FluentCRM alternatives
FluentCRM is the most used self-hosted email marketing CRM in WordPress, and a sound choice for newsletters. People look elsewhere when they need sales tools or support features it does not have.
Why people look for an alternative
- There are no deals, pipeline or sales forecast.
- There is no support queue or knowledge base in the plugin itself.
- Contact export, sequences and manager permissions need Pro.
- Pro renews at $129 a year for one site after the first-year discount.
The alternatives
- Best for sales funnels and automation
Groundhogg
Free visual automation, with a sales pipeline in the Plus plan.
Active installs: 2,000+ · 4.87 / 5 (149 ratings) · From $240 / year
Groundhogg review → - Best for quotes and invoicing
Jetpack CRM
Quotes, invoices and a client portal, free.
Active installs: 30,000+ · 4.32 / 5 (152 ratings) · From $132 / year
Jetpack CRM review → - Best free sales and service CRM
Plugixa CRM
Deals, pipelines, cases, a knowledge base, a customer portal and team permissions, free. No automation, so it complements FluentCRM rather than replacing it for marketing.
Active installs: Fewer than 10 · From €39 / year
Plugixa CRM review → - Best free hosted CRM
HubSpot
A hosted CRM with deals and tickets on the free plan.
Active installs: 200,000+ · 4.34 / 5 (207 ratings) · From $84 / year
HubSpot review →
Moving your data
Export contacts from FluentCRM as CSV (a Pro feature) and import them into the new plugin. Tags and custom fields need mapping on import. Test on a staging copy first.
The picks side by side
Scroll sideways to see more plugins, or untick some above.
| Feature | FluentCRM | Groundhogg | Jetpack CRM | Plugixa CRM | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contacts and companies | |||||
| ContactsStores people with their details, notes and a history of what happened with them. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeA contact can have several email addresses and phone numbers, one of each marked primary. | YesFree |
| CompaniesStores companies (accounts) as their own records, with contacts linked to them. | YesFree | YesPaid: PlusCompany records come from the Companies extension, included from Plus or sold alone from $59 a year. | YesFreeCompanies come with B2B mode, which you turn on in the free plugin. | YesFreeAccounts with a parent and child hierarchy, and a link to contacts that records each person's role. | YesFree |
| Custom fieldsYou can add your own fields to contacts or other records. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree | YesPaid: ProTen field types on contacts, accounts, leads and deals. | YesFreeThe free plan allows 10 custom properties. Paid plans raise the limit. |
| Duplicate mergeFinds the same person or company entered twice and merges the two records. | Not checked | PartialFreeTwo contacts can be merged by hand from the record. No tool that finds duplicates was found. | PartialFreeYou can merge two contacts you pick from the list. Automatic duplicate detection was not found. | YesFree | PartialFreeContacts are deduplicated by email and companies by domain, and records can be merged on all plans. The duplicates manager needs a Professional plan. |
| Sales pipeline | |||||
| DealsTracks sales opportunities with a value, a stage and an expected close date. | No | YesPaid: PlusThe Sales Pipeline extension is included from Plus or sold alone from $79 a year. Deals have a close date, a close probability and products. | NoContacts move through statuses such as Lead and Customer, but there is no deal record with a value and stage. | YesFree | YesFree |
| Kanban boardShows deals as cards in stage columns that you drag from one stage to the next. | No | YesPaid: Plus | No | YesFree | YesFree |
| Several pipelinesYou can run more than one pipeline, each with its own stages. | No | YesPaid: Plus | No | YesFree | YesPaid: Starter Customer PlatformThe free plan has one default pipeline. Starter allows 15 custom pipelines, shared across objects. |
| Sales forecastReports expected revenue, weighted by stage probability or by close date. | No | Not checked | No | YesFreeA weighted pipeline forecast, win rate and expected close by month. | YesPaid: Sales Hub Professional |
| Lead conversionA lead is a separate record that converts into a contact, a company or a deal once qualified. | NoA contact is labelled Lead or Customer. There is no separate lead record to convert. | NoThere is no separate lead record. Leads are contacts, and deals are created from them. | NoLeads are contacts with a Lead status, not a separate record type. | YesFreeA lead converts into an account, a contact and an opportunity in one step. | PartialPaid: Sales Hub ProfessionalLeads are linked to existing contacts or companies and move through lead stages towards a deal, rather than converting into a new contact. Needs Sales Hub Professional. |
| Activities and email | |||||
| TasksTasks with a due date and an assignee, linked to a record. | PartialFreeTasks come from the separate FluentBoards plugin and show on the contact profile. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree |
| CalendarA calendar view of tasks, meetings or appointments inside the CRM. | Not checked | Not checked | YesFree | YesFreeMonth, week and day views over tasks, calls and meetings, with working hours, holidays and free/busy. | Not checked |
| Calls and meetingsLogs calls and meetings as their own activities on a record. | YesFreeCalls and meetings are note types in the Notes and Activities tab. | YesFree | YesFreeCalls and meetings are log types on a contact's activity log. | YesFree | YesFree |
| Email from a recordSends a one-to-one email from a contact's record and keeps it on the record. | YesFreeDirect email works only for contacts with a Subscribed status. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeSent from any record, with templates and merge fields. | YesFree |
| Incoming emailReads a mailbox and files incoming mail against the matching records. | Not checked | PartialPaid: ProReplies to Groundhogg emails reach the contact record through Groundhogg's hosted relay. It needs an active licence and does not read a mailbox of your own. | No | YesFreeReads your own mailbox over IMAP. Incoming mail can create cases automatically. | YesFreeEmail is connected through HubSpot's shared inbox. Email sync is listed as a Starter feature, so free-plan limits were not checked in detail. |
| Marketing | |||||
| Email campaignsSends newsletters or bulk email to a list or segment of contacts. | YesFree | YesFree | YesPaid add-on | YesFreeCampaigns, target lists and mass email sent in batches, with open and click tracking on your own domain. | YesFreeFree marketing email carries HubSpot branding and has sending limits. |
| Marketing automationRuns sequences or workflows triggered by events, such as a tag added or a form submitted. | YesFreeThe free version has a small set of triggers and actions. Most integration triggers need Pro. | YesFree | YesPaid add-onA free internal automator exists, but configurable workflows need the Automations extension ($79 a year). | NoTarget lists are static, and there is no workflow or sequence builder. | YesPaid: Starter Customer PlatformStarter has simple email, contact and deal automation. Full workflows need a Professional plan. |
| Lead capture formsHas its own forms that create contacts or leads, without a separate form plugin. | PartialFreeForms created in FluentCRM are Fluent Forms forms, so the free Fluent Forms plugin must be installed. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeWeb-to-lead forms as a block or a shortcode; submissions arrive as leads. | YesFree |
| Customer support | |||||
| Tickets or casesA support queue of customer requests with a status and an owner. | NoTickets come from the separate Fluent Support plugin and show on the contact profile. | NoThere is no ticket queue. A paid Help Scout integration connects an outside helpdesk. | PartialPaid add-onThe Awesome Support extension shows tickets from the separate Awesome Support plugin inside the CRM. | YesFreeCases with statuses, priorities and types, assigned round-robin or to whoever is least busy. | YesFree |
| Knowledge baseHelp articles you write in the CRM and can show to customers. | Not checked | No | No | YesFreeArticles in a category tree. Articles you mark as public appear in a help centre on your site. | YesPaid: Service Hub Professional |
| Client portalCustomers log in on your site to see their own records, such as tickets, invoices or documents. | Not checked | Not checked | YesFreeThe portal is free. Client Portal Pro adds file downloads, tasks and tickets. | YesFreeCustomers see their own cases, shared documents, meetings, calls and help articles. Each panel is a separate switch. | YesPaid: Service Hub ProfessionalThe portal shows customers their own support tickets only. |
| Team and permissions | |||||
| CRM rolesPermissions set per CRM role, beyond the standard WordPress roles. | PartialPaid: Solo/BloggerPro managers get permissions set per user, not per named role. | YesFreeAdds Marketer, Sales Manager and Sales Representative roles. | YesFree | YesFreeRoles per record type and per action, each with an all, team, own or none scope. | PartialFreePermissions are set per user on all plans. Reusable permission sets need an Enterprise plan. |
| Record-level accessLimits which records or fields a user can see, for example only their own or their team's. | NoManager permissions apply globally, so a manager sees all contacts their permissions cover. | YesFreeSales Representatives see only the contacts they own. Field-level limits were not found. | PartialFreeContacts can be assigned to a CRM user, and editing can be limited to the owner. Field-level control was not found. | YesFreeRecords are limited to a user's own, their team's or all, and single fields can be hidden or made read-only. | YesFreeUsers can be limited to records they own on all plans. Team-only access needs a Professional plan. |
| Change historyKeeps a log of who changed what on a record. | Not checked | Not checked | PartialFreeThe activity log records status changes and edits made through the portal or profile, but not a full field history. | YesFree | YesFreeProperty history shows each change, its date and its source, such as a user, an import or a workflow. |
| Reports and data | |||||
| ReportsBuilt-in reports or dashboards on contacts, deals or activity. | YesFreeCampaign and automation reports are free. Contact, WooCommerce and LMS reports need Pro. | YesFree | YesFreeThe free dashboard shows contact and activity charts. Revenue reports need the Sales Dashboard extension. | YesFreeA report builder with charts over deals, leads, meetings, calls and tasks, and multi-tab dashboards. | YesFree |
| CSV import and exportImports contacts from a CSV file and exports them to one. | YesPaid: Solo/BloggerCSV import is free. Contact export needs Pro. | YesFree | YesFreeA basic CSV importer and an export page are free. CSV Importer PRO adds more options. | YesFreeCSV import with column mapping and an undo for the whole run; CSV and Excel export. | YesFree |
| WebhooksSends a message to a URL you choose when records change. | YesPaid: Solo/BloggerOutgoing webhooks run as an automation step in Pro. Incoming webhooks are free. | YesPaid: BasicSending a webhook is a premium flow step, listed on every paid plan. Free users cannot use it. | NoThe free plugin only accepts incoming webhook requests. No outgoing webhooks on record changes were found. | YesFree | YesPaid: Data Hub ProfessionalThe Send a webhook workflow action needs Data Hub Professional. Developer apps can also subscribe to record changes through the webhooks API. |
| REST APIA documented API for reading and writing CRM records from other software. | YesFreeDeveloper docs say core endpoints work on the free plugin, but the Free vs Pro table lists the REST API under Pro. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeAbout 230 documented REST routes, with the same permission rules as the admin screens. | YesFree |
| Commerce | |||||
| WooCommerceLinks WooCommerce customers and their orders to CRM contacts. | YesFreePurchase history on the contact profile is free. Segmentation, triggers and reports for WooCommerce need Pro. | YesPaid: ProThe WooCommerce extension is included in Pro or sold alone from $99 a year. | YesFree | YesPaid: ProLinks WooCommerce customers and their order history to contacts. | PartialFreeNot part of the HubSpot plugin. WooCommerce sync is offered by third-party apps, such as the one from MakeWebBetter. |
| Quotes and invoicesCreates quotes or invoices from the CRM. | Not checked | No | YesFree | NoThere are PDF templates for any record, but no quote or invoice records. | YesFreeInvoices are listed for all plans. Quotes need a Commerce Hub Professional plan. |
| Integrations | |||||
| Form plugin integrationsSends entries from form plugins such as Contact Form 7, WPForms or Gravity Forms into the CRM. | YesFreeFluent Forms is free. Elementor, Divi Bloom, Thrive and Beaver Builder forms need Pro. Other form plugins can post to an incoming webhook. | YesPaid: PlusContact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Fluent Forms and others are listed from Plus. | YesPaid add-onJetpack Forms is supported for free. Contact Form 7 and Gravity Forms each need a paid extension. | YesPaid: ProContact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms and Elementor forms. | YesFreeListed integrations include Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, WPForms, Formidable and Forminator. Contact Form 7 is not listed. |
| Calendar syncSyncs CRM meetings or tasks with Google Calendar or Outlook. | Not checked | YesPaid: PlusGoogle Calendar sync comes with the Booking Calendar extension, included from Plus or sold alone from $79 a year. | No | YesPaid: ProGoogle Calendar and Microsoft 365 calendars. | YesFree |
| Platform | |||||
| Where your data livesWhether records are stored in your WordPress database or on the vendor's servers. | Your WordPress database | Your WordPress database (custom tables) | Your WordPress database | Your WordPress database, in the plugin's own tables | HubSpot's servers (hosted CRM) |
| CRM on a site pageStaff can use the CRM on a page of the site, outside wp-admin. | Not checked | Not checked | NoThe front end offers a client portal for customers only. Staff use the CRM in wp-admin. | YesFreeA shortcode puts the whole CRM on a page of your site for staff, inside your theme. | NoThe CRM runs in HubSpot's own web app. The plugin adds tools to wp-admin and forms or chat to site pages, not a staff CRM on the site. |
- Yes: The plugin does this.
- Partial: It does part of this; the note says what is missing.
- No: The plugin does not do this.
- Not checked: We could not confirm it from the vendor's own pages, so we do not claim either way.