EspoCRM vs Twenty
Both are alternatives to Salesforce. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Twenty vs EspoCRM — same comparison, one verdict.
EspoCRM and Twenty are closely matched on ownership (90 vs 86) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
EspoCRM
TOP PICKA complete CRM that a small team can run without a specialist.
EspoCRM covers what most companies actually use a CRM for: accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, activities, email integration, reporting and a workflow engine, with an entity manager that lets you add custom fields and objects through the interface rather than through code. AGPL-3.0, PHP and MySQL, installs on modest hardware. Around 3.2k stars — a smaller number than the flashier entries here, and a slightly misleading one, because this is a mature product with a long deployment history rather than a new arrival.
Twenty
The modern one — built to feel like software from this decade.
Twenty is an open-source CRM built with the design sensibility of a modern product: keyboard-first navigation, a clean data model, custom objects, and an interface that does not feel like enterprise software from 2012. Around 54k stars, which is the most of any CRM here by a wide margin and reflects genuine developer enthusiasm. The licence is mostly AGPL-3.0, with specific files marked `@license Enterprise` under a commercial licence — so it is AGPL-with-carve-outs. It is the youngest option, and the caveat is exactly that: excellent trajectory, short track record.
Side by side
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| EspoCRM | Twenty | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 90 | 86 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (core; some extensions are commercial) | AGPL-3.0, with `@license Enterprise` file carve-outs |
| Pricing | Free and open source to self-host. Some advanced extensions are paid. | Free and self-hostable. Twenty Cloud is a paid hosted option. |
EspoCRM is Macrostack's recommended Salesforce alternative, so it's our pick here.
EspoCRM
Strengths
- +Covers the CRM job most companies actually have, completely
- +Customisable through the UI — no developer needed for fields and objects
- +Light PHP/MySQL stack that runs on a small VPS
- +Mature and stable, with years of production use
Trade-offs
- −Interface is functional rather than beautiful
- −Some advanced extensions are commercial add-ons
- −Nothing resembling AppExchange
- −No CPQ or complex territory management
Twenty
Strengths
- +By far the best interface of any open CRM
- +Custom objects and fields without touching code
- +Enormous community momentum for a young project
- +Keyboard-first workflow that salespeople genuinely like
Trade-offs
- −Youngest here — shortest production track record
- −Enterprise-marked files are carved out of the AGPL
- −Feature set still thinner than EspoCRM's
- −Fewer integrations than any established option
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose EspoCRM
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and covers the CRM job most companies actually have, completely.
Choose Twenty
if by far the best interface of any open CRM.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — interface is functional rather than beautiful, and youngest here — shortest production track record. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
EspoCRM vs Twenty — common questions
Is EspoCRM a better fit than Twenty for crm?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: EspoCRM scores 90 to Twenty's 86 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Twenty earns its place on a different axis — by far the best interface of any open CRM. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
EspoCRM keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Twenty is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host EspoCRM or Twenty?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are EspoCRM and Twenty both alternatives to Salesforce?
Yes — both appear in our Salesforce comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Salesforce and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.