Free Cloud CRM for Small Business

I had a brief look around today for Cloud-based (SaaS) CRM solutions which are free and of use for small businesses and startups.

My recommendation as of now would be to go with Podio. It's free and offers a nice set of features and integrations.

Here is the list of all the solutions I looked at:

1. Insightly

PROS: Good integration with Gmail and other Google Services

CONS: Synchronization with Gmail contacts only available for paid accounts

2. Nimble

PROS: Good integration with various social platforms, especially for monitoring them.

CONS: Ability to synchronize contacts with Gmail only via PieSync (which starts at $5 / mo).

3. Zoho CRM

PROS: Good integration with other Zoho Services such as Email and Calendar.

CONS: No integration with LinkedIn (not that there could be much of it anyway). No Mass Emails for free account.

4. Highrise

PROS: Easy to use, focusses on the management of contacts and everything around them.

CONS: No file storage for free account.

5. Podio

PROS: Very versatile system with many other applications. Nice design.

CONS: Not very strong specific CRM features.

Further solutions I didn't look into: Clevertim, Capsule, Odoo

Zapier

Zapier is not exactly a CRM system but it is a great service to link the various CRM systems to other systems such as an email system or various social networks. But watch out, some of the CRM services, such as Zoho CRM are marked as 'Premium Services' of which you can only connect a small number without incurring higher fees.