Salesforce ★ 4.5/5 
Insightly ★ 4.1/5 Salesforce vs Insightly: Which CRM is right for you?
A 2026 head-to-head on pricing, features, and which team each is built for.
The short answer
Salesforce is enterprise crm built for mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales, starting from ~$25/user/mo — free plan available. Insightly is crm with project management for sMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal, starting from ~$29/user/mo. Choose Salesforce for enterprise crm needs; choose Insightly if crm with project management is a better match for your team.
Salesforce vs Insightly: at a glance
| Detail | Salesforce | Insightly |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Enterprise CRM | CRM with project management |
| Starting price | from ~$25/user/mo | from ~$29/user/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Best for | Mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales. | SMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal. |
| Our rating | ★ 4.5 / 5 | ★ 4.1 / 5 |
| Standout feature | Near-unlimited customization plus the AppExchange ecosystem. | Converting won opportunities into connected delivery projects. |
| Founded | 1999 | 2009 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | San Francisco, USA |
Prices are indicative 2026 list prices; always confirm with the vendor directly.
What is Salesforce?
Salesforce is the market-leading cloud CRM platform. Its Sales Cloud product manages leads, opportunities, and forecasting, while the wider platform extends into service, marketing, analytics, and custom app development through its AppExchange marketplace.
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales.
What is Insightly?
Insightly combines contact, organization, opportunity, pipeline, project, and workflow management. Separate marketing and service products plus the AppConnect integration platform extend it across the customer lifecycle.
Best for: SMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal.
Key features compared
| Salesforce | Insightly |
|---|---|
| Highly customizable objects, fields, and automation (Flow) | Pipeline and opportunity management |
| Advanced forecasting and pipeline analytics | Relationship linking |
| AppExchange marketplace with thousands of integrations | Project delivery |
| Einstein AI for predictions and summaries | AppConnect integrations |
| Granular roles, permissions, and territory management | — |
Pros and cons: Salesforce
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Customization ceiling is effectively unlimited | ✘ Expensive once add-ons stack up |
| ✔ Largest integration and partner ecosystem | ✘ Usually requires a dedicated admin or consultant |
| ✔ Scales from mid-market to global enterprise | ✘ Overkill and slow to deploy for small teams |
Pros and cons: Insightly
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Sales-to-project continuity | ✘ Best features require higher tiers |
| ✔ Flexible relationship records | ✘ Reporting takes setup |
| ✔ Useful integration tooling | ✘ Smaller ecosystem than leaders |
Which should you choose?
Choose Salesforce if you are mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales.
Choose Insightly if you are sMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Salesforce and Insightly?
Salesforce is enterprise crm best for mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales. Its standout is near-unlimited customization plus the AppExchange ecosystem.. Insightly is crm with project management best for sMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal. Its standout is converting won opportunities into connected delivery projects..
Is Salesforce better than Insightly?
Neither is universally better — it depends on your use case. Salesforce is the stronger choice for mid-market and enterprise teams with complex, process-heavy sales. Insightly is a better fit for sMBs that deliver projects or services after closing a deal.
Which is cheaper, Salesforce or Insightly?
Salesforce starts from ~$25/user/mo and offers a free plan. Insightly starts from ~$29/user/mo.
Does Salesforce or Insightly have a free plan?
Salesforce offers a free plan. Insightly does not offer a permanent free plan.