Best free CRM for financial advisors
On the pages we read, the free CRM plans come from general CRMs, and the adviser-built CRMs offer trials instead. We read three of each against the record jobs an SEC- or FINRA-registered firm owes whatever it pays: keeping client emails for years, logging changes, limiting who sees client data, and handing it all over in an exam.
Reviewed October 2026
Best free plan for a one-adviser RIA
Zoho CRM
Its own editions table puts profiles, roles and data export on the free edition, and shows plainly that audit logs and backups start on a paid one, so you know exactly which record jobs you are covering yourself.
Read the review of Zoho CRMBest free plan for leaving cleanly
Capsule CRM
Its help pages offer a full account export on every plan, the free one included, as CSV files with notes and email history; attachments are the one gap to plan around.
Read the review of Capsule CRMBest trial of an adviser-built CRM
Wealthbox
Its pricing page offers a 14-day trial of the CRM whose own pages state a history of record changes and roles that decide who may export: the change history is the control none of the free plans states for its free tier.
Read the review of Wealthbox
The comparison table
| Vendor | Free plan, not only a trial | Keeps client emails with the record, at no cost204-2(a)(7) | Logs edits and deletions, at no cost204-2(g)(3)(i) | Feeds an archiving vendor204-2(g)(2)(iii) | Roles limit who sees client data, at no costReg S-P 248.30(a)(1) | Full data export, at no cost204-2(g)(2)(ii) | Custodian and planning-software integrations | Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zoho CRMGeneral CRM, free edition | Meets “Free for 3 users” | Partial Notes on Free; email dropbox paid | Not stated Audit logs start on Starter | Not stated | Meets Profiles and roles on Free | Partial Module export on every edition | Not stated | Not stated No financial-services wording |
Capsule CRMGeneral small-business CRM | Meets “Maximum 2 users” | Partial Email Sync is a Growth feature | Check with vendor Logging claimed; plan not stated | Not stated | Not stated Access controls on Growth only | Partial CSV export, no attachments | Not stated | Partial No built-in compliance features |
WealthboxAdviser CRM | Not stated 14-day trial; no free plan | Partial Note archiving listed | Meets Tracks changes to records | Partial MyRepChat and Comply listed | Meets Roles decide who exports | Partial Data Portability listed | Meets Schwab, Fidelity, eMoney named | Meets Solo advisers to broker-dealers |
HubSpot CRMGeneral CRM, free tier | Meets “100% free”, “up to two users” | Partial History view, email tracking | Check with vendor Property history only | Not stated | Check with vendor Permission sets on Starter | Partial CSV or Excel, all plans | Not stated | Not stated No financial-services wording |
Redtail CRMAdviser CRM | Not stated 30-day trial, new users only | Meets Its email add-on archives all | Partial Says it keeps audit trails | Partial Its own email archive only | Not stated | Not stated Import named, export not | Meets Orion, Schwab, eMoney | Meets Solo practices to broker-dealers |
Salesforce Agentforce Financial ServicesEnterprise CRM | Not stated 30-day trial; no free plan | Not stated | Not stated History sits in the Shield add-on | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Partial Custodians, none named | Meets RIAs with 25 or fewer staff |
Free plan or free trial: what the vendors’ own pages offer
Search for a free CRM for financial advisors and two different offers come back under the same word. A free plan has no end date and fewer features. A free trial is the full paid product for a few weeks. On the pages we read, every free plan came from a general CRM, and every adviser-built CRM offered a trial instead.
What each vendor offers at no cost, in its own words
- Zoho CRM: “Free for 3 users”Free planzoho.com/crm/comparison.html
- Capsule CRM: “Maximum 2 users”, “250 Contacts”Free plancapsulecrm.com/pricing
- HubSpot CRM: “100% free with no expiration date”, “up to two users, 1,000 contacts”Free planhubspot.com/products/crm
- Redtail CRM: “30-day, risk-free trial”, “Free trial for new users only”Trialredtailtechnology.com
- Wealthbox: “Free 14-Day Trial”Trialwealthbox.com/pricing
- Salesforce: “Try Financial Services Cloud free for 30 days”Trialsalesforce.com/financial-services/wealth-management-software
That split decides how to read the table above. For Zoho, Capsule and HubSpot, every column reads the free plan alone, so a feature their pages place on a paid plan reads Not stated with a note saying where it starts. For Redtail, Wealthbox and Salesforce, the columns marked “at no cost” read the product you would be trying during the trial, with the same statuses as our full comparison of CRMs for financial advisors. AdvisorEngine and Practifi offer demos rather than a free plan or trial on the pages we read, so they are compared there, not here.
A trial tells you what you would pay for; a free plan tells you what you would live with. If you are a solo adviser deciding between them, the honest question is not price but which record jobs you are willing to run by hand, and for how long.
What a free general CRM does not do for a regulated firm
A general CRM is built to win deals. An SEC-registered adviser's CRM also ends up holding records the firm must keep, and Rule 204-2 attaches five duties to records kept electronically. None of them mentions a CRM, and none is waived because the software was free. Here is each duty set against what the three free plans state about themselves.
Five record duties, and what the free plans say
| The duty | Rule | What the free plans state |
|---|---|---|
| Keep records for the full period | 204-2(e)(1) | Free plans cap users and, for Capsule and HubSpot, contacts. None of the pages we read says how long deleted data is kept. |
| Keep a separate duplicate copy | 204-2(g)(2)(iii) | None of the three free plans names an archiving connection. |
| Produce a record promptly, in the format it is stored | 204-2(g)(2)(ii) | All three state an export at no cost; Capsule’s leaves out attachments, and the others do not say. |
| Safeguard records from alteration | 204-2(g)(3)(i) | Zoho lists audit logs from Starter. Capsule and HubSpot do not tie a change log to the free plan. |
| Limit access to authorized people | 204-2(g)(3)(ii) | Zoho lists profiles and roles on Free. Capsule puts access controls on Growth; HubSpot puts permission sets on Starter. |
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1), (g)(2)-(3)
The rule does not ask for WORM storage or an audit-trail system; 204-2(g) has no such words. What it asks for is an outcome: records you can find, produce, keep a second copy of, and protect. A free plan can be part of that, as long as something else carries the jobs it leaves out. Our plain guide to Rule 204-2 covers the full list of records.
Retention: a five-year clock against a free plan’s caps
An email you send a client recommending a change, or a client's written request to move money, is an (a)(7) record. Once it is written, the clock below starts, and it does not care which plan you are on.
Free plans are shaped by caps. Capsule's pricing page lists “250 Contacts” on its free plan, and HubSpot's product page says “up to two users, 1,000 contacts”. A growing practice meets those caps, and the tempting fix is to delete old prospects and former clients to make room. By our reading of the rule, that is where a free CRM turns into a records problem: if the notes and logged emails on a former client's record are the only copy of an (a)(7) communication, deleting the contact deletes a record you must still keep.
The clock also outlives the vendor relationship. A firm that leaves its free plan in year two still owes the older records for the rest of their period. Our books and records retention calculator gives the keep-until date for a record type and fiscal year end.
Exam production: what the export has to hand over
When exam staff ask for a client's communications, the rule sets the standard for what you hand over. It is easy to miss on any CRM, free or paid, because nobody opens the export until the day it matters.
An export is how a free CRM meets that line, and all three free plans state one. They differ in what comes out.
The free-plan exports, as the vendors describe them
| CRM | Plans | Format | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capsule CRM | All plans | Three CSV files: contacts, opportunities, projects | Notes and email history included; attachments excluded |
| HubSpot CRM | All products and plans | CSV, XLS or XLSX | Needs export permission; notes and emails not described |
| Zoho CRM | Every edition | Module data export | Data backups start on Starter; format not stated |
Vendors’ help and editions pages, read October 22, 2026
A spreadsheet of contacts is not a client file. If a recommendation went out as a PDF attached to a CRM email, an export that leaves attachments behind does not hand over the record. Run the export once before you rely on the CRM, and note in your written policies where attachments live. The books and records checklist lists the records an exam is likely to touch, so you can see which of them sit in the CRM.
Archiving: the duplicate copy lives somewhere else
The same paragraph of the rule asks an adviser to “[s]eparately store, for the time required for preservation of the original record, a duplicate copy of the record” (204-2(g)(2)(iii)). None of the three free plans names a connection to an archiving vendor, and none says it keeps a second copy for you. On a free CRM, the duplicate copy has to come from somewhere else.
For a small RIA the natural place is the email system. If client advice goes out from your firm mailbox and an email archive captures that mailbox, the CRM can stay a working tool and the archive holds the copy. Advice typed only into a CRM and sent from inside it is the case to plan for: check whether the CRM sends through your mailbox (Capsule's free plan says it uses “your Gmail or Outlook account”) or through its own servers. Our email archiving comparison reads the archives built for that copy.
Using a 14- or 30-day trial to test the record jobs
A trial is usually spent on screens and pipelines. Spend the first two days of it on the six tests below instead. Each one maps to a duty the adviser books-and-records rule puts on records kept electronically, and each takes minutes with a test client.
Six tests to run during a CRM trial
| Test | How to run it | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Pull one client’s whole file | Load a test household with notes, a logged email and an attachment, then find all of it from one search. | 204-2(g)(2)(i) |
| Run the full export on day one | Export everything, open the file on your own machine, and look for the notes, the email and the attachment. | 204-2(g)(2)(ii) |
| Edit, then delete, a test note | Look for a trace of both changes: who, when, and what the note said before. | 204-2(g)(3)(i) |
| Make an assistant login | Give it the narrowest role, then try to see account numbers and to export. Both should be refused. | 204-2(g)(3)(ii); 248.30(a)(1) |
| Send a test email from the CRM | Confirm it lands in your email archive without anyone forwarding it. | 204-2(g)(2)(iii) |
| Ask for the contract | Read the breach-notice clause against the 72 hours Regulation S-P asks your vendor policies to secure. | 248.30(a)(5)(i)(B) |
17 CFR 275.204-2(g)(2)-(3); 17 CFR 248.30(a)(1), (a)(5)
Run the same six tests on a free plan before you load real clients. Down to the two adviser CRMs with trials that most small firms shortlist? Our Redtail vs Wealthbox comparison reads them side by side.
Six habits that make a free CRM defensible
A free plan is a reasonable start for a new firm if the jobs it leaves out are carried somewhere on purpose. These six habits do that. None is a promise of compliance; each one closes a gap the table shows.
- 01Send client advice from your firm mailbox, which your email archive captures, and let the CRM hold the working note.204-2(a)(7); (g)(2)(iii)
- 02Never delete a client or former client to stay under a cap. Upgrade, or export and file first.204-2(e)(1)
- 03Run the full export on a set day each quarter, open it, and keep it where your records live. Whether it can serve as the duplicate copy is a question for your compliance counsel.204-2(g)(2)(ii)-(iii)
- 04Give every person their own login, turn on two-factor sign-in where the vendor offers it (Capsule’s security page does), and use the narrowest role the plan allows.204-2(g)(3)(ii); 248.30(a)(1)
- 05Write the CRM into your policies: which records it holds, where attachments live, and who may export.248.30(a)(1)
- 06Read the vendor’s terms for breach notice, the same as you would for a paid CRM.248.30(a)(5)(i)(B)
The client data in a free CRM is covered by Regulation S-P the same as in a paid one: an SEC-registered adviser or broker-dealer keeps written policies that “address administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the protection of customer information” (17 CFR 248.30(a)(1)). Our Regulation S-P guide covers the vendor-notice duty and the rest of the 2024 amendments.
When a free plan stops fitting
Free plans end for reasons that have nothing to do with features you want and everything to do with the ones the rule needs. These are the drivers that move a small firm onto a paid plan.
- A second or third adviserEvery free plan here caps users; a new hire can end the plan on the first day.
- Client countContact caps meet the retention clock; deleting records to make room is not an option while their period runs.
- Change logs and backupsZoho lists audit logs and data backups from Starter, so on its plans the record controls are among the first paid features.
- Archiving connectionNone of the three free plans names one; the adviser CRMs that do name an archive offer no free plan.
- Moving laterLeaving a free plan is a migration: export, check, import, and keep the old export for the rest of its period.
If you are setting up a new practice, put the CRM in the budget next to archiving and compliance help; our RIA startup cost estimator lays out those lines, and the guide to starting an RIA puts them in order. Firms already past one adviser should read the CRM comparison for wealth management firms instead.
Each vendor, read against the rule
Zoho CRM
General CRM, free edition- What it is
- A general CRM sold in editions from Free upward. Its editions table lists the free edition as “Free for 3 users”, with notes, call logs, profiles, roles and module data export included, and audit logs, the BCC email dropbox and data backups starting on the paid Starter edition.
- Who it fits
- A one-adviser RIA, or two or three people, who want record permissions from the first day and will keep client email and its archive in the mail system. Its pages make no financial-services, SEC or FINRA claim.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialMeets“Free for 3 users”
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costPartialNotes on Free; email dropbox paid
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costNot statedAudit logs start on Starter
- Feeds an archiving vendorNot stated
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costMeetsProfiles and roles on Free
- Full data export, at no costPartialModule export on every edition
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersNot statedNo financial-services wording
- Not verified by us
- A sample module export and which notes, emails and attachments it carries; whether anything records edits on the free edition; how long a deleted record can be restored; the breach-notice terms in its service agreement.
Capsule CRM
General small-business CRM- What it is
- A general small-business CRM. Its own guide for advisers says it does not come with built-in financial planning or compliance features. The pricing page offers a free plan (“Maximum 2 users”), and its help pages offer a full account export on all plans: CSV files for contacts, opportunities and projects, without file attachments.
- Who it fits
- A one- or two-person advisory team that wants a plain contact and pipeline tool and already has archiving and compliance handled elsewhere, and that wants a clean way out when it moves on.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialMeets“Maximum 2 users”
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costPartialEmail Sync is a Growth feature
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costCheck with vendorLogging claimed; plan not stated
- Feeds an archiving vendorNot stated
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costNot statedAccess controls on Growth only
- Full data export, at no costPartialCSV export, no attachments
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersPartialNo built-in compliance features
- Not verified by us
- What its security page means by “Every action is logged”: whether customers can see that log, on which plan, and whether it records deletions; how a firm retrieves attachments the export leaves out.
Wealthbox
Adviser CRM- What it is
- A CRM made for financial advisers, from Wealthbox, LLC. Its security page describes an activity history of record changes and permissions set by role, including who may export data. Its pricing page offers a 14-day free trial; no free plan is listed.
- Who it fits
- A solo adviser up to a firm with hundreds of users, by its own account, with audience pages for RIAs, broker-dealers, OSJs, banks, trust companies and family offices. Firms that custody at Schwab, Fidelity or Altruist will find those links named.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialNot stated14-day trial; no free plan
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costPartialNote archiving listed
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costMeetsTracks changes to records
- Feeds an archiving vendorPartialMyRepChat and Comply listed
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costMeetsRoles decide who exports
- Full data export, at no costPartialData Portability listed
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsMeetsSchwab, Fidelity, eMoney named
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsSolo advisers to broker-dealers
- Not verified by us
- A sample full-account export and its file format; whether the activity history records deletions, and for how long; which email archiver it feeds; the breach-notice terms in its service contract.
HubSpot CRM
General CRM, free tier- What it is
- A general CRM whose product page calls its free tools “100% free with no expiration date”, “with up to two users”. The free list includes communication history and email tracking. Its knowledge base says records export to CSV, XLS or XLSX on all products and plans, for users with export permission.
- Who it fits
- An adviser who is mostly tracking prospects and wants a sales pipeline at no cost. Its pages name no custodian, planning tool or archiver, and make no SEC or FINRA claim.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialMeets“100% free”, “up to two users”
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costPartialHistory view, email tracking
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costCheck with vendorProperty history only
- Feeds an archiving vendorNot stated
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costCheck with vendorPermission sets on Starter
- Full data export, at no costPartialCSV or Excel, all plans
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsNot stated
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersNot statedNo financial-services wording
- Not verified by us
- Which user permissions the free tier carries (permission sets are listed on Starter); whether property history covers every field and deletions, and for how long; whether one export carries notes and logged emails with each contact.
Redtail CRM
Adviser CRM- What it is
- An adviser CRM with add-ons for email (Redtail Email, which archives every client email), texting (Speak) and document imaging. Its CRM page names Orion and says the firm is SOC 2 Type II certified. Its home page offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, for new users only; a free plan is not stated.
- Who it fits
- Solo practices through broker-dealers, by its own audience tabs. The broker-dealer tab talks about supervising communication and automating review; the texting add-on carries the footnote that it is subject to broker-dealer approval.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialNot stated30-day trial, new users only
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costMeetsIts email add-on archives all
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costPartialSays it keeps audit trails
- Feeds an archiving vendorPartialIts own email archive only
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costNot stated
- Full data export, at no costNot statedImport named, export not
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsMeetsOrion, Schwab, eMoney
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsSolo practices to broker-dealers
- Not verified by us
- Its list of user permission roles; a sample full-account export and its format; how Redtail Email stores archived mail, and its SEC 17a-4(f) attestation if a broker-dealer will rely on that archive.
Salesforce Agentforce Financial Services
Enterprise CRM- What it is
- Salesforce's wealth-management edition, formerly Financial Services Cloud, with a household view that pulls CRM data and financial systems into one desktop. The page offers a 30-day trial of Financial Services Cloud with no credit card and no installations.
- Who it fits
- RIAs first; the FAQ says its adviser accelerator is best suited to RIAs with 25 employees or fewer, and also names broker-dealers and investment managers. Expect a configuration project, not a sign-up, which a 30-day trial will only start.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Free plan, not only a trialNot stated30-day trial; no free plan
- Keeps client emails with the record, at no costNot stated
- Logs edits and deletions, at no costNot statedHistory sits in the Shield add-on
- Feeds an archiving vendorNot stated
- Roles limit who sees client data, at no costNot stated
- Full data export, at no costNot stated
- Custodian and planning-software integrationsPartialCustodians, none named
- Says it is built for RIAs or broker-dealersMeetsRIAs with 25 or fewer staff
- Not verified by us
- The wealth page names none of the record columns: ask for its field-history and audit-trail settings, permission documentation, export format, and the custodians it connects to.
How we read these vendors
Questions firms ask
Can an RIA use a free CRM?
Rule 204-2 does not name software or rule out a free plan. It applies to every investment adviser registered or required to be registered with the SEC, and it attaches duties to records kept electronically: arrange and index them, produce them promptly, keep a separate duplicate copy, safeguard them from loss, alteration or destruction, and limit access. A free CRM can be used if those duties are met, by the CRM or by something beside it. State-registered advisers follow their state's rules, which this page does not cover; check with your compliance counsel.
17 CFR 275.204-2(a), (g)(2)-(3)
Is a free CRM’s export enough to hand to an examiner?
Only if it carries the record. The rule asks for a legible, true and complete copy of the record in the medium and format in which it is stored. Capsule's own help page says its full export leaves out file attachments, so a recommendation sent as an attachment has to be kept somewhere else as well.
17 CFR 275.204-2(g)(2)(ii)(A)
Does a free CRM replace an email archive?
Not on the pages we read: none of the three free plans names an archiving connection or offers to keep a second copy. The adviser rule asks for a separately stored duplicate copy for the full retention period. It does not ask advisers for WORM storage.
17 CFR 275.204-2(g)(2)(iii)
What happens to the records if we stop using the free plan?
Your duty does not stop with the plan. Most records are kept for not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year of the last entry, the first two in an appropriate office of the adviser. Export everything before you close the account, check the export opens and is complete, and keep it for the rest of each record's period.
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1)
Can a broker-dealer rep use a free CRM?
Ask your broker-dealer first. A member firm keeps all communications relating to its business as such for three years, the first two in an easily accessible place, preserves its FINRA records in a format and media that complies with SEA Rule 17a-4, and supervises through written procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance. Those procedures are where the answer lives, whatever the CRM costs.
17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4); FINRA Rules 4511(c), 3110(b)(1)