Softwr

CRM · head to head

Bigin vs EspoCRM

Bigin logo

Bigin

CRM

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
EspoCRM logo

EspoCRM

CRM

AGPL open source CRM in PHP that you can self-host free or buy as cloud with seat minimums

From
Free
Rated
-
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.; EspoCRM the AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • They diverge on capability: Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, EspoCRM covers Entity manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bigin and EspoCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Bigin and EspoCRM differ
AttributeBiginEspoCRM
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOSWeb, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Per user per month), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (CRM).

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
  • Mobile apps
  • Zoho ecosystem
  • Free onboarding

Only in EspoCRM

  • Entity manager
  • Dynamic logic
  • Sales pipeline
  • Case management
  • Reports and dashboards
  • REST API

Both cover

  • Email integration
  • Workflow automation

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 EspoCRM
  • 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 EspoCRM
  • 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 EspoCRM
  • 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 EspoCRM

EspoCRM

  • A small business that wants a CRM on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer datanot Bigin
  • A public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out US-hosted commercial CRMnot Bigin
  • A developer or agency needing a CRM whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configurationnot Bigin
  • An organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the CRM twice a monthnot 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.

EspoCRM

  • The AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • Cloud plans carry seat minimums of three, five and ten users, so a two-person consultancy pays for three seats and a small team wanting the Ultimate features pays for ten.
  • Record ceilings are real on the cheaper cloud tiers, with Basic capped at 100,000 records, and hitting the cap means a tier upgrade rather than a small overage charge.
  • Marketing automation, sequences and native telephony are thin compared with HubSpot or Zoho, so most deployments end up wiring in a separate mailing tool and a separate dialler.
  • Self-hosting shifts the entire cost to your own team: PHP version upgrades, database backups and security patching are yours, and a neglected instance becomes an internet-facing liability holding your customer list.

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

EspoCRM

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPLv3 licence, no fee
    • Runs on PHP with MySQL or MariaDB
    • Advanced Pack, Sales Pack and other extensions sold separately as one-off purchases
  • Cloud Basic$15/month
    • Three-user minimum
    • 3GB storage per user
    • Up to 100,000 records
  • Cloud Enterprise$25/month
    • Five-user minimum
    • 10GB storage per user
    • Up to 10 million records, extendable for a fee
  • Cloud Ultimate$69/month
    • Ten-user minimum
    • 400GB total storage
    • Unlimited records

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 EspoCRM if

  • You need entity manager.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
  • You also want dynamic logic.
EspoCRM review

Questions people ask

Is Bigin or EspoCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Bigin starts at Free and EspoCRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bigin or EspoCRM?
Bigin starts at Free and EspoCRM at Free.
Does Bigin or EspoCRM run on more platforms?
Bigin runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS. EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, 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 EspoCRM is typically brought in for.
What can Bigin do that EspoCRM cannot?
Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Teampipes, Built-in telephony, Mobile apps. EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Sales pipeline, Case management. Both handle Email integration, Workflow automation.

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.

EspoCRM: Is the self-hosted version really full featured?

The core CRM is, but several paid extension packs including Advanced Pack for reports and BPM are sold separately as one-off purchases and are not in the free download.

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.

EspoCRM: What are the cloud seat minimums?

Three users on Basic, five on Enterprise and ten on Ultimate, so the advertised per-user rate is not the smallest bill you can pay.

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.

EspoCRM: What does it need to run?

PHP, MySQL or MariaDB and a web server. It installs on ordinary shared hosting or a small VPS, which is unusual for a modern CRM.

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.

EspoCRM: Can I move from cloud to self-hosted later?

Yes. EspoCRM states customers own their database and data files, so an export and reinstall is possible, though you take on all maintenance when you do.

Share

Related pages

More on Bigin

More on EspoCRM

Keep looking

Other head to heads