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Bigin: The ideal CRM for small businesses

Rather than being a hurriedly assembled version of an existing product, Bigin was created with the needs of small and micro businesses in mind. The features you see in Bigin are the essential features that every successful small business needs and uses on a daily basis.

With Bigin, there's no steep learning curve or add-ons you're forced to buy to manage your opportunities to the fullest. An extensive pipeline management system, a comprehensive Contacts module, a versatile form builder, and built-in systems for calling and emailing, collecting payments, managing appointments, and sending messages are just some of the features designed to maximize productivity and profits.

Bigin as a relationship tracking spreadsheet
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Key limitations in Salesforce Starter
compared to Bigin

Steep learning curve

A complex interface combined with cluttered navigation and a confusing array of features make Salesforce Starter a not-so-easy software tool to adopt and implement.

No built-in telephony

Interactions over the phone play an integral role in your journey, but the Salesforce Starter plan doesn't offer this functionality natively. With Bigin's built-in telephony, you can make, receive, and record a comprehensive history of phone calls without leaving your CRM.

No multichannel communication tools

With Bigin, you can engage your customers via phone, email, WhatsApp, online meetings, SMS, and X. However, you'll have to upgrade to higher editions to enable all these communication channels in Salesforce.

No scope for integrations

With Salesforce Starter, your ability to integrate your CRM with the other business apps that you rely on is limited, which leads to data silos across your organization. On the other hand, Bigin directly integrates with 150+ Zoho and non-Zoho apps, providing ample room for customization.

Limited pipeline management features

Bigin's pipelines don't merely serve to manage deals; they're much more than that. Rather, they enable you to manage your entire customer-facing team with ease by creating distinct pipelines for every team and managing operations smoothly. Salesforce Starter lacks these integral features.

Stark absence of social media integrations

If you rely heavily on social media channels to grow your business, then Salesforce Starter's notable lack of integrations with social channels might mean it's not the best fit for you.

No built-in invoicing functionality

Salesforce Starter doesn't offer any pre-existing features for generating quotes or invoices, meaning users can't create or access invoices, estimates, or sales orders associated with their customers. However, by integrating with Zoho Invoice, Bigin offers a more refined process of managing and monitoring customer records across different platforms.

No versatile form builder

With Bigin's no-code form builder, you can create forms for a variety of applications, ranging from capturing leads and customer inquiries to collecting customer testimonials and sharing them across multiple channels. On the other hand, Salesforce lacks the extensive capabilities to make and share forms.

Salesforce bigin alert

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

Multiple pipelines
  • Multiple pipelines
  • Workflow automation
  • Customizable dashboards
  • Multi-channel communication
  • Payment collection and
    multi-currency support
  • Integration with third-party apps
  • Built-in appointment management
  • Enterprise-grade security
  • Mobile app for iOS & Android
 
Multiple pipeline Multiple pipeline
spreadsheets automation workflows in Bigin
custom dasboard
payment status
omnichannel in Bigin
Grade security
mobile sales management with Bigin
mobile view
mobile sales management with Bigin
booking form page

Salesforce Starter Suite vs. Bigin

Fearures

Premier$12/user/month billed annually
Bigin 360$18/user/month billed annually
Salesforce Starter Suite$25/user/month billed annually
Expand All

SALES

  • Full-fledged pipeline management
  • Contact and lead management
  • Deal management
  • Activity 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

  • Features

  • Premier$12/user/month billed annually
    Bigin 360$18/user/month billed annually
  • Salesforce Starter Suite$25/user/month billed annually

Features

  • SALES
  • Full-fledged pipeline management
  • Contact & Lead Management
  • Deal management
  • Activity 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
Premier₹12/user/month billed annuallyTRY FOR FREE
Bigin 360₹18/user/month billed annuallyTRY FOR FREE
Salesforce Starter Suit$25/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 30,000 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
  • Salesforce
  • Bigin
  • 4.3

  • 4.6/5

  • 1.3

  • 4.8/5

  • 4.4

  • 4.6/5

  • PCMag.com
  • 4.0

  • 4.8/5

*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 13.10.2025.

Trusted by 30,000+ small businesses globally

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 is the perfect option for what I need.

Zoho Bigin was easy for us to use from the very start. Within a couple of weeks, all users were able to use most features and benefit from them. Quick training and implementation from the Zoho Bigin support team was helpful. Users were immediately able to see the benefit to themselves, to their teams, and to the company as a whole. All this is the value we derive from this very comprehensive, easy, and intuitive application that we use on a daily basis.

Bigin is easy to use for a growing organisation like Ammacus. The platform is very intuitive, saves time when it comes to entering duplicate information, and has saved us many hours in lost productivity. As an early adopter of Bigin, we look forward to continued new applications and developments to make the platform even better than it is today. In addition, we have received fantastic client support when it was required.

I'm self-employed and run a design, printing, and marketing business. I wear all the hats when it comes to my business, so I need tools that help me automate and track everything that goes on day to day. I have been looking for a simple CRM for the last three years. During that time, all I found were apps with way too many features that came with a hefty price tag. When I started using Bigin, I loved how easy it was to use, and it had a clean and organized interface. The ability to sync my other apps with it using Zoho Flow was a big plus. One of the best things is that they made it affordable. I look forward to seeing how Bigin evolves and helps me run my business better.

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.

Derek Osborne, CEO, Osborne Real Estate and Business Brokerage
Chirag Selarka, Head of Business Development, Simplifie
Craig Aspey, Managing Director, Ammacus
Krista Guerrero, Owner, Kreative Design/Marketing
Seth Campbell, President, Five Doors Inc
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