EspoCRM
Top pickA complete CRM that a small team can run without a specialist.
90
sovereigntyEspoCRM 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.
OPEN SOURCEAGPL-3.0 (core; some extensions are commercial)SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
LicenseAGPL-3.0 (core; some extensions are commercial)
PricingFree and open source to self-host. Some advanced extensions are paid.
Open sourceYes
Self-hostableYes
Local-first dataYes
What it does well
- +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
Where it falls short
- −Interface is functional rather than beautiful
- −Some advanced extensions are commercial add-ons
- −Nothing resembling AppExchange
- −No CPQ or complex territory management
EspoCRM as an alternative to
Where EspoCRM shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
EspoCRM head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.