Freshsales vs Zoho CRM vs monday CRM (2026)
All three of these CRMs target the same buyer: small to mid-market teams that want solid CRM functionality without Salesforce complexity or pricing. Freshsales sells AI-powered sales automation. Zoho CRM sells breadth across the entire business stack. monday Sales CRM sells visual simplicity. We compared them across pricing, features, and real-world job demand to help you pick.
The Quick Verdict
Zoho CRM for teams that want the most features per dollar and may need other business apps (HR, finance, helpdesk) on the same platform. Freshsales for sales teams that want built-in phone, email, and AI lead scoring without third-party integrations. monday Sales CRM for teams already using monday.com for project management who want a visual, simple CRM layer.
All three are solid under $50/user/month. The deciding factor is your existing tech stack and what 'simple' means to your team.
Pricing: What You'll Actually Pay
Freshsales starts free for up to 3 users and scales to $69/user/month for Enterprise. Zoho CRM starts at $14/user/month (Standard) and tops out at $52/user/month (Ultimate). monday Sales CRM starts at $12/seat/month (minimum 3 seats) and goes to $28/seat/month for Pro.
For a 20-person sales team, annual costs look like this:
- monday Sales CRM: $2,880-$6,720/year - Zoho CRM: $3,360-$12,480/year - Freshsales: $0-$16,560/year
monday is cheapest at scale. Freshsales' free tier is great for micro-teams but costs add up quickly. Zoho CRM lands in the middle but includes more features per tier than either competitor. None of these platforms require implementation consultants, which is where the real savings show up compared to Salesforce or HubSpot.
Job Market Demand
Our analysis of 23,000+ job postings shows:
- Freshsales: 15 postings mentioning Freshsales skills - Zoho CRM: 23 postings - monday Sales CRM: 8 postings
All three are low compared to Salesforce (1,694) or HubSpot (432). That's expected for budget CRMs. Zoho leads the pack because its broader platform (Zoho One) creates demand across multiple business functions. monday's CRM-specific demand is the lowest because most monday job postings reference project management, not sales.
For career development, none of these are resume builders the way Salesforce or HubSpot are. Pick based on fit, not job market value.
Feature Comparison
All three handle contacts, deals, and pipelines. Differences emerge in five areas:
1. Built-in communication: Freshsales wins here with native phone, email, and chat. Zoho CRM has email and telephony integration. monday Sales CRM relies on third-party tools for calls.
2. AI and automation: Freshsales has Freddy AI for lead scoring and deal predictions. Zoho CRM has Zia AI for similar features. monday has basic automations but no AI scoring.
3. Ecosystem breadth: Zoho CRM wins with 45+ apps in the Zoho One suite. Freshsales is part of the smaller Freshworks ecosystem. monday connects to its project management and work OS tools.
4. Visual pipeline management: monday Sales CRM is the most visually intuitive. Its Kanban-style boards are easier to learn than traditional CRM interfaces. Freshsales and Zoho CRM use standard pipeline views.
5. Customization depth: Zoho CRM offers the deepest customization with custom modules, functions, and Deluge scripting. Freshsales is moderately customizable. monday is the most constrained in terms of CRM-specific customization.
Who Should Pick What
Pick Freshsales if your sales team lives on phone and email. The built-in communication tools eliminate the need for a separate dialer or email platform, and Freddy AI provides useful lead scoring without manual configuration.
Pick Zoho CRM if you want a platform that scales beyond sales. Zoho One bundles CRM with helpdesk, HR, finance, and marketing tools for $45/user/month. No other vendor matches that breadth at that price point.
Pick monday Sales CRM if your company already uses monday.com and you want the simplest possible CRM. The visual interface has the shortest learning curve of the three, and the project management integration is native.
Avoid all three if you need enterprise-grade reporting, complex multi-entity structures, or deep third-party integrations. That's Salesforce or HubSpot territory.
The Bottom Line
These are three good CRMs for companies that don't need the complexity of Salesforce or the marketing depth of HubSpot. Zoho CRM delivers the most value per dollar. Freshsales delivers the best built-in sales communication tools. monday delivers the simplest user experience.
The honest truth: at this price point, the switching costs between any of these platforms are low. Pick the one that fits your workflow today. If you outgrow it in two years, migration to any of the others takes weeks, not months.