team size and budget, covered in the sections above.
Do I need a paid CRM, or is a free plan enough?
A free plan is usually enough for a single user or a very small team just getting started. Growing teams typically outgrow free tiers once they need automation, reporting, or more than a couple of users.
How long does it take to set up a CRM?
Simple CRMs can be set up in under an hour. More full-featured platforms with custom pipelines, automations, and integrations typically take a few days to a few weeks to configure properly.