Alternative to EngageBay: 9 more powerful CRMs to automate your sales
EngageBay has established itself as an all-in-one CRM suite designed for SMEs: lead management, sales automation, marketing automation, customer support... all at an attractive price, or even free to start with. On paper, the promise is seductive: a simple, affordable and designed solution for centralising customer relations.
But in the real world, things aren't quite so straightforward. As the business grows, some companies find that the functionality is limited, the automation is sometimes rigid, the interface can be improved or there is a lack of depth in terms of pipeline management, reporting or advanced marketing.
Many sales, marketing and pro teams are now looking for an alternative to EngageBay that is more intuitive, more powerful or better suited to their organisation. Whether you're looking for a more accessible alternative, a sales-focused CRM, or a complete solution, there's no shortage of options.
👉 In this article, we've selected 9 reliable and proven alternatives to EngageBay, with a clear comparison of tools, features, pricing plans, and use cases to help you choose the best CRM solution for your business.
What is EngageBay?
EngageBay is an all-in-one CRM solution designed primarily for SMEs, start-ups and entrepreneurs who want to centralise their sales, marketing and customer support tools in a single interface. The aim is clear: to offer a more affordable alternative to suites such as HubSpot, without multiplying subscriptions or tools.
In practical terms, EngageBay brings together several key functionalities in a single suite:
- CRM for managing contacts, leads and opportunities ;
- sales automation to monitor the pipeline and automate certain sales tasks;
- marketing automation (emails, campaigns, forms, landing pages);
- Customer service with tickets and basic support;
- social and communication to keep in touch with prospects.
One of EngageBay's main selling points is its price positioning. The platform offers a free plan, followed by paid plans billed in euros per month, making it attractive to small teams or businesses in the start-up phase. At this price level, EngageBay is easy to get to grips with and offers a reassuring 'all-in-one' approach.
EngageBay
Why consider an alternative to EngageBay?
Functionality and automation that quickly reach their limits
EngageBay fulfils its role adequately for standard requirements, but as soon as processes become more complex, its limitations become apparent.
CRM functionality remains fairly basic, and sales automation lacks the flexibility to adapt to advanced scenarios. Creating conditional automations, finely customising customer journeys or managing specific rules by lead type can quickly become restrictive. For a growing business, this rigidity slows down the optimisation of processes and sometimes forces teams to multiply manual actions, to the detriment of sales performance.
The user experience and pipeline management can be improved
While the tool is fairly intuitive at the outset, EngageBay's interface shows its weaknesses as the volume of data increases. With more leads, opportunities and collaborators, navigation becomes less fluid and pipeline management becomes less legible.
Pipeline management remains fairly linear, which makes it difficult to track :
- several sales cycles,
- or segmentation by team, offer or customer type.
For sales teams, this can make sales management less precise and slow down decision-making.
A solution that does little to support the growth of teams
EngageBay is often chosen for its attractive pricing plan and its promise of an all-in-one suite. But as the business grows, expectations change: more detailed reporting, better team collaboration, more advanced marketing automation and more responsive support. However, even when upgrading to higher-end offerings, the solution struggles to keep pace with growth. So for many companies, considering an alternative to EngageBay becomes a strategic decision to rely on a tool that is more robust, more scalable and better aligned with their long-term objectives.
Comparative table of the 9 best alternatives to EngageBay
Our selection of alternatives to EngageBay
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has established itself as a credible alternative to EngageBay for companies that want to structure their marketing and sales seriously. The tool is aimed above all at pro teams looking for a robust solution capable of managing complex customer journeys and advanced automation. Where EngageBay remains generalist, ActiveCampaign stands out for its precision and performance-oriented logic.
The platform clearly goes further when it comes to automating and managing customer relations, at the cost of a slightly more demanding learning curve. But for businesses that want to optimise their lead management and pipeline, the efficiency gains are real.
⚒️ To give you a better idea of what ActiveCampaign offers on a day-to-day basis, here are the main features to bear in mind:
- Advanced marketing automation with highly detailed conditional workflows;
- Integrated CRM for centralising contacts, customers and opportunities;
- customisable pipeline management based on sales cycles;
- sale automation to automate sales follow-up and reminders;
- advanced segmentation based on lead behaviour and engagement;
- Precise reporting and analytics to manage sales and marketing;
- extensive ecosystem of integrations with business and social tools.
ActiveCampaign
Brevo
Brevo (ex-Sendinblue) is an interesting alternative to EngageBay for companies that place marketing and customer communication at the heart of their strategy. The solution is designed for SMEs that want a tool that is accessible, intuitive and quick to deploy, with a good balance between CRM, emailing and automation. Its price positioning, often based on usage rather than per user, will appeal to teams on a tight budget.
Brevo stands out above all for its ease of use and its multi-channel campaign-oriented approach. The CRM is simpler than some specialist suites, but it effectively covers the essential needs of lead management, customer follow-up and light sales automation.
⚒️ To give you a clear idea of what Brevo has to offer, here are the main features of the platform:
- integrated CRM for centralising contacts, customers and interactions ;
- high-performance email marketing with an intuitive editor
- marketing automation for simple scenarios and behavioural triggers;
- lead management and sales opportunity tracking;
- basic pipeline management to organise the sales cycle;
- SMS and messaging tools for multi-channel communication;
- clear interface designed for non-technical teams.
Brevo
Creatio CRM
Creatio is positioned as a more ambitious alternative to EngageBay, with a clear business focus and advanced process management. The platform is aimed at organisations looking for a highly customisable CRM capable of adapting to complex sales cycles and specific business needs. Here, we're talking less about immediate simplicity and more about strategic flexibility.
Creatio relies heavily on process automation and advanced customer relationship management. The tool requires more time to configure, but in return it offers a level of customisation that is difficult to achieve with more generalist solutions.
⚒️ To understand the added value of Creatio, here are the key features that set it apart:
- Modular CRM for sales, marketing and customer service;
- advanced automation of processes without code or low-code;
- customised pipeline management based on business rules
- large-scale lead and opportunity management
- advanced reporting and analytics for performance management;
- collaborative management for sales and marketing teams;
- strong integration capabilities with existing business ecosystems.
Creatio
Freshsales
Freshsales is an alternative to EngageBay designed primarily for sales teams. Developed with sales and productivity in mind, the tool is aimed at SMEs and sales teams looking for a clear, efficient CRM that is quick to learn. Where EngageBay tries to cover every possible use, Freshsales focuses on the essentials: better sales and better lead tracking.
The platform offers a modern, intuitive interface, with well-structured sales automation and pipeline management functions.
⚒️ To get a clear idea of Freshsales, here are the main features on offer:
- Sales-oriented CRM for managing contacts and opportunities;
- visual pipeline management to track deals in real time;
- sales automation to automate sales tasks and follow-ups;
- lead scoring based on behaviour and commitment;
- reporting and dashboards to monitor performance;
- team management and sales activity monitoring;
- intuitive interface designed for rapid adoption.
Freshsales
HubSpot
HubSpot is often seen as the benchmark for the CRM market, and rightly so. The platform is aimed at businesses looking for a complete suite capable of covering marketing, sales, customer service and data management within a single tool. As an alternative to EngageBay, HubSpot is appealing because of its functional depth, its ecosystem and its ability to support teams of all sizes.
HubSpot relies heavily on automation, user experience and consistency between the various modules. On the other hand, moving to advanced functionalities involves rapidly increasing costs. For structured businesses, however, this investment can be justified.
⚒️ To better understand what HubSpot has to offer, here are the key features you need to know about:
- centralised CRM for managing contacts, leads and customers ;
- advanced marketing automation with workflows and scoring;
- sales automation to structure and accelerate sales cycles;
- customisable, visual pipeline management
- integrated customer service tools (tickets, support, knowledge base);
- comprehensive reporting and analytics for business management;
- extensive marketplace of integrations and complementary tools.
HubSpot CRM
monday CRM
monday CRM is a flexible, collaborative alternative to EngageBay. Coming from the world of project management, monday CRM is aimed at teams who want a visual, customisable tool that is easy to adapt to their internal processes. The approach is less "classic CRM" and more "modular sales management tool".
The platform's intuitive interface and table-based logic are ideal for keeping track of leads, deals and sales activities without being too cumbersome. Automation is present, but remains deliberately accessible, making it a solution appreciated by non-technical teams.
⚒️ To understand the benefits of monday CRM, here are the main features on offer:
- Visual CRM for managing contacts and opportunities;
- customisable pipeline management via dynamic tables
- Automation of sales tasks without complexity;
- team collaboration with comments and notifications
- monitoring of activities and customer interactions;
- simple reporting to drive sales;
- modern interface designed for rapid adoption.
monday CRM
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is an alternative to EngageBay that is resolutely focused on sales and opportunity tracking. The CRM is designed to help sales teams maintain a clear view of their pipeline and focus on the actions that really drive deals forward. There's nothing superfluous here: everything has been designed with sales efficiency in mind.
Pipedrive stands out for its simplicity, ease of use and highly visual approach to pipeline management. The tool doesn't try to do everything, but excels in its core business: helping sales reps organise their work better and close more sales.
⚒️ For an overview of Pipedrive, here are the key features to remember:
- Sales-focused CRM with customisable visual pipeline ;
- real-time management of leads and opportunities
- sales automation to automate tasks and reminders;
- sales activity tracking and intelligent reminders
- clear reporting to analyse performance;
- management of sales teams and objectives;
- intuitive interface designed for sales teams.
Pipedrive
Odoo
Odoo stands out as a much broader alternative to EngageBay, designed as a complete management suite rather than just a CRM. The solution is aimed at companies that want to centralise all their operations - sales, marketing, management, billing and support - within a single tool. Odoo's appeal lies in its modular approach and its ability to grow with the business.
Unlike EngageBay, Odoo is not limited to customer relations. It allows you to build a real business infrastructure, with a high level of customisation. On the other hand, it takes more time to set up and sometimes requires technical skills, especially for ambitious projects.
⚒️ To understand what Odoo can really do, here are the main features to bear in mind:
- Integrated CRM for managing leads and opportunities ;
- customisable pipeline management based on internal processes
- sale automation to structure sales follow-up
- marketing modules for campaigns, emails and automation
- Complete business management (invoicing, stock, projects, support);
- process automation via interconnected modules;
- high capacity for customisation and integration.
Odoo
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is one of the most popular alternatives to EngageBay, particularly for SMEs and fast-growing businesses. Part of a complete suite of business tools, Zoho CRM offers an excellent compromise between functional richness, automation and cost control. It is a solution designed to effectively structure customer relationship management without blowing the budget.
Zoho CRM covers the entire sales cycle, from lead to conversion, with advanced sales automation and pipeline management features. The interface is modern and relatively intuitive, although the richness of the tool may take some getting used to.
⚒️ To get a better idea of Zoho CRM's strengths, here are the key features on offer:
- Comprehensive CRM for managing leads, contacts and customers;
- advanced pipeline management with multiple scenarios
- sales automation to automate tasks and sales processes;
- marketing automation for lead nurturing and campaigns;
- detailed reporting and analytics to monitor performance;
- team collaboration and role management;
- native integration with the Zoho ecosystem and third-party tools.
Zoho CRM
How to choose your CRM?
Summary table of the best alternatives to EngageBay
Here's a clear, actionable overview of the best alternatives to EngageBay. The aim: to help you quickly identify which tool is right for your business, depending on your level of maturity, your automation needs and your budget.
| Software | Who's it for? | Key benefits | Entry price |
| ActiveCampaign | SMEs, advanced marketing & sales teams | High level of automation, powerful CRM + marketing, fine segmentation | From €12.74/month |
| Brevo | SMEs, marketing-oriented start-ups | Powerful emailing, simple CRM, good value for money | Free offer |
| Creatio | Companies, complex organisations | Process automation, highly customisable CRM, no-code | From €25/month |
| Freshsales | Sales teams, SMEs | Sales-oriented CRM, clear pipeline, quick to learn | Free offer |
| HubSpot | SMEs to large enterprises | Complete CRM suite, rich ecosystem, advanced automation | Free offer |
| monday CRM | Collaborative teams, SMEs | Intuitive interface, visual CRM, great flexibility | Free offer |
| Pipedrive | Field sales teams | Ultra-visual pipeline management, simplicity, sales focus | From €14/month |
| Odoo | SMEs & growing businesses | Complete business suite, CRM + ERP, highly customisable | Free offer |
| Zoho CRM | SMEs, structured businesses | Comprehensive CRM, automation, excellent features/price ratio | From €14/month |
Criteria to consider when choosing an alternative to EngageBay
Choosing an alternative to EngageBay is more than just comparing features on a price page. The right CRM is above all the one that adapts to your business, your team and your rate of growth .
📌 Here are the essential criteria to analyse before making your decision:
- CRM functionalities: check that the foundation really covers your business needs, now and in the future ;
- sales automation: the ability to automate sales tasks, follow-ups, scoring and pipeline tracking without tinkering;
- marketing automation: essential if marketing plays a key role in lead generation;
- pipeline management: clear sales tracking, personalised milestones and visibility of sales performance;
- ease of use: an intuitive interface speeds up adoption by the team and limits dependence on technical profiles;
- Scalability: the solution needs to support business growth without exploding costs or blocking processes;
- Price and pricing model: pay attention to the real cost, limitations per user and locked-in functionalities;
- support and guidance: quality of customer service, documentation, onboarding and available resources;
- integration: compatibility with existing tools (marketing, management, social, reporting).
EngageBay: a good entry point... but not always the best solution
EngageBay remains an accessible CRM tool, well positioned to get you started and centralise your initial sales, marketing and support activities. Its attractive price plan and all-in-one approach make it a coherent solution for small businesses or teams in the start-up phase.
But as companies grow, pipelines become more complex and automation becomes strategic, its limitations become apparent. Sometimes limited functionality, imperfect flexibility, uneven user experience: these are just some of the reasons why more and more teams are looking for an alternative to EngageBay that is better suited to their needs.
The good news is that the market is now full of high-performance CRM solutions capable of meeting a wide range of needs: Sales-oriented CRM, advanced marketing suite, collaborative management tool or complete business platform.
🧠 So the most important thing is not to choose "the best CRM", but the one that is most relevant to your business, your team and your budget. Take the time to assess your priorities, test several tools and think long-term.
Article translated from French