Bigin by Zoho CRM Reviews: 4.5/5 — Highly Rated
Bigin is well known for being a pipeline-centric CRM built and priced specifically to fit the needs of small businesses. Instead of spreadsheets, it allows small businesses to get started with a CRM easily and swiftly. It’s easy to use, can easily be implemented with no learning curve, and is easy on small business budgets.
| Company | Zoho Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year founded | 2000 |
| Company size | 10,001+ employees |
| Headquarters | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Social Media |
| Capabilities |
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Mobile Android, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Chat, Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Bigin’s free plan includes a built-in phone, developer APIs, mobile apps, appointment scheduling, and a business card scanner. Most free CRM tiers are a contact list with an upgrade prompt attached; this one is a working CRM for a single user with a 500-record ceiling. And the first paid tier is €7 per user per month, which is roughly what competitors charge for the privilege of adding a second pipeline.
- What it is: A deliberately simplified CRM from Zoho, built around pipelines for small businesses that find full CRM platforms overbuilt.
- Best for: Small teams who want a real pipeline CRM without an implementation project or a per-seat budget.
- Pricing: Free, Express €7, Premier €12, Bigin 360 €18 per user monthly on annual billing. Verified July 2026.
- The honest catch: The free plan is single-user, and records are capped at 500.
What Is Bigin?
Bigin is Zoho’s answer to a specific complaint: that Zoho CRM, Salesforce, and their peers are more system than a ten-person business needs. It strips the model down to pipelines, contacts, products, and activities, and then makes those genuinely good rather than deliberately limited.
What is notable is how much sits on the free tier. A single user gets one pipeline, 500 records, contacts and activity management, three automations, a built-in phone, third-party phone integration, dashboards, developer APIs, native apps across iOS, Android, and macOS, a business card scanner, no-code forms, appointment scheduling, and Zapier and Zoho integrations. It even lists MCP support, which puts it among the first CRMs to expose itself to AI agents as a matter of course.
Records — not contacts, seats, or emails — are the meter: 500 free, 50,000 on Express, 100,000 on Premier, and a million on Bigin 360.
How Bigin Works
- Priced per user, per month, with a genuinely free single-user tier.
- Records are the primary limit, and they ladder steeply between tiers.
- Pipelines ladder too. One free, then 3, 5, and 15 team pipelines.
- Automations ladder as well. 3, 30, 50, then 100 rules.
- AI arrives at Premier — writing assistant, record summaries, churn analysis, and 1,000 AI credits a month.
- WhatsApp Business integration starts at €7, on the cheapest paid tier.
Bigin Pricing
Captured from Bigin’s pricing page in July 2026 on the euro price list, reading both billing toggles. Bigin also publishes in pounds and localises by region.
| Plan | Yearly | Monthly | Records | Pipelines | Automations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | €0 | 500 | 1 | 3 |
| Express | €7 | €9 | 50,000 | 3 | 30 |
| Premier | €12 | €15 | 100,000 | 5 | 50 |
| Bigin 360 | €18 | €21 | 1,000,000 | 15 | 100 |
What actually decides your plan:
- The free tier is a real product, and its limit is people rather than features. 500 records is enough for a genuine solo business, and the feature list is unusually complete. What you cannot do is add a colleague — that costs €7, which is the honest reading of Bigin’s free plan.
- The annual discount is smaller than advertised. The toggle reads “SAVE UP TO 35%”, but on the euro list Express saves 22%, Premier 20%, and Bigin 360 14%. Annual is still worth taking; just do not budget from 35%.
- Records are what push you upward. 500 to 50,000 is a hundredfold jump for €7, so the free-to-Express step is about volume as much as seats. Above that, 100,000 records at €12 is worth comparing directly against Insightly, which caps records at the same 100,000 on a $29 plan.
- WhatsApp Business is on the €7 tier. Worth pausing on, because WhatsApp is routinely a premium gate elsewhere — Landbot puts it on a plan starting at €400 a month. Bigin’s is CRM-side messaging rather than a chatbot platform, but for a small business wanting to talk to customers where they already are, the price difference is stark.
- AI is a Premier feature. Writing assistant, record summaries, email reply drafting, cross-sell suggestions, churn analysis, and 1,000 credits monthly all arrive at €12. If you want none of that, Express is the ceiling worth paying for.
- Bigin 360 is about scale, not capability. A million records and 15 pipelines at €18. Most businesses that need that have outgrown the premise of the product and should be looking at Zoho CRM proper.
Who Should Use Bigin
- Small businesses wanting their first real CRM. The clearest case — pipelines and follow-up without an implementation project.
- Solo operators. The free tier is genuinely sufficient below 500 records, which is more than it sounds.
- Existing Zoho customers. Books, Invoice, Meeting, Desk, Campaigns, and Forms all connect natively.
- Teams selling over WhatsApp. Native Business integration from the cheapest paid tier.
It fits poorly for complex enterprise sales, where the simplification becomes a constraint; for marketing automation, where Keap bundles campaigns; and for teams needing deep customisation, where Zoho CRM or HubSpot offer far more room.
Honest Pros and Cons
Strengths
- An unusually complete free plan, including phone, APIs, and mobile apps.
- €7 per user is among the lowest credible CRM prices available.
- Records, not contacts, are the meter, and 50,000 arrives at the cheapest paid tier.
- WhatsApp Business from €7, where competitors gate it far higher.
- Deep Zoho ecosystem if you already use Books, Desk, or Campaigns.
- A clear upgrade path to Zoho CRM when the simplification stops fitting.
Limitations
- The free plan is single-user. Any collaboration costs money.
- 500 records on free is a real ceiling for a growing business.
- The 35% annual claim overstates it — 22% at best on the euro list.
- AI features require Premier at €12.
- Deliberately limited. Simplicity is the design, so complex processes will chafe.
- Custom fields are tiered — 10, then 25, then 50 per module.
Bigin Alternatives and How It Compares
- Zoho CRM is the same company’s full platform, and the natural destination when Bigin stops fitting.
- HubSpot CRM has a free tier with unlimited users, and costs escalate sharply once you add hubs.
- Pipedrive is the closest philosophical match — pipeline-first and well designed — at a higher price with no free tier.
- OnePageCRM is similarly cheap at €8.95 and gives unlimited records, trading Bigin’s pipeline model for a next-action list.
- Freshsales and monday CRM are the modern-interface options at higher cost.
- Insightly adds project delivery for services businesses, and meters records more expensively.
For a broader survey, browse our CRM directory.
The Verdict
Bigin is the most persuasive answer available to “we know we need a CRM but everything looks like too much”. Pipelines, contacts, activities, and automation are the parts a small business actually uses, and Bigin does them properly rather than doing everything badly. At €7 per user per month it costs less than most competitors charge to unlock a second pipeline, and the free tier is not the usual teaser — a single user gets a built-in phone, developer APIs, native apps, appointment booking, and a business card scanner, which is more than several paid CRMs include.
The free plan’s real limit is people, not features. 500 records and one user is a working setup for a solo consultant or a one-person sales function, and the moment a colleague needs access the price is €7. That is a fair deal and worth stating plainly, because “free CRM” usually means something much thinner. Above that, records drive the ladder: 50,000 on Express, 100,000 on Premier, a million on Bigin 360. Compare the 100,000-record figure directly against Insightly, which caps at the same number on a $29 plan, and the value proposition is obvious.
Two cautions. The advertised annual saving does not survive arithmetic — the toggle promises up to 35%, but on the euro list Express saves 22%, Premier 20%, and Bigin 360 only 14%. Take annual billing anyway; just do not plan around the badge. And remember that Bigin’s simplicity is a design decision rather than a limitation to be worked around. If your sales process has custom objects, complex territories, and multi-stage approvals, you do not want a simplified CRM — you want Zoho CRM, and Zoho will happily sell you that instead.
FAQ
How much does Bigin cost?
On the euro price list captured July 2026: Free at €0 for a single user, Express €7 per user per month billed yearly, Premier €12, and Bigin 360 €18. Paid monthly those become €9, €15, and €21. Record limits are 500, 50,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000 respectively. Bigin also publishes in pounds and localises pricing by region, so check your own market.
Is Bigin’s free plan actually usable?
Yes, within its limits. A single user gets one pipeline, 500 records, contact and activity management, three automations, a built-in phone, third-party phone integration, dashboards, developer APIs, native apps for iOS, Android, and macOS, a business card scanner, no-code forms, and appointment scheduling. The binding constraints are the single seat and the 500 records — adding a second person requires the €7 Express plan.
Does Bigin really save 35% on annual billing?
Not on the euro list. Express is €9 monthly against €7 yearly, a 22% saving; Premier €15 against €12 is 20%; and Bigin 360 €21 against €18 is 14%. The toggle advertises “up to 35%”, which none of the published euro tiers reaches. Annual billing remains worth taking, but budget from roughly a fifth rather than a third.
What is the difference between Bigin and Zoho CRM?
Bigin is a deliberately simplified pipeline CRM for small businesses; Zoho CRM is a full platform with custom modules, territory management, deeper analytics, and extensive customisation. Bigin is cheaper and faster to adopt, and Zoho positions it as an entry point with a migration path upward. Choose Bigin when the full platform feels like more system than your process needs, and Zoho CRM when it does not.
Does Bigin support WhatsApp?
Yes, WhatsApp Business integration is included from the Express plan at €7 per user per month. That is unusually low placement for the channel — chatbot platforms frequently reserve WhatsApp for tiers costing hundreds a month. Bigin’s version is CRM-side customer messaging rather than automated conversational flows, but for a small business that talks to customers on WhatsApp, having it at the entry price is a genuine advantage.
Compare Bigin by Zoho CRM with other popular tools in the same category.
The pipeline stages. Ease of use of app. Calendar Feature. Integration with Zoho Books. I think at this price point, it's difficult to find a better, low effort and high utility app for your business CRM.
The pipeline labels are not detailed (can't see status, etc) right at the overview stage. Makes it a little inconveneient.
Lead Management
Great tool with lots of useful features for SMEs
Nothing as of now but it should also have direct whatsapp integration
It is helping use to keep and feed data at one place
Bigin by Zoho is a great CRM for small businesses. We use it every day to manage our leads, customers and to get an overview of our business.
Integrations are limited, more options are available in the full Zoho CRM.
CRM for small businesses, it is a great starter product which can be integrated with Zoho CRM when the businesses grows.
managing the Sales funnel was easy with zoho
We need to manually change the status in the crm
funneling all the customers based on their importance
Simple workflow based CRM.... effective for small buisness
lack of team collabration tools and documents library is missing,,,,limited zoho integration
For simple workflow for small buisness it is really helpful
This is a highly visual software that makes it very easy to understand your business progress with your contacts/customers, Bigin is a very intuitive application that allows you to set up your CRM, easily add contacts, offers, and more, details: Report screens are a great way to see how your company is performing. What I like most about Bigin is how well it stores important information that you need to have on hand at all times, I like the simplicity and the ability to quickly enter information about contacts, offers, and other information, I love the ability of Zoho CRM's Bigin to automatically track contacts based on specific criteria in the Zapier integration that integrates with other business solutions I use.
Bigin lacks several functionality because it is a simple program, making it harder to automate when compared to a comprehensive CRM solution, If there was anything I could enhance, it would be the ability to add more custom fields for Contacts, Deals, and Companies. I would also want to have a cleaner display of the deals page, and there should be an easier method to submit notes and have them visible when you go to any transaction in particular.
We especially faced the challenge of visualizing data at different stages and states of the process. Bigin helped us a lot with this, solve the following problems to help you maintain an up-to-date contact list, convert contacts to deals, and save basic information about your contacts, you can integrate emails into each file so you can share emails with real business/contacts. You will be saved. You can track which offers are pending and indicate what stage they are in, It lets you track tasks with expiration dates and best of all provides reminders, you can manage your contacts on autopilot, contacts who complete surveys on our website will be automatically synced to Bigin via Zapier, and the paid membership section of our website will also be automatically synced to Bigin, will be synced with Bigin.
Great solution that is simple to use, readily interacts with Quickbooks, our accounting program, has a fantastic user interface, and has a low learning curve during adoption. Bigin by Zoho CRM offers an easy-to-use interface, customization choices, and automation capabilities to assist organizations in efficiently managing their sales and customer interactions. Bigin by Zoho CRM is, in my opinion, the greatest CRM software since it provides many functions such as channel management, multi-channel communication, and customer management, and despite having so many capabilities, it does not lag and works flawlessly.
Their mobile version might use some work; it has less reporting capabilities than the desktop app and does not have access to all data visualizations. It has few connectors with other third-party programs, which might be a disadvantage for businesses that use several products and need to sync data across them.
Bigin by Zoho CRM enables organizations to manage tasks and calendar events in a one location, making it simple to prioritize and organize work. Bigin by Zoho CRM assists my team and organization in tracking the customer pipeline and gives a solid level of pipeline that assists my team and I in tracking the client and generating business at the appropriate moment.
It is very intuitive, easy to integrate, and simple to use; it has allowed me to insert fields that other CRMs I tried did not allow, which is surprising given that it is a simple CRM; you can relate almost everything to have a 360-degree view of your process; and its mobile application allows you to do a lot more than just visualize. It also has a very simple integration with Gmail to synchronize contacts and events. The webinar was useful, and it was fantastic that they delivered it to me in a recorded form because I had to miss the live version. I really enjoy how simple the workflow version is.
To reduce the requirement for third-party apps, more native connectors with other Zoho products are required. Contact synchronization is automated, however it should be possible to perform it at any moment at the user's request. I believe it would be really beneficial if they expanded their social media platforms for client communication.
We needed a way to organize the flow of clients during our onboarding process, and then a way to monitor where each person was in their application/application journey. customer. Bigin helps automate the process through workflows and organize clients into easy-to-access files where each person is tagged and saves all their information. It makes it easier to follow the sales process with my clients since everything is linked, giving you a 360-degree picture, and our capacity to monitor client offers has risen. Moving from one step to the next in the deals part offers you a precise picture of your deals, and the pipeline section tells you the exact revenue of the product's base revenue.
Zoho Bigin is absolutely amazing with such great features. It is seamless and without any flaw. I am totally amazed by its utility. And all the more, I am more proud that this is an Indian product! This is one of the best CRM app for small business. I have been trying various methods such as google sheets etc. and also tried various apps, but this works so well.
jUST WAITING FOR AN UPDATE ON TWO WAY COMMUNICATION ON WHATSAPP
managing leads and team work
Bigin is very easy to setup and use with. You can setup your custom steps in the funnel. Also by using Bigin it is very easy to give attention to every customer and make custom notes about the customer needs. They have priced the product very aggressively.
The downside about the product is lack of payment integration within the funnel confirming about the payment received from the customer. Also, the mobile application needs some enhancements to performance.
We have to talk to customers on a daily basis and join them on our platform, it involves multiple rounds of meetings and negotiations. Uisng Bigin we are able to manage the details in a simple way.
There is a lot of functionality and it is very user-friendly
It would be nice if there was quotation functionality and Team email capabilities.
Before Begin I was doing everything in Excel. Begin allowed me to have everything in one software
I am starting new business and started to get lost between calls, deadline, emails etc. and than i found @Bigin .. and it was so easy and flowless how i started to be on top of all the streamlines i am working on and at what stages .. this platform is a comprehensive intuitive standalone CRM suitable for both small and medium business and team collaboration .. affordability is another postive side for the app and their subscription options are very suitable. i believe if you require an easy to use, friendly CRM with all features you need to be ontop of your sales pipeline than@bigin is the starting point ..
Dashboards are kind of suficient but need ability to provide customization and configuration
keep track of multiple deal pipelines in different business verticals
Its simplicity, its ease of use, its clean UI, but oh so complete for companies whom have choosen to take the first steps into decent CRM, over spreadsheets. The mobile version is an absolute cracker, fully adapted to use the iOS capibilities (!!) A must-have for sales-persons on the road. Nice, neat and highly customisable. So adapts to any kind of User. 200% recommendable.
not realy dislikes, but we await more extended integration to Zoho Mail
no more ugly, unworkable and outdated spreadsheets. B2B-team now uses modern methods thanks to Bigin (!!)
Bigin is an Easy to use CRM. Great Mobile and PC CX and pricing
Personalization is not included. More iIntegrations are required.
Contact and Sales management
We always have problems using apps and software due to complexity, and usually the team fades off of them Bigin is simple and I people are more inclined to use it
It has everything we need right now. There might be one thing, once we have a company linked with a contact and in the pipeline, when we want to create a new deal, it appears again, and there is a risk of dpuble contact, but it can be resolved with filters
It is helping us track and manage sales
Adaptable to my business, all the fields I need, easy product creation, fast pipeline and sales forecast
Telephony and SalesIQ integration, The first one is not complete with Yeastar P series, and SalesIQ are not integrated yet.
No more Excel sheets, cloud-based data, multiple users and permissions, account assignations, reports, or fast pipelines, centre the efforts on critical areas now visually available.
Simple and easy to use CRM for the beginers.
Nothing do far, just finising the trail.
Consolidtaing multiple contacts from different excel sheet
How easy it is to use and to get going. The interface is pretty simple in a good way.
Maybe not the best options for bigger businness.
Getting insights on our sales. Being able to extract valuable information from sales.
Clean interface, great support, super easy to learn and use.
There are some small limitations when it comes to emailing and reporting.
Great tool for managing small sales teams and have entry-level salespeople learn how to use CRM systems.
Bigin is power packed with the essential features required for a compact CRM. A single account gives a 360 degree view of the customers. It's 'Email-in' feature converts all incoming team emails to CI records. File Cabinet secures files & documents within begin & also generates a portal for the customers to upload their documents. Allows the users to integrate various applications such as PageSense & Zoho Survey.
Bigin lacks advanced automation capabilities of Zoho CRM. Creation of 'Toppings' & 'Custom Components' requires coding knowledge. Workflow functions are based on Deluge- which is Zoho's own scripting language for customizing Zoho products.
For a long time we were searching for the right CRM. Thankfully, Bigin brings essential CRM capabilities at an affordable price tag. We were relying on spreadsheets for most of our activities, Bigin is a great step up & it also helps us in creating better customer relations.
Simple and Easy to integrate with external Apps , Whasapp through RestAPIs. Pricing is also very competetive with respect to hubspot and leadsquared.
Deluge language is a simple language for integration, but if you do not know it, it can be a challenge for integration wih external apps.
We created a simple partner dashboard using Zoho Bigin.
Ease of use, best for lead management and contact management.
So far, the integration requires more work. Needs to have more automation features too.
I have an issue tracking leads that come in.
- Single bigin account gives 360 degree view of all the customers without any external integrations. -EmailIn feature converts all relevant team emails (with preset alias) to CI records. -Has an inbuilt file cabinet with security features. Allows us to generate unique portal links which can be shared with clients to upload files & documents which can then be shared with specific team members. -We have the option to add our own widgets by coding or adding APIs through it's Developer Center. -Allows data import from other CRMs as well.
-Product has a learning curve for both the administrator & the users. No external tutorials are available over the web & you'll have to rely upon the onboarding videos and webinars hosted by Zoho support. -Support team is sluggish. You'll need their help in setup, administration & even during integrations. -UI can be a bit overwhelming for first time users. Plenty of onboarding and support cards will popup, most of which will be difficult to remember.
We weren't ready to shell out large amount of money for our CRM & sales pipeline tracking. Thankfully, Bigin by Zoho is very affordable and still promises the basic features that are required in a small business. Pipeline Management via drag & drop is the most innovative thing that we have seen in such a software.
The CRM is user friendly and highly customizable, allowing even our case to find a CRM System that isn't full of bloat and still has the necessary tools available.
Not much to dislike from my finding, the only point lacking is the translation to other languages.
The CRM is allowing us to handle customer interaction faster than before while giving insights into the sales performance, our revenue and much more.
It is simple and streamlined for direct use by CRM novices.
Nothing I can think of right now. It could use more with colours.
It helps me with my customer management and keeping track of the customers and potentials.
Quick to implement, Fine Pricing, in terms of functionalities - just what a starting startups needs
We are missing stronger integration with google calendar - for example sending Calendar meeting invitiation instead of ZOHO meeting
BIGIN CRM is CRM with appraoch to help primarily smaller businesses and startups. Since the first day of sales operations we were able to track data, mainly due to the FREE TRIAL, OKAY PRICING and EASY SETUp
Its an easy to use tool to start a new business the perfect way to do it. I wish I had this kind of tool when I started it would have helped me a lot to keep more customers.
Does not offer any help with the instalation, when you are new in the CRM area, there is not much help available, we started to understand a couple of weeks that were using the CRM.
To keep control of the conversations with our customers, it also helped us to keep history with our customers, the quotes and the deals that we were working on, I wish I have found this before.
It provides a user-friendly interface, customization options, and automation features to help businesses manage their sales and customer interactions effectively.
it has limited integrations with other third-party applications. This may be a drawback for businesses that use multiple tools and need to synchronize data between them.
Task Management: Bigin by Zoho CRM allows businesses to manage their tasks and calendar events in one place, making it easy to prioritize and schedule work.
Great tool, what worked really well for our implementation was that it integrates easily with Quickbooks our accounting software. The UI is great and there isn't too big a learning curve involved while adoption.
their mobile app needs some improvement, it has limited reporting functionalities compared to the desktop app, and not all data visualizations are available in the mobile app either.
Our client being a mid sized Organization needed a fairly light weight solution that did not require too much user learning (as they had a limited staff) and that it integrates with Quickbooks the accounting software that they were using and Bigin seemed to tick all the boxes.
Ease of use, the support provided and the ability to integrate with Google Workspace
Just the time it will take to become familiar with the multitude of features and functions available.
I have been looking for a single point to engage with potential clients and Bigin has made it simple for me to spend less time to manage my business needs