SugarCRM vs Salesmate: Ultimate CRM Showdown in 2025

by | Apr 7, 2025

Winner
SugarCRM
4.5
  • Sales Automation
  • Integration
  • Marketing Automation
  • Landing Pages
  • Security Overview
  • Book Demo Now
  • Paid Plans from $19/month
Runner Up
Salesmate
3.0
  • Templates
  • AI-Powered Co-Pilot
  • Marketing Automation CRM
  • Email Templates
  • Build customized reports
  • Free trial available
  • Paid Plans from $23/month
sugarcrm vs salesmate

Picking the right CRM is tough, right?

You’ve got tons of options, and it’s hard to know which one fits your business best.

Maybe you’re stuck between SugarCRM and Salesmate.

They both sound good, but which one is actually better?

We’re breaking down SugarCRM vs Salesmate. 

We’ll look at what each one does, how they compare, and help you figure out which one is the best fit for your business.

Let’s make this decision easier!

Overview

We’ve put both SugarCRM and Salesmate through their paces.

Our team tested each platform’s features, usability, and customer support.

This hands-on experience allows us to provide a real, practical comparison for you.

SugarCRM CTA
4.5out of 5

SugarCRM’s tools like Sugar Sell, Sugar Serve, and Sugar Market can help! Automate marketing today!

Pricing: Book your demo plan. The premium plan starts at $19/month.

Key Features:

  • Sales Force Automation
  • Customer Support
  • Reporting and Analytics
Salesmate Logo
3out of 5

Ditch the sales chaos! Salesmate CRM offers a 15-day free trial. Experience the difference.

Pricing: It has a free trial. The premium plan starts at $23/month.

Key Features:

  • Built-in Calling
  • Sales Automation
  • Contact Management

What is SugarCRM?

SugarCRM is a flexible CRM built for businesses that need to customize—think big sales teams.

It lets you tailor the software to your exact needs and handles complex sales processes.

Also, explore our favorite SugarCRM alternatives

sugarcrm homepage

Our Take

SugarCRM CTA

Want to boost sales by 20% in 2025? SugarCRM’s tools like Sugar Sell, Sugar Serve, and Sugar Market can help! Automate marketing, manage customers and close more deals.

Key Benefits

  • Open-source platform: Gives you greater flexibility and control.
  • Robust sales automation: Streamline your sales processes and boost productivity.
  • Excellent reporting tools: Gain valuable insights into your sales performance.
  • The mobile app includes access to your CRM data on the go.
  • Large community: Tap into a wealth of resources and support.

Pricing

SugarCRM offers a free trial to test things out. Their paid plans start at $49 per user per month. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Essentials: $19/user/month, three users minimum.
  • Standard: $59/user/month, ten users minimum.
  • Advanced: $85/user/month, ten users minimum.
  • Premier: $135/user/month, ten users minimum.
SugarCRM Pricing

Pros

  • Very customizable platform.
  • Powerful reporting features.
  • Offers a free trial and plan.
  • Mobile app is included.
  • Large and active community.

Cons

  • Can be complex to set up.
  • The interface feels outdated.
  • Marketing automation is costly.
  • Not as intuitive as GoHighLevel.
  • Some features feel clunky.

What is Salesmate?

Salesmate? It’s built for sales teams. It helps close deals faster.

Think of calling, automation, and deal tracking. It’s built to grow your sales.

Also, explore our favorite Salesmate alternatives

What is Salesmate?

Our Take

Salesmate Logo

Ditch the sales chaos! Salesmate CRM offers a 15-day free trial. Experience the difference and close more deals. Sign up today!

Key Benefits

  • Built-in calling: Make and receive calls directly within Salesmate.
  • Sales sequences: Automate your outreach with personalized emails and texts.
  • Pipeline management: Visualize your sales process and identify bottlenecks.
  • Mobile app: Access your CRM data on the go.

Pricing

  • Basic ($23/user/month): Contacts, Companies, Deals.
  • Pro ($39/user/month): Product management, Goal Management.
  • Business ($63/user/month): Team Management, Custom Module
Salesmates CRM Pricing

Pros

  • Very affordable pricing.
  • Easy to use and navigate.
  • Excellent customer support.
  • Strong sales automation features.
  • Great built-in calling.

Cons

  • Fewer integrations than GoHighLevel.
  • Reporting could be more robust.
  • Not as many features overall.
  • Lacks a website builder.

Feature Comparison

This analysis evaluates two dedicated crm providers: SugarCRM, the established leading crm platform known for its enterprise sales and service automation features.

Salesmate CRM, a robust crm solution built for efficient sales reps and sales forecasting.

This comparison will clarify which crm platform offers the best approach to scaling sales performance and helping sales reps build lasting customer relationships.

1. Core Platform Focus and Target Audience

  • SugarCRM: A modular crm platform designed for enterprise-level use, selling integrated clouds like sugar sell and sugar market. It focuses on deep customization, making it a choice for users needing enhanced support and robust service automation.
  • Salesmate CRM: A robust crm solution primarily focused on enhancing the sales process and sales performance for mid-sized and growing sales teams. It emphasizes ease of use and features that build lasting customer relationships.

2. Pricing Model and Affordability

  • SugarCRM: sugarcrm pricing is high, structured per user, and often requires a user minimum for modules like sugar sell. The high sugarcrm cost means it is rarely seen as an affordable crm option, leading users to seek crm alternatives.
  • Salesmate CRM: Offers competitive crm prices, positioning itself as a more affordable crm solution compared to enterprise platforms. Its pricing is transparently structured per user, making it a strong crm alternatives choice, especially for small businesses.

3. Sales Automation and Workflow Management

  • SugarCRM: Provides sophisticated, integrated marketing automation via its sugar market cloud and features drag and drop workflows for complex sales sequences and service automation. This defines its sales process.
  • Salesmate CRM: Offers powerful, focused sales automation and marketing automation capabilities designed to increase sales performance. It specializes in automating communication and follow-ups within the sales pipeline.

4. Pipeline Management and Tracking

  • SugarCRM: Offers sophisticated sales pipeline management designed for large, complex sales cycles and robust sales forecasting. It allows users to track deals with great granularity and customize multiple pipelines.
  • Salesmate CRM: Provides intuitive and highly visual pipeline management to track deals effectively. It includes features specifically tailored to improve sales forecasting and visibility across the entire sales pipeline.

5. Task and Activity Management

  • SugarCRM: Features comprehensive task management tied directly to sales and service automation records. It supports advanced team collaboration around high-priority activities.
  • Salesmate CRM: Includes native task management and sales sequencing tools designed to automate repetitive activities and ensure sales reps maintain consistent customer interactions throughout the sales cycle.

6. Customer Relationship Management

  • SugarCRM: Provides deep customer relationship management capabilities, allowing for granular tracking and sophisticated logging of customer data across the entire sales cycle.
  • Salesmate CRM: Focuses intensely on tools that build lasting customer relationships through personalized outreach and automated sequencing, ensuring a continuous loop of positive customer interactions.

7. Ecosystem and Integrations

  • SugarCRM: A modular crm platform with specialized clouds, designed to integrate deeply with enterprise systems. It provides robust calendar integration across its whole platform.
  • Salesmate CRM: Integrates seamlessly with popular external tools like Microsoft apps and features a robust API. Its ecosystem is designed to enhance the core sales experience rather than manage broad business operations.

8. Customization and Enterprise Features

  • SugarCRM: Supports extreme customization via sugar enterprise options, including custom objects and bespoke interfaces. It offers enhanced support for modular development and complex team structures.
  • Salesmate CRM: Provides strong customization options via its visual interface, allowing users to tailor fields and pipelines. While flexible, it does not offer the deep, code-level customization of SugarCRM.

9. Target Industries and Business Fit

  • SugarCRM: Often favored by large organizations and complex industries (including those needing specialized real estate company features) due to its comprehensive and highly configurable nature. It is a leading crm platform.
  • Salesmate CRM: Widely adopted by mid-market and small businesses for its ease of use and rapid adoption. It is considered the fourth crm solution option for teams prioritizing sales efficiency and sales forecasting.

What to Look For in a CRM Tool?

  • Consider your team’s Google Workspace reliance.
  • Evaluate the need for deep customization of crm software.
  • Factor in long-term scalability and the size of the company.
  • Assess the importance of the mobile accessibility for your team.
  • Think about the complexity of your current sales management process.
  • Analyze your budget against the requirements of each CRM software.
  • Determine the level of vendor support you’ll need.

Final Verdict

So, which one wins?

It really depends on you. If you need super custom stuff and lots of power, SugarCRM is strong.

But, if you want something easy and quick to use, Salesmate is great.

We think Salesmate is better for most businesses.

It’s simpler, and you can get started fast.

We’ve used both a lot, and Salesmate just makes life easier.

Trust us, it’s a solid choice.

More of SugarCRM

Here’s a brief comparison of SugarCRM with these software solutions:

  • SugarCRM vs Pipedrive: SugarCRM provides broad customization and flexible deployment for various business needs; Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM with a visual pipeline, prioritizing ease of use for small to medium businesses.
  • SugarCRM vs GoHighLevel: GoHighLevel vs SugarCRM: Which CRM Platform is Best in 2025?: GoHighLevel is an all-in-one platform for marketing agency needs. It helps them manage multiple clients. SugarCRM is a custom CRM for larger companies. It helps them analyze data and tailor their sales process.
  • SugarCRM vs Keap: SugarCRM offers robust, highly customizable CRM features for sales and marketing automation, scaling for larger teams; Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a marketing automation and sales CRM designed primarily for small businesses.
  • SugarCRM vs ActiveCampaign: SugarCRM focuses on extensive sales management and customization for complex pipelines; ActiveCampaign excels in user-friendly marketing automation, email campaigns, and lead segmentation.
  • SugarCRM vs HubSpot: SugarCRM provides deep customization and flexible deployment for tailored solutions; HubSpot offers an intuitive, integrated suite of marketing, sales, and service tools known for its ease of use.
  • SugarCRM vs Clickfunnels: SugarCRM is a robust customer relationship management platform; ClickFunnels is a specialized tool for building sales funnels, landing pages, and automating sales processes.
  • SugarCRM vs Folk: SugarCRM is a powerful, customizable CRM for comprehensive business needs; Folk is a modern, collaborative contact management tool that emphasizes simplicity and ease of use.
  • SugarCRM vs Instantly: SugarCRM offers a broad CRM solution for sales force automation and customer management; Instantly specializes in automated cold email outreach and lead generation campaigns.
  • SugarCRM vs ClickUp: SugarCRM is a dedicated CRM for sales, marketing, and service automation; ClickUp is a versatile work management platform that includes CRM functionalities alongside project and task management.
  • SugarCRM vs Monday: SugarCRM offers extensive customization and robust automation for sales and marketing; Monday CRM provides highly visual, customizable workflows for various business processes, including CRM.
  • SugarCRM vs Capsule CRM: SugarCRM delivers a highly customizable and scalable CRM with advanced features; Capsule CRM is a simpler, more affordable contact management solution for small to medium-sized businesses.
  • SugarCRM vs Insightly: SugarCRM offers extensive customization for complex sales processes and reporting; Insightly combines CRM with project management, focusing on ease of use for small to medium businesses.
  • SugarCRM vs Freshsales: SugarCRM provides deep customization and advanced automation for sales and marketing; Freshsales CRM offers an intuitive interface with AI-powered lead scoring and integrated sales automation.
  • SugarCRM vs Salesforce: SugarCRM offers an open-source option with significant customization potential; Salesforce is a leading cloud-based CRM with extensive features, broad integrations, and a vast ecosystem, albeit at a higher complexity.

More of Salesmate

Here’s a brief comparison of Salesmate with these software solutions:

  • Salesmate vs Pipedrive: Salesmate offers intuitive sales pipeline management with built-in calling, whereas Pipedrive excels in visual pipeline clarity and allows effortless deal progression.
  • Salesmate vs GoHighLevel: Salesmate is known for being easy to use. It helps sales teams with their deals and customer talks. GoHighLevel is a much bigger tool. It’s for marketing agency businesses.
  • Salesmate vs Keap: Salesmate provides a user-friendly interface with customizable deal pipelines for visual tracking, while Keap delivers powerful sales and marketing automation with strong sales funnel capabilities.
  • Salesmate vs ActiveCampaign: Salesmate prioritizes sales pipelines and deal tracking within its CRM; ActiveCampaign integrates sales and marketing automation for a holistic customer view and excels in email marketing.
  • Salesmate vs Hubspot: Salesmate offers a transparent, affordable CRM with strong sales automation; HubSpot is a comprehensive suite for marketing, sales, and service, with tiered pricing and more extensive features.
  • Salesmate vs Clickfunnels: Salesmate is a CRM designed for managing sales and customer relationships; ClickFunnels is a specialized tool for building high-converting sales funnels and landing pages.
  • Salesmate vs Folk: Salesmate is a full-fledged CRM for sales teams with robust pipeline management and automation. Folk is a simpler contact management tool focused on organization and collaboration.
  • Salesmate vs Instantly: Salesmate provides a comprehensive sales CRM with pipeline management and multi-channel outreach; Instantly specializes in scaled cold email outreach and lead generation.
  • Salesmate vs Clickup: Salesmate is a dedicated sales CRM for pipeline management and deal tracking; ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity platform with project management, task tracking, and CRM functionalities.
  • Salesmate vs Monday CRM: Salesmate is a focused sales CRM with built-in email marketing and strong deal management; Monday CRM offers highly customizable visual workflows and broad work OS capabilities.
  • Salesmate vs Capsule CRM: Salesmate is a comprehensive solution with sales automation and detailed reporting; Capsule CRM is a simpler, user-friendly contact management tool, often more basic.
  • Salesmate vs Insightly: Salesmate provides a user-friendly CRM primarily for sales activities; Insightly offers a more robust CRM with integrated project management functionality.
  • Salesmate vs Freshsales CRM: Salesmate delivers detailed, real-time reporting and extensive workflow customization; Freshsales CRM offers an intuitive interface with AI assistance and broader automation.
  • Salesmate vs Salesforce: Salesmate is a user-friendly CRM ideal for small to medium businesses, offering straightforward sales management; Salesforce is a highly customizable, scalable, enterprise-level CRM with a vast feature set.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Salesmate cheaper than SugarCRM?

Salesmate generally offers more affordable pricing plans, especially for smaller businesses. SugarCRM’s cost can vary significantly based on customization and needed features, often making it more expensive overall.

Which CRM is easier to learn, SugarCRM or Salesmate?

Salesmate is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easier to learn and use quickly. SugarCRM, while powerful, has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive customization options.

Can SugarCRM handle more complex sales processes than Salesmate?

Yes, SugarCRM is designed for highly complex sales processes and offers greater customization. Salesmate is better suited for businesses seeking to streamline simpler to moderately complex workflows.

Does Salesmate offer good marketing automation features?

Salesmate offers basic built-in marketing automation like email sequences, suitable for smaller campaigns. SugarCRM may require integrations for more advanced marketing needs.

Which is better for contact management, SugarCRM or Salesmate?

Both are solid. SugarCRM is highly customizable for detailed data. Salesmate is known for it’s simplicity and ease of use in managing contacts.

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