You don't need budget to start selling effectively. Many excellent sales tools offer free tiers that are actually useful - not just demos. We tested free versions of 20+ tools to find which ones deliver real value without requiring upgrade.
| Tool | Free Limits | Primary Use | Paid Starts At | Actually Usable? | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot CRM | Unlimited | CRM | $45/mo | Very | 9.5/10 |
| Apollo.io | 10K credits/mo | Prospecting | $49/mo | Very | 9.3/10 |
| Calendly | 1 event type | Scheduling | $10/mo | Yes | 9.0/10 |
| Loom | 25 videos | Video | $12.50/mo | Yes | 8.8/10 |
| Lavender | Basic coaching | Email AI | $29/mo | Very | 8.9/10 |
| Notion | Personal use | Docs/CRM | $8/mo | Very | 8.7/10 |
| Hunter.io | 25 searches/mo | Email finder | $49/mo | Limited | 8.4/10 |
| Google Workspace | Personal Gmail | Email/Calendar | $6/user | Very | 8.6/10 |
HubSpot's free CRM is genuinely free forever with no user limits. Track contacts, deals, and activities. Email tracking included. This isn't a trial - it's a real free CRM that many companies use indefinitely.
Apollo's free tier includes 10,000 email credits monthly plus sequences. That's enough to run real outbound campaigns. Data quality is good. The all-in-one approach means you don't need multiple tools.
Calendly's free tier allows one event type with calendar integration. That's enough for most salespeople to book discovery calls. The professional upgrade is worth it eventually, but free works to start.
Loom's free tier includes 25 videos up to 5 minutes each. That's enough to test video prospecting and send personalized demos. Great for standing out in crowded inboxes.
Lavender's free tier provides basic AI email coaching. See your email score and get improvement suggestions. Enough to learn better email writing habits.
Notion's personal plan is completely free with unlimited pages and blocks. Use CRM templates to track deals, build a sales wiki, and manage your pipeline. Very flexible.
Hunter provides 25 free email searches per month with verification. Useful for occasional prospecting. The Chrome extension makes finding emails easy from LinkedIn.
Personal Gmail and Google Calendar are free. Google Meet provides free video calls. For early-stage sales, you can operate entirely on free Google tools.
We evaluated free tiers based on real usability, not just existence.
Yes: HubSpot CRM + Apollo.io + Calendly + Lavender + Loom + Google. Complete prospecting, CRM, scheduling, and video at $0/month.
When limits become constraints: running out of Apollo credits, needing multiple Calendly event types, or needing team features in HubSpot.
Some are, but the tools listed here have genuine free tiers. HubSpot CRM is free forever. Apollo gives real credits monthly.
Usually Sales Navigator ($99/mo) or Apollo paid tier ($49/mo) for more data. These have the biggest impact on pipeline.
