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CRM Comparison

Close vs. SuiteCRM

At a glance

At a glance

Close

Best for

Best for high-volume sales teams that live in the phone and want calling, emailing and texting with a built-in dialer inside the CRM.

  • Freelancers
  • Small and mid-sized

SuiteCRM

Best for

Best for teams that want a full-featured CRM on their own server, with the option to buy hosting, support and a warranty from the vendor.

  • Small and mid-sized
  • Enterprise

Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.

Full Comparison

Criterion Close SuiteCRM
Starting price From $9 / user / month Solo $9 (single user), Essentials $35, Growth $99 and Scale $139 per user/month billed annually. Prices in US dollars. Calling and SMS are usage-based. Free (self-hosted); managed hosting from £50 / month The software is a free AGPLv3 download and you pay only for your own infrastructure. SuiteCRM Ltd sells fully managed hosting from £50 a month, standard support at £1,200 for ten hours a year, SuiteASSURED from £3,350 a year and implementation from £2,520 as a one-off.
Free trial 14-day free trial, no credit card required Free download, plus a free trial of SuiteCRM Hosted and a demo
API Yes, an API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth, on every plan Yes, a V8 REST API, with legacy V4.1 REST and SOAP kept for backwards compatibility
Languages Not stated More than 60, per the vendor
Hosting Cloud (SaaS) Self-hosted on your own server (PHP 8.1 to 8.4 with MySQL, MariaDB or MSSQL), or fully managed hosting from SuiteCRM Ltd
Contacts and companies Yes, lead and contact management, with AI lead summaries from calls, emails and meetings Yes, Leads, Accounts, Contacts and Targets in a 360-degree view of each customer, with a no-code Configuration Studio for custom fields, layouts and new modules
Deal pipeline Yes, pipeline management with deal stages Yes, Opportunities with customisable sales processes, carried through to Quotes, Invoices and Contracts
Email and calendar Yes, email sync, with Gmail, Google Calendar and Calendly integrations Yes, an email module with templates, shared and personal calendars, and calls, meetings, tasks and notes
Workflow automation Yes, workflow automation on Growth and Scale Yes, workflow automation that fires actions once set conditions are met, including on case management
Reporting and forecasting Yes, reporting and analytics, including a sales funnel report with conversion and win rates Yes, a reporting module for real-time custom reports and scheduled reports, plus dashboards assembled from dashlets
Integrations and API Yes, an API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth Yes, a V8 REST API, with the legacy V4.1 REST and SOAP endpoints kept for backwards compatibility
AI features stated Yes No
Deployment Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
Support Not stated Community forum
Onboarding Not stated Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting
Company size Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
Integrations Gmail, Google Calendar, Calendly Not stated

Compare more tools

Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.

The short version

Key Differences

  • Starting price Close From $9 / user / month SuiteCRM Free (self-hosted); managed hosting from £50 / month
  • Free trial Close 14-day free trial, no credit card required SuiteCRM Free download, plus a free trial of SuiteCRM Hosted and a demo
  • Deployment Close Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based SuiteCRM Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
  • Company size Close Freelancers, Small and mid-sized SuiteCRM Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
  • Hosting Close Cloud (SaaS) SuiteCRM Self-hosted on your own server (PHP 8.1 to 8.4 with MySQL, MariaDB or MSSQL), or fully managed hosting from SuiteCRM Ltd

Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.

The trade-offs

Strengths and Limitations

Close

Strengths

  • Built-in dialer and SMS on every plan for calling, emailing and texting from one place
  • Chloe AI summarises leads from calls, emails and meetings and prepares follow-ups
  • API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth, on every plan
  • Solo plan for a single user at a low entry price

Limitations

  • Workflows and the power dialer are reserved for Growth and above
  • Calling and SMS are billed on usage, on top of the seat price

SuiteCRM

Strengths

  • Free and open source under AGPLv3, with no per-user licence fee
  • Broad module set covering sales, campaigns, cases, knowledge base, projects, a customer portal and surveys
  • Configuration Studio adds fields, layouts and whole modules without code
  • Managed hosting, support hours and the SuiteASSURED warranty are available from the vendor
  • More than 60 languages, and the vendor states ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification

Limitations

  • Self-hosting means running PHP and database updates, backups and security yourself
  • The repository states that SuiteCRM 8 is not yet as feature complete as the mature 7 series
  • Paid support is bought in blocks of hours rather than included with the free download

Plans

Pricing

Close

  • Solo $9 Per month billed annually. One user, up to 10,000 leads, no workflows.
  • Essentials $35 Per user/month billed annually. Unlimited contacts and team features, no workflows.
  • Growth $99 Per user/month billed annually. Adds workflows, a power dialer and bulk email.
  • Scale $139 Per user/month billed annually. Adds a predictive dialer, lead visibility rules, call coaching and custom roles.
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SuiteCRM

  • Self-hosted Free A free open-source download under AGPLv3; you pay only for your own infrastructure.
  • Fully managed hosting From £50 Per month. Hosting, security, updates, backups and support from SuiteCRM Ltd.
  • Standard Support £1,200 Ten support hours a year, with 20 percent off when bought with fully managed hosting.
  • SuiteASSURED From £3,350 Per year for ten care hours. Adds a warranty, legal indemnities, priority support and compliance features.
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What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

Close

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

SuiteCRM

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Where this comes from

Where this comes from

Close https://www.close.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-20

SuiteCRM https://suitecrm.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-14

This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.