7 Free and Open Source CRM's That You Can Build and Deploy

In today's business world, having a robust and effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial for managing and expanding customer relationships. But, finding the right CRM that fits your business needs and budget can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there are many open-source CRM options available that can be tailored and deployed to meet the specific requirements of any business. These open-source CRM's provide a wide range of features such as sales automation, lead management, and marketing automation that can help businesses streamline their operations, improve productivity and drive revenue. In this article, we will take a look at several open-source CRM's that businesses can use to build and deploy their own CRM system. These platforms provide the flexibility and scalability needed for businesses of any size, making it easier to manage and grow customer relationships.

What Is Open Source and Why It Is Important (The List Is Below This Bit)

Open-source software refers to software whose source code is freely available to the public, allowing users to modify and distribute the software as they see fit. This is in contrast to proprietary software, which is closed off to the public and can only be used as intended by the software vendor.

Using open-source software in a business can have many benefits, one of which is cost savings. Since the source code is freely available, businesses can use and modify the software without incurring licensing fees. Additionally, the open-source community often provides support and troubleshooting assistance at no cost. This can help businesses save money on support and maintenance costs.

Another important aspect of open-source software is the ability for the community to constantly review and improve the code. This leads to greater security and stability as bugs and vulnerabilities can be quickly identified and addressed. Additionally, the open-source community can also help to mitigate the risk of vendor lock-in, as businesses are not tied to a specific vendor or product.

Additionally, open-source software also tends to be more transparent, allowing businesses to have more control over their own data and IT infrastructure, which can be especially important when it comes to compliance and data privacy regulations.

In summary, open-source software can provide significant cost savings and security benefits for businesses, and the active community of developers and users can help to mitigate risks and improve the software over time.

Free and Open source CRMS

SuiteCRM

SuiteCRM software solution that provides a 360-degree view of your customers and business. It offers a range of features to help businesses improve sales, grow their pipeline, increase productivity and provide exceptional customer experiences.

1. Sales: SuiteCRM offers a variety of sales automation modules to help you improve sales and grow your pipeline. You can model your sales process using tools to increase lead conversion rates, send personalized quotes, and prioritize which opportunities you should be pursuing next.
2. Marketing: The CRM allows you to grow your brand awareness by using custom fields to model your personas and successfully segment your data using the Target Lists module. You can also create engaging campaigns to send marketing content and automate marketing tasks.
3. Reports: The Reports module allows users to build, generate, and manage reports based on real-time data. Teams can gather data from any module within your CRM to generate reports that will display vital information for your business in real-time.
4. Dashboard: The Dashboard feature allows you to monitor the business data that is important to you at a glance, with personalized real-time dashboards for you and your users.
5. Customer: The CRM provides a 360-degree view of your customer base at any given time.

Odoo CRM

Odoo is a suite of open-source enterprise management applications. It includes a wide range of business applications, such as CRM, Sales, Project Management, Manufacturing, Inventory, Accounting and more, all integrated into one platform.

Features:

1. Modular structure: Odoo's modular structure allows you to start with the apps you need, and add more as your business grows.
2. Customizable: Odoo is highly customizable, you can easily adapt the software to fit your business needs.
3. Integrations: Odoo can be easily integrated with other software, including accounting, inventory, and e-commerce systems.
4. Mobile App: Odoo offers a mobile app for Android and iOS devices, allowing you to access your data on the go.
5. Reporting and Analytics: Odoo includes a variety of reporting and analytics tools that provide real-time insights into your business.
6. Collaboration: Odoo includes a range of collaboration tools, such as chat, email, and shared calendars, that allow your team to work together more effectively.
7. E-commerce: Odoo offers an integrated e-commerce platform that allows you to manage your online store, track inventory, and process orders.

Odoo apps:

1. CRM: This app helps you manage your customer relationships, track leads, and automate sales processes.
2. Sales: This app allows you to manage your sales pipeline, create quotes, and track your sales progress.
3. Project Management: This app helps you manage your projects, track time and expenses, and collaborate with your team.
4. Manufacturing: This app helps you manage your manufacturing processes, including production orders, inventory, and bills of materials.
5. Accounting: This app allows you to manage your financials, including invoicing, expenses, and financial reports.
6. Inventory: This app helps you manage your inventory, including stock levels, purchase orders, and product data.
7. Human Resources: This app allows you to manage your HR processes, including employee data, contracts, and payroll.

CiviCRM:

CiviCRM is a web-based, open-source CRM (customer relationship management) system specifically designed for non-profit organizations, charities, and advocacy groups. It is built on top of the popular Content Management System (CMS) platform, Drupal and Wordpress.

Features:

1. Contact Management: CiviCRM provides a centralized location to store and manage all your contact data, including contact details, relationships, activities, and notes.
2. Membership Management: CiviCRM allows you to manage your membership data, including membership types, renewals, and communication with members.
3. Event Management: CiviCRM provides tools to manage events, including online registration, payment processing, and tracking attendance.
4. Donor Management: CiviCRM allows you to manage donations, including tracking donations, generating receipts, and producing donor reports.
5. Fundraising: CiviCRM provides tools to manage fundraising campaigns, including tracking donations, generating receipts, and producing fundraising reports.
6. Email Marketing: CiviCRM provides tools to create, send and track email communications, including email campaigns, newsletters, and automated email responses.
7. Reports and Analytics: CiviCRM provides a variety of reports and analytics tools that provide real-time insights into your organization's data.
8. Security and Privacy: CiviCRM has been built with security and privacy in mind, it provides several security features to ensure that your data is safe and secure.

CiviCRM offers a wide range of options and add-ons, such as payment processors, data privacy tools, and integration with other systems. It also has a large and active community of users and developers, who contribute to its development and provide support.

FatFree CRM:

FatFree CRM is a lightweight, barebones, open-source CRM (customer relationship management) platform. It is designed to be simple, easy-to-use, and highly customizable to fit the specific needs of small businesses.

Features:

1. Contact Management: FatFree CRM allows you to manage your contact data, including contact details, relationships, activities, and notes.
2. Lead Management: FatFree CRM provides tools to manage leads, including lead capture forms, lead tracking, and lead conversion tracking.
3. Sales Management: FatFree CRM provides tools to manage sales, including sales pipeline management, sales forecasting, and sales reporting.
4. Campaign Management: FatFree CRM allows you to manage marketing campaigns, including email marketing, lead nurturing, and campaign tracking.
5. Reporting and Analytics: FatFree CRM provides a variety of reports and analytics tools that provide real-time insights into your business data.
6. Customizable: FatFree CRM is highly customizable and allows you to tailor the platform to fit your business needs.
7. Integration: FatFree CRM can be integrated with other software, such as accounting, inventory, and e-commerce systems.

FatFree CRM is a free and open source solution, It's a community-driven software and it has a vibrant community of users and developers who provide support and contribute to its development.

EspoCRM:

EspoCRM is a web-based, open-source CRM that provides a range of tools for lead management, contact management, and sales automation. It helps businesses improve sales productivity by providing the following features:

1. Sales Automation: Leads, Opportunities, Accounts, and Contacts management.
2. Calendar: Scheduling and managing meetings, calls, tasks, and events with the ability to sync with Google and Outlook calendars.
3. Emails: Email account integration, outbound emails, email templates, and filters.
4. Customer Support: Cases, email-to-case, customer portal, knowledge base, and documents.
5. Inventory Management: Products, Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices.
6. Telephony: VoIP integration and multiple phone numbers per record.
7. Reports and Analytics: Real-time insights into business data.
8. Workflows: Business Process Management and Workflows tools that allow automation of business processes.
9. Marketing Automation: Campaigns, mass email marketing, mass mail merge, target lists, and MailChimp integration.
10. Customization: Layout Manager, Entity, labels, and extensions.

Mautic:

Mautic is an open-source marketing automation platform that allows businesses to engage with their audience through personalized and automated communication. Some of its features include:

1. Lead Management: Capture, segment, and nurture leads to convert them into customers.
2. Campaign Management: Create, manage, and track the performance of marketing campaigns across different channels.
3. Marketing Automation: Automate repetitive tasks such as email campaigns, lead scoring, and lead nurturing.
4. Email Marketing: Create and send personalized emails, segment contacts, and track open and click-through rates.
5. Social Media: Integrate with social media channels to publish and schedule posts and track engagement.
6. Content Management: Create and manage website pages, forms, and landing pages.
7. Reports and Analytics: Track the performance of campaigns and gain insights into audience behavior.
8. Segmentation: Segment contacts based on behavior, demographics, and engagement.
9. CRM Integration: Integrate with CRM systems to share data and automate processes.
10. Plugins and Integrations: Extend the functionality of Mautic with a wide range of plugins and integrations, including Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Slack.

YetiForce CRM:

YetiForce is an open-source CRM platform that provides a range of tools for managing customer relationships. Some of its features include:

1. Sales Management: Manage leads, opportunities, and sales pipeline.
2. Marketing Automation: Create and manage campaigns, segment contacts, and track engagement.
3. Customer Service: Manage customer support tickets, knowledge base, and case management.
4. Project Management: Create and manage projects, tasks, and time tracking.
5. Inventory Management: Manage products, quotes, and invoices.
6. Accounts and Contacts: Store and manage contact information and account details.
7. Calendar and Scheduling: Schedule and manage appointments, meetings, and events.
8. Email and Communication: Send and receive emails, track engagement and communication history.
9. Reports and Analytics: Generate reports on sales, marketing, and customer service performance.
10. Customization: Customize fields, layouts, and modules to suit your business needs.

Additionally, YetiForce is also equipped with workflow automation and document management tools, it can also integrate with other systems like Google services, Mailchimp and more. It is also available in multiple languages, and it provides a mobile app for its users.