Free Solar CRM Software: What ₹0 Plans Actually Cover

A free CRM looks like the cheapest way to organize solar leads. Whether it stays free depends on user caps, missing solar features and the cost of leaving later. This guide compares seven free options on those points, using each vendor’s own pages.

Last updated: November 2026

₹0 is a subscription price, not a way to run a business. A free CRM (customer relationship management tool) keeps leads and customers in one place. It can still need paid messaging, connector work, data cleaning, administration and a migration later. A generic deal pipeline, which is the set of stages a sale moves through, can track leads well. It can still know nothing about site surveys, system size, subsidy assumptions, technical quotations or approvals.

Disclosure: SurgePV and QuickEstimate have a commercial relationship. Links to QuickEstimate are sponsored, which is a commercial conflict. QuickEstimate is judged on the same limits, export and exit checks as every other option here.

Free Solar CRM Software Compared

Plan pages were read on 28 October 2026. Each cell says what the vendor’s page says, in the vendor’s currency. A free plan here has no end date, or is software with no licence fee. Trials are left out.

Sources: QuickEstimate pricing page; Zoho CRM pricing; HubSpot free CRM, HubSpot Sales Hub pricing and HubSpot pipeline limits; Odoo pricing; Airtable plans; SuiteCRM pricing; Bitrix24 pricing.

Two source conflicts are printed as the vendors show them. HubSpot lists a different Starter price on each of two pages. The Sales Hub page shows $7 per seat per month with $20 beside it. The CRM page shows $15 with a note that the discount is for new customers. Bitrix24’s pricing table says the Free plan is for 1 to 2 users. The FAQ on the same page says a free account can add an unlimited number of users. Confirm the Bitrix24 limit in writing or in a test account before you rely on it.

Which Free Plan Fits Which Team

• Solo installer in India who sends solar proposals: QuickEstimate Free is the only option compared here that lists an India solar proposal workflow. It allows 1 user and 10 proposals a month.
• Team of 3 that wants a general CRM: Zoho CRM Free covers 3 users. You set up the solar fields yourself.
• Team of 1 or 2 that wants a general contact and deal system: HubSpot’s free CRM allows up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts.
• Larger team that will run everything in one app: Odoo One App Free allows unlimited users on one app, plus the other apps it needs to work.
• Team with a technical builder: Airtable Free works for a small prototype (a first test version). Self-hosted SuiteCRM suits a team with its own IT.
• Anyone considering Bitrix24: Settle the user limit first.

“Best” is not enough on its own. The right plan changes with your users, workflow, risk and the admin time you have.

QuickEstimate Free: Solar-Specific Fit for 1 User

The QuickEstimate pricing page lists Free at ₹0 forever with 1 user and 10 proposals a month. It also lists branded subsidy-ready PDFs, PM Surya Ghar auto-calculation, WhatsApp send, iOS and Android apps and email support. Pro is ₹6,999 per user per year with a minimum of 3 users. That is 6,999 x 3 = ₹20,997 a year. Pro adds unlimited proposals, 1,00,000 leads, 2 GB storage, team roles, lead routing and WhatsApp Business, Pabbly, Meta and IndiaMART connections.

The company publishes these claims. In a pilot, test the proposal output, calculation inputs, branding, WhatsApp path, mobile behavior, export and support response.

The plan stops fitting when a second person needs production access or proposal volume passes 10 a month. Do not share one login across staff to get around the user limit. Shared logins weaken ownership, offboarding (removing people who leave), audit and incident response.

What to test:

• lead creation and duplicate handling
• proposal assumptions and version control
• subsidy wording, eligibility inputs and disclaimers
• quote items, tax fields, approvals and customer acceptance
• WhatsApp consent, delivery record, replies and opt-out handling
• mobile behavior on a weak connection
• export of contacts, deals, notes, activities and proposals

The free page does not list every CRM, security or export limit. Treat an unlisted field as unresolved, not unlimited. SurgePV’s CRM partner page explains how QuickEstimate sits beside SurgePV’s design and proposal software.

Zoho CRM Free: Configurable General CRM for 3 Users

The Zoho CRM pricing page lists the Free edition at US$0 for 3 users, with no credit card required. The Free list covers contact management, follow-up reminders, workflow automation and up to 10 custom email templates. It also covers tasks, meetings and calls, import and export (export up to 10 times), standard reports, 5,000 API calls a day and mobile apps. An API is a way for other software to connect to the CRM. Standard adds email integration and mass emails, built-in calling, multiple sales pipelines, forms and custom modules.

The Free list shows no solar quotation feature. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), a tool that builds priced quotes, is listed under Professional, at US$23 per user per month on annual billing. A solar team on Free defines its own fields. These cover connection type, location, sanctioned load (the load the utility approved), roof, system size, survey and equipment. They also cover quotation version, subsidy scenario, approval, installation and service.

Upgrade triggers (reasons to move to a paid plan) are a fourth production user, more than 10 exports and higher API use. They also include multiple pipelines, advanced roles or audit, built-in calling, or inventory, CPQ and portal needs. Zoho shows prices in several currencies, so check the figure for your own region and account. The Zoho CRM for solar companies guide covers the solar setup in more detail. The India solar CRM workflow guide helps you define requirements before configuration.

HubSpot Free CRM: 2 Users and the Default Deal Pipeline

The HubSpot free CRM page says the free CRM allows up to two users and 1,000 contacts, with no expiration date. HubSpot’s help centre lists 0 custom pipelines for free tools and 15 for Starter. That means a free account has the default deal pipeline only. Residential, commercial, channel and service work cannot each get their own stages without upgrading. Mixing unlike stages to stay free makes reports unreliable.

No packaged solar survey, design, subsidy, DISCOM, installation or warranty workflow is listed on these pages. So you set up the records yourself or connect other tools. A DISCOM is the local power distribution company. Upgrade triggers: a third user, more than 1,000 contacts, a second pipeline, and permissions, reporting or integrations beyond the free tools. Count every contact, not only open opportunities. Old leads, customers, vendors and service contacts share the same limit.

Odoo One App Free: One App, Unlimited Users

The Odoo pricing page lists One App Free at $0 with one app, unlimited users and Odoo Online. If the app you pick depends on other apps, the required ones come free. Its FAQ says that installing additional applications moves you to the Standard plan. Installing Studio or adding companies moves you to the Custom plan.

That suits a larger team that runs Odoo CRM as its single app and has someone to set up the solar fields and process. Odoo’s FAQ says implementation services are separate from the subscription. It points small companies to Success Packs and larger ones to partners. Ask which apps count as CRM dependencies. Ask which wanted app would trigger payment. Ask whether you can import and export every object you need, and who owns future upgrades.

Airtable Free: A No-Code Prototype, Not Packaged CRM

Airtable can model leads, contacts, projects and tasks. Your team builds the schema (the table design), views, forms, automations, controls and reports. The Airtable plans page lists 1,000 records per base, 1,000 API calls per workspace per month, 1 GB of attachment storage per base and 2 weeks of revision history. Free workspaces allow 5 collaborators with Editor or Creator permissions.

The same page says a new account’s first workspace starts with a 14-day Team plan trial. Check the Free state after the trial ends. Do not judge Free by what the Team trial unlocked.

The 1,000-record limit needs care. A normalized design (each type of fact in its own table) stores leads, sites, contacts, activities, proposals and service events as separate records, so one customer journey can use several. Estimate growth from your schema, not from customer count. Before you commit to a custom build, read the CRM versus spreadsheet comparison.

SuiteCRM: No Licence Fee, Real Operating Cost

The SuiteCRM pricing page says SuiteCRM does not charge per-user fees. The software is free to download for self-hosting on your own infrastructure. Self-hosting means you run it on your own server. Managed hosting is from £50 a month. Standard Support (10 support hours) is £1,200 and required with managed hosting. The Quick Start setup is from £2,520 as a one-time fee. SuiteCRM’s own first example adds £600 of hosting (£50 x 12) and £960 of Standard Support (£1,200 less a £240 discount) for £1,560 a year, plus the £2,520 setup.

Self-hosting suits a technical team that owns hosting, security and updates. It must also own backups, monitoring, email, integrations and recovery. Budget for server or cloud hosting, a domain and certificate, and installation. Budget for hardening (locking down settings), patches and backups you have restored in a trial run. Budget for MFA (multi-factor sign-in) and roles, integration work, staging (a test copy), support and administrator time. Self-hosting is a poor free option when nobody owns those tasks. The operating risk can exceed a paid cloud subscription.

Bitrix24 Free: Confirm the User Limit First

The Bitrix24 pricing page lists Free as “100% free for 1-2 users” with 5 GB of storage, basic CRM (deals, contacts), tasks, shared calendars, chat and video calls. Sales pipelines, email, WhatsApp and telephony integrations appear from the Basic plan. That plan is US$49 per organization per month billed annually, which is 49 x 12 = US$588 a year. The FAQ on the same page says the free plan can add an unlimited number of users. It also says telephony and some Market apps need a paid plan. It also describes a free 15-day trial of higher-tier features.

To resolve the user limit:

1. Create a new account without starting the 15-day trial.
2. Record the edition and region.
3. Add the number of users you need.
4. Take screenshots of the subscription screen and limits.
5. Ask Bitrix24 in writing to explain the conflict on its page.
6. Test export, CRM, storage, telephony, apps and what happens when you downgrade.

Spreadsheet Baseline

A spreadsheet works for one careful operator with low lead volume. It becomes risky when several people edit, copy or message from separate files. Then duplicate checks, ownership, access, history and offboarding become manual. Test a spreadsheet on the same questions as a CRM. Can it control duplicates? Does each lead have one owner? Are fields required at each stage? Does it handle reminders, and consent and opt-out status? Are proposal versions tied to the right opportunity? Can you remove access without leftover copies? Is there an audit trail and a restorable version? If it fails those, staff time is the cost.

Test the Complete Solar Workflow

Test a free CRM from enquiry to service, even if your first pilot covers only sales.

1. Capture the lead and its original source identifier.
2. Record consent, preferred channel and suppression (do-not-contact) status.
3. Find duplicates by phone, email and source lead ID.
4. Assign an owner, territory and response task.
5. Qualify the site, consumer, connection, roof, load and interest.
6. Schedule the survey and collect documents.
7. Create technical and price assumptions, inside or outside the CRM.
8. Approve and version the quotation.
9. Deliver it through an approved channel and keep the record.
10. Track acceptance, payment, approval, installation and handover.
11. Keep equipment, warranty, service and referral history.

Keep technical design outside the CRM unless the edition you pick covers it. A dedicated solar PV design software workspace should own module layout, stringing (how panels are wired in series), energy and financial assumptions. The CRM should own the customer record and sales status. Pair the CRM with solar proposal tools only when the handoff is controlled. The CRM with quotation guide explains system ownership and version rules.

How do you check messages and connections one by one?

WhatsApp, email and telephony are three separate checks. Each has setup, consent, templates, identity, usage fees, logging, replies and opt-out.

For WhatsApp, check who owns the account and number. Check consent and approved templates, and outbound and inbound support. Check reply routing, delivery status and error logs, and stop requests. Check provider and connector fees, and export of conversation history. QuickEstimate Free lists WhatsApp send, and Pro lists WhatsApp Business. Neither listing covers consent, history or two-way routing, so test those.

For email, test mailbox connection, sender authentication and templates. Also test daily limits, reply capture, bounce handling and offboarding. Zoho lists email integration from Standard. For telephony, test number ownership, recording law, call logs and fees. Bitrix24’s FAQ places telephony on paid plans, and Zoho lists built-in calling from Standard.

“API available” does not prove the free plan supports the objects, direction, quota, authentication, retries and webhooks you need. A webhook is a message one tool sends to another when something happens. Zoho Free lists 5,000 API calls a day and Airtable Free lists 1,000 API calls per workspace per month. The CRM with Tally guide covers who owns accounting data.

Security, Export and Backup

Check who legally owns the account and who the recovery contacts are. Check multi-factor authentication (a second sign-in step), role and record permissions, and administrator count. Check mobile and device controls and audit history for edits, exports and deletion. Check the data region and processor terms, retention settings, and vendor support access.

An export is not a backup. A CSV file may leave out attachments, notes, messages, activities, users, permissions, relationships and audit history. Decide the minimum recovery package and test it before you import production leads. The mobile solar CRM guide adds lost-device, offline, session and sync checks.

Calculate Total Cost Beyond ₹0

Use a 3-year cash and staff-time model and keep each input visible.

Total cost = subscription + implementation + migration + integration + channel usage + hosting + support + administration + training + exit

Annual admin cost = admin hours per month × 12 × loaded hourly cost

Annual manual cost = repeated minutes per transaction ÷ 60 × annual transactions × loaded hourly cost

A free cloud plan starts the subscription term at ₹0, and every other term can still be positive. You supply wages, volume, tax and vendor quotes. Use the India CRM pricing guide to price paid upgrade scenarios.

Set measurable upgrade triggers before launch. Pick a limit for users, contacts, records, attachments or storage. Pick one for proposal volume, an extra pipeline, automation or API quota, a required channel or connector, and advanced permissions or audit. Set a warning below each hard limit so that buying does not start on the day production stops.

Plan the Exit Before Importing Data

Exit risk is the effort and loss involved in changing plans or systems. Before launch, get or test a full export of contacts, accounts, leads and deals. Also get stable record IDs, notes, tasks, activities and stage history. Also get users and ownership, files and proposal versions, and email, WhatsApp and call references. Also get custom field definitions, an automation inventory, consent and suppression records, and the account-closure process.

Run a small migration rehearsal. Import the export into a clean table and rebuild 5 complete customer histories. If relationships cannot be rebuilt, record the gap and its cost. Pick a different system if the exit risk is too high.

A 30-Day Pilot Scorecard

Score each test pass, fail or unresolved. A weighted number can hide a failed security or export gate.

Buying checklist

1. Define users, lead volume, sources and sales processes.
2. Decide who owns CRM, solar design, quotation, accounting, communications and service.
3. Check the free edition and its limits in a clean account.
4. Leave trial-only functions out of the production design.
5. Map fields, stages, required data and ownership.
6. Review privacy, security, retention, consent and vendor access.
7. Test imports, exports, attachments, IDs and recovery.
8. Price setup, migration, connectors, usage, support and admin.
9. Write upgrade triggers and an approved budget path.
10. Run the 30-day pilot with real roles and sample data.
11. Write down the setup, the administrator and the list of integrations.
12. Approve production use after every pass gate closes.

After the free options, the best solar CRM software comparison covers the paid shortlist. When you are ready to connect leads to designs, book a demo to see the proposal side.

Conclusion

Free solar CRM software is a fit decision, not a universal ranking.

• QuickEstimate Free lists an India solar proposal workflow for 1 user and 10 proposals a month.
• Zoho CRM Free covers 3 users and HubSpot’s free CRM up to 2 users with the default deal pipeline.
• Odoo offers one free app for unlimited users, with trade-offs in implementation and app boundaries.
• Airtable supports a limited no-code prototype. SuiteCRM removes licence fees but moves the running work to the buyer.
• Bitrix24 needs its user limit confirmed first.

Start with the pass gates, pilot the full workflow and test the export. Upgrade or exit before a free limit stops your live work.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free solar CRM software in India?

It depends on team size. QuickEstimate’s Free plan fits 1 user who needs an India solar proposal workflow. Zoho CRM Free fits up to 3 users who need a flexible general CRM. HubSpot’s free CRM fits up to 2 users. Check each limit in a clean account before you choose.

What does QuickEstimate Free include?

QuickEstimate’s pricing page lists Free as ₹0 forever with 1 user and 10 proposals a month. It also lists branded subsidy-ready PDFs, PM Surya Ghar auto-calculation, WhatsApp send, iOS and Android apps and email support. The vendor publishes these claims. Pro costs ₹6,999 per user per year with a minimum of 3 users.

Is Zoho CRM Free a trial?

No. Zoho’s pricing page lists a free edition for 3 users with no credit card required. It includes general CRM functions, but a solar team has to set up its own fields, stages, quotations, approval handoffs and communications. Multiple sales pipelines and built-in calling are listed from the Standard edition.

Is open-source CRM really free?

The software can carry no per-user licence fee, but running it costs money. SuiteCRM’s own pricing page lists managed hosting from £50 a month, and its Quick Start setup from £2,520. Self-hosting adds server, security, backup and administrator time.

Does a free CRM include WhatsApp, telephony, and email?

It depends on the plan. QuickEstimate Free lists WhatsApp send. Bitrix24’s FAQ says telephony needs a paid plan. Zoho lists built-in calling and email integration from the Standard edition. Check consent, templates, numbers, logs, opt-out and export for any channel you plan to use.

When should a solar company upgrade from free CRM?

Upgrade when your users, records, proposals, storage, pipelines, automation, integrations or exports pass the plan limits. Examples: a fourth Zoho user, a third HubSpot user, a second QuickEstimate user or an Airtable base at 1,000 records. Price the migration before you reach the limit.

Is SurgePV a free solar CRM?

No. SurgePV’s published product scope does not list a CRM. It does not offer a free plan. It sells solar design, shading analysis, financial modeling and proposal software at USD 1,899 per user per year for one seat (USD 1,299 per user for five seats), and access starts with a guided demo. Its CRM partner is QuickEstimate.

Method: How the Options Were Compared

The comparison checks whether a free option can run a defined workflow safely. It does not check which vendor lists the most features. Evidence is limited to each vendor’s own pricing, product or help pages, read on 28 October 2026. Marketplace summaries, reseller claims and old screenshots are not used for plan limits.

An option has to pass these gates to be listed as a candidate for a pilot:

1. Genuine free status: no expiry, or self-hosted software with no licence fee.
2. Identity: a named current edition or distribution with an official source.
3. Core record: usable leads, contacts, deals or structured records.
4. Ownership: a record can have a responsible person or controlled workflow.
5. Export: the buyer can test a useful data export before production use.
6. Limit clarity: the main user, record, proposal or storage limit is published or testable.
7. Access control: the team can restrict production access for its size.
8. Continuity: data can be backed up, migrated or rebuilt under a written exit plan.

An option is held if any of these is true. It is a time-limited trial. Its official page contradicts itself on a main limit. No usable export exists. Access ownership is unclear. The workflow depends on an unverified integration. Production data would sit in an uncontrolled personal account. The team cannot support hosting, security, updates and recovery. Bitrix24 is held on the user-limit conflict above. No option is scored, because the right order depends on users, workflow, risk and administration capacity.