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CRM · head to head

Bigin vs Customerly

Bigin logo

Bigin

CRM

Zoho pipeline CRM for small businesses, priced well below Zoho CRM itself

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Customerly logo

Customerly

Customer Support

Customer service suite with live chat and automation

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bigin the plan limits are the product boundary, not a soft guideline: three pipelines on Express and thirty automations will constrain any business with more than a couple of distinct sale types, and the only fix is to pay up a tier.; Customerly usage-based pricing of 0.50 EUR per conversation can become expensive at scale
  • They diverge on capability: Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Customerly covers Live chat.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bigin and Customerly actually diverge.

Attributes where Bigin and Customerly differ
AttributeBiginCustomerly
Pricing modelPer user per monthsubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOSWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryCRMCustomer Support
FoundedUnknown2015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bigin

  • Multiple pipelines
  • Teampipes
  • Built-in telephony
  • Email integration
  • Workflow automation
  • Mobile apps
  • Zoho ecosystem
  • Free onboarding

Only in Customerly

  • Live chat
  • Email marketing
  • Customer surveys
  • Help center
  • Automation
  • Video chat
  • Slack
  • WordPress

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bigin

  • A five-person sales team wants a real CRM for under 50 US dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in Zoho CRM.not Customerly
  • A business already running Zoho Books or Zoho Mail wants a CRM in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool.not Customerly
  • A services firm wants to run client onboarding and delivery as pipelines alongside sales, which is what Teampipes exists for, without buying a separate project tool.not Customerly
  • A buyer evaluating Zoho CRM Standard should price Bigin first, because for straightforward pipeline selling it is roughly a third of the cost on the same platform.not Customerly

Customerly

  • Customer supportnot Bigin
  • Lead generationnot Bigin
  • Email marketingnot Bigin
  • Customer feedbacknot Bigin

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bigin

  • The plan limits are the product boundary, not a soft guideline: three pipelines on Express and thirty automations will constrain any business with more than a couple of distinct sale types, and the only fix is to pay up a tier.
  • Outgrowing Bigin means migrating to Zoho CRM, a different product with different objects and configuration, so the cheap start becomes a project later rather than a plan upgrade.
  • The free plan is one user with 500 records and no automation, which makes it a trial rather than a usable free tier of the kind Zoho CRM competitors offer.
  • Reporting and analytics are basic compared with Zoho CRM, with no serious forecasting, territory management or custom module building, so sales operations functions have nothing to work with.
  • Zoho runs two overlapping CRMs and has an obvious incentive to keep Bigin limited, so features that would make it a genuine competitor to Zoho CRM are unlikely to arrive however much customers ask.

Customerly

  • Usage-based pricing of 0.50 EUR per conversation can become expensive at scale
  • Limited to 11-50 employees according to company size metrics

Pricing, plan by plan

Bigin

Free
  • FreeFree
    • One user only
    • 500 records
    • One pipeline
  • Express$7/month
    • Three pipelines
    • 50,000 records
    • 30 workflow automations
  • Premier$12/month
    • Five pipelines
    • 100,000 records
    • 50 workflow automations
  • Bigin 360$18/month
    • Fifteen pipelines
    • One million records
    • 100 workflow automations

Customerly

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2 teammates
    • Live chat
    • Basic surveys
  • Essential$9/month
    • Unlimited chat
    • Help center
    • Automation
  • Startup$29/month
    • Video chat
    • Funnels
    • Priority support
  • Pro$79/month
    • White label
    • Advanced analytics
    • API access

Which should you pick?

Choose Bigin if

  • You need multiple pipelines.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS.
  • You also want teampipes.
Bigin review

Choose Customerly if

  • You need live chat.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want email marketing.
Customerly review

Questions people ask

Is Bigin or Customerly better?
Neither clearly leads. Bigin starts at Free and Customerly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bigin or Customerly?
Bigin starts at Free and Customerly at Free.
Does Bigin or Customerly run on more platforms?
Bigin runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS. Customerly runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Bigin for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bigin best used for?
Bigin is most often used for a five-person sales team wants a real crm for under 50 us dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in zoho crm., a business already running zoho books or zoho mail wants a crm in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool., a services firm wants to run client onboarding and delivery as pipelines alongside sales, which is what teampipes exists for, without buying a separate project tool., a buyer evaluating zoho crm standard should price bigin first, because for straightforward pipeline selling it is roughly a third of the cost on the same platform.. Of those, a five-person sales team wants a real crm for under 50 us dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in zoho crm. and a business already running zoho books or zoho mail wants a crm in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool. are not what Customerly is typically brought in for.
What can Bigin do that Customerly cannot?
Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Teampipes, Built-in telephony, Email integration. Customerly covers Live chat, Email marketing, Customer surveys, Help center.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bigin: Is Bigin the same as Zoho CRM?

No. It is a separate, cheaper product on its own domain with its own pricing, aimed at small businesses, and it is deliberately capped so it does not compete with Zoho CRM.

Customerly: Where is Customerly's data stored?

All data is stored exclusively in the EU, providing GDPR compliance and data residency in European servers.

Source
Bigin: How much cheaper is it?

Express is 7 US dollars per user per month annually against Zoho CRM Standard at a higher rate, and the gap widens against the upper Zoho CRM tiers.

Customerly: What messaging channels does Customerly support?

Customerly integrates live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, and mobile apps into a single unified inbox for managing customer conversations.

Source
Bigin: What happens when I outgrow the pipeline limits?

You move up a Bigin tier to five or fifteen pipelines, and beyond that you migrate to Zoho CRM, which is a data and configuration migration rather than a switch.

Customerly: How much of customer support can Customerly automate?

Customerly's AI assistant (Aura) handles up to 60 percent of customer conversations automatically, with the platform designed to handle 71 percent of support volume through automation.

Source
Bigin: Is the free plan usable?

Only for one person with a very small contact list. It is one user, 500 records, one pipeline and no automation.

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