Skip to main content
    All Articles
    CRM Pricing

    Bigin by Zoho CRM Pricing Explained For 2026

    Aswathy Menon

    Aswathy Menon

    Business Development Manager, CirroCraft · Ottawa, Canada

    April 20268 min read
    Calculator with money stacks and upward arrow representing CRM pricing analysis

    Key Takeaways

    • Bigin starts at $7/user/month (annual billing) with no seat minimums and a free plan for solo users
    • 43% of CRM users don't even need half the features they pay for
    • A five-person team on Bigin Express pays $35/month versus $13,680 in year one on HubSpot Professional
    • CRM adoption averages only 26% across businesses and expensive, complex tools are a key reason why

    If you have spent any time comparing CRMs, you probably dealt with this.

    The pricing looks reasonable on the website. Then you start clicking through features and realize that the thing you need, let's say automation or multiple pipelines or any real reporting is locked behind the next tier.

    This is not by accident. Most CRM vendors build their pricing to push you forward. The entire plan is functional enough to get you hooked but limited enough that it doesn't last.

    Bigin by Zoho CRM is built around a different logic. It's intentionally created for small businesses that need a CRM that works from day 1. At a price point where you are not spending half your budget on a single tool.

    Here's exactly what Bigin will cost you in 2026, what you get with each plan and how it holds up against alternatives.

    What Does Bigin Actually Cost?

    Bigin has four plans priced at $0, $7, $12 and $18 per user per month billed annually. There are no minimum seat requirements on any tier. Every plan also comes with a 15 day trial and a money back guarantee.

    PlanPriceRecordsPipelinesAutomationsKey Features
    Free$0 (1 user)50013Built-in telephony, basic task management
    Express$7/user/mo50,000330WhatsApp & Email integration, 10 custom fields/module
    Premier$12/user/mo100,000550Payment links, 25 custom fields/module
    Bigin 360$18/user/mo1,000,000151001000 mass emails/day, 50 custom fields/module

    How Does Bigin Compare To Other CRMs?

    The CRM market is full of tools with a low entry feel but require you to pay more before they actually do what you bought them for.

    Bigin's Express plan at $7/user/month is one of the most affordable solutions in the market right now and delivers more functionality that other tools do on a comparable price.

    Here's how entry level annual pricing lines up across the most common options.

    CRMEntry PriceAutomation TierHidden Costs
    Bigin$7/user/moIncluded from ExpressNone
    HubSpot$20/user/mo$890/mo (Professional)$3,000 onboarding fee
    Salesforce$25/user/mo$100/user/mo2,000 email cap on Starter
    Pipedrive$14/user/mo$39/user/mo (Growth)Add-ons: $32.50 + $13/mo

    It is important to also have the right context while viewing this pricing chart because it doesn't tell the whole story. A $14 tool that requires you to upgrade to $39 for automation isn't a $14 tool. It's a $39 tool with a trial period.

    What Are The Hidden Costs In Other CRMs?

    43% of CRM users don't even use half the features they are paying for. This number says a lot about pricing design and user habits. You are forced to tier up before you are ready to.

    HubSpot is the most common example. Their Starter plan at $20/user/month is genuinely limited on automation and reporting. The Professional plan where workflows actually open, runs at $890/month as a flat fee regardless of how many users you have. That could be a considerably high rate for a three person sales team that just need the basics.

    On top of that, HubSpot charges a $3,000 onboarding fee at the Professional tier, which you pay before you even start working.

    Year 1 cost for three people? $13,680.

    Check out our detailed breakdown to see how Bigin compares to HubSpot.

    Salesforce is priced for enterprises by default. The Starter Suite at $25/user/month is functional for basic use but it caps outbound emails at 2,000 per month. The next tier is $100/user/month. A five-person team goes from $125/month to $500/month when they hit a feature wall.

    Pipedrive's revenue model is based on add-ons. LeadBooster (for prospecting tools) costs $32.50/month per company. Campaigns (for email marketing) costs $13/month per company. A small team using both has added $45.50/month before they've done anything unusual. Email automation itself is locked until the Growth tier at $39/user/month.

    The pattern is consistent across these tools. You start at a price that looks manageable. Then you hit the thing you actually need and the cost increases.

    Which Bigin Plan Is Right For You?

    Free plan: Works for individuals. If you just want to track contacts and follow ups, the free plan is a real option and not a placeholder.

    Express: It's the right starting point for most small teams. Three pipelines means you can separate revenue streams or customer types. Thirty automations handles follow-ups, task assignments, and status updates without building anything complicated. If you have two to fifteen people in sales or customer service, this is probably your plan.

    Premier: Makes sense when your process has real complexity. If you're managing multiple product types, need stage-transition rules, or want data enrichment to reduce manual entry, Premier earns its price difference. Teams that hit the automation ceiling on Express generally land here.

    Bigin 360: For growing businesses that need serious capability without moving to an enterprise platform. One million records, 15 pipelines, 100 automations. If you're a team of 20 to 50 people handling high deal volume, this gives you mid-market CRM capability at a price that doesn't require a budget approval process.

    Before comparing plans, it helps to know exactly what your business needs from a CRM. Use this CRM checklist to identify your must-haves before you commit to any tool.

    Is The Price Difference Worth It?

    CRM adoption is about 26% across businesses. Teams tend to buy CRMs and not use it consistently. And when the tool is expensive and complicated, that's not surprising.

    The cost creates pressure to justify the spend and the complexity creates friction that wears people down.

    A five-person team on Bigin Express pays $35/month. The same team on HubSpot Professional (a comparable tier) pays $890/month plus a $3,000 onboarding fee in year one. The gap is $13,220 in the first twelve months alone. That's not a feature comparison. That's an entirely different category of decision making.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does Bigin have a free plan?+
    Yes. Bigin's free plan supports one user, 500 contact records, one pipeline, three automations, and a built-in phone line. There's no expiry and no credit card required. It's a genuine working CRM for solo users, not a time-limited trial with artificial restrictions.
    Can I switch Bigin plans later?+
    Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time. Your existing data stays intact. If you start on Express and outgrow the automation limit, moving to Premier takes minutes and doesn't disrupt your pipeline structure.
    Is there a minimum contract or minimum seat count?+
    No seat minimums and no minimum contract length. Monthly billing is available on all plans. Annual billing saves up to 35% and comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee.

    Our guide to help you get started with Bigin

    Making The Right Decision With Bigin

    CRMs are priced to grow their revenue, not yours. Entry plans are limited enough to encourage upgrades. The next tier is a jump that moves the tool from being "affordable" to an actual line item on your budget that requires three rounds of approval.

    And somewhere in the middle, you are paying for features you won't use just to access the ones you really need.

    Bigin doesn't operate that way. The tiers are transparent and reflect what a small business needs at every stage. You are not paying for enterprise infrastructure you haven't grown to yet. There are no seat minimums, no onboarding fees, and no features locked away to engineer an upsell.

    If you are at the point of deciding and still have questions, reach out to us. Ask us all your questions and explore the Bigin trial. You will know within a few days whether it fits your business needs and won't have to commit anything to find out.

    Schedule a Free Consultation