Freshsales vs SugarCRM Platform comparison

Freshworks and SugarCRM are both solutions in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category. Freshworks is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.2, while SugarCRM is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.0. Freshworks holds a 3.9% mindshare in CCEC, compared to SugarCRM’s 4.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Freshworks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of SugarCRM users who would recommend it.

Freshsales

Read 13 Freshsales reviews

4,221 Views
718 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SugarCRM Platform

Read 12 SugarCRM Platform reviews

4,765 Views
810 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Freshsales

SugarCRM Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

SugarCRM Platform and Freshsales are products competing in the CRM category. SugarCRM Platform has the upper hand due to its superior customization options and robust integrations, although Freshsales offers an intuitive design and ease of navigation.

Features: SugarCRM Platform provides extensive customization, comprehensive reporting tools, and enterprise system integration. Freshsales offers streamlined email integration, efficient lead management, and built-in phone capabilities.

Room for Improvement: SugarCRM Platform could benefit from simplifying its setup process to reduce complexity, enhancing its user interface for more intuitive navigation, and improving customer support documentation. Freshsales can improve by expanding its feature set to better serve larger enterprises, enhancing integration capabilities with third-party software, and refining its reporting functions for more detailed analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SugarCRM Platform offers flexible deployment models including on-premise and cloud, providing tailored implementation options, though its complexity can be challenging. Freshsales, cloud-based, offers straightforward deployment and efficient customer service, emphasizing ease and rapid setup.

Pricing and ROI: SugarCRM Platform may involve higher setup costs but offers higher ROI for large organizations with specific requirements. Freshsales has competitive pricing with lower initial costs, offering quick returns for small to medium-sized businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Freshsales vs. SugarCRM Platform Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Freshsales vs. SugarCRM Platform

August 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Freshsales

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

7th

Ranking in CRM

12th

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Opportunity Management (8th)

SugarCRM Platform

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

9th

Ranking in CRM

23rd

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

6th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Marketing Automation (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category, the mindshare of Freshsales is 3.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SugarCRM Platform is 4.4%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CRM Customer Engagement Centers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Freshsales	3.9%
SugarCRM Platform	4.4%
Other	91.7%

CRM Customer Engagement Centers

Featured Reviews

Sumesh Gansar

Product Marketing Manager at Samsung

Centralized CRM has given me a 360-degree view and helps me run smarter, AI-driven sales campaigns

One thing that Freshsales can improve is making it much easier because it is not quite easy for everybody to get a grasp of the entire CRM software. It is quite vast and quite complex. Perhaps more knowledge-based documents can be introduced. Apart from that, I do not have any major complaints. The integration in Freshsales is quite good because it is easily integratable with many other Freshworks software as well as with third-party solutions. The integration is quite good. Perhaps in the reporting feature, it takes some time to process the reports due to the amount of data that it handles. Apart from that, I do not have any major complaints with Freshsales so far.

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reviewer1345677

Senior Manager / IT Planning & Architecture Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Easily customizable, automation enhances the marketing campaigns but support is the main hiccup for us

It has been effective in managing customer relationships. It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory. And there are centralized reports for the CEO and the general managers. We work with automation for these marketing and email campaigns. It sends out emails to prospective customers related to sales offers automatically. And it copies the sales team so that they can follow up. They are tracking the sales leads. So, the automation within SugarCRM enhances the marketing campaigns. For now, my work is done because I am the IT strategy and planning manager. I just try to deliver the solution according to the requirements of the business. From my side, it's implemented already, the requirement related to the sales funnel. But if they have any other requirement from the business side, they will submit it to me, and then I will look for a suitable solution.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"What I like most about Freshsales is that it gives clarity."

"Almost everything has been automated through a process-driven approach, such as sending purchase orders, responding to customer emails, or adding values to emails."

"I like Freshsales because it's integrated with Shopify which we use to host our website."

"The solution is a low-cost CRM product compared to other CRM alternatives."

"Freshsales is a very comfortable type of CRM with easy customization and user-friendliness, allowing even non-techie individuals to manage their internal pipelines effectively, as it is a highly customizable CRM that suits our business needs, whether for selling products or services."

"Freshsales has impacted us positively; it has saved time, increased sales, and improved customer relationships."

"One of the most valuable features is the ability to divert deals based on the potential revenue or specific market to certain sales teams."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its well-organized sales cycle, which is important to us."

More Freshsales pros

"This solution's stability is very good, it runs almost without effort, and we don't have any support issues with it."

"By default, it comes with a really good model where you can start working with it without having a lot of developers in your team."

"The most valuable aspect of this solution is its low cost, and it works well."

"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."

"Saying that, it has a small server footprint and is easy to set up."

"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."

"Good, basic out-of-the-box solution, however, in my estimation not a long term play as the design flow and user interface make it a true chore to enter data."

"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."

More SugarCRM Platform pros

Cons

"We have a problem with the time to delivery for our customers, although this is not specific to this solution. Time to delivery can be 90 days."

"We can use only one domain in the basic package."

"One thing that Freshsales can improve is making it much easier because it is not quite easy for everybody to get a grasp of the entire CRM software."

"However, the support provided by the service team or fresh service team and the customer team of the company is very poor."

"I believe the customization options in Freshsales could be improved, particularly regarding themes; the ability to implement our logo into the dashboard would enhance our professional image when dealing with external partners compared to larger MNCs using their internal software."

"What I dislike about Freshsales is that it is a bit complicated and the initial setup is very difficult."

"The licensing costs should be based on the amount of data and number of clients that one can insert into the application."

"The price of this solution could be improved as well as the reporting functionality."

More Freshsales cons

"At the moment, there is a complicated flow in regards to the user's permissions and what they can see."

"Sugar Enterprise could improve by removing bugs and glitches. For example, a comment was made but in the comment section, it was never displayed. However, the problems we faced might not be the fault of the solution."

"Functionality and features are well suited for small business companies only."

"You cannot include all your entities under one instance at the moment."

"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."

"Putting so many things into SugarCRM became a much-hated task, mainly because of the horrible UI."

"It lacks customization, and this is the main reason that we are switching to a different solution."

"The UX was such that it limited the use of it."

More SugarCRM Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The basic price is affordable. The add ons are expensive."

"The price for this solution is good in general, but in Brazil we do pay additional taxes."

"The tool is not that expensive."

"If one is a very low price and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a three."

"Freshsales is an economical product."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

17%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Construction Company

16%

Engineering Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Freshsales?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Freshsales?

I primarily use Freshsales as a sales CRM software. It is very easy to use, and it provides me with all the information I need about a contact. That is, it gives me a 360-degree view of my accounts...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Freshsales?

One thing that made it stand out for me is the inbuilt templates that it has for email generation, and I get an AI-powered score for the contact. I call it contact scoring. It gives me a score for ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sugar Enterprise?

All are almost the same pricing. Maybe the cheapest is Salesforce, I believe.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sugar Enterprise?

The only challenge was that we implemented it in our on-premise data center instead of using it in the cloud. That was a little bit of a challenge. But it was overcome with the help of SugarCRM com...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Sugar Enterprise?

To start with, SugarCRM is a very good platform. It's easy to implement and easily customizable. Might be later when you want to scale, then I would recommend Salesforce. Overall, I would rate it a...

See all answers

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Freshsales

August 2026

Download Freshsales product report

Buyer's Guide

SugarCRM Platform

July 2026

Download SugarCRM Platform product report

Overview

Freshsales is an intuitive CRM offering automation, AI-driven insights, and integration options with Shopify and Whatsapp, catering to businesses of all sizes with its user-friendly approach.

Freshsales combines essential CRM functionalities like email integration and a robust sales cycle with advanced features such as AI-generated promotion descriptions and deal diversion based on revenue. While Freshsales serves both startups and larger companies with its cost-effective and scalable nature, it faces challenges in reporting and customization. Users often integrate third-party tools like Power BI for enhanced data analysis. Despite limitations in some advanced capabilities, Freshsales remains a viable choice for small to medium businesses seeking efficient sales tracking, pipeline management, and enhanced communication strategies. Its seamless territory management and sophisticated features aid businesses in managing customer interactions and campaigns efficiently.

What are the standout features of Freshsales?

Automation: Streamlines tasks and processes, enhancing efficiency.
AI Promotions: Generates insightful brief descriptions for marketing.
Integration: Connects with platforms like Shopify and Whatsapp for seamless operations.
Sales Cycle: Offers a comprehensive structure for managing sales activities.
Email Integration: Simplifies communication within the sales process.

Why consider Freshsales based on reviews?

User-Friendliness: Appreciated for its easy navigation and functionality.
Scalability: Grows with business needs, adapting to increased demands.
Cost-Effectiveness: Provides valuable features at a competitive price.
Sales Tracking: Offers robust tools for monitoring sales and leads.
Communication Tools: Enhances interaction with potential customers.

In retail, Freshsales aids in managing customer inquiries and tracking transactions through integration with Shopify, improving sales processes. In tech industries, businesses use Freshsales to categorize customer data, while automating communication improves response times. Service-oriented companies leverage the CRM for lead management and follow-up, enhancing customer satisfaction.

Freshworks

SugarCRM Platform offers affordability and strong customization for budget-conscious entities, enabling them to adjust fields, layouts, and dashboards. It includes CRM functionalities such as lead management, marketing automation, and document sharing, benefiting industries like BFSI and manufacturing.

SugarCRM Platform serves as a versatile CRM solution ideal for small businesses due to its affordability and customization options. It's equipped with robust CRM capabilities covering lead management, marketing automation, customer support, and document sharing. Users appreciate its straightforward modification of fields and dashboards, which provides flexibility in adapting the system to specific business requirements. While some areas could improve, such as reporting and system administration tools, and enhancements could be made to its interface, SugarCRM remains a solid choice for efficient customer relationship management. Integration capabilities and open-source customization add to its versatility, although there are noted challenges with mobile platform integration and user permissions.

What are the key features of SugarCRM Platform?

Affordability: Supports budget-conscious customization and modifications.
Customization: Easily adjust fields, layouts, and dashboards.
Lead Management: Efficient tracking and management of leads.
Marketing Automation: Streamlines marketing campaigns and activities.
Customer Support: Offers tools for excellent customer service management.
Document Sharing: Facilitates seamless sharing and collaboration of documents.
Integration: Smooth integration with other systems and applications.
Open-Source: Ability to customize the platform to fit unique business needs.

What are the primary benefits of using SugarCRM?

Customization: Tailors to specific needs with adjustable components.
Cost-Effectiveness: Provides an affordable solution with comprehensive features.
Ease of Use: User-friendly interface for effective CRM management.
Adaptability: Supports versatile reporting and customization options.
Enhanced Customer Relationships: Facilitates interaction tracking and management.
Streamlined Sales Processes: Assists in sales focus and appointment tracking.

In the BFSI, manufacturing, and consumer packaging sectors, SugarCRM Platform is utilized for controlling sales focus, tracking appointments, and linking accounts. It serves organizations by managing complete customer journeys, from onboarding to post-onboarding self-service. The software aids in overseeing lead management and customer relationships, storing comprehensive customer details and transaction information, streamlining the entire sales funnel.

SugarCRM

Sample Customers

Caratlane, Pykih, Buying Show, INTUO, WallyPark, Exploring Vacations, Raved, Forest, Ascendore, MagePlaza, Vacasa,

Redglaze Group, TengoInternet, Hilco, Bancvue, Vet Adivsor

Buyer's Guide

Freshsales vs. SugarCRM Platform

August 2026

Free Report: Freshsales vs. SugarCRM Platform

Find out what your peers are saying about Freshsales vs. SugarCRM Platform and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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