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Insightly vs Salesmate: Which is The CRM Best in 2026?

by | Last updated Aug 7, 2026

Winner
Insightly
4.1
  • SOC 2 Type II, GDPR & HIPAA
  • 2,000+ AppConnect Connectors
  • Copilot AI Email Summaries
  • Gantt Charts Added in 2025
  • CRM + Projects in One System
  • Kanban Sales Pipeline Views
  • Plans from $29/user/month
Runner Up
Salesmate
2.5
  • 700+ App Integrations
  • Sandy AI Drafts & Summarizes
  • Built-in Calling & Voicemail
  • 15-Day Free Trial, No Card
  • Meeting Scheduler Included
  • $6/user Cheaper at Entry Tier
  • Plans from $23/user/month

⚡ Quick Verdict:

  • Pricing: Insightly starts at $29/user/month. Salesmate starts at $23/user/month.
  • Best for: Insightly suits teams that need CRM and project management together. Salesmate suits sales reps who live in the phone and inbox.
  • Key difference: Insightly ships project milestones, Gantt charts, and task management. Salesmate ships built-in calling, a meeting scheduler, and Sandy AI.
  • Our pick: Insightly, rated 4.1 against Salesmate’s 2.5, for most modern CRM teams.
Insightly vs Salesmate Comparison

Insightly and Salesmate both call themselves customer relationship management platforms.

They are not chasing the same buyer.

Insightly bolts project management onto its CRM software.

Salesmate bolts a phone system and marketing automation onto its sales pipeline.

That single split decides which one fits your business.

Overview

This Insightly vs Salesmate comparison covers pricing, features, and how easy each system is to learn.

Our writer spent time inside Salesmate directly.

Notes on Insightly come from its documentation, pricing page, and G2 reviews.

We also break down who each platform works best for.

By the end, you will know which CRM tools match your sales process.

What is Insightly?

Insightly is a customer relationship management platform for growing companies.

It joins CRM software and project management inside one system.

Sales teams track leads, contacts, and sales opportunities in a single place.

Agencies and professional services firms make up much of its base.

Marketing teams and support staff get sibling products called Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service.

PC Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, G2 Crowd, and TrustRadius all recommend it.

Most buyers pick it for fast setup and a short learning curve.

Here is a walkthrough of the platform in action.

Insightly CRM Review: Better Than I Expected?

🏆 Winner: Insightly

⭐ 4.1/5 | 💰 From $29/user/month

One account holds your contacts, projects, and reporting. Compliance covers SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA. Insightly offers a fast path from signup to live data.

Insightly Pricing

Insightly runs three tiers. Every plan costs the same per user, billed annually.

PlanPriceBest For
Plus$29/user/monthSmall sales teams needing core contact management
Professional$49/user/monthTeams that want dashboards and third-party apps
Enterprise$99/user/monthFull access to every feature and workflow automation

Pricing verified August 2026.

Insightly Top Benefits

Free trial: Insightly runs a free trial on request through its website. There is no permanent free tier.

Money-back guarantee: No published refund window. Cancel before renewal to avoid the next term.

📌 Note: Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service follow the same three-tier structure. Adding other Insightly products multiplies your costs. For example, a five-seat Plus account plus Marketing lands near $290 each month.

⚠️ Warning: The Plus tier gives limited access to most features. Dashboards and third-party app integration only open up on Professional and above.

Key Benefits of Insightly

Here is what makes Insightly CRM worth a look:

  • One record for every customer: Insightly CRM keeps current and prospective customer data in one place. A 360-degree view lets you personalise how you treat customers.
  • Customizable sales pipeline: Kanban views track each stage of sales. You can customize pipelines per team or per service line.
  • Task management built in: Create reminders, to-do lists, and call logs. Assign tasks to any team member from the same page.
  • Projects beside deals: Manage projects with milestones and pipelines. Gantt chart visualizations arrived in 2025 for timeline and dependency tracking.
  • Reporting that managers use: Reports and dashboards give visual insights into business performance. An opportunities dashboard shows deal progress at a glance.
  • AppConnect integrations: A low-code engine carries over 2,000 pre-built connectors. Google Workspace, accounting tools, and support apps all plug in.
  • Mobile and compliance: The mobile app scans a business card and creates records on the go. SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA standards are covered.
Insightly Homepage

What Our Team Noticed

Note: We have not had extended hands-on time inside an Insightly account yet. Everything above comes from published documentation, the pricing page, and third-party reviews on G2 and TrustRadius.

G2 reviews highlight two themes. Getting data into the system is not overly convoluted, and rollout is fast. The same reviews flag missing depth on custom workflows compared with other CRMs.

Insightly Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • Fast setup and a short learning curve for new users
  • CRM software and project management sit inside one system
  • SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance for regulated business
  • AppConnect carries over 2,000 pre-built connectors to other apps
  • Copilot AI summarises emails and speeds up data retrieval
❌ Cons
  • Lacks advanced features like custom workflows found in other CRMs
  • The Enterprise tier costs almost double Zoho CRM’s equivalent plan
  • Easier to use than Zoho CRM, but not as feature-deep
  • No built-in phone dialler for outbound sales reps

What is Salesmate?

Salesmate is a cloud-based CRM for sales, marketing, and support.

It replaces several disjointed systems so you save money and save time.

The pitch is simple: richer customer interactions and higher sales productivity.

Salesmate CRM is aimed mainly at small and medium-sized businesses.

Startups and Fortune 500 companies both run on it.

Sales reps get a visual sales pipeline, built-in calling, and a meeting scheduler.

Sandy AI handles repetitive tasks like drafting emails and summarising calls.

This video walks through the main screens.

Salesmate.io CRM Demo And Review (Full Guide)

Runner Up: Salesmate

⭐ 2.5/5 | 💰 From $23/user/month

Built-in phone, email tracking, and a meeting scheduler in one CRM. Over 700 other apps connect, including Google Apps and Microsoft Apps. Start a free trial today with no card.

Salesmate Pricing

Salesmate runs three published tiers. Each price is per user, billed annually.

PlanPriceBest For
Basic$23/user/monthSmall sales teams starting pipeline management
Pro$39/user/monthTeams that need automation and sales forecasting
Business$63/user/monthLarger sales teams tracking sales performance

Pricing verified August 2026.

Salesmate Pricing

Free trial: 15 days, no credit card required. That is long enough to import contacts and train users.

Money-back guarantee: None published. Salesmate has run a Black Friday promotion offering 10% off annual plans.

📌 Note: Every tier includes the built-in phone, web forms, and mobile CRM. Higher plans widen automation journeys, reporting depth, and API access.

⚠️ Warning: Some users report that leads can be deleted when a payment is missed. Keep an export of your records on a fixed date each month.

Key Benefits of Salesmate

Here is where Salesmate earns its place:

  • Contact and Deal Intelligence: One view holds every thread of customer interactions. Emails, calls, and notes sit against the same contact details.
  • Sandy AI automation: Sandy AI drafts emails, summarises calls, and scores lead quality. Repetitive tasks stop eating the working day.
  • Built-in phone: Call recording and voicemail drops run inside the CRM. Reps stop switching between apps mid-call.
  • 700+ integrations: Google Apps, Microsoft Apps, Slack, and Zapier integrations all connect. That range is a huge plus for mixed tech stacks.
  • Automation journeys: Multi-channel drip campaigns handle follow ups without manual chasing. Marketing automation runs beside the sales pipeline.
  • Forms and scheduling: Personalised web forms embed on any page or share by link. Prospects book meetings through the meeting scheduler.
  • Mobile CRM: Full access to data and activities from the mobile app. Field reps update deals between visits.
Salesmate Top Benefits

What Our Team Noticed

Our writer signed up for Salesmate and worked through pipeline setup, email tracking, and the meeting scheduler. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:

Salesmate Personal Experience
Salesmate Homepage

💡 Pro Tip: Salesmate is rated “Great” at 4.1 / 5 on Trustpilot, and its support team draws steady praise for quick help. Test the email template editor during the trial, since that is where reported bugs cluster.

Salesmate Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • 15-day free trial with no credit card required
  • Built-in calling, call recording, and voicemail drops
  • Sandy AI cuts data entry by enriching contacts automatically
  • Over 700 other apps connect, including Google Apps and Microsoft Apps
❌ Cons
  • Users report bugs in the email template editor and automation journeys
  • Weaker at marketing automation than dedicated campaign software
  • Leads can disappear if a payment is missed, a real data security worry
  • No true project management module for delivery work

Feature Comparison

Ready for the detailed breakdown of Insightly vs Salesmate? We walk through ten areas that decide most CRM purchases.

FeatureInsightlySalesmate
Starting Price$29/user/month$23/user/month
Free Trial✅ On request✅ 15 days, no card
Project Management
Built-in Calling
Marketing Automation✅ Separate product✅ Included
AI Assistant✅ Copilot✅ Sandy AI
Meeting Scheduler
Integrations✅ 2,000+ connectors✅ 700+ apps
HIPAA Compliance❌ Not published
Best ForCRM plus project deliveryOutbound sales reps

1. Contact Management

Insightly: Contact management links people to an organization, a project, and every open opportunity. Adding new contacts on the go works from the mobile app. Accounts, records, and tasks stay linked so nothing sits orphaned.

Insightly CRM

Salesmate: Contacts sit inside Contact and Deal Intelligence, which pulls emails, calls, and notes together. You can track companies alongside individual buyers. Enrichment fills gaps in contact details automatically.

Salesmate Track Companies

2. Sales Pipeline and Opportunities

Insightly: Customizable pipelines and Kanban views cover each stage of sales. Managers monitor employee work from the same board. The opportunities dashboard rolls everything into one summary.

Insightly Modern CRM

Salesmate: A visual pipeline lets reps track deals and drag them between stages. Pipeline management is the core of the product, not a side feature. Sales forecasting sits one click away.

Salesmate Manage Deals

3. Project Management

Insightly: Won deals convert into projects with milestones and their own pipelines. Gantt charts added in 2025 show timelines and dependencies. This is the clearest gap between the two products.

Insightly Project Management

Salesmate: There is no dedicated project module. Team collaboration covers tagging teammates, sharing notes, and keeping communication history. Delivery work needs a separate tool.

Boost Team Collaboration and Decision-Making with Salesmate CRM

⚠️ Warning: If your team sells and then delivers the work, Salesmate leaves a gap. You will pay for a second system to handle project progress.

4. Reporting and Dashboards

Insightly: Reports and dashboards give visual insights into business performance. Dashboards are limited on Professional and open fully on Enterprise. Reporting covers both sales and project data.

Insightly Reporting

Salesmate: Report analytics turn activity into actionable insights on sales performance. Dashboards focus tightly on revenue and rep activity. Project reporting is absent by design.

Salesmate Report Analytics

5. Email Templates and Tracking

Insightly: You can schedule emails, save email templates, and send from linked records. Copilot summarises long threads so nobody rereads them. Google Workspace and Outlook both sync.

Insightly Email

Salesmate: Email tracking shows opens and clicks, and templates run inside Gmail through the extension. Sandy AI drafts replies from context. Our writer found the template editor the weakest screen.

Salesmate Email Templates

6. Workflow Automation and AI

Insightly: Copilot handles email summaries and data retrieval. Workflow automation exists but stays thinner than what heavier CRMs ship. Custom workflow depth is the common complaint.

Insightly AI Automations

Salesmate: Sandy AI automates administrative work and qualifies leads. Chatbots catch website visitors before a rep is free. Automation journeys chain campaigns across email, text, and calls.

13 - Chat Messenger - Salesmate

7. Integrations

Insightly: AppConnect is a low-code engine with over 2,000 pre-built connectors. It also links the other Insightly products together. Non-technical staff can build connections without code.

Insightly Seamless Integrations

Salesmate: Over 700 apps connect, including Google Apps, Microsoft Apps, Slack, and Zapier integrations. Developers get the necessary APIs for custom builds. Coverage is wide for a tool at this price.

Integrate video conferencing tools for your meetings within Salesmate

8. Lead Capture and Web Forms

Insightly: Leads land against organization records and route to the right owner. Insightly Marketing handles landing pages and campaign capture as a paid add-on. The base CRM stays focused on what happens after capture.

Insightly Organizations

Salesmate: Personalised web forms embed on your site or share as a link. Submissions create contacts with zero data entry. Form capture is included on every plan.

10 - Create Webforms - Salesmate

9. Support, Ticketing and Scheduling

Insightly: Insightly Service adds ticketing and a knowledge base for post-sale support. It shares the same three-tier pricing as the CRM. Service and sales records stay joined.

Insightly Support & Ticketing

Salesmate: The meeting scheduler lets prospects book meetings from a shared link. That removes the back-and-forth email chain before a call. Support and sales share one communication history.

Salesmate Meeting Scheduler

10. Pricing & Cost

Here are both price lists side by side.

TierInsightlySalesmate
EntryPlus — $29/user/monthBasic — $23/user/month
MidProfessional — $49/user/monthPro — $39/user/month
TopEnterprise — $99/user/monthBusiness — $63/user/month

Insightly: Pricing is competitive at the Plus and Professional tiers. The Enterprise plan is the outlier and runs almost double Zoho CRM’s comparable tier. You are paying for CRM and project delivery in one licence.

Salesmate: Every tier undercuts the matching Insightly plan. The top tier saves $36 per user each month. For a ten-seat team, that is real money back in the budget.

💡 Test Result: Salesmate is cheaper at every tier. Insightly still wins on scope, since matching its project management would mean buying a second system.

Different Scenarios

If You Need…ChooseWhy
Tight budgetSalesmateCheaper at all three tiers
Projects after the saleInsightlyMilestones and Gantt charts
High-volume outbound callingSalesmateBuilt-in phone and recording
HIPAA or SOC 2 evidenceInsightlyPublished compliance coverage
Widest connector libraryInsightly2,000+ AppConnect connectors
Fastest trial startSalesmate15 days, no card needed

💰 Your Budget

Salesmate wins on sticker price at every level. Insightly closes the gap once you count the project tool you would otherwise buy.

🔌 Your Tech Stack

Salesmate slots into Google Apps and Microsoft Apps quickly and works inside Gmail. Insightly reaches further with AppConnect if you run unusual internal systems.

📝 Your Sales Process

Phone-heavy teams should customize Salesmate around calls and follow ups. A real estate company chasing viewings will get more from Salesmate. Consultative teams that hand work to delivery staff fit Insightly better.

🎓 Your Experience Level

Both platforms carry a mild learning curve. Insightly’s interface is easy to pick up, which shortens the time you spend training a new team member.

🆓 Free Trials and Demos

Salesmate hands you 15 days with no card, so you can start a free trial today. Insightly runs demos and trials through its sales team instead.

🛟 Support Options

Salesmate’s support team is often praised as quick and helpful. Insightly bundles a knowledge base and adds ticketing through Insightly Service.

Switching Guide

Already running one of them? Here is what changes if you move.

🔄 Switching from Insightly to Salesmate?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • Built-in calling with recording and voicemail drops
  • A meeting scheduler so prospects book meetings themselves
  • A lower monthly bill at every tier

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • Project milestones, Gantt charts, and delivery tracking
  • Published SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA coverage
  • The 2,000+ connector AppConnect library

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export contacts, companies, and opportunities from Insightly as CSV
  2. Open the 15-day Salesmate trial and map your pipeline stages
  3. Import the files, then rebuild automation journeys before you cancel
🔄 Switching from Salesmate to Insightly?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • Real project management with milestones and dependencies
  • Compliance paperwork that regulated buyers ask for
  • Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service on the same data

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • The built-in phone and call recording
  • Sandy AI drafting and call summaries
  • Roughly $6 to $36 per user each month in savings

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export deals, contacts, and activity history from Salesmate
  2. Create an Insightly account and set up your pipelines first
  3. Import records, then connect Google Workspace and your other apps

What Our Review Didn’t Cover

This comparison focused on small and mid-sized teams. We did not test bulk seat licensing, single sign-on, or migration from Salesforce. Our notes reflect the version of each platform available in August 2026, and any new version may shift the picture. If you run a 200-seat organization, your priorities will differ from what we covered here.

Final Verdict

CategoryWinner
💰 PricingSalesmate
🚀 Core CRM FeaturesInsightly
📁 Project ManagementInsightly
📞 Calling & SchedulingSalesmate
📊 ReportingInsightly
🔌 IntegrationsInsightly
🔒 Security & ComplianceInsightly
🏆 Overall WinnerInsightly

🏆 WINNER: INSIGHTLY

Insightly wins 5 out of 7 categories.

Best for: agencies and consultancies, regulated business, teams linking sales to project delivery

Insightly and Salesmate solve different halves of the same job. Insightly is a CRM that keeps going after the deal closes, through projects, milestones, and reporting.

Salesmate is a sales engine. Built-in calling, a meeting scheduler, and Sandy AI help reps close more deals with less admin.

Salesmate is the better buy if your team lives on the phone and you want to save money. Its 2.5 rating reflects reported bugs and billing complaints, not the functionality on offer.

If you need one system for sales, projects, and compliance, Insightly is the safer choice for most companies.

More of Insightly Compared

Here is how Insightly measures up against other CRMs buyers shortlist:

Insightly vs HubSpot

Insightly wins on: native project management, flatter per-user costs at the mid tier, HIPAA coverage

HubSpot wins on: a genuinely free starting tier, deeper marketing automation, a far larger app marketplace

Insightly vs Zoho CRM

Insightly wins on: quicker setup, an interface that is easy to pick up, less convoluted data import

Zoho CRM wins on: deeper feature coverage, custom workflow building, a cheaper top plan

Insightly vs Pipedrive

Insightly wins on: post-sale project tracking, reporting across projects and deals, AppConnect breadth

Pipedrive wins on: a lower entry price, a simpler deal board, faster onboarding for tiny sales teams

Insightly vs Salesforce

Insightly wins on: far shorter rollout, no admin headcount required, predictable licence costs

Salesforce wins on: unlimited customisation, enterprise sales forecasting, the widest partner network

More of Salesmate Compared

Salesmate lands on plenty of shortlists beside these tools:

Salesmate vs HubSpot

Salesmate wins on: built-in calling at no extra cost, cheaper paid seats, faster setup for small teams

HubSpot wins on: campaign reporting depth, content tools, a free tier that never expires

Salesmate vs Freshsales CRM

Salesmate wins on: automation journeys, the meeting scheduler, wider third-party app coverage

Freshsales CRM wins on: a free starting plan, tighter helpdesk linkage, steadier release quality

Salesmate vs Keap

Salesmate wins on: lower entry pricing, a cleaner pipeline view, no mandatory onboarding fee

Keap wins on: e-commerce and invoicing, longer-running campaign templates, small-business marketing depth

Salesmate vs Monday CRM

Salesmate wins on: native calling, sales-specific AI, richer email tracking

Monday CRM wins on: board-style project views, cross-department use, a friendlier visual editor

This video runs through more alternative options if neither fits.

The Best CRM Tools for Your Needs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Insightly used for?

Insightly is used to manage customer relationships, leads, and sales opportunities, then run the resulting projects. Teams also use it for task management, reporting, and linking work across departments.

What is Salesmate used for?

Salesmate is used to run outbound sales. Reps track deals, call prospects from the built-in phone, send tracked emails, and automate follow ups from one workflow.

Is Insightly easy to use?

Yes. The interface is easy to pick up and importing data is straightforward. Reviewers rate it simpler than Zoho CRM, though it trades some depth for that simplicity.

What is the number 1 CRM platform?

Salesforce holds the largest market share globally. For small teams, though, the best CRM is whichever one matches your sales process and budget without extra admin work.

Does Insightly have a mobile app?

Yes. The mobile app scans a business card, adds contacts, creates projects, and lets you assign tasks to a team member from your phone.

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