Buyer guide
Best CRM for consultants: pricing and practice fit compared
This guide compares 17 CRMs using current monthly prices from each vendor's pricing page. The shortlist focuses on repeat work, referrals, partner time, and the security controls consulting clients may require. Lumenbase is included, with clear notes on its fit and limits.
Compare 17 CRMs for consultants
Sort by price or name, then filter for free or lower-cost plans. Use the live CRM cost calculator to compare prices at your firm's seat count.
| Best for | Free | Pro / seat | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bigin by Zoho CRM Express | Solo and micro practices | $7 | $7 | $56 | |
Less Annoying CRM Everything included | One flat price, no tiers | $15 | $15 | $120 | |
Complete $49.17 base, 2 seats included | Relationship-led consultancies | $24.17 | $24.17 | $194 | |
Nimble Nimble Business | Contact-first simplicity | $24.90 | $24.90 | $199 | |
Cloze Business Silver | Automatic relationship history | $19.99 | $24.99 | $200 | |
Capsule Growth | Simple pipeline plus projects | $28 | $28 | $224 | |
Attio Plus | Building your own model | $29 | $29 | $232 | |
Nutshell Pro | Affordable and full-featured | $13 | $42 | $336 | |
folk Premium | Small partner-led teams | $24 | $48 | $384 | |
Pipedrive Professional | Simple sales pipeline | $14 | $49 | $392 | |
Copper Professional | Google Workspace practices | $23 | $59 | $472 | |
HubSpot Professional | Firms marketing at scale | $7 | $90 | $720 | |
Workbooks CRM Business Edition | Mid-market services firms | $47 | $97 | $776 | |
Insightly All-in-One Professional All-in-one bundle, flat monthly | CRM plus project delivery | Flat | Flat plan | $899 | |
Affinity Scale Priced per seat per year | Advisory and deal networks | $166.67 | $191.67 | $1533 | |
OnePageCRM Business | Next-action selling | n/a | n/a | ||
Salesforce Pro Suite | Large partnerships | n/a | n/a |
8 users, USD, list price on the basis selected above, cheapest professional-band plan, pricing checked 26 August 2026. A vendor that publishes no price for that plan on the selected basis shows “Not published” rather than a price from a cheaper plan. Flat-plan and quote-only vendors are marked. Verify on the vendor's own pricing page.
What the upgrade costs, tier by tier
Monthly cost at 8 seats for each published band, billed annually, USD
Each segment is the step up from the tier below, so a row's full length is what its top tier costs at 8 seats. Sorted by how far that top tier sits above the entry one, because that multiple is what a compliance requirement will cost you. Quote-only tiers have no published price and are not shown.
Where the price hides
Consulting firms often pay for occasional users and top-tier security features. These four details can change the total monthly cost.
- The compliance tier. Audit logs and single sign-on often sit in a top plan. If a client contract or regulator requires either, use that tier in the price comparison from the start.
- Paying per partner who barely logs in. Partners who open the CRM only a few times a month can still require full-price seats. Ask about viewer, read-only, and contributor access.
- Projects sold separately. Project delivery may require a separate module or partner integration. Confirm the workflow, data handoff, and added price before treating it as part of the CRM.
- The single-user trap. A solo plan may stop working once a second consultant needs access to the same client. Compare the price for the team size you expect next year.
Best CRM for consultants by practice type
An independent consultant, a specialist boutique, and a large partnership need different systems. These picks cover common practice types and include alternatives.
both are low-cost, quick to set up, and simple enough for one person to maintain.
Also consider: OnePageCRM, Nimble
the partner network and client history stay visible during busy delivery periods.
Also consider: Lumenbase, folk, Capsule
it tracks account history and surfaces past clients who have gone quiet before the next referral or engagement.
Also consider: Cloze, Affinity
a PSA is built around staffing, utilization, and billing. Connect it to a CRM when the firm also needs a sales pipeline.
Also consider: Insightly, Workbooks
audit logs and single sign-on usually require a higher tier. Start the comparison with the plan that meets the client contract.
Also consider: Salesforce, Vtiger
both can carry a won deal into project delivery and reduce repeated entry before invoicing.
Also consider: Lumenbase, Copper
its relationship graph suits intermediated work where introductions and network history shape the mandate.
Also consider: Attio, Cloze
both support the deeper configuration needed across offices, teams, and client views. Include admin work in the budget.
Also consider: Microsoft Dynamics 365
The compliance tier, and what it costs
Client contracts may require single sign-on, audit logs, or both. Across the full pricing dataset, every one of the 10 CRMs that offer single sign-on puts it behind an upgrade, at a median of $516 a month for 8 seats. Audit logs follow the same pattern at 14 of 15 vendors that list them. Use the lowest tier that meets your client contracts as the starting price.
- SSO / SAML. Every one of the 6 that offer it puts it behind an upgrade. The cheapest way in is $400 a month at 8 seats.
- Territories and quotas. Every one of the 3 that offer it puts it behind an upgrade. The cheapest way in is $200 a month at 8 seats.
- Audit logs. Every one of the 4 that offer it puts it behind an upgrade. The cheapest way in is $472 a month at 8 seats.
- Sandbox. 5 of 6 that offer it charge more for it. The cheapest way in is $194 a month at 8 seats.
- Custom objects. 4 of 6 that offer it charge more for it. The cheapest way in is $56 a month at 8 seats.
The full breakdown, every capability against every plan tier, is on the CRM feature comparison.
Where Lumenbase fits
Lumenbase is our product. It is built for relationship-led firms, including consultancies. These are the parts most relevant to this comparison.
- The client record keeps the full account history across engagements and partner handoffs.
- Email, meeting, and LinkedIn capture reduce the manual logging expected from billable partners and consultants.
- Account health signals show when a past client or active account has gone quiet.
- CRM, delivery, invoicing, and AI tools sit in one plan, which makes the quoted tier easier to compare.
Affinity fits advisory work built around a relationship graph. Productive or Scoro fit firms led by utilization and resourcing. Salesforce supports deep configuration for a multi-office partnership. Less Annoying CRM and Bigin keep costs low for one-person firms. See the consultancies page, the boutique firm guide, or Lumenbase pricing.
How we compared
Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page, on whichever basis the table is set to: annual-billed or month-to-month. A basis is never calculated from the other, so a vendor publishing only one shows a dash on the other rather than an estimate. The 8-seat column always uses the cheapest plan in a vendor's professional band, and a vendor with no published price for that plan is left blank instead of being quoted from a cheaper tier. This page lists 17 CRMs, 15 of them priced on the default basis. Pricing was refreshed 26 August 2026. See the CRM feature comparison for the full method, capability data, and treatment of flat and quote-only plans.
Frequently asked questions
HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho, Affinity, and other names are trademarks of their respective owners. Lumenbase is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by them. Prices describe the vendors as of 26 August 2026; products, pricing, and features change and vary by plan, so verify on each vendor's pricing page before deciding.