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6 Alternatives to Salesforce Sales Cloud in 2026

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the best-known CRM for large sales organizations, and smaller teams look elsewhere when its public pages say little about data handling, when trial terms are unclear, or when AI agents sit on the top tier. Common destinations are HubSpot, Pipedrive, Teamleader, Capsule, Keap and folk.

Sebastiaan Smits By Sebastiaan Smits, editor · Updated

Why people look for an alternative to Salesforce Sales Cloud

Data handling is hard to confirm

The trust and privacy material we opened does not state training use, retention or hosting regions in readable text, and the linked PDFs would not open as text. A buyer filling in a security questionnaire starts with an email to the account owner.

AI agents sit near the top tier

Agentforce for Sales and a pooled allowance of 2.75 million Flex Credits per organization each year are listed on Max, the highest plan. Advanced mentions more AI without detail, so a mid-size team wanting agents faces a large jump.

Trial terms differ by page

The sales page promises a 30-day trial with no card, while the pricing page lists trials for several tiers without a length, and Max shows only a contact button. Testing the tier you would actually buy means asking a representative.

The best Salesforce Sales Cloud alternatives

  1. 1

    HubSpot

    HubSpot, Inc., United StatesFree planFree for up to 2 users, paid seats start under $25 per month

    HubSpot keeps sales, marketing and service on one contact database, so a lead's form fills and email opens sit beside the deal. Two people can use the CRM free indefinitely. Sequences and heavier automation arrive on Professional, together with a one-time setup charge that surprises first-year budgets. An EU data center is available.

    Switch if you keep marketing history and deals in one database and would rather start on a free tier than negotiate a contract.

  2. 2

    Pipedrive

    Pipedrive, United StatesFree trialLite tier, under $20 per seat per month billed annually

    Pipedrive puts a board of deals at the center of the screen, and reps move cards between stages as calls and emails happen. Pricing is per seat across four tiers, a 14-day trial is offered, and the support pages place EU data in Frankfurt and Dublin. Reporting and permissions are lighter than Salesforce, and several modules cost extra.

    Switch if you live in a pipeline view all day, want a flat per-seat bill, and do not need custom objects or deep reporting.

  3. 3

    Teamleader Focus

    Teamleader NV, BelgiumFree trial

    Teamleader Focus comes from Belgium and treats the CRM as the front end of a back office: quotes turn into invoices, hours are tracked, and Peppol e-invoicing is supported. Servers are on AWS in Ireland. Lower plans list a single pipeline, plan prices were not visible on the page we read, and no API documentation was opened.

    Switch if you bill clients from the same system that holds the quote, work in a European context, and sell services more than pure quota-driven deals.

  4. 4

    Capsule

    Zestia Ltd, United KingdomFree plan

    Capsule is a British CRM from Zestia built around contacts, one pipeline and tasks. Two people can use it without paying, and paid tiers can be tried for two weeks with no card. Multiple pipelines and workflow automation wait until Growth. Data sits on AWS with encryption in transit and at rest, and forecasting is shallow for large teams.

    Switch if you run a small firm or freelance practice, want contacts and one pipeline without setup work, and do not need forecasting depth.

  5. 5

    Keap

    Thryv, Inc., United StatesFree trialStarting at $320 per month, billed monthly

    Keap combines a CRM with campaign automation, texting, appointment booking and invoicing, and supplies ready-made follow-up templates. The starting bill is high for a small team, partly because a guided implementation package is mandatory and its cost is not posted. Users beyond the two included are billed individually, and text marketing covers only the US.

    Switch if you buy campaigns, texting and invoicing from one vendor and are willing to pay for onboarding help instead of building it yourself.

  6. 6

    folk

    Folk Inc., United StatesFree trial$24 per member per month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)

    folk is a lightweight relationship CRM: browser and LinkedIn extensions capture people from a profile, and mail, calendar and WhatsApp sync into each contact. AI fields can fill custom columns, with a monthly run allowance on the cheaper plan. Its privacy policy rules out training on personal data. API access, dashboards and custom objects wait for the higher plan.

    Switch if you keep track of investors, partners or clients mostly through inbox and LinkedIn conversations and find a full sales suite heavy.

Before you switch away from Salesforce Sales Cloud

Run a test import of one real pipeline into each shortlisted CRM and look at what happens to opportunity stages, owner fields, notes and attachments. Decide which reports and dashboards leadership opens every week, then rebuild them in the candidate rather than assuming parity. Ask Salesforce for the export format and timing in writing before the contract term ends, and keep read access during the overlap. Check each target's invoicing, quoting and email sync against the specific workflow your reps follow every day.

The full ranking of this category is in Best CRM Software in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How does Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing compare with HubSpot or Pipedrive for five sellers?

Salesforce lists Starter Suite at $25 per user and Pro Suite at $100 per user billed annually. HubSpot is free for up to two users, so five sellers need a paid tier plus an onboarding fee on Professional. Pipedrive's Lite tier sits under $20 per seat, with extras on top.

Which CRM alternatives keep customer data in Europe?

Teamleader hosts on AWS in Ireland, and Pipedrive's support pages describe EU hosting in Frankfurt and Dublin. HubSpot offers an EU data center. Capsule runs on AWS, but the page we read did not name a region, so ask before signing if residency is a requirement.

Which Salesforce extras disappear when I move to a smaller CRM?

Core adds Premier Success and Tableau Next, and Max bundles Spiff, Maps, Slack Enterprise+ and the Agentforce products. Smaller CRMs rarely replicate those. List which add-ons your team opens weekly, then check whether a cheaper tool or an integration covers each one.

Which alternative suits a freelancer or a two-person firm?

Capsule and HubSpot both allow two users without paying, though each limits records or features. folk has no free plan, only a two-week trial, but its extensions suit people who track contacts through email and LinkedIn. Pick by whether you need a pipeline board or a contact book.