Salesforce vs EspoCRM

Fit:

Migration notes

Core contact/sales records overlap with paid CRM use cases; reporting, workflows, quotes and integrations can require paid packs. Migration requires mapping source data and customizations; no verified one-click full migration.

Sources: www.espocrm.com, www.espocrm.com · checked 2026-10-21

SalesforcePaid incumbent

Entry priceUSD 25 / seat / month

Pricing modelper-seat, billed monthly

OwnerSalesforce, Inc.

Starter Suite $25 USD/user/month, billed monthly or annually. Higher Sales Cloud editions and add-ons extra; Free Suite also exists. Source

Salesforce plans reviewed
Starter Suite	entry	USD 25 / user / mo
Pro Suite	business	USD 1,200 / user / yr
Sales Cloud Max	enterprise	USD 6,600 / user / yr

EspoCRMOpen-source alternative

Fit for Salesforce

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceNetwork use is distributionSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier C

Self-host

Paid-feature limits3 noted

EspoCRM plans reviewed
EspoCRM core	free self-hosted core	Free
Basic	vendor commercial cloud	USD 15 / user / mo
Enterprise	vendor commercial cloud	USD 25 / user / mo

What you may give up

Advanced Pack reports, workflows and business process management
Sales Pack quotes, invoices, products/pricing and inventory
Official Google/Outlook integrations sold as extensions

Tier C: Core is AGPL, but everyday reporting/automation and quoting need paid proprietary extensions. Extension terms require renewal after licensed period, not merely payment for updates. License source

What running it takes

PHP8.3–8.5 plus documented extensions
Cron / scheduled background jobs

Hover or focus an icon for its name. Dashed means not established; struck through means no; grouped icons are alternatives.

Native PHP+SQL path or Docker-based installer. Redis/external queue not required by default docs. Script supplies Nginx/MariaDB; PHP memory_limit256M is per-process configuration, not server-RAM minimum. Infrastructure and staff time are not priced here; this page does not compare total cost.