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CRM · head to head

EspoCRM vs Verint

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
Verint logo

Verint

Customer Support

Enterprise customer engagement and workforce optimisation, taken private by Thoma Bravo and merged with Calabrio

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only EspoCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Verint thoma Bravo took Verint private in November 2025 and is combining it with the directly competing Calabrio, so buyers signing multi-year agreements now cannot know which of the two overlapping product lines survives as the strategic one.
  • They diverge on capability: EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Verint covers Workforce management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which EspoCRM and Verint actually diverge.

Attributes where EspoCRM and Verint differ
AttributeEspoCRMVerint
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Docker, iOS, AndroidWeb, Windows
CategoryCRMCustomer Support

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 EspoCRM

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

Only in Verint

  • Workforce management
  • Interaction recording
  • Speech and text analytics
  • Quality management
  • CX automation bots
  • Voice of the customer
  • Knowledge management
  • Open platform connectors

What people use each for

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

EspoCRM

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

Verint

  • A retail bank with 4,000 agents that must record and retain every advised sale under regulatory obligation and evidence retention on demandnot EspoCRM
  • A government service centre running an inherited Avaya estate that needs modern analytics without replacing the telephonynot EspoCRM
  • A multinational insurer forecasting across six sites and three languages where a spreadsheet-based rota has stopped scalingnot EspoCRM
  • An enterprise wanting analytics over one hundred per cent of interactions because sampled quality scoring keeps missing the failure modes that generate complaintsnot EspoCRM

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Verint

  • Thoma Bravo took Verint private in November 2025 and is combining it with the directly competing Calabrio, so buyers signing multi-year agreements now cannot know which of the two overlapping product lines survives as the strategic one.
  • The catalogue is licensed piece by piece, including individually priced automation bots, so the quoted platform figure is rarely the figure you end up paying once the analytics, recording and bot modules are all in scope.
  • Implementations routinely run six to twelve months and effectively require a partner, which means the first year of a contract is spent paying for software that is not yet delivering.
  • The interface reflects two decades of accumulated enterprise features, and new supervisors need formal training to do things that a mid-market tool exposes in one screen.
  • It is priced and scoped for thousands of agents, so a 300-seat operation gets an enterprise contract, an enterprise implementation and enterprise complexity for a problem a lighter product would solve in weeks.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Verint

On request
  • Verint Open Platform$undefined/year
    • Workforce management and forecasting
    • Compliance recording and quality management
    • Speech and text analytics

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Verint if

  • You need workforce management.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want interaction recording.
Verint review

Questions people ask

Is EspoCRM or Verint better?
Neither clearly leads. EspoCRM starts at Free and Verint at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, EspoCRM or Verint?
EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for EspoCRM and On request for Verint.
Does EspoCRM or Verint run on more platforms?
EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android. Verint runs on Web, Windows.
Can I use EspoCRM for free?
Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Verint starts at On request.
What is EspoCRM best used for?
EspoCRM is most often used for a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data, a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm, a developer or agency needing a crm whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configuration, an organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the crm twice a month. Of those, a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data and a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm are not what Verint is typically brought in for.
What can EspoCRM do that Verint cannot?
EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline. Verint covers Workforce management, Interaction recording, Speech and text analytics, Quality management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Verint: Who owns Verint now?

Thoma Bravo, which completed a 2 billion US dollar take-private in November 2025 and is combining Verint with its existing portfolio company Calabrio.

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.

Verint: Does that affect an existing contract?

Existing contracts continue, but roadmap and product overlap with Calabrio is unresolved. Ask for written commitments on support horizon and migration terms before renewing.

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.

Verint: Do I have to replace my telephony?

No. Verint is deliberately platform-agnostic and is commonly deployed over Avaya, Cisco, Genesys and Amazon Connect estates.

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.

Verint: Is pricing published?

No. Verint sells multi-year enterprise agreements quoted per module and per agent, with professional services costed separately.

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