Zoho CRM alternatives: 12 tools compared (October 2026)

Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is a marketing and CRM platform from Paris for businesses from solo founders to enterprises. It sends email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns and transactional messages, and adds AI for copy, send times and segments.

Key functions

• AI Content Generator drafts subject lines and email copy (from Starter)
• AI send time optimization for each contact (from Standard)
• Aura AI suggests segments and answers data questions in plain language (Professional)

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Headquartered in France, Zoho CRM in India.
• Different pricing model: freemium instead of per user.
• Names fewer security certificates: 1, Zoho CRM 6.

Check before buying: Data is hosted in France and Belgium, and the DPA is part of the published terms. AI features pass inputs and outputs to third-party AI providers listed as sub-processors, so review that list before enabling them. Prices rise with email volume, SSO requires Enterprise, and the free plan can send only after Brevo approves the account.

Close is a CRM for small and midsize businesses whose sales teams sell by phone and email. It builds calling, email, SMS and workflows into the CRM and includes Chloe, an AI agent that calls leads, takes notes and updates records.

Key functions

• Chloe calls leads, qualifies them, books meetings and logs the call (in English)
• Notetaker records, transcribes and summarizes calls and Zoom, Teams or Meet meetings
• Lead summaries and suggested actions for stalled or at-risk deals

Compared with Zoho CRM

• States no EU hosting option; Zoho CRM has one.
• Names fewer security certificates: 1, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: United States.

Check before buying: Close processes data with Amazon Web Services in the US and provides a DPA with standard contractual clauses on request. Chloe records and transcribes calls, so check consent for recorded and automated calls under the TCPA and state recording laws before campaigns. Call recording, live coaching and activity reports also show individual rep performance; agree internally how these reports may be used. Extra AI credits and telephony are billed by usage.

HubSpot Sales Hub is the sales module of the HubSpot customer platform, aimed at small and midsize companies, with a free plan, deal pipelines, sequences and AI features that score deals and turn call notes into CRM updates.

Key functions

• Deal Scoring ranks deals by likelihood to close
• HubSpot Notetaker records meetings and prepares customer context
• Deal Progression suggests CRM updates and follow-ups from calls and emails

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Different pricing model: freemium instead of per user.
• Names fewer security certificates: 2, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: United States.

Check before buying: Account region is assigned by IP location at sign-up, so choose the data center deliberately. Budget the one-time onboarding fees for Professional and Enterprise and the HubSpot Credits that AI features consume. Recording calls with the Notetaker needs consent from participants under US state laws and GDPR.

Modjo is a French revenue intelligence platform that records and transcribes sales conversations, updates the CRM automatically and uses AI to score calls and coach reps, aimed at European B2B sales teams from three reps upward.

Key functions

• Automatic CRM updates from call summaries
• Ask Modjo AI answers questions about deals and clients
• AI call scoring

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Headquartered in France, Zoho CRM in India.
• Names fewer security certificates: 1, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: France.

Check before buying: Modjo records and scores employee calls, so consent from call participants under GDPR and co-determination rules in countries such as Germany and France apply before rollout. Ask for a quote, since prices are not published. Check the sub-processor list for AI model providers.

Attio is a CRM from a London-based vendor for startups and growing sales and revenue teams. It combines a flexible data model, email and call capture, sequences and workflows with AI agents that research accounts, summarize calls and suggest record updates.

Key functions

• Ask Attio answers questions about deals and drafts briefs, call recaps and follow-up emails
• Call Intelligence records and transcribes calls and picks out buying signals and objections
• Web Agent researches the open web and writes sourced answers into account records

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Headquartered in United Kingdom, Zoho CRM in India.
• Names fewer security certificates: 1, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: United Kingdom.

Check before buying: Check where your data will sit: the DPA names Google Cloud as host and lists US subprocessors under Standard Contractual Clauses, but we found no fixed hosting region. Plan for AI credits, since heavy use of agents may need extra workspace credits. Single sign-on with SAML is part of Enterprise. If you record calls with Call Intelligence, UK GDPR requires a lawful basis and information for all participants.

Jiminny is conversation and revenue intelligence software from a UK vendor for sales teams. It records and transcribes calls and video meetings, summarizes them with AI, syncs notes to the CRM and gives managers coaching and pipeline insights.

Key functions

• AI Notetaker records, transcribes and summarizes conversations
• Ask Anything answers questions about a call or a whole deal
• Automatic CRM updates and activity type detection (Scale tier)

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Headquartered in United Kingdom, Zoho CRM in India.
• Names fewer security certificates: 1, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: United Kingdom.

Check before buying: Jiminny quotes prices on request, so ask which seat types each tier includes and which features are still marked coming soon, such as AI call scoring. Confirm processing locations in the data processing addendum, because the privacy notice also names the US and Ireland. Call recording needs consent under UK GDPR and local law, and any rep-level scoring should be agreed with employee representatives.

monday.com is a configurable work platform for project and portfolio management, with separate products for CRM, service desks and software teams. Its AI adds agents, an assistant on every board and a meeting notetaker for teams of any size.

Key functions

• monday agents: prebuilt and custom AI agents, for example for status reports, risk analysis and competitor research
• monday sidekick as an AI assistant directly on boards
• Agent builder for creating custom agents

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Names 8 security certificates, Zoho CRM 6.
• Different pricing model: freemium instead of per user.
• Strongest elsewhere: Israel.

Check before buying: Check how many AI credits your team will use, because each tier includes a fixed monthly amount and agents consume credits. monday.com runs a dedicated EU data region; confirm at setup that your account is hosted there. The data processing addendum and the subprocessor list are public. The AI Notetaker is an add-on for Pro and Enterprise and uses 120 AI credits per hour of transcription.

Pipedrive is a pipeline-focused CRM for small and midsize sales teams that tracks deals visually and adds an AI sales assistant, email drafting and summaries, and win probability estimates.

Key functions

• Sales Assistant analyzes sales data and answers questions about it
• AI email generator drafts sales emails from prompts
• AI summaries of email threads

Compared with Zoho CRM

• Names fewer security certificates: 3, Zoho CRM 6.
• Strongest elsewhere: United States.

Check before buying: Ask where your account data is stored, since the Trust Center names AWS but no region. The privacy documentation states that Gmail data from email sync may be used for AI email features when enabled, so review this setting before connecting mailboxes. No free plan exists, only a 14-day trial.