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Why is Bigin the go-to CRM for small businesses?

We built Bigin around how small teams work and priced it accordingly. Everything a customer-facing team runs on comes in the box: customizable pipelines, a built-in phone with IVR, WhatsApp, and email in one place, and automation that starts on the free plan. AI features join at $12/user/month with 1,000 credits every month, a number you can actually budget against.

There is a forever-free plan to start on, developer APIs from that free plan onward, and help with importing your Act! data when you are ready, and 50,000+ small businesses across 150+ countries are already running on it.

Bigin as a relationship tracking spreadsheet
Watch Overview Video

Major limitations of Act!

$30 is the cheapest way in, and every price is annual

Act! sells three cloud plans at $30, $45 and $60 a seat, plus a $40 desktop edition, all billed annually, with no free plan and no monthly price published. A five-person team pays $1,800 per year before any add-ons. Bigin's free plan is permanent; paid plans start at $7, and monthly billing is available when you want it.

The AI starts at $45, and it has two features

Act!'s shipped AI is a writing assistant and a contact history summary. Both start at Professional at $45; Standard gets the writing assistant only as part of a $79-a-month add-on. Everything else on Act!'s AI page is marked Planned or Exploratory. Bigin Premier includes the full AI toolkit at $12, with 1,000 credits every month.

No built-in phone, and no IVR anywhere

Act!'s pricing table lists no dialer, no call recording, and no IVR on any plan; the CRM logs calls as activities rather than making them. Even texting is a separate add-on, from $19 a month. Bigin has a built-in phone with IVR from the free plan onward, plus 100+ telephony integrations.

WhatsApp is not in the box

There is no WhatsApp channel anywhere on act.com, on any plan or add-on. Bigin Express includes WhatsApp Business at $7, on your own WhatsApp Business account, sitting next to email and the phone in the same customer timeline.

Automation means email drips, unless you pay $199 a month

What every Act! plan includes is drip email campaigns. Automation that touches the CRM, creating activities and opportunities from customer behavior, plus lead scoring, is Ultimate at $60 or a $199 a month add-on below it. Bigin runs three workflow automations on the free plan and 30 on the $7 plan.

Custom tables are a meter below the top plan

Custom Industry Tables, Act!'s home for policies, contracts, and projects, cost $10 per user per month on Standard and $5 on Professional, and are included only on Ultimate at $60. Bigin offers custom fields, tags, filters, and views for $7, with developer APIs available from the free plan onward.

Asking how a feature works is a paid phone call

Act!'s included support covers error troubleshooting. "How-to / Feature Guidance by Phone" is $5 per user per month on Standard and Professional plans; priority queuing and extended hours are as well; the bundle is free only on Ultimate. Every paid Bigin plan includes phone, email, and live chat support.

The dated interface, measured

On G2, Act! scores 7.9 out of 10 for ease of use and 7.3 out of 10 for ease of setup. Bigin scores 9.1 and 8.7. Act! has carried a dated-interface reputation for years; the sub-scores let a prospect check it in one click rather than take our word for it.

monday bigin alert

Here's a list of features that
Bigin offers for your business:

Team pipeline
bigin connected pipeline in Bigin
custom dasboard
custom dasboard
omnichannel in Bigin
spreadsheets automation workflows in Bigin
Grade security
mobile sales management with Bigin
custom dasboard
Bigin banner mobile image
Team Pipelines
  • Team Pipelines
  • Connected Pipelines
  • Built-in AI assistance
  • Built-in telephony & IVR
  • WhatsApp, email & social messaging
  • Workflow automation
  • Payment links
  • Booking & appointment scheduling
  • Customizable dashboards & KPIs
  • Apps for iOS, Android & macOS
 

Bigin vs. Act!

Features

Bigin
Express$7/user/month billed annually
Insightly Plus$29/user/month billed annually
Bigin
Premier$12/user/month billed annually
Insightly Professional$49/user/month billed annually
Expand All

SALES

  • Free edition available
  • forever free plan (single user)
  • 14-day trial only
  • Full-fledged pipeline management
  • from Free plan
  • Contact and lead management
  • from Free plan
  • Deal management
  • from Free plan
  • Payment collection (payment links)
  • Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Paytm
  • Via marketplace apps
  • Via marketplace apps
  • Quote management
  • Via Zoho Books / Zoho Invoice integration
  • 50 per month
  • Via Zoho Books / Zoho Invoice integration
  • 250 per month

COMMUNICATION

  • Built-in telephony
  • from Free plan
  • Alpha - outbound only, mobile app only, US numbers only
  • Alpha - outbound only, mobile app only, US numbers only
  • Telephony marketplace
  • Third-party apps (paid)
  • Third-party apps (paid)
  • Built-in IVR system
  • from Free plan
  • Meeting integrations (Zoom, Teams, Zoho Meeting)
  • Zoom, Teams
  • Zoom, Teams
  • Email integrations (two-way sync)
  • Gmail, Outlook (Standard+)
  • Gmail, Outlook
  • Email templates
  • Email insights (opens / clicks)
  • mass email insights
  • Mass emails
  • WhatsApp integration
  • WhatsApp Business
  • Third-party apps only (paid)
  • Third-party apps only (paid)
  • X integration

AUTOMATION

  • Workflow automation
  • 30 workflows (from Free plan: 3)
  • Stage automation
  • Built-in
  • Status-based
  • Built-in
  • Status-based
  • Formula fields
  • Automation across apps (Zapier + Zoho Flow)
  • from Free plan
  • Zapier / Make only
  • Zapier / Make only

STREAMLINING CUSTOMER-FACING OPERATIONS

  • Pre-built pipeline templates for different operations
  • from Free plan
  • board templates
  • board templates
  • Case / ticket management through Email-in
  • Topping (add-on)
  • Topping (add-on)
  • Connected records / Connected Pipelines
  • Manual setup
  • Manual setup
  • Built-in dashboards & reports
  • from Free plan

DATA AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

  • Versatile no-code form builder
  • from Free plan
  • Social media lead ads capture (FB, IG, LinkedIn, TikTok)
  • LeadChain
  • Via marketplace apps
  • Via marketplace apps
  • Duplicate cleanup
  • find & merge
  • bulk cleanup
  • File collection & management (File Cabinet)
  • Topping (add-on)
  • Topping (add-on)
  • Customizable user profiles and roles
  • from Free plan
  • Customization (Fields, tags, views, filters)
  • 10 custom fields/module + tags, filters
  • 25 custom fields/module
  • Stage transition rules
  • Sheet view

AI

  • AI writing assistant (email drafting)
  • Reply Assistant agent
  • Record / thread summaries
  • CrossSell Genie
  • Churn Analyzer
  • AI credits included
  • -
  • Not published
  • 1,000 / month
  • Not published
  • MCP support (connect AI tools to CRM data)
  • 1,000 API calls/day

INTEGRATIONS

  • App marketplace
  • API access
  • Developer console
  • developer platform
  • Zoho ecosystem (Books, Invoice, Desk, Campaigns, Sign, Meeting)
  • QuickBooks integration
  • native
  • Via marketplace
  • Via marketplace

SUPPORT TERMS

  • Live chat support
  • all paid plans
  • AI chatbot, human escalation
  • AI chatbot, human escalation
  • Phone support
  • all paid plans*
  • Free onboarding session
  • Money-back guarantee

  • Features

  • Bigin Express$7/user/month billed annually
    Bigin Premier$12/user/month billed annually
  • Insightly Plus$29/user/month billed annually
    Insightly Professional$49/user/month billed annually

Features

  • SALES
  • Full-fledged pipeline management
  • Contact & Lead Management
  • Deal management
  • Payment collection
  • Quote management
  • COMMUNICATION
  • Built-in telephony
  • Telephony marketplace
  • Built-in IVR system
  • Meeting integrations
  • Email integrations
  • Email templates
  • Email insights
  • WhatsApp integration
  • X integration
  • AUTOMATION
  • Workflow automation
  • Stage automation
  • Formula fields
  • Automation across apps via Zapier and Zoho Flow
  • STREAMLINING CUSTOMER-FACING OPERATIONS
  • Built-in pipelines dedicated to different operations
  • Case and ticket management through Email-in
  • Connected records (When a record reaches the desired stage in one team pipeline, you can create a record automatically in another team pipeline that captures the next set of business activities.)
  • Built-in dashboards for detailed insights into your business
  • DATA AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
  • Versatile no-code form builder
  • Social media lead capture
  • Duplicate cleanup
  • Full-fledged file collection and management
  • Customizable user profiles and roles
  • Customization (Fields, tags, views, filters)
  • Stage transition rules
  • Multi-currency support
  • Sheet view
  • INTEGRATIONS
  • App marketplace
  • API credits
  • Developer Console
Bigin express₹12/user/month billed annuallyAccess Bigin
Bigin premier₹18/user/month billed annuallyAccess Bigin
Insightly Plus$29/user/month billed annually
Insightly Professional$49/user/month billed annually

All you need to take your business to the next level

Bigin is the right choice for your small business and is trusted by over 50,000+ small businesses globally. We want to help you scale up your business and achieve consistent growth. And in the future, if your business needs more than what Bigin can offer, you can always switch to Zoho CRM or Zoho CRM Plus. We're here to help you at every milestone your business reaches.

Expert reviews and ratings

  • Rating Platform
  • Insightly
  • Bigin
  • 3.9/5

  • 4.6/5

  • Ease of Use
  • 8.2

  • 9.1/10

  • Ease of Setup
  • 7.9

  • 9.1/10

  • 7.3/5

  • 8.7/5

  • 3.9/5

  • 4.7/5

  • 4.4/5

  • 4.7/5

  • 4/5

  • 4.7/5

*The names and logos for Zoho are trademarks of Zoho Corp. All other trademarks, brand names, or product names belong to their respective holders. Comparison information as of 4/08/2026. Prices mentioned are in USD.

Trusted by 50,000+ small businesses globally

As a small business with a big vision, having access to accurate and relevant data about customers and prospects is critical! Bigin and their onboarding team assisted us on our journey. The one-on-one onboarding sessions, easy-to-use platform and mobile application have been well received by our team - although we are early into using Bigin we are already experiencing the benefits!

Joel Gustafson,Chief Operating Officer, Car Trade Go Inc

I was looking for a simple sales-oriented CRM and was going through and signing up for the top five. Each one had way more features than I needed and I wanted something that had an app, wouldn't drain my time learning how to use, and just did what I needed to do and didn't cost an arm and a leg per user. Then I came across Bigin—not sure how—but it was exactly what I was looking for. Only started with it about three weeks ago, but I'm a very happy camper.

Nachum Klingman, CEO, Book Like A Boss Ltd

The Bigin team at Zoho has brilliantly solved the software adoption dilemma faced by sales organizations today. Now, with the ability to customize pipeline views, stages, module names, and fields, the moment one of our salespeople starts using the app, it simply works, and they love using it. It requires virtually zero training. In today's environment, the importance of simplicity, focus, and ease of use cannot be overstated, and the team at Bigin has just delivered a world-class tool.

Seth Campbell,President, Five Doors Inc

Love the new features. It helps make the entire CRM system more personal and germane to our workflow. The searches seem to be more pointed and concise. Bigin has the capabilities and customization for my growing business and no bloat to clutter my process. Overall, Bigin was the perfect option for what I needed.

Derek Osborne, CEO, Osborne Real Estate and Business Brokerage

Still have more doubts?
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions!

Expand AllCollapse All
Is Act! free?

No, Act! sells three cloud plans: Advantage Standard at $30, Professional at $45, and Ultimate at $60 per user per month, plus a Premium Desktop edition at $40, all billed annually, with a 14-day free trial and no free plan. Bigin has a forever-free plan for a single user that includes a customizable pipeline, contact management, a built-in phone, three automations, and a web form, and paid plans start at $7.

How much cheaper is Bigin than Act!?

Bigin's paid plans run $7 to $18 per user per month, billed annually. Act! runs $30 to $60 in the cloud and $40 on desktop; annual billing only; see every published price. The gap widens once you match features rather than price tags: the full AI toolkit costs $12 on Bigin Premier, while Act!'s two AI features start at $45 on Professional. For a five-person team, that is $420 a year on Bigin Express against $1,800 on Act! Advantage Standard, or $720 on Bigin Premier, AI included, against $2,700 on Professional. Then add Act!'s meters: texting from $19 a month, custom tables at $10 per user per month on Standard, how-to phone support at $5 per user per month, an extra 2,500 email sends at $15 a month, and full marketing automation at $199 a month per account below the $60 plan.

Does Act! include AI on its cheaper plans?

Not on the cheaper plans, and what has shipped is small. Act!'s AI today has two features: an AI Writing Assistant for marketing content and an AI History Summary that recaps a contact's recent activity and suggests next steps. Both start at Professional at $45; on Standard, the writing assistant is available only in the Email Marketing Plus add-on at $79 per account per month. Act! publishes no AI credit counts, and the rest of its AI roadmap, contact enrichment, voice ingestion, task extraction, and an MCP server, is marked Planned or Exploratory on act.com. Bigin includes its full AI toolkit, a writing assistant, email replies, record summaries, cross-sell suggestions, and churn alerts, from Premier at $12, with 1,000 AI credits refreshed every month and 3,000 on Bigin 360. MCP support starts on Bigin's free plan.

Can I make calls from Act!?

Not without buying a phone system. Act!'s pricing table lists no dialer, no call recording, and no IVR on any plan; the CRM logs calls as activities rather than making them. Texting is a separate add-on for $19 a month. Bigin has a built-in phone with IVR from the free plan onward, plus 100+ telephony integrations.

How do I migrate from Act! to Bigin?

Export your Act! data and Bigin's import tools bring across contacts, companies, deals, and notes. Every paid plan includes a free onboarding session and data-import assistance from our team, so you do not have to figure out the field mapping on your own. Bigin's single-click migration covers Pipedrive, HubSpot, Insightly, and Zoho CRM

Will I outgrow Bigin?

Bigin scales from a free single-user plan to Bigin 360 ($18/user/month) with 15 team pipelines, one million records, 100 automations, and 3,000 AI credits a month. If you eventually need more, your data moves to Zoho CRM

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