CRM · head to head
Bigin vs Insightly
Bigin
CRM
Zoho pipeline CRM for small businesses, priced well below Zoho CRM itself
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; Insightly record counts are capped by plan, at 100,000 on Plus and 500,000 on Enterprise, so the database size decides the tier
- They diverge on capability: Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Insightly covers Contact management.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bigin and Insightly actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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
- Workflow automation
- Mobile apps
- Zoho ecosystem
- Free onboarding
Only in Insightly
- Contact management
- Deal tracking
- Project management
- Task management
- Reporting
- Mobile app
- Mailchimp
- Slack
Both cover
- Email integration
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 Insightly
- 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 Insightly
- 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 Insightly
- 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 Insightly
Insightly
- CRM with project delivery tracking after the salenot Bigin
- Managing leads, opportunities and customer projects in one record setnot 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.
Insightly
- Record counts are capped by plan, at 100,000 on Plus and 500,000 on Enterprise, so the database size decides the tier
- Workflow automation requires the Professional plan at $49 per user per month
- AI Copilot is metered by query, at 75 on Plus and 100 on Professional
- Mass email is capped daily, at 2,500 on Plus and 10,000 on Enterprise
- CRM, Marketing and Service are sold as three separate products, and Marketing is priced per account by prospect count starting at $99 for 2,000
- Sandboxes and audit logging are Enterprise only at $99 per user per month
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
Insightly
Free- CRM Plus$29/user/month
- lead and contact management
- project management
- advanced reports
- CRM Professional$49/user/month
- all Plus features
- lead assignment/routing
- workflow automation
- CRM Enterprise$99/user/month
- all Professional features
- sandboxes
- products/pricebooks/quotes
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.
Choose Insightly if
- You need contact management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want deal tracking.
Questions people ask
- Is Bigin or Insightly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bigin starts at Free and Insightly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bigin or Insightly?
- Bigin starts at Free and Insightly at Free.
- Does Bigin or Insightly run on more platforms?
- Bigin runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS. Insightly 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 Insightly is typically brought in for.
- What can Bigin do that Insightly cannot?
- Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Teampipes, Built-in telephony, Workflow automation. Insightly covers Contact management, Deal tracking, Project management, Task management. Both handle Email integration.
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.
Insightly: How much does Insightly CRM cost?
Insightly CRM plans are priced per user per month when billed annually: Plus at $29, Professional at $49 (the most popular option), and Enterprise at $99. All plans include a 14-day free trial that requires no credit card.
SourceBigin: 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.
Insightly: Is there a free trial for Insightly?
Yes, Insightly offers a 14-day free trial across most products with no credit card required, allowing you to test CRM, Marketing Automation, Support & Ticketing, and AppConnect features.
SourceBigin: 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.
Insightly: What record storage limits apply to Insightly CRM plans?
Insightly CRM Plus includes 100,000 records, Professional includes 250,000 records, and Enterprise includes 500,000 records. File storage increases from 10 GB on Plus to 100 GB on Professional and 250 GB on Enterprise.
SourceBigin: 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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