⚡ Quick Verdict:
- Pricing: Insightly starts at $29/user/month. Close CRM starts at $35/seat/month.
- Best for: Insightly suits teams that need customer relationship management plus project management. Close CRM suits outbound sales teams that live on phone calls.
- Key difference: Insightly manages projects, contacts and services after the sale. Close CRM has built in calling, texting and a power dialer.
- Our pick: Insightly, rated 4.1 against 3.0 for Close CRM. It covers more of your business for less money per seat.
Most CRM buyers pick the wrong tool for a simple reason.
They compare feature lists instead of workflows.
Insightly and Close CRM are both customer relationship management platforms.
But they were built for two different jobs.
One tracks the whole customer journey, including projects and delivery.
The other exists to help sales reps talk to more leads, faster.
Overview
This Insightly vs Close CRM comparison covers pricing, core features and ease of use.
Our writer spent hands-on time inside Close CRM directly.
Notes on Insightly come from its documentation, pricing page and G2 reviews.
We also break down who each system works best for.
By the end, you will know which CRM software fits your team.
What is Insightly?
Insightly is a customer relationship management platform for small and mid-sized companies.
It markets itself as the modern CRM teams love.
Insightly CRM keeps current and prospective customer data in one place.
The system pairs contact management with real project management.
Sales teams track sales opportunities while delivery teams run projects.
PC Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, G2 Crowd and TrustRadius all recommend it.
Here is a short walkthrough of the platform.
🏆 Winner: Insightly
One system for contacts, deals and projects. Insightly offers SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance. Setup is fast for small teams.
Insightly Pricing
Insightly uses three tiers. Every plan is priced per user, per month.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Plus | $29/user/month | Small teams needing core CRM and projects |
| Professional | $49/user/month | Teams that want dashboards and app integration |
| Enterprise | $99/user/month | Full access to every feature and custom objects |
Pricing verified August 2026.
Free trial: Yes. Insightly offers a 14-day trial with no card required.
Money-back guarantee: None advertised. Annual contracts are prepaid, so test the trial first.
📌 Note: The Plus tier gives limited access to most features. Professional adds limited dashboards and third-party app integration. Enterprise unlocks everything.
⚠️ Warning: Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service are sold separately. Those other Insightly products follow the same per-user pricing, so costs stack up fast.
Key Benefits of Insightly
Here is what makes Insightly worth a look:
- 360-degree customer view: All customer records, emails and files sit on one page. That view supports personalized outreach and automated tasks.
- Projects built in: You can create projects, set milestones and assign tasks to any team member. Gantt chart visualizations arrived in 2025 for timelines and dependencies.
- Pipelines and Kanban views: Customizable pipelines track each stage of your sales process. Multiple pipelines let you separate new business from renewals.
- AppConnect integrations: A low-code engine ships over 2,000 pre-built connectors. Google Workspace, Slack and accounting apps all connect without a developer.
- Copilot AI assistant: Copilot summarizes long email threads and retrieves records on request. It cuts manual data entry during busy weeks.
- Strong compliance: Insightly meets SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA standards. Security matters if you handle health or EU customer data.
- Mobile access: The web app and mobile app both work on any mobile device. Business card scanning adds new contacts on the go.
What Our Team Noticed
Note: We have not had extended hands-on time inside Insightly yet. The points above come from published documentation, the Insightly pricing page and verified G2 reviews. G2 reviewers repeatedly highlight the fast rollout and the smooth data input and sharing process.
Insightly Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- CRM and project management link tightly in one system
- Easier to pick up than Zoho CRM, with a short learning curve
- Over 2,000 AppConnect connectors reach almost any tool
- SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance included
- Rollout is fast, so teams start tracking deals sooner
❌ Cons
- Not as feature-deep as Zoho CRM on advanced features
- Custom workflows lag behind rival CRM tools
- The Enterprise tier costs almost double Zoho CRM
- No built-in dialer, so phone calls need another tool
What is Close CRM?
Close CRM is a sales platform built for small to medium-sized businesses.
Its whole focus is turning leads into revenue.
Email, calling and SMS sit inside a single inbox.
Sales reps dial prospects straight from the browser or desktop app.
Smart Views filter leads by criteria so nobody wastes a search.
Close is often grouped with sales engagement tools rather than traditional CRM options.
The video below walks through the interface in more detail.
Runner Up: Close CRM
The pick for high-volume outbound calling. Close offers a power dialer, SMS and a shared inbox. Migration from other CRMs is free and takes one click.
Close CRM Pricing
Close CRM also uses three tiers. Pricing is per seat, per month.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $35/seat/month | Startup features for a first sales team |
| Growth | $99/seat/month | Professional features like automation and sequences |
| Scale | $139/seat/month | Call coaching, custom objects and reporting depth |
Pricing verified August 2026.
💡 Pricing note: Our research notes list an older Startup, Professional and Enterprise structure at $59, $109 and $149 per seat when billed monthly. The table above reflects our verified plan data. Check the vendor page before you buy.
Free trial: Yes. Close offers a 14-day free trial, and a motivated team can go live inside it.
Money-back guarantee: None published. Annual plans are billed annually at a discount to monthly.
📌 Note: Every plan includes calling, texting and email. Higher tiers add advanced automation, collaboration tools, deeper customization and call coaching.
⚠️ Warning: Entry-level pricing is expensive next to other CRMs. Smaller teams with tight budgets should map seat counts before committing.
Key Benefits of Close CRM
Here is where Close CRM earns its keep:
- Built-in dialers: A power dialer and a predictive dialer automate outbound calls. Reps dial multiple numbers without touching a keypad.
- One inbox for everything: Email, phone calls and SMS land in the same place. That cuts app switching for busy sales reps.
- Live call coaching: Managers listen in and help reps mid-call. New hires ramp faster and close more deals.
- Smart Views: Saved filters surface the right leads first. Prioritization stops guesswork at the top of the day.
- Fast onboarding: A CSV import tool and a free one-click migration tool move data from other tools. Setup takes hours, not weeks.
- Activity timelines: Every call, email and note appears on the lead profile. Nothing about your outreach gets lost.
- Support and knowledge base: A help center, API documentation and product updates back the platform. Onboarding support is proactive and free.
What Our Team Noticed
Our writer signed up for Close CRM and ran real outreach through it for several days. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:
Close CRM Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Best-in-class calling, dialed straight from the browser
- Simple enough to earn full team engagement quickly
- Free one-click migration and proactive onboarding help
- Holds a 4.7/5 rating on G2 from user reviews
❌ Cons
- Reporting functionality is weak for sales analysis
- Less customizable than rival platforms
- No project management, so delivery work lives elsewhere
- 80+ integrations still miss some key connections
Feature Comparison
Ready for a closer look at Insightly vs Close CRM? We compare ten areas that decide most CRM buying calls.
| Feature | Insightly | Close CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $29/user/month | $35/seat/month |
| Free Plan | ❌ | ❌ |
| Project Management | ✅ | ❌ |
| Built-In Calling | ❌ | ✅ |
| Power / Predictive Dialer | ❌ | ✅ |
| Workflow Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reporting & Dashboards | ✅ | ⚠️ Limited |
| Integrations | ✅ 2,000+ | ✅ 80+ |
| HIPAA Compliance | ✅ | ❌ |
| Best For | CRM plus project delivery | High-volume outbound sales |
1. Contact Management & Customer Records
Insightly: Contact management sits at the centre of the system. Every company, contact and file links to the same record, so customer relationships stay readable. Custom fields let you store the details your business actually tracks.
Close CRM: Leads, not accounts, are the primary object. That suits outbound work but makes long-term account history thinner. Custom objects arrive only on the top tier.
2. Sales Pipeline & Sales Opportunities
Insightly: The sales pipeline uses customizable stages and Kanban views. Sales teams move sales opportunities forward while managers monitor progress. You can customize each pipeline per product line.
Close CRM: A visual pipeline highlights bottlenecks in the sales process. It is fast to read but less flexible than Insightly. Deals move quickly because activity data updates itself.
3. Project Management & Task Management
Insightly: This is the clearest gap between the two products. You can create projects, set milestones and assign tasks to any team member. Task management also covers reminders, to-do lists and call logs.
Close CRM: There is no project management module at all. You get inbox management and task reminders tied to leads instead. Delivery work has to live in a separate tool.
⚠️ Warning: If you sell and then deliver the work, this single difference usually decides the choice for you.
4. Workflow Automation
Insightly: Workflow automation handles record updates, task creation and alerts. Copilot adds AI summaries on top. Custom workflows are thinner than some rival CRM software, which is a fair criticism.
Close CRM: Workflows trigger automated follow ups that lift response rates without manual effort. Automation is aimed squarely at outreach, not operations. It removes a lot of manual data entry for reps.
5. Email Templates & Sequences
Insightly: You can build email templates, schedule emails and send bulk email from inside a record. Google Workspace and Outlook sync keeps threads attached to contacts. Copilot summarizes long threads for you.
Close CRM: Email sequences run alongside calls and SMS in one thread. Templates and merge fields are quick to set up. This is the stronger side for pure outbound cadences.
6. Built-In Calling & Power Dialer
Insightly: There is no native dialer. Calls are logged manually or through an integration. The organization view is what Insightly gives you instead, grouping contacts under each company.
Close CRM: Calling is the headline feature. A power dialer and predictive dialer let reps dial multiple numbers back to back. Managers can join live for call coaching.
7. Reporting & Opportunities Dashboard
Insightly: Reporting is a real strength. The opportunities dashboard gives visual insight into revenue, and custom graphs cover most questions. Professional adds limited dashboards, while Enterprise unlocks the full set.
Close CRM: Quick KPI reports work well for daily standups and training. Deeper analysis is harder, and reviewers call the reporting functionality weak. Growing teams often export data elsewhere.
8. Integrations & Other Tools
Insightly: AppConnect is a low-code engine with over 2,000 pre-built connectors. It also links to other Insightly products such as Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service. No developer is needed for common apps.
Close CRM: Close connects to over 80 other tools, including Zoom meetings and Slack. Coverage is solid for sales stacks but thinner elsewhere. A few key connections found in other CRMs are missing.
9. Support, Onboarding & Free Trial
Insightly: Support and ticketing run through the help centre and paid service tiers. Rollout is fast, which is a key reason for its appeal. Getting data into the system is not overly convoluted.
Close CRM: Onboarding support is proactive and includes free migration help and training. An ROI calculator, help centre and API documentation round out the resources. Most teams launch inside the free trial.
10. Pricing & Cost
Here are both pricing structures side by side.
| Tier | Insightly | Close CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Plus — $29/user/month | Essentials — $35/seat/month |
| Mid | Professional — $49/user/month | Growth — $99/seat/month |
| Top | Enterprise — $99/user/month | Scale — $139/seat/month |
Insightly: Pricing is competitive at the Plus and Professional tiers. The Enterprise tier is the weak spot, sitting close to double Zoho CRM. For most small businesses, Professional at $49 is the sweet spot.
Close CRM: Entry pricing is mid-tier, but the jump from Essentials to Growth is steep. You are paying for calling infrastructure, not breadth. A five-seat team pays $495 a month on Growth.
Different Scenarios
| If You Need… | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest entry cost | Insightly | $6 less per seat monthly |
| High-volume outbound calls | Close CRM | Power and predictive dialer |
| Projects after the sale | Insightly | Milestones, Gantt charts, tasks |
| Deep reporting | Insightly | Custom graphs and dashboards |
| Fastest rep onboarding | Close CRM | Live inside the free trial |
| HIPAA or GDPR duty | Insightly | SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA ready |
💰 Your Budget
Insightly starts cheaper and stays cheaper through the middle tier. Close CRM costs more per seat once you move past Essentials.
🔌 Your Tech Stack
AppConnect reaches far more apps, which matters if your account systems are unusual. Close covers the common sales stack well and little beyond it.
📞 Your Sales Process
Phone-first teams that want more leads dialled per hour should choose Close. Consultative sales processes with long delivery phases fit Insightly better.
🎓 Your Experience Level
Both platforms are beginner-friendly on the web and on mobile. Insightly asks a little more setup work because it does more.
🆓 Free Trials and Demos
Both run 14-day trials, so load ten real customers into each. For example, run one live deal end to end before you pay.
🛟 Support Options
Close includes free migration help and hands-on onboarding. Insightly leans on documentation and its paid service tier for deeper help.
Switching Guide
Already using one of these? Here is what changes if you move.
🔄 Switching from Insightly to Close CRM?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- A dialer inside the CRM, so reps stop switching apps
- Live call coaching for managers training new hires
- Email, SMS and calls stacked on one lead timeline
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Project management, milestones and Gantt charts
- Deep reporting and the opportunities dashboard
- HIPAA coverage and the 2,000+ connector library
📋 How to switch:
- Export contacts, companies and open deals from Insightly as CSV
- Start a Close trial and run the free one-click migration
- Rebuild pipelines and Smart Views, then connect your number
🔄 Switching from Close CRM to Insightly?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Projects, milestones and task assignment after the sale
- Reporting depth that Close reviewers say is missing
- Cheaper seats and links to other Insightly products
❌ What you’ll lose:
- The power dialer and one-click browser calling
- Native SMS and the unified sales inbox
- Live coaching during customer phone calls
📋 How to switch:
- Export leads, activity history and custom fields from Close
- Create an Insightly account and import the files
- Set up pipelines, then add a calling app for outbound work
What Our Review Didn’t Cover
This comparison focused on small businesses and mid-sized sales teams. We did not test enterprise rollouts, custom API builds or how either system handles thousands of records. Marketing teams evaluating Insightly Marketing should check that product separately, since it is priced apart from the CRM. Our notes reflect the August 2026 versions, and each new version may shift the details.
Final Verdict
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| 💰 Pricing | Insightly |
| 🚀 Core CRM Features | Insightly |
| 📞 Calling & Outreach | Close CRM |
| 📁 Project Management | Insightly |
| 📊 Reporting | Insightly |
| 👶 Ease of Use | Close CRM |
| 🔌 Integrations | Insightly |
| 🏆 Overall Winner | Insightly |
🏆 WINNER: INSIGHTLY
Insightly wins 5 of 7 categories.
Best for: service businesses, agencies serving clients, and teams that need CRM and project delivery in one system
Insightly and Close CRM solve different halves of the same job. Insightly covers the customer from first contact through delivery, which protects team productivity across departments.
Close CRM is a specialist. If your team lives on the phone and wants more deals per rep, it earns its higher seat price.
For most buyers weighing Insightly vs Close CRM, Insightly is the safer choice. It costs less at entry, does more, and still handles day-to-day sales work well.
More of Insightly Compared
Here is how Insightly measures up against other CRM tools:
Insightly wins on: shorter learning curve, native project management, faster rollout
Zoho CRM wins on: feature depth, custom workflow flexibility, far cheaper top tier
Insightly wins on: project milestones, predictable per-user costs, HIPAA readiness
HubSpot wins on: free starting tier, marketing automation depth, content and knowledge tools
Insightly vs Pipedrive
Insightly wins on: post-sale delivery tracking, 2,000+ connectors, compliance coverage
Pipedrive wins on: simpler pipeline view, lower entry price, quicker rep adoption
Insightly vs Salesforce
Insightly wins on: setup speed, no admin headcount required, lower total cost
Salesforce wins on: unlimited customization, developer platform depth, enterprise reporting
More of Close CRM Compared
Close CRM is measured against a different set of rivals. This video covers the main ones.
Close CRM wins on: browser dialing, cheaper for pure sales seats, faster rep onboarding
HubSpot wins on: reporting dashboards, service and marketing modules, larger app marketplace
Close CRM vs Keap
Close CRM wins on: predictive dialing, cleaner interface, sales-only focus
Keap wins on: email marketing depth, invoicing and payments, appointment booking
Close CRM wins on: native calling, outbound sequences, activity tracking accuracy
Monday CRM wins on: board customization, cross-team project views, cheaper small plans
Close CRM wins on: dialer quality, simpler setup, migration support
Freshsales CRM wins on: free entry plan, built-in chat, stronger analytics
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Insightly used for?
It manages customer interactions, leads, sales opportunities and projects in one place. Teams use it to track deals and then deliver the work.
Is Insightly easy to use?
Yes. The interface is easy to pick up and importing data is not convoluted. It is simpler than Zoho CRM, though less feature-deep.
What is a close CRM?
Close is a sales platform for small and medium businesses. It combines calling, email and SMS with pipeline tracking in a single inbox.
How much is close per month?
Plans run $35, $99 and $139 per seat each month for Essentials, Growth and Scale. A 14-day trial is available first.
How is close different from other CRMs?
Most CRMs record activity. Close performs it, blending CRM with sales engagement so reps can dial, text and email without leaving the platform.
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