Capsule CRM vs Freshsales
Capsule CRM and Freshsales both publish per-seat prices in dollars, but they start from different ideas. Capsule keeps a free plan for two users and a small, plainly limited feature set, and its operator is an English company. Freshsales has no free plan in the lists we read, only a 21-day trial, yet its cheapest paid plan costs half of Capsule's and already includes chat, email, phone and basic workflows. The trade is a cheaper entry with a suite that gets repackaged against a calmer product with firm ceilings.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose Capsule CRM ifyou are a team of one or two that wants to stay on a free plan, you like contact and pipeline limits written down in numbers, and you prefer a vendor registered in England. You can live without built-in telephony and quoting.
Choose Freshsales ifyou want calls, chat and a pipeline in one system at the lowest paid entry price, and you can export your data before the trial ends. You accept a Delaware-incorporated vendor and a product line that gets renamed and repackaged.
Capsule CRM and Freshsales side by side
| Capsule CRM | Freshsales | |
|---|---|---|
| Our CRM rank | #9 of 25 | #7 of 25 |
| Established in | United Kingdom | United States |
| List price, 8 November 2026 | Capsule: free for 2 users; then $18 to $72 a seat each month on annual billing ($22 to $75 monthly) | Freshsales: $9, $39 or $59 a seat each month, billed annually, after a 21-day trial |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A small team that wants a shared contact history and a pipeline | A sales team that lives on the phone and wants one system |
| Not for | A sales operation that needs forecasting or territory management | A company that has already standardised on a separate telephony stack |
Both are reviewed in full in our CRM ranking: Capsule CRM and Freshsales.
Where they differ
Capsule CRM 3 · Freshsales 3 · open 0- 01
Staying free versus a 21-day clock
Capsule's free tier takes up to 2 users and 250 contacts, with 5 custom fields and 1 sales pipeline, and the page states no time limit. Paid Capsule plans carry a 14-day trial with all features, no card needed. Freshsales lists no free plan, only a 21-day trial of the fully loaded CRM without a card. Its terms say data must be exported before the trial ends or it is deleted, and the account is suspended if no plan is chosen.
Edge: Capsule CRM
- 02
Dollars per seat along each ladder
Capsule runs Starter $18, Growth $36, Advanced $54 and Ultimate $72 each month per seat on annual billing, or $22, $40, $60 and $75 on monthly billing. Freshsales runs Growth $9, Pro $39 and Enterprise $59 per seat each month when billed annually, and no monthly figures appear on its page. At the entry rung Freshsales costs half as much. In the middle, Capsule Growth at $36 sits just under Freshsales Pro at $39.
Edge: Freshsales
- 03
Where automation, scoring and forecasting switch on
Capsule puts workflow automation and advanced reporting on Growth, and Growth also brings 5 sales pipelines and 5 project boards. It has no quoting engine. Freshsales Growth already carries basic workflows, a Kanban view and custom fields, while Pro adds contact scoring, deal insights, territory management and sales sequences. Enterprise adds forecasting insights, field-level permissions, custom modules, a sandbox and audit logs. Freshsales reaches more of this ladder, though the Freddy AI Agent add-on is $49 per 100 sessions.
Edge: Freshsales
- 04
Calls, chat and the integrations each page names
Freshsales lists chat, email and phone on its Growth plan, so a sales team that works by telephone gets that inside the CRM. The product page names no integrations beyond its own suite bundle. Capsule names QuickBooks and Zapier, and lists contact management, a sales pipeline and automations, but nothing we read shows built-in calling. Choose by whether the phone is part of the sales job or something bolted on.
Edge: Freshsales
- 05
How many contacts the page promises
Capsule is specific: Starter covers 30,000 contacts for teams of 1 to 5, Growth 60,000, Advanced 120,000 with 50 sales pipelines and 50 project boards, and Ultimate has no numeric limits. Freshsales publishes feature lists only, with no user or contact limits stated, which leaves you to ask before a large import. Capsule's honesty about ceilings makes planning easier, even when a ceiling is the reason to move on later.
Edge: Capsule CRM
- 06
Who the contracting company is
Zestia Limited operates Capsule from a Manchester office and is registered in England, and the page names no parent company. Freshsales sits under Freshworks Inc., a Delaware corporation, with group companies in Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK and India. Freshworks names no single contracting company for the product. Our notes also warn that Freshworks renames and repackages its suite often, so the tier you buy may change at renewal.
Edge: Capsule CRM
When neither fits
If you need a platform with quoting, territory rules and heavy forecasting from day one, neither is a comfortable fit. Pipedrive is a more sales-focused option, and Teamleader suits a small business that wants invoicing next to its CRM.
Capsule CRM or Freshsales: questions
3 answersIs there any free route into Freshsales?
Its pricing page lists a 21-day trial of the fully loaded CRM with no card, and no free plan.
The meta description mentions a free plan, but none is listed and no user limit is given. Export your data before the trial ends, because the terms say it is then deleted.
Does the Capsule free plan expire after a while?
The pricing page states no time limit for the free plan, which covers up to 2 users, 250 contacts, 5 custom fields and 1 sales pipeline.
The 14-day trial belongs to the paid plans only. Beyond those limits comes Starter, $18 per seat on annual billing.
Which one gets a ten-person team more for the money?
On list prices the Freshsales Growth plan at $9 per seat on annual billing is cheaper than Capsule Starter at $18, and it includes phone, chat and basic workflows.
Capsule Starter is limited to teams of 1 to 5, so ten people would begin on Growth at $36. Freshsales publishes no user limits that we saw, so confirm that before buying.
Sources
Checked 8 November 2026- Capsule pricing page: four paid tiers with annual and monthly rates, contact caps, the free plan's 2 users and 250 contacts, the 14-day trial.
- Capsule terms: Zestia Limited as operator, registered in England with a Manchester office, plus the QuickBooks and Zapier mentions.
- Freshsales pricing page: the three annual per-user rates, what each tier adds, the 21-day trial and the Freddy session add-on.
- Freshworks terms of service: Freshworks Inc. as a Delaware corporation and the delete-after-trial export warning.
- Freshworks privacy notice: group companies in Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK and India.