Close CRM is a popular solution for marketing agencies, but it might not fit your particular needs. If you’re searching for a CRM with features similar to Close CRM but more focused on financial and sales productivity, this CRM alternative blog can help.
From streamlined workflows to advanced analytics, these five Close CRM alternatives offer features to help boost sales and foster better team collaboration in your marketing agency. Let’s explore the options and find the ideal CRM software match for your agency’s unique needs.
TL;DR of 5 Top Marketing Agency CRMs Similar to Close CRM
Here are Close CRM comparisons for your marketing agency business.
| Best for | Key Features | Pricing | |
| Pipeline CRM | Sales Automation and Team Collaboration
|
● Advanced sales automation
● Robust call integrations (e.g., Aircall, RingCentral, and CallRail) ● Built-in email marketing ● Daily morning coffee report ● Rich customization |
Starts at $25 per user per month (annual subscription) |
| Hubspot | Modular CRM Solution | ● Lead and prospect management
● AI-powered sales prospecting ● Email templates and tracking ● Built-in quote solution ● Meeting scheduler |
Starts at $15 per user per month (annual subscription), with a free plan option |
| Keap | Marketing-Focused Agencies | ● Landing pages and forms
● Multi-channel marketing ● Appointment scheduling ● Quotes, invoices, and payments ● Lead segmentation |
Starts at $249 for 2 users per month (annual subscription) |
| Insightly | Customer Service Solution CRM | ● Email A/B testing
● Lead tracking ● Customizable user permissions ● Workflow automation ● Built-in quoting solution |
Starts at $29 per user per month |
| HighLevel | White-Labeled CRM Solution | ● Funnel builder
● Marketing automation ● Multi-channel campaigns ● Customizable dashboards ● Client account management |
Starts at $97 per user per month (monthly subscription) |
1. Pipeline CRM: Best for Sales Automation and Team Collaboration
The first CRM alternative to Close CRM is Pipeline CRM—a top CRM software for agencies.
Marketing agencies often struggle with siloed workflows, leading to project delays and missed opportunities. With Pipeline CRM’s automatic notifications, stakeholders can stay informed about deals or project progress without constant check-ins. Plus, the seamless integration with project management tools like Asana or Trello streamlines project delegation and tracking.
Furthermore, Pipeline CRM empowers your sales and creative teams with dedicated pipelines (multiple sales pipelines), ensuring they can work independently without disrupting each other’s workflows. At the same time, everyone has visibility into all the sales pipelines, providing a comprehensive overview of your agency’s sales progress. This helps to eliminate the risk of lead shortages and maintain a consistent flow of business.
Related: check out our in-depth analysis that highlights the key differences and similarities between Pipeline CRM and Close CRM.
Key Features
- Advanced sales automation: automate repetitive tasks like suggesting ‘next steps’ and generating new deals.
- Robust call integrations: connect Pipeline CRM with AirCall, Kixie, RingCentral, and other phone call integrations to streamline your sales outreach process.
- Advanced email marketing: leverage built-in drip campaigns and AI-powered email assistance for effective sales outreach.
- Daily morning coffee report: stay informed with a concise overview of sales statuses and daily tasks, directly sent to your inbox.
- Rich customization: tailor deals, data fields, user permissions, and more to fit your marketing agency’s specific needs.
Pricing
Pipeline CRM offers four pricing options and a 14-day free trial. These prices are for annual billing.
- Start: $25 per user per month: 1 sales pipeline and 250 active deals per account.
- Develop: $33 per user per month: 2 sales pipelines and 2500 active deals per account.
- Grow: $49 per user per month: 5 sales pipelines and unlimited active deals per account.
- Enterprise: custom pricing for unlimited sales pipelines and deals.
Visit the Pipeline CRM pricing page to find the feature details of each plan.
2. Hubspot: Best Modular CRM Solution
HubSpot is a popular CRM choice for marketing agencies due to its modular structure, allowing you to select only the necessary tools. Whether your focus is on marketing, sales, content management, or other areas, HubSpot offers a flexible solution to support your agency’s growth.
Moreover, HubSpot’s robust analytics and reporting capabilities enable you to track key sales metrics and visualize data in easy-to-understand dashboards. The ‘team conversation’ feature also helps streamline communication and reduce miscommunication within your team.
Key Features
The following are some of the top features of the Sales Hub solution from Hubspot.
- Lead and prospect management: centralize lead and prospect information. Easily monitor them with personalized summaries and progress tracking.
- AI-powered sales prospecting: identify and prioritize high-potential prospects using AI-driven insights.
- Email templates and tracking: monitor email performance and recipient activity to follow up at the right time.
- Built-in quote solution: create and send professional quotes directly from HubSpot, eliminating the need for external tools.
- Meeting scheduler: allow prospects to easily book meetings with you online, saving time and effort.
Pricing
Hubspot has several packages for its Sales Hub tool:
- Free: up to 2 users, with limited functionality and customization.
- Starter: €15 per user per month, only available to the US customers only.
- Professional: €90 per user per month.
- Enterprise: €150 per user per month.
Please note that the pricing mentioned above applies to HubSpot Sales Hub only. If your marketing agency requires additional features (like marketing or content management), you’ll need to subscribe to those solutions separately. For example, HubSpot’s Marketing Hub is available at the following annual costs: €15, €792, and €3,300.
3. Keap: Best for Marketing-Focused Agencies
Keap is a centralized platform designed to streamline operations for small agencies. It offers a comprehensive suite of features, including sales management, marketing tools, appointment scheduling, performance tracking, and reliable customer support (email, chat, and call). Keap also automates key sales processes, with a focus on lead capturing and follow-ups.
Key Features
- Landing pages and forms: create customized landing pages to capture leads and test marketing strategies.
- Multi-channel marketing: reach out to prospects through email, text, and phone, with a dedicated toll-free number.
- Appointment scheduling: allow leads to book appointments directly, syncing with your Google or Outlook calendar.
- Quotes, invoices, and payments: generate professional quotes, proposals, and invoices within Keap, and save templates for future use.
- Lead segmentation: tag and segment contacts to personalize automation and target specific audiences.
Pricing
Keap has three paid pricing plans with a 14-day free trial option. The prices below are for an annual subscription.
- Pro: $249 per month: 2 users and 1500 contacts.
- Max: $329 per month: 3 users and 2500 contacts.
- Ultimate: $499 per month: 3 users and 2500 contacts.
4. Insightly: Best Customer Service Solution CRM
Insightly differentiates itself from Close CRM by offering comprehensive customer service solutions. These include ticket management, support portals, and service level agreement (SLA) tracking. This complements its existing sales CRM and marketing platforms, providing a more holistic solution for your marketing agency.
Key Features
- Email A/B testing: optimize your email strategies by testing different versions before sending them out to maximize impact.
- Lead tracking: effectively monitor, manage, and nurture deals. Gain insights into your business’s progress and identify potential risks.
- Customizable user permissions: protect sensitive data by granting access only to authorized personnel.
- Workflow automation: streamline processes with automated reminders, managerial approvals, and updates to marketing lists.
- Built-in quoting solution: generate price quotes directly from opportunity records and track their status using quote pipelines.
Pricing
Insightly offers three pricing packages for its CRM solution, billed annually:
- Plus: $29 per user per month.
- Professional: $49 per user per month.
- Enterprise: $99 per user per month.
If your agency requires marketing, customer service, and custom integration capabilities, you’ll need to invest in Insightly’s Marketing, Service, and Connect platforms. The combined all-in-one packages are priced as follows: $349, $899, and $2,599.
5. HighLevel: Best White-Labeled CRM Solution
HighLevel (also known as GoHighLevel) is a CRM tailored for agencies. It streamlines agency workflows by capturing high-quality leads through engaging landing pages and surveys. Leads are then nurtured effectively using targeted calls, SMS campaigns, and personalized email sequences. HighLevel also provides integrated tools for payment collection and quote management, facilitating a smooth deal-closing process.
Key Features
- Funnel builder: create customized sales funnels using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
- Marketing automation: automate drip campaigns using pre-built templates and custom workflows.
- Multi-channel campaigns: integrate SMS, phone, email marketing, and Facebook Messenger into a single platform.
- Customizable dashboards: rebrand HighLevel CRM to offer it as a service to your clients.
- Client account management: seamlessly switch between different campaigns and client activities for efficient management.
Pricing
HighLevel offers three paid pricing plans with a 14-day free trial. The following prices are based on monthly subscriptions:
- Starter: $97 per user per month: 3 sub-accounts.
- Unlimited: $297 per user per month: unlimited sub-accounts.
- SaaS Pro: $497 per user per month, with auto sub-account creation features.
What’s the Best CRM Alternative to Close CRM?
If you’re seeking a top-tier alternative to Close CRM, Pipeline CRM is an ideal choice. Our user-friendly and customizable CRM for agencies is easy to implement and is good value for money. Similar to Close CRM, we provide a comprehensive set of sales and marketing CRM features, including phone calls for outreach.
To enhance your team’s productivity and maintain data integrity, Pipeline CRM also offers automated sales workflows and data validation. And the best part? You can enjoy all of Pipeline CRM’s features at a fraction of the cost compared to Close CRM. Pipeline CRM’s pricing starts at $25 per user per month, while Close CRM starts at $49.
Here’s a quick comparison of Close CRM and Pipeline CRM:
| Close CRM | Pipeline CRM | |
| Multiple pipelines | Up to 10 pipelines | Up to 5 pipelines |
| Custom fields | Yes | Yes |
| Data validation | Not clear | Yes, required and conditional fields, conditional formatting, and de-duplication prevention |
| Bulk emails and email scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| AI email writing assistance | No | Yes, a built-in solution |
| Calling and SMS | Yes, a built-in solution | Yes, through third-party apps |
| Sales automation | Yes, for sales outreach | Yes, for task assignments, suggesting ‘next steps’ on deals, daily agenda, and more |
| Price (per user per month, billed annually) | $49, $99, and $139 | $25, $33, $49, and custom pricing for Enterprise package |
Pipeline CRM: An Excellent Close CRM Alternative for Marketing Agencies
While Close CRM offers robust features, its high price point can be a barrier for marketing agencies with limited budgets.
Consider switching to Pipeline CRM for a more affordable sales CRM without sacrificing the essential features you need. With Pipeline CRM, you can foster strong team collaboration, automate many sales activities, and help turn one-time clients into loyal customers.
Experience the benefits of Pipeline CRM firsthand with a free 14-day trial. Sign up today!
