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Freshsales CRM vs Insightly 2026 — Which CRM Is Worth It?

by | Last updated Sep 7, 2026

Winner
Insightly
4.1
  • 2,000+ AppConnect Connectors
  • SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA
  • CRM + Project Management
  • Copilot AI Assistant Built In
  • Gantt Charts Added in 2025
  • Customizable Kanban Pipelines
  • Plans from $29/user/month
Runner Up
Freshsales CRM
4.0
  • Freddy AI Lead Scoring
  • 21-Day Free Trial
  • Phone, Email, Chat and SMS
  • 4.5/5 on G2 and Capterra
  • Around 385 Integrations
  • iOS and Android Mobile App
  • Plans from $9/user/month

⚡ Quick Verdict:

  • Pricing: Freshsales CRM starts at $9/user/month. Insightly starts at $29/user/month.
  • Best for: Freshsales CRM suits sales teams that want built-in phone, email and chat. Insightly suits teams that run projects after the deal closes.
  • Key difference: Insightly bundles project management with the CRM. Freshsales CRM bundles omnichannel communication and Freddy AI.
  • Our pick: Insightly, by a hair. It rates 4.1 to 4.0 and covers more ground per account.
Freshsales CRM vs Insightly Comparison

The cheaper CRM is not automatically the weaker one here.

Freshsales CRM costs $9 per user per month to start.

Insightly starts at more than three times that price.

One is a sales engine. The other is a sales and delivery system.

Here is how to tell which one fits your business.

Overview

This Freshsales CRM vs Insightly comparison covers pricing, features, ease of use and support.

Our sources are published specs, vendor documentation and G2 and Capterra reviews.

Neither product has a hands-on log from our writers yet.

So we flag where a claim comes from a review site or a vendor page.

By the end you will know which customer relationship management platform matches your workflow.

What is Freshsales CRM?

Freshsales CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management platform from Freshworks.

It launched in 2016 as the second major product in the Freshworks lineup.

The tool centralizes customer data and keeps a full history of every touchpoint.

Sales teams get visual pipelines, one-click phone, event tracking and lead tracking in one place.

Freddy AI sits on top and scores leads, predicts deal risk and suggests the next best action.

Freshworks says more than 67,000 customers worldwide use its products.

Freshsales Freshworks CRM Review – Still Good?

Freshsales CRM

⭐ 4.0/5 | 💰 From $9/user/month

Phone, email, chat and SMS live inside one inbox. Freddy AI ranks your leads for you. The 21-day free trial needs no credit card.

Freshsales CRM Pricing

Freshsales CRM uses a tiered structure aimed at different business sizes.

PlanPriceBest For
Growth$9/user/monthSmall teams starting with a CRM
Pro$39/user/monthGrowing sales teams that need automation
Enterprise$59/user/monthLarger teams needing full customization

Pricing verified September 2026.

Freshsales crm pricing

Free trial: 21 days on every tier, with no credit card required to open a new account.

Money-back guarantee: Freshworks does not publish a blanket refund window. Cancel before renewal to avoid the next charge.

📌 Note: Freshsales CRM pricing has dropped over the years and now sits two to three times lower than earlier tiers. Freshworks documentation also describes a free plan for up to 3 users. Some capabilities arrive as paid add ons rather than being bundled into your base seat.

⚠️ Pricing conflict flagged: Third-party research lists the entry paid tier at $11/user/month and Enterprise at $71/user/month. Our verified CSV data shows Growth at $9 and Enterprise at $59. We use the CSV figures throughout this article. Check the Freshworks site before you buy, since regional currency and billing cycle change the number you see.

Key Benefits of Freshsales CRM

Here is what makes this crm software worth a look:

  • Unified inbox: Phone, email, chat and SMS run inside the CRM. Reps stop switching browser tabs mid-conversation.
  • Freddy AI scoring: Leads are ranked on behavior and profile. Freshworks positions this as a way to lift conversion rates.
  • Kanban pipelines: Deals move across a visual board. Bottlenecks show up before the quarter ends.
  • Omnichannel reach: WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger and LINE connect to the same customer record.
  • Bulk email with tracking: Send personalized batches and monitor opens and replies from the timeline.
  • Mobile app: The iOS and Android app supports offline access and call logging on the road.
  • Freshworks tie-in: Freshmarketer and Freshdesk connect natively, so marketing and support share the same customer data.
Freshsales Homepagee

What Our Team Noticed

Note: We have not logged extended hands-on time with Freshsales CRM yet. What follows comes from the vendor website, product documentation and public review data.

Reviewers rate it highly, averaging around 4.5 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra.

The recurring complaint in those reviews is speed. Navigation feels cluttered and pages load slowly once records pile up.

Freshsales CRM Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • Entry price of $9 per user per month is excellent value for small and medium sized businesses
  • Built-in phone, email, chat and SMS in one unified inbox
  • Freddy AI scores leads, predicts deal risk and suggests next steps
  • 21-day free trial on every tier with no credit card required
  • 24/5 support on all plans via phone, chat and email
❌ Cons
  • Cluttered navigation and slow loading times drag the experience down
  • Around 385 integrations, fewer than older rivals offer
  • Third-party connectors are thinner than the links to other Freshworks products
  • Lacks some functionality found in HubSpot and Salesforce

What is Insightly?

Insightly CRM keeps current and prospective customer data in one place.

It handles leads, sales opportunities and the projects that follow a closed deal.

The company markets it as the modern crm teams love, and the pitch is about range.

You get customizable pipelines, Kanban views, milestones and an opportunities dashboard.

Managers can monitor employee work while reps build relationships.

PC Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, G2 Crowd and TrustRadius all recommend the system.

Insightly CRM Review: Better Than I Expected?

🏆 Winner: Insightly

⭐ 4.1/5 | 💰 From $29/user/month

CRM and project management share one record. AppConnect adds over 2,000 pre-built connectors. SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance come standard.

Insightly Pricing

Insightly offers three tiers. Each one is billed annually per user.

PlanPriceBest For
Plus$29/user/monthSmall teams needing CRM plus projects
Professional$49/user/monthTeams needing dashboards and third-party apps
Enterprise$99/user/monthFull access to every feature and control

Pricing verified September 2026.

Insightly Top Benefits

Free trial: Insightly lists a trial on its pricing page. Length varies by plan, so confirm the terms before you create a new account.

Money-back guarantee: No published refund window. Annual contracts renew automatically unless you cancel.

📌 Note: Plus gives limited access to most features. Professional adds limited dashboards and third-party app integration. Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service are sold separately on the same three tiers, so a full stack multiplies your costs.

⚠️ Warning: Plus and Professional price competitively against other CRMs. Enterprise does not. At $99 per user per month it runs close to double Zoho CRM at the same level. Price that tier carefully before committing a whole team.

Key Benefits of Insightly

Here is what pushes Insightly ahead of most crm tools in its price band:

  • CRM and projects together: Milestones, pipelines and task management live beside the deal record. Nothing gets re-keyed at handoff.
  • AppConnect: A low-code integration engine with over 2,000 pre-built connectors to other applications.
  • Copilot AI: The assistant summarizes emails and retrieves records without a manual search.
  • Gantt charts: Added in 2025 for project timelines and dependency tracking.
  • Compliance: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA standards are covered, which matters for health and finance organizations.
  • Fast setup: Getting data in is not overly convoluted, and quick rollout is a stated reason for its appeal.
  • Mobile capture: Add contacts on the go, scan a business card and assign tasks from your phone.
Insightly Homepage

What Our Team Noticed

Note: We have not logged extended hands-on time with Insightly either. The observations below come from published documentation and third-party review coverage.

The interface is easy to pick up, and reviewers repeatedly note a short learning curve compared with heavier platforms.

The trade-off is depth. Insightly is easier than Zoho CRM but not as feature-deep, and custom workflows lag behind some rivals.

Insightly Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • Project management and CRM share the same records with no handoff gap
  • AppConnect provides over 2,000 pre-built connectors through a low-code engine
  • SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance
  • Copilot AI summarizes emails and retrieves data on request
  • Easy to pick up with a smooth data input and sharing process
❌ Cons
  • The Enterprise tier at $99 per user per month is close to double Zoho CRM
  • Lacks advanced features such as custom workflows found in some competitors
  • Easier to use than Zoho CRM but not as feature-deep
  • No entry tier under $29, so very small teams pay more to start

Feature Comparison

We compared ten areas that decide most CRM purchases. The table below gives the shape of it. Each section explains what the checkmarks mean in practice.

FeatureFreshsales CRMInsightly
Starting Price$9/user/month$29/user/month
Built-in Phone, Chat, SMS
Project Management
AI Assistant✅ Freddy AI✅ Copilot
Integration CountAround 385Over 2,000
SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA❌ Not all published
Gantt Charts
Mobile App✅ iOS and Android✅ iOS and Android
Free Trial✅ 21 days✅ Varies by plan
Best ForSales teams selling by phone and chatTeams that deliver projects after the sale

1. Contact Management

Freshsales CRM: Every contact record carries a 360-degree view with a full timeline. Calls, emails and chats write back to the same profile automatically, and that collected data feeds personalized marketing campaigns.

Freshsales CRM Contact Management

Insightly: Contacts sit alongside an organization record, so you see the company and its people in one view. Insightly also offers a 360-degree customer view built for personalized follow-up.

Insightly CRM

2. Sales Pipeline and Deal Tracking

Freshsales CRM: Kanban boards drive the visual sales pipeline. Freddy AI scores each lead on behavior and profile, then flags deal risk before it costs you the quarter.

Freshsales CRM AI Lead Scoring

Insightly: Pipelines and Kanban views are customizable per stage, so a services pipeline can look nothing like a product one. The opportunities dashboard tracks progress across the team, and stages hand off into a project pipeline.

Insightly Modern CRM

3. Project Management

Freshsales CRM: There is no project module. Sales sequences are the closest thing, running multi-step outreach on a schedule. After a deal closes, delivery work moves to a separate app.

Freshsales CRM Sales Sequences

Insightly: This is the clearest gap between the two. Milestones, project pipelines and task assignment ship in the core product. Gantt chart visualizations arrived with the 2025 new version, covering timelines and dependencies.

Insightly Project Management

⚠️ Warning: If your business ends at the signature, project management is dead weight you are paying for. Insightly only earns its higher price when work continues after the deal closes.

4. Workflow Automation and AI

Freshsales CRM: Automation handles repetitive sales activities so reps spend more time selling. Freddy AI is the headline act, scoring leads and recommending the next move to close deals.

Freshsales CRM Freddy AI Copilot

Insightly: Copilot summarizes long email threads and pulls records on request. Workflow automation exists but stays shallower than the heavyweights, and custom workflows are a known gap versus deeper platforms.

Insightly AI Automations

5. Email and Communication

Freshsales CRM: The strongest column on the board. Phone, email, chat and SMS run through one unified inbox, and omnichannel reach extends to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and LINE. Send bulk emails and monitor activity on each.

https://youtu.be/jv9ub1AzJcY?si=hHblC7UumI3_i7NF

Insightly: Email templates and the option to schedule emails cover the basics. There is no built-in phone or SMS layer, so voice sellers add a separate dialer.

Insightly Email

6. Reporting and Dashboards

Freshsales CRM: Around a dozen predefined sales reports ship ready to use, and all of them are customizable. AI insights sit beside them for forecasting revenue and tracking team performance.

Freshsales CRM Smart AI Agents

Insightly: Reports and dashboards give visual insight into business performance and metrics. Note the tier gate: the Professional plan includes limited dashboards, and full reporting functionality unlocks at Enterprise.

Insightly Reporting

7. Integrations and Apps

Freshsales CRM: Around 385 integrations and apps are available at the time of writing, including Google, Microsoft 365, Slack and Zoom. The tightest links run to other Freshworks products, while third-party connectors stay thinner.

Freshsales CRM Wide Marketplace

Insightly: AppConnect is a low-code integration engine with over 2,000 pre-built connectors. Google Workspace, Outlook and the usual business apps are covered. Links to other Insightly products run natively.

Insightly Seamless Integrations

8. Lead Capture and Task Management

Freshsales CRM: Web forms push new leads straight into the system with no manual entry. Event tracking follows what a visitor does on your site before they ever fill anything in.

Freshsales CRM Web Forms

Insightly: Task management runs deeper. Create reminders, to-do lists and call logs, then assign tasks to any team member from the web or the mobile app.

Insightly Organizations

9. Support and Service Tools

Freshsales CRM: Every plan gets 24/5 support by phone, chat and email, unusually even coverage at a $9 entry tier. Freshdesk OMNI extends the same record into ticketing.

Freshsales CRM Freshdesk OMNI

Insightly: Ticketing and a knowledge base live in Insightly Service, a separate purchase priced on the same three tiers. Buying CRM, Marketing and Service together adds up quickly.

Insightly Support & Ticketing

10. Pricing & Cost

Here are both ladders side by side.

TierFreshsales CRMInsightly
EntryGrowth — $9/user/monthPlus — $29/user/month
MidPro — $39/user/monthProfessional — $49/user/month
TopEnterprise — $59/user/monthEnterprise — $99/user/month

Freshsales CRM: Cheaper at every rung. Five people cost $45 a month on Growth against $145 on Insightly Plus. That gap is why reviewers call it excellent value for small and medium sized businesses.

Insightly: You pay more for two products in one. If project management would otherwise cost you a separate subscription, the $20 gap at entry level closes fast. If it would not, Insightly is simply the expensive option.

Different Scenarios

If You Need…ChooseWhy
The lowest entry costFreshsales CRM$9 versus $29 per seat
Projects after the saleInsightlyMilestones and Gantt charts built in
Phone and SMS sellingFreshsales CRMDialer and SMS included
HIPAA or SOC 2 coverageInsightlyCompliance published
The widest app libraryInsightlyOver 2,000 connectors
Fast onboardingInsightlyShorter learning curve

💰 Your Budget

Ten seats cost $90 a month on Growth and $290 on Plus. Over a year that is real money, so be honest about whether you will use what the extra buys.

🔌 Your Tech Stack

Already running Freshdesk or Freshmarketer? Freshsales CRM slots in with almost no setup. Running a mixed stack around Google Workspace and a dozen niche tools? AppConnect covers more ground.

📝 Your Sales Process

High-volume phone and chat selling favors the unified inbox. Consultative deals that turn into delivery work favor the CRM with a project side attached.

🎓 Your Experience Level

Insightly is the gentler start for a first CRM, and getting data in is not overly convoluted. Freshsales CRM rewards teams willing to customize the layout and tune Freddy AI.

🆓 Free Trials and Demos

The 21-day Freshworks window is the more generous test, with no credit card required. Load one real pipeline into each and see which your reps open on Monday.

🛟 Support and Security

Freshworks gives 24/5 phone, chat and email help on every tier, rare at this price. Insightly answers the security question instead, with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance.

Switching Guide

Already on one of these? Here is what moving actually costs you.

🔄 Switching from Freshsales CRM to Insightly?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • Project pipelines, milestones and Gantt charts in the same account
  • Over 2,000 AppConnect connectors instead of around 385
  • Published SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • Built-in phone, SMS and WhatsApp in one inbox
  • Freddy AI lead scoring and deal risk prediction
  • The $9 entry price and 24/5 support on every plan

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export contacts, companies and deals from Freshsales CRM as CSV
  2. Create your Insightly account and map fields during import
  3. Rebuild pipelines, then reconnect your apps through AppConnect
🔄 Switching from Insightly to Freshsales CRM?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • Roughly 69% lower entry cost per seat
  • A unified inbox with phone, email, chat and SMS
  • Freddy AI scoring plus a dozen customizable sales reports

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • Project management, milestones and dependency tracking
  • The AppConnect library and its low-code builder
  • HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II coverage on the record

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export contacts, organizations and opportunities from Insightly
  2. Start the 21-day trial and import during setup
  3. Move open project work to a separate tool before you cancel

What Our Review Didn’t Cover

This comparison focused on small and mid-market sales teams. We did not test API performance at scale, custom object modeling, or behavior at 100,000 plus records. Marketing teams weighing Freshmarketer or Insightly Marketing should price those separately. Our figures reflect September 2026 pricing pages, and both vendors update tiers regularly.

Final Verdict

CategoryWinner
💰 PricingFreshsales CRM
📞 Communication ToolsFreshsales CRM
🤖 AI AssistanceFreshsales CRM
📋 Project ManagementInsightly
🔌 IntegrationsInsightly
🔒 Security & ComplianceInsightly
👶 Ease of UseInsightly
🏆 Overall WinnerInsightly

🏆 WINNER: INSIGHTLY

Insightly wins 4 out of 7 categories.

Best for: Agencies and consultancies, professional services organizations, regulated industries needing HIPAA coverage

💡 How we broke the tie: 4.1 against 4.0 is close to a dead heat. Insightly takes it because one account covers selling and delivery, and the ease-of-use and compliance gaps are documented rather than a matter of taste. Change one variable, a budget under $20 per seat for example, and Freshsales CRM is the correct pick.

These are not really the same category of product. Freshsales CRM is a sales engine built around conversations, priced so a three-person team can afford it.

Insightly is a customer relationship management platform with a delivery system attached, and it charges accordingly. Freshsales CRM still wins on pure sales productivity per dollar.

But if your work continues after the contract is signed, Insightly saves you a second subscription and a second login.

More of Freshsales CRM Compared

Here is how it holds up against the other names on most shortlists:

https://youtu.be/Fk9X2K6M9QY

Freshsales CRM vs HubSpot

Freshsales CRM wins on: a far cheaper paid entry point, phone and SMS included rather than sold as an add-on, 24/5 human support on every tier

HubSpot wins on: a much larger app marketplace, deeper content and marketing tooling, a free tier that scales further before it forces an upgrade

Freshsales CRM vs Zoho CRM

Freshsales CRM wins on: a cleaner unified inbox, Freddy AI scoring available earlier in the range, simpler setup for a first-time buyer

Zoho CRM wins on: deeper customization and custom workflows, a wider suite of sibling business apps, lower cost at the enterprise end

Freshsales CRM vs Pipedrive

Freshsales CRM wins on: native calling and messaging, AI insights for forecasting, tighter links to marketing and support products

Pipedrive wins on: faster page loads and a leaner interface, a pipeline view many reps prefer, less clutter for teams that only track deals

More of Insightly Compared

And here is where Insightly lands against the same field:

Insightly vs Zoho CRM

Insightly wins on: project delivery built into the CRM, a shorter path from signup to a working system, AppConnect’s low-code connector library

Zoho CRM wins on: greater feature depth across modules, roughly half the price at the enterprise tier, more advanced automation rules

Insightly vs Salesforce

Insightly wins on: rollout measured in days instead of quarters, no admin headcount required to keep it running, predictable per-seat costs

Salesforce wins on: unmatched extensibility and reporting, a partner network for any industry, capacity for very large record volumes

Insightly vs HubSpot

Insightly wins on: milestones and Gantt charts HubSpot has no answer for, HIPAA coverage for regulated work, flatter pricing as seat count grows

HubSpot wins on: a genuinely usable free plan, stronger inbound marketing tooling, a bigger library of learning material and templates

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Freshsales a CRM?

Yes. It is a cloud-based customer relationship management platform from Freshworks, launched in 2016 to manage sales, marketing and customer interactions in one place.

What is the maximum number of users allowed in the free plan of Freshsales?

Freshworks documentation describes a free tier for up to 3 users with most core features included. Beyond three seats, the Growth plan at $9 per user applies.

Is Insightly easy to use?

Reviewers describe the interface as easy to pick up, with a smooth data input and sharing process. Setup is fast, though custom workflow options stay limited.

What is Insightly good for?

Businesses that need sales tracking and project delivery linked together. Customization, integrations and speed are its strengths, especially for agencies and professional services organizations.

How much does a CRM program cost?

Entry tiers here run $9 to $29 per user monthly. Top tiers reach $59 and $99. Most small teams land between $10 and $50 per seat.

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