A custom CRM built by Black Badger is the best way to get a CRM that fits your process exactly, because it is written from your own stages, quoting rules and approvals and carries no per-seat fee. Creatio CRM is the best product for the same goal, since you design your own processes on its low-code platform and keep a vendor behind the system.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for companies of 50 or more whose process no product fits
We publish this guide and we build custom CRMs, so weigh this entry with that in mind. It ranks first here because the question on this page is exact fit, and only a system written from your own process fits exactly. We start from how your team sells, quotes and hands work over, and build those screens and rules. There are no licenses and no per-seat fee, and you own the code and every account it runs on.
Watch for. A build starts with discovery and a written scope, so nothing is available immediately. We work mainly with companies of 50 or more employees, and a standard sales process is better served by a product.
- How it charges
- One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
- Main limit
- Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
2 Creatio CRM
Best for companies that want to design their own processes without code
Creatio ranks second because it is the product built closest to the custom idea. You buy a low-code platform plan, add the Sales app on top and model your own processes on it. The Enterprise plan lists unlimited API calls and process runs and three environments, and records are listed as unlimited on every plan. You still pay per user, and you still work inside the limits of the platform.
Watch for. New customers commit to a minimum yearly purchase on a standard three-year term. Growth and Enterprise both start at five users.
- How it charges
- Per user for the platform, plus a per-user fee for each CRM app
- Main limit
- New customers have a minimum yearly purchase on a standard 3-year term.
3 Salesforce Sales Cloud
Best for companies with admin staff who can own heavy configuration
Salesforce Sales Cloud ranks third. It is sold as a heavily configurable CRM, and admins and consultants who know it are widely available. For exact fit that matters, because someone has to do the shaping. It sits below Creatio on this page because the room to customize depends on the edition, and the editions with that room are billed per user, annually.
Watch for. Pro Suite lists 5 flows and 1 custom app per org. Price Core or higher if customization is the reason you are buying.
- How it charges
- Per user, by edition, with paid add-ons
- Main limit
- Pro Suite caps flows at 5 per org. Core and above bring Flex Credits.
4 Zoho Creator
Best for teams that want to build their own CRM app at a low per-user price
Zoho Creator ranks fourth and is the first of the build-it-yourself platforms. It is not a CRM. It is a tool for building your own application with your own data model and workflows, which is what a custom CRM is. Standard is billed per user, yearly, and allows one application. Professional and Enterprise allow unlimited applications. It needs someone on your staff to build and maintain what you make.
Watch for. Customer or dealer logins count as portal users, a separate add-on with no published price. A custom domain is included only on Enterprise.
- How it charges
- Per user, plus a paid add-on for portal users
- Main limit
- Portal users are a paid add-on, and Standard allows one application
5 Retool
Best for IT teams with developers and an existing customer database
Retool ranks fifth. It suits a company that already holds its customer and order data in its own databases and has developers who can put CRM screens on top of them. The Team plan is billed per builder and per internal user, yearly, and people who only use the app cost less than people who edit it. It ranks below Zoho Creator because it expects developers.
Watch for. Single sign-on, Git source control and granular roles are listed only for Enterprise, which is custom priced. Audit logs start on Business.
- How it charges
- Per builder and per internal user, billed yearly or monthly
- Main limit
- SSO, SCIM, Git source control and granular roles are Enterprise only.
6 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
Best for microsoft companies that want custom apps beside a standard CRM
Dynamics 365 Sales ranks sixth. Its Sales Enterprise edition, billed per user and paid yearly, lists advanced customization and custom apps, and for a company already on Microsoft 365 that is a familiar place to work. It ranks lower on a list about exact fit because Microsoft says custom apps require Power Apps and additional licenses, so each step toward your own process adds a license line.
Watch for. Microsoft describes Sales Professional as limited in customization and automation. Do not price that edition for this purpose.
- How it charges
- Per user, paid yearly, by edition
- Main limit
- Professional is limited in customization. Custom apps need Power Apps licenses.
7 Microsoft Power Apps
Best for microsoft 365 companies whose staff will build the app themselves
Power Apps ranks seventh. A company on Microsoft 365 and Azure can have its own staff build CRM forms and workflow apps on Microsoft data. Premium is billed per user, yearly, and covers unlimited apps for that user. It ranks here because the price is per user, so an app the whole sales floor opens every day is licensed for the whole sales floor.
Watch for. Dataverse capacity is pooled across the tenant, and extra database capacity is billed per GB a month. Premium connectors require every user of the app to be licensed.
- How it charges
- Per user, billed yearly, or pay as you go
- Main limit
- Dataverse capacity is pooled, and extra capacity is charged per GB.
8 Airtable
Best for teams that want a flexible database their own staff can shape
Airtable ranks eighth. It gives your own staff flexible databases and custom internal apps, and only users with edit permission on a base are charged, which helps when many people only read. It is last on this list because of size. The Team plan caps a base at 50,000 records and Business at 125,000, and a CRM holding years of contacts, deals and activity can pass that.
Watch for. Automation runs are capped at 25,000 per workspace a month on Team and 100,000 on Business. Larger needs mean the Enterprise Scale plan, sold through sales.
- How it charges
- Per seat with edit rights, billed yearly, top plan quoted
- Main limit
- Team caps a base at 50,000 records and 25,000 automation runs a month
How this list was ranked
This list ranks routes as well as products. There are three ways to end up with a CRM shaped to your process. You can have one built, you can buy a product and configure it hard, or you can build one yourself on a platform. We ranked all three kinds together by how close each gets to an exact fit and who has to do the work. We also weighed what each costs per user at the plan a company of 50 or more employees would need.
Black Badger publishes this guide and builds custom CRMs. The custom route is first on this page because exact fit to your sales process, ownership of the code and no per-seat price carry the most weight here. If a configurable product can match your process, Creatio CRM is the better default. On most of our other lists it is second or third, behind a product.
Questions buyers ask
What counts as a custom CRM?
A custom CRM is a CRM whose stages, fields, rules and screens come from your process and not from a vendor template. You can get there by having software written for you or by building on a platform such as Zoho Creator or Retool. You can also configure a product such as Salesforce or Creatio far from its defaults. The three differ in who owns the result and what you pay per user.
Should we build a custom CRM or buy one?
Buy when your sales process is close to standard. Build when you already keep a spreadsheet beside the CRM, when quoting or approvals happen by email, or when the license bill grows every time you hire. Our comparison page sets the two routes side by side.
Is a heavily configured Salesforce the same as a custom CRM?
Heavy configuration does the same job as a custom CRM, but the result is owned differently. A configured product stays on rented seats and inside the limits of your edition. A custom CRM is code and accounts you own, with no per-seat fee. The work of defining the process is the same on both routes.
Why is a custom build ranked first on this list of custom CRM options?
The custom build is ranked first because the question on this page is exact fit, and a system written from your process is the only route with no template underneath. We state plainly that Black Badger publishes this guide and builds these systems. On lists where a product answers the question better, a product is first.