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Customer Support · head to head

Cresta vs EspoCRM

Cresta logo

Cresta

Customer Support

Real-time AI coaching and autonomous agents that sit on top of an existing contact centre platform

From
On request
Free plan
No
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
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only EspoCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cresta cresta depends on the CCaaS platforms it integrates with, and NICE, Genesys and Five9 are all shipping native real-time assist and auto-QA of their own, so at renewal you may be paying twice for capability your platform vendor will bundle at a discount.; 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: Cresta covers Real-time agent assist, EspoCRM covers Entity manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cresta and EspoCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Cresta and EspoCRM differ
AttributeCrestaEspoCRM
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM

Identical on both: 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 Cresta

  • Real-time agent assist
  • Autonomous AI Agent
  • Conversation intelligence
  • Automated quality management
  • Behavioural coaching
  • Knowledge surfacing
  • Multilingual deployment
  • Supervisor dashboards

Only in EspoCRM

  • Entity manager
  • Dynamic logic
  • Email integration
  • Sales pipeline
  • Case management
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Workflow automation
  • REST API

What people use each for

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

Cresta

  • A 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent Genesys deploymentnot EspoCRM
  • An insurance contact centre replacing manual QA sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidencenot EspoCRM
  • A retail support operation deploying autonomous voice agents on high-volume order status calls while keeping humans on complex claimsnot EspoCRM
  • A contact centre director who needs to prove which specific agent behaviours drive outcome differences, rather than relying on post-call survey scoresnot 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 Cresta
  • A public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out US-hosted commercial CRMnot Cresta
  • A developer or agency needing a CRM whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configurationnot Cresta
  • An organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the CRM twice a monthnot Cresta

Where each one falls short

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

Cresta

  • Cresta depends on the CCaaS platforms it integrates with, and NICE, Genesys and Five9 are all shipping native real-time assist and auto-QA of their own, so at renewal you may be paying twice for capability your platform vendor will bundle at a discount.
  • Pricing is not published and contracts are seat-based and annual at enterprise scale, which in practice means six-figure commitments and a procurement cycle measured in months rather than weeks.
  • Real-time guidance only pays back where conversation outcomes are measurable and repeatable, so support teams handling long, varied, low-volume cases rarely recover the licence cost.
  • Deploying real-time assist requires agents to accept on-screen prompting mid-call, and contact centres with strong union representation or experienced tenured agents frequently see adoption resistance that no amount of model quality fixes.
  • Automated quality scoring changes what agents are measured on, and organisations that switch from human QA without rewriting their evaluation rubric and appeals process create industrial-relations problems that surface months after go-live.

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

Cresta

On request
  • Cresta$undefined/year
    • AI Agent
    • Agent Assist
    • Conversation Intelligence

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 Cresta if

  • You need real-time agent assist.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want autonomous ai agent.
Cresta 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 Cresta or EspoCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Cresta starts at On request and EspoCRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cresta or EspoCRM?
EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cresta and Free for EspoCRM.
Does Cresta or EspoCRM run on more platforms?
Cresta runs on Web, API. EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
Can I use EspoCRM for free?
Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cresta starts at On request.
What is Cresta best used for?
Cresta is most often used for a 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent genesys deployment, an insurance contact centre replacing manual qa sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidence, a retail support operation deploying autonomous voice agents on high-volume order status calls while keeping humans on complex claims, a contact centre director who needs to prove which specific agent behaviours drive outcome differences, rather than relying on post-call survey scores. Of those, a 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent genesys deployment and an insurance contact centre replacing manual qa sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidence are not what EspoCRM is typically brought in for.
What can Cresta do that EspoCRM cannot?
Cresta covers Real-time agent assist, Autonomous AI Agent, Conversation intelligence, Automated quality management. EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cresta: Does Cresta replace my contact centre platform?

No. It is designed to sit on top of NICE, Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect and similar platforms, which is why it is chosen where a full CCaaS migration is not feasible.

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.

Cresta: What does it cost?

Cresta does not publish pricing. Contracts are seat-based and annual, and at the enterprise scale it sells into they are typically six figures per year.

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.

Cresta: Is it viable for a contact centre under 100 seats?

Rarely. The commercial model, implementation effort and required outcome measurement all assume several hundred seats or more.

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.

Cresta: Who owns Cresta?

It is an independent venture-backed company, having raised roughly 282 million USD in total including a 125 million USD Series D in November 2024 co-led by World Innovation Lab and the Qatar Investment Authority.

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.

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