A CRM for a small team costs whatever the licence costs per person, multiplied by everyone who needs to log in, plus setup, add-ons and the time it takes to make it fit. Most CRMs are priced per seat per month, so the bill grows every time you hire. The alternative is to own your CRM: a one-off setup, then only your hosting, however many people use it. On the two well-known plans listed below, that comes to roughly US$14 to US$100 per person per month, before setup and add-ons. Which is cheaper depends on your team size, how long you’ll keep it, and how much you need it shaped to the way you sell.
Here is how to work out the real number for your team.
How CRM pricing works
Almost every mainstream CRM uses one of three models:
- Free tiers with limits on users, contacts or features. Good for trying the idea; most growing teams move off them.
- Per seat, per month. You pay for each person who logs in, often less per month if you commit to a year. Tiers unlock features such as automation and reporting.
- Own it. You pay to set up a CRM that runs in your own hosting account. There is no licence fee per person; you pay the hosting provider directly and, if you want, someone to look after it.
What the per-seat plans cost
To keep this fair and current, here are list prices from two well-known CRMs, taken from their own pricing pages in October 2026. Both are good products. Prices were shown to us in US dollars; you may see pounds, and tax may be added.
- Pipedrive: four plans from US$14 to US$69 per seat per month, billed annually (US$19 to US$89 billed monthly). The middle plans, Growth and Premium, list at US$24 and US$49 billed annually.
- HubSpot Sales Hub: a free tier for up to two users; Professional starts at US$90 per seat per month paid annually (US$100 paid monthly on an annual commitment), plus a required one-time onboarding fee of US$1,500.
Prices change often, so check the pages yourself before you decide.
How per-seat pricing adds up
The useful sum is per person, per year, then times your team. As an illustration from the list prices above, for a team of ten:
| Plan | Per seat per month (annual billing) | Ten people for a year |
|---|---|---|
| Pipedrive Growth | US$24 | US$2,880 |
| Pipedrive Premium | US$49 | US$5,880 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional | from US$90 | from US$10,800, plus US$1,500 onboarding |
Hire five more people and each line goes up by half. That’s the nature of per-seat pricing: you pay for access, so cost follows headcount rather than use. It’s also why many teams give logins to sales only, and the rest of the business works from exports and forwarded emails.
The costs nobody lists
Whichever CRM you choose, budget for these:
- Setup time. Pipelines, fields, users and permissions don’t configure themselves.
- Data import. Cleaning a spreadsheet or an old CRM export takes longer than the import itself.
- Tier jumps. One feature you need, such as automation or a custom report, can move the whole team up a tier.
- Add-ons. Extra charges for things like lead capture, document signing or more contacts.
- People who rarely log in. Managers and finance often need a look once a week but still need a seat.
Renting or owning: which is cheaper?
Renting per seat makes sense when your team is small and stable, the standard setup fits how you sell, and you want the vendor to run everything.
Owning makes sense when your team is growing, several people need occasional access, or you want the CRM shaped to your process and your data held in your own account.
With Nine Kites Rapport we set up a CRM in your own hosting account, from £2,500 one-off, including your branding, your pipeline stages, a data import and Google or Microsoft sign-in. After that you pay your hosting provider directly at their published rates, with no licence fee per person, and we give you the expected hosting cost before you start. Hosting care, updates and support are optional, from £150 a month.
Whichever way you lean, run both numbers over three years, not one, and include the next hires you already expect.
A quick way to compare
- Count everyone who needs to log in, now and in a year.
- Pick the tier that has every feature you need, not the cheapest.
- Multiply per-seat price by people by 36 months, and add onboarding and add-ons.
- For owning, add setup, three years of hosting and any support plan.
- Then ask which one fits how you sell, because a CRM nobody uses costs the most of all. Our post on why leads go cold shows what a CRM has to get right day to day.
If you’d like the owning side of that sum worked out for your team, see what Rapport includes.
Questions people ask
How much does a CRM cost for a small business?
Free plans exist for very small teams. Paid CRMs are usually priced per user per month, so the total depends on how many people log in and which tier you need. Add setup, data import and any paid add-ons to get the real figure.
Is there a CRM without per-user pricing?
Yes. Some CRMs charge a flat fee, and some you own outright and run in your own hosting account, so adding a person adds no licence cost. You still pay for hosting and for any setup or support.
Are CRM prices shown in pounds?
Some vendors show pounds to UK visitors and some show US dollars. Check the currency on the pricing page, and whether the price is before tax and billed monthly or annually.
What hidden costs should I look for in a CRM?
Onboarding fees, minimum seat counts, the jump between tiers when you need one feature, paid add-ons, contact limits, and the time your team spends on setup and data import.