CRM Comparison for Small Businesses | Clear Cost Marketing
Home › Tool Comparisons › CRMs

CRM Comparison for Small Businesses

Every platform promises the world. This page gives you the simple version: what Go High Level, HubSpot, Zoho, and Mailchimp are actually good at, where they’re overkill, and how to pick the one that matches your business.

Updated 2025 • Written for owners, not software sales teams.

The short version

Before we get into details, here’s the quick mental model:

  • Go High Level – Best if you want one platform for leads, funnels, SMS/email, and pipelines (especially for service businesses).
  • HubSpot – Popular, polished, and powerful—but can get expensive as you grow and add features.
  • Zoho – Flexible, feature-rich, and budget-friendly, but can feel clunky for non-techy teams.
  • Mailchimp – Great starter email tool. As a full CRM, it’s limited compared to the others.
For most small service-based businesses, a platform like Go High Level replaces 3–5 separate tools—and that’s why we build our systems on top of it.

Side-by-side comparison

These aren’t exact pricing tables (those change constantly), but they give you a feel for where each platform sits.

Platform Best For Strengths Watch Outs
Go High Level
Our primary recommendation 		Agencies & service businesses who want leads, funnels, 2-way SMS, email, and pipelines in one place. All-in-one: landing pages, forms, funnels, CRM, automations, text/email, calendars, reviews, and more in a single login. Feels like a lot at first. Works best with a clean setup instead of “click everything and hope.”
HubSpot B2B, SaaS, and teams that want deep sales & marketing features and don’t mind higher pricing. Polished UI, strong reporting, great for complex pipelines and sales teams. Costs climb quickly as contacts and features (like automation) are added.
Zoho CRM Businesses that want flexibility, lots of modules, and good value with time to configure it. Huge feature set across CRM, finance, support, and more. Pricing is usually more budget-friendly than big-name tools. Can feel overwhelming/clunky. Often needs a “systems person” to get the most out of it.
Mailchimp (as CRM) Very small businesses starting with email lists and simple campaigns. Easy for basic email marketing and simple automations. Good starter tool. As a CRM, it’s limited: pipelines, SMS, and deeper automations usually require additional tools.

Why we usually recommend Go High Level

Clear Cost Marketing is all about total cost, not just sticker price. When you add up:

  • Landing page builder
  • Form + funnel tools
  • CRM + pipelines
  • 2-way SMS and email
  • Calendar booking
  • Review requests

Most businesses end up juggling 3–5 subscriptions trying to stitch all that together.

Go High Level pulls all of that into one platform, which is why we build our done-for-you setups on GHL with The Awesome System.

If you’re the kind of owner who likes to try things yourself first, you can start a trial here:

Try Go High Level →

Which CRM matches your situation?

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

“We’re a local service business who just needs more booked jobs.”

  • Leads from ads, referrals, or your site.
  • Missed calls and slow follow-up.
  • No clean pipeline view of who’s where.

Best fit: Go High Level (and a clean setup like The Awesome System).

“We’re a B2B or SaaS company with sales reps and a longer sales cycle.”

  • Lots of meetings and demos.
  • Multiple people involved in approvals.
  • Need deep reporting across teams.

Best fit: HubSpot or Zoho CRM, depending on your budget and complexity.

“We’re tiny and just want to email people.”

  • Smaller list.
  • Basic newsletters or promo campaigns.

Best fit: Mailchimp (for now)—but be ready to switch when you need real pipelines and automations.

DIY vs done-for-you on Go High Level

If you’re leaning toward Go High Level, you’ve got two main paths:

  • DIY: Start a trial, click around, learn it, and build your own workflows, forms, and pipelines.
  • Done-for-you: Have someone who lives in this stuff set up a clean, simple system for you.
The Awesome System is our done-for-you Go High Level setup for service businesses. It gives you a working system instead of another “tool to set up someday.”

You can read more about what’s included here:
See The Awesome System

Want help picking a CRM?

If you’d like a second set of eyes on your situation, fill out the quick form below and we’ll send a simple recommendation based on where you are right now.