Insightly
CRM and project management for growing businesses
What it does
Insightly is a mid-market CRM that combines sales pipeline, marketing (Insightly Marketing), customer service (Insightly Service), and project management in one platform. Where most CRMs stop at "deal closed," Insightly hands the closed deal to the delivery/project side of the same tool. That is its differentiator for services businesses (agencies, consultancies, trades, professional services): you can track a client from lead through project delivery in one system. Also popular in industries that value flexible custom objects and validation rules without paying Salesforce prices.
Free tier
Yes
Starts at
$29/mo
Setup
medium
Key features
Integrates with
Gmail, Outlook, QuickBooks, Zapier, Slack
Who this fits
- Service businesses (consultancies, agencies, trades, professional services) that deliver projects after the sale
- Mid-market B2B companies (10-100) that want a Salesforce-lite feel
- Real estate teams tracking transactions from lead through close
- Companies that need both CRM and lightweight project/task management in one tool
- Teams with custom-object needs (bundled builds, custom order tracking) but no Salesforce budget
Who it does NOT fit
- Solo founders (Copper, Streak, HubSpot Free fit small budgets better)
- Ecommerce and marketing-led businesses (HubSpot, Klaviyo)
- Enterprises with heavy sales operations (Salesforce)
- Teams needing best-in-class marketing automation (HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Marketo)
Pricing
Real gotchas
- Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service are SEPARATE products with SEPARATE pricing (quote-based). The published $29/49/99 tiers cover CRM only (Source: CostBench: https://costbench.com/software/crm/insightly/)
- Custom object and validation rules — the "Salesforce-lite" features — are Enterprise-only. Professional will feel limiting for anyone coming from Salesforce
- Workflow automation is Professional+; Plus is essentially manual with a nicer UI
- Reporting is functional but not on par with HubSpot or Salesforce; dashboard visualizations are dated
- Implementation, data migration, and training are documented hidden costs beyond the list price; consulting-partner engagements are common at Enterprise
- API rate limits are tighter than HubSpot/Salesforce; integration-heavy stacks can hit ceilings
- The 2-user free tier is real but essentially a trial — no serious team runs on it
Integrations that matter
Otto’s take on this tool
Recommend Insightly when: services business (agency, consulting, trades, professional services), business_size is 10-100, and the workflow spans "lead > deal > project delivery" in one tool. Highest fit for consultancies, agencies, real estate, and trades. Do NOT recommend for solo, ecommerce, or enterprise. If comparing to HubSpot: HubSpot wins on marketing automation and modern UX; Insightly wins if project management + CRM in one tool is a hard requirement. If comparing to Salesforce: Salesforce wins on ecosystem depth; Insightly wins on price and out-of-the-box services workflow. Warn that Marketing/Service modules are separately priced — the published CRM tier is not the whole stack cost.
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