Zoho CRM vs Freshsales: Which CRM is Best for Your Business in 2025?

Choosing a CRM in 2025 is really about total cost of ownership, adoption beyond Sales, and how much you’ll spend once you add email, lead capture, reporting, and AI. Freshsales is a clean, sales-first CRM with built-in comms and helpful AI. Zoho CRM (and especially Zoho One) bundles sales, service, finance, analytics, campaigns and more into one predictable price — fewer add-ons, one data model.

At Goldstar IT, we work with ambitious SMBs and mid-market firms every day. As a Zoho Premium Partner, we’ve seen first-hand how the right CRM can transform a business — and how the wrong one can hold you back.

Our comparison series for CRM includes: Salesforce, monday.com, PipeDrive, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics and Freshsales. If there is a specific CRM you’d like a Zoho CRM comparison with then let us know…

So, which is right for you? Let’s break it down.

What matters	Zoho CRM / Zoho One	Freshsales
Cost / TCO	Per-employee Zoho One bundles 45+ apps (CRM, Desk, Books, Analytics, Campaigns). Predictable as you scale.	Tiered per-user pricing (Free, Growth/Pro/Enterprise) with optional Freshsales Suite. Add-ons and tiers influence TCO.
AI	Zia: scoring, forecasts, anomaly alerts, content & call/chat summaries; works across Zoho apps.	Freddy AI: predictive scoring, deal insights, content assist; “agentic” direction rolling out across Freshworks.
Automation / process	Low-code workflows + Blueprint stage-gates; easy cross-app automation in Zoho One.	Trigger/sequence automations for sales; broader journeys typically via Suite/other Freshworks products.
Reporting / BI	Strong native reports + Zoho Analytics for full BI (suite).	Reports & dashboards (Insights); extend via marketplace/BI tools if needed.
Ecosystem	Unified suite (CRM, Desk, Books, Analytics, Campaigns, Projects…).	Freshworks family (Freshdesk, Freshmarketer, Freshcaller, etc.); Suite combines sales + marketing.
Data residency & GDPR	GDPR tooling; EU hosting when you sign up on zoho.eu.	GDPR resources; EU hosting options incl. Frankfurt via Freshworks data-hosting program.
Best fit	Cost-conscious SMB/mid-market needing multi-team automation and unified BI.	Sales-led teams wanting fast adoption, happy to layer Suite/add-ons later.

👉 Bottom line: If you want capability beyond Sales without stacking add-ons, choose Zoho CRM (ideally Zoho One). If you want a sales-first CRM with helpful built-ins and you’re fine adding modules over time, Freshsales fits.

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Pricing & ROI: The Numbers That Matter

Zoho

• Zoho One (suite): £37 (annual) or £45 (monthly) per employee; Flexible User: £80/£100 per user/month (ex-VAT). Official UK pricing.
• Zoho CRM: Free tier; paid tiers above that. (See Zoho for current plan pricing.)

Freshsales

• Plans: Free, Growth, Pro, Enterprise; official pages list pricing from $9/user/month (region/terms vary).
• Independent roundups place Growth/Pro/Enterprise roughly in the $9–$59+ band (check your portal for local currency).

10-user illustration

• Zoho One (all-employee): ≈ £370/month for CRM + Desk + Books + Analytics + Campaigns (45+ apps).
• Freshsales Pro (sales only): calculate seats plus any Suite/add-ons you’ll want for marketing/journeys.

👉 If you’ll expand into service, finance, email, and BI, Zoho One’s suite economics usually deliver a lower, more predictable total cost than assembling Freshsales + Suite + extras.

Let’s talk about how Zoho CRM can work for you!

Need help? Book a call now…

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Ease of Use & Implementation

• Zoho CRM: Designed for SMBs and mid-market teams. Rollouts are smooth, with phased onboarding and quick wins. Goldstar IT’s Discovery Workshop tailors the system to your workflows from day one — minimal disruption, maximum adoption.
• Freshsales: Exceptionally easy for sales-only teams — quick, self-serve setup with a clean pipeline UI. For broader processes (marketing/journeys, deeper analytics), you’ll typically step up to Freshsales Suite or other Freshworks products.

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AI, Automation & Reporting in 2025

AI

• Zoho CRM (Zia): Lead/deal scoring, forecasts, anomaly alerts, content + call/chat summaries.
• Freshsales (Freddy AI): Predictive scoring, deal insights/next-best actions, generative content.

Automation

• Zoho CRM: Low-code workflows + Blueprint (stage-gates) and cross-app flows; with Zoho One, most use cases don’t need extra licences.
• Freshsales: Sales workflows/sequences; broader journeys typically via Freshsales Suite/other Freshworks tools.

Reporting

• Zoho CRM: Strong native reports + Zoho Analytics for full BI and cross-department dashboards.
• Freshsales: Reports & dashboards (Insights); extend with Suite/add-ons or external BI if needed.

👉 For end-to-end AI + automation + BI without stacking add-ons, choose Zoho (ideally Zoho One). For a sales-first tool with helpful AI and you’re happy to add Suite/modules as you grow, Freshsales fits.

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Data Security & Compliance

• Zoho: GDPR tooling; zoho.eu customers are hosted in EU data centres (NL/IE).
• Freshsales / Freshworks: GDPR pages and EU/UK data-hosting options (e.g., Frankfurt) via Freshworks Data Hosting; confirm DPA/region in contract.

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Best Use Cases in 2025

Choose Zoho CRM / Zoho One when… you want suite value across Sales, Service, Finance and BI; predictable costs; and one data model.

Choose Freshsales when… you want a sales-first tool with quick adoption and are comfortable adding Suite/add-ons for marketing and journeys later.

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The Goldstar Difference: Working with a Zoho Premium Partner

Choosing Zoho CRM is smart. Choosing the right Zoho Premium Partner to implement it is smarter.

Here’s what Goldstar IT adds:

• Tailored to you: We design your CRM around your processes, not the other way round.
• Faster ROI: Our agile rollouts mean your team sees value in weeks, not months.
• Local, personal support: We’re UK-based and treat your business like it’s our own.
• Long-term partnership: From training to ongoing optimisation, we grow with you — not just “install and leave”.

👉 Result: Discovery → phased rollout → training → optimisation. We tailor Zoho to your processes, accelerate time-to-value, and keep improving your dashboards and automations over time.

Make Zoho CRM drive sales – not just record them!

Discover how in our free download

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Boosting ROI with an existing Zoho deployment

If you already use Zoho Books, Desk, or Analytics, adding Zoho CRM supercharges your ROI:

• Sales sees invoices and support tickets in one place.
• Finance gets accurate, live revenue forecasts.
• Leaders access cross-department reporting at a glance.

💡 Most businesses run smoother when choosing Zoho CRM with Goldstar IT over Freshsales and multiple integrations.

Check out some of our other clients and see how multiple Zoho apps have worked for them!

Discover some of our Success Stories

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Zoho CRM vs Salesforce FAQs

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In conclusion which is better in 2025 – Zoho CRM or Freshsales?

If you want capability beyond Sales with the lowest predictable TCO, choose Zoho CRM (ideally Zoho One). If you want a sales-first CRM and you’re fine adding Suite/modules later, Freshsales is a strong fit, but still more expensive than a Zoho One subscription which gives you acess to so much more!

Now the question is: do you want to pay for power you don’t use, or invest in a CRM that grows with you?

👉 Want numbers? Book a free cost comparison call with Goldstar IT
👉 Not ready to talk? Download a free Zoho CRM trial
👉 Need more info? Visit our CRM resources hub