The 7 best client management apps in 2025

The more clients you win, the more taxing it becomes to track, contact, and manage all of them. If you're here, you've probably learned firsthand that email and spreadsheets can only get you so far, and you've decided it's time to look at dedicated client management software. Good choice. 

The market is flooded with CRMs and lead management tools, so I sifted through the top offerings—all of which have been vetted and tested by the Zapier team—and put together a list of standout apps that make managing and maintaining client relationships easier—both for existing and prospective customers.

The 7 best client management tools

• Zoho CRM for AI-powered client management

• monday CRM for customizable dashboards

• Zapier for automation

• HubSpot for an all-in-one client management platform

• Freshsales for sales-driven businesses

• Vtiger CRM for a free client management app

• Capsule for ease of use

What makes the best client management app?

Client management apps are often synonymous with customer relationship management software (CRMs). While these terms are used interchangeably, client management apps have a somewhat narrower focus on client-facing processes: storing contact information, tracking interactions, analyzing client data, and streamlining communication. 

This means client management apps may be slightly less comprehensive than sales-oriented CRMs that focus on closing deals. But at the same time, some of the top CRMs work really well for client management. Whatever you choose to call it, a strong client management tool needs to excel in the following areas:

• Contact management: These apps should be centered on fast, efficient contact and lead management, with multiple communication channels, file sharing, meeting scheduling, client portals, and customer support features. Internally, client information should be accessible through a centralized hub.

• User experience: Client management apps should be easy to use, and tools with steeper learning curves should have guides, tutorials, and customer support to aid the process. Even if an app has robust CRM functionality, its interface and client-facing features should be intuitive.

• Reporting and analytics: The more data you have on your clients, the easier it is to manage your relationships with them. The best client management tools give you access to an analytics dashboard where you can view and analyze customer information and interactions. (Bonus points for features like AI-powered intent scoring.) 

• Automations and integrations: Apps should give you access to time-saving automations for repetitive tasks, either through Zapier or native integrations to other apps.

Every app on this list has appeared in a Zapier best apps list before, which means they've been double- and sometimes even triple-vetted. This time, I wanted to focus on which options work best for client management specifically, so I got feedback from executives, read countless user reviews, and did testing of my own to put together this roundup. 

The best client management software at a glance

Best AI-powered client management tool

Zoho CRM (Web, iOS, Android)

Zoho CRM pros:

• Comprehensive client management feature set

• Integrates with the full Zoho suite

• Resourceful AI assistant

Zoho CRM cons:

• Has a bit of a learning curve

Zoho has carved out a Texas-sized chunk of the cloud software space, and Zoho CRM is a good example of what they do so well: offer powerful, feature-rich apps that integrate seamlessly with every other app in the Zohosphere (my term, not theirs). 

Zoho CRM gives you the tools to manage even the most complex sales pipelines and customer lifecycles, but it earned its place on this list for its client management features. It's a one-stop shop for all your customer information, interactions, transactions, and shared documents. 

Even on Zoho's fairly basic Standard plan, you'll get full logs of client communication, live chat and site visitor tracking, and social media management. Other popular CRMs, like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, require you to jump to a costly Pro plan to get access to these same features. 

Speaking of prices, Zoho CRM's Enterprise plan ($50/user/month) gets you a lot of bang for your buck. On top of client portal tools and tons of customization options, you'll also gain access to Zia, Zoho's impressive AI assistant. You can talk to Zia over chat or voice call and ask her (it?) to predict sales, extract info from emails, suggest workflow tweaks, and even identify client needs based on how they interact with you. 

Zoho CRM can integrate with over 500 tools (including more than 55 Zoho apps), but you can extend that number into the thousands if you connect Zoho CRM with Zapier. Zapier integrations let you automate tasks like adding new form submissions to Zoho CRM as leads. Learn more about how to automate Zoho CRM, or check out one of the pre-made workflows below. 

Zoho CRM pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $20/user/month for the Standard plan

Best client management software for customizable dashboards

monday CRM (Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android)

monday CRM pros:

• Highly customizable

• User-friendly interface

• One-click automations

monday CRM cons:

• Per-seat pricing has a three-seat minimum

monday CRM is monday.com's client management solution. It's intuitive, snappy, and as customization-friendly as business software can get. While it's definitely a sales-oriented app, you can use the drag-and-drop editor to create dashboards tailored to your client management processes, whether that means customer support, deal pipelines, project tracking, or all of the above.

Ease of use is a big selling point here, and on top of a beginner-friendly interface, monday CRM gives you one-click, code-free automations that can enable push notifications, auto-assign tasks, and send date reminders when trigger events occur. Its AI assistant also handles repetitive tasks like task generation, writing emails to clients, and data organization.

Daniel Shapiro, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and brand relationships at Red Points, says he prefers monday.com because "it allows us to manage client projects efficiently, track tasks in real time, and ensure smooth collaboration across teams. The platform's versatility is a huge benefit as we work with a wide range of partners."

Unfortunately, monday doesn't offer any kind of free plan, so you'll have to settle for the 14-day trial to get a feel for the software. And if you do sign up, be aware that even the cheapest plan (Basic) has a three-seat minimum, which means this probably won't be the right app for solopreneurs or small businesses.

Connecting monday CRM with other apps takes just a few clicks, and there are over 200 native integrations currently available. For apps not supported natively, you can connect monday with Zapier and gain access to time-saving automations like creating columns on monday CRM for new Google Ads leads. Learn more about how to automate monday, or try one of these workflow templates to get started.

monday CRM pricing: From $45/month for three seats on the Basic plan 

Best client management tool for automation

Zapier (Web)

Zapier pros:

• Build custom, no-code client management tools from templates

• Simple, functional, and easy to personalize

Zapier cons:

• Limited CRM features out of the box

If you want an automation-focused client management app, you can build your own with Zapier Interfaces, which lets you create no-code apps using templates and pre-made components like lead dashboards and contact lists. You can start with Zapier's simple CRM template—it includes a form to enter client info, a Zapier Tables datasheet to store that info, a lead tracker, and automations that trigger when you update a contact's status.

This template doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the other apps on this list, but it covers basic client-related tasks like contact management and helps you move leads toward closing by automating follow-up emails and other communication. 

It's also highly customizable, so you can expand it with other customer-centric features (like a client portal) and create additional no-code automations that trigger when a lead's status changes. These could be as simple as notifying your team when new prospects are added or as robust as building AI-powered workflows that send lead info and data to other apps in your stack and trigger multiple client management events.

Zapier makes it easy connect with more than 7,000 apps, so while the template doesn't come equipped with robust CRM functionality, you can always add extra features by integrating with apps that handle email, SMS, data analytics, project management, and anything else you can think of. Just be aware that you'll already need to be using (and likely paying for) these apps to integrate them with Zapier.

Here are a couple templates that can get you started.

Client Portal Template

Your all-in-one hub for client projects, tasks, documents, and forms with a custom chatbot.

Try it

Simple CRM Template

A Simple CRM, without all the bells and whistles.

Try it

Zapier pricing: Free plan available for 2 interfaces; advanced features start at $20/month

Best all-in-one client management platform

HubSpot (Web, iOS, Android)

HubSpot pros:

• High degree of scalability

• Wide variety of integrations

• Great customer support and help content

HubSpot cons:

• Complicated pricing 

Not every client management app deserves to call itself a platform, but HubSpot definitely does. Its Customer Platform plans give you a comprehensive foundation to develop and manage client relationships across every area of your business, including marketing, sales, customer service, content, operations, and commerce.

James Hacking, founder of Socially Powerful, says, "HubSpot's all-in-one functionality is what sets it apart. It combines client tracking, email marketing, and analytics seamlessly. The pipeline feature is particularly valuable, allowing us to monitor progress at every stage and maintain clear communication with clients."

This doesn't mean you have to use (or pay for) every one of HubSpot's features. It's a highly modular platform, so you can pick and choose which services (Hubs) you want based on your business's needs and even create your own bundles with custom toolkits. But for client management purposes, the Customer Platform bundles provide the best value since they get you all the Hubs at a discounted price.

HubSpot is also super scalable—just add or upgrade Hubs as your business grows. The flip side of all this freedom and modularity is that the pricing can be confusing. It isn't always clear why some bundles cost less than others, and plans quickly become expensive when you want to unlock more Hubs or upgrade to Professional and Enterprise-level plans. Thankfully, you can give HubSpot's rather bare-bones free plan a try before committing to a subscription.

For anything that HubSpot doesn't do, you'll want to turn to its library of nearly 2,000 integrations. And you can do even more when you connect HubSpot with Zapier, which lets you automatically add HubSpot contacts to email lists, get notifications for new HubSpot form submissions, and much more. Learn more about how to automate HubSpot, or get started with one of these workflows.

HubSpot pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $20/seat/month for the Starter Customer Platform plan

Best client management software for sales-driven businesses

Freshsales (Web, iOS, Android)

Freshsales pros:

• Automated lead enrichment and sales pipelines

• Intuitive interface

• Powerful AI features

Freshsales cons:

• Limited customization options

Any CRM worth its monthly subscription fee will help you move leads through the sales funnel, but if you're scaling a sales-driven business, you'll need more than the standard client management toolkit. As its name suggests, Freshsales makes sales priority number one, and that's why the app has features like lead enrichment, intent scoring, and automated sales pipelines to help you close deals (and close them quickly). 

Once you've imported your contacts into Freshsales, you can use its AI assistant, Freddy, to automatically score leads based on their interactions and behavior, making it easier to focus your efforts on prospects with promise. Freddy can also manage calendars, draft personalized email sequences, and make deal recommendations so you're never stuck wondering which opportunities to pursue.  

While this app does prioritize deal-closing, we all know that's only one stage of the customer journey. Freshsales has a host of client-facing features to help you maintain and strengthen your relationships with existing customers. You'll be able to store and access client info in the Contacts hub, where you can see upcoming tasks, meetings, and active support tickets and access any files you've shared with clients via email. 

Freshsales advertises itself as an all-in-one contact management software, and it's exactly that. But if all this functionality sounds like a lot to deal with, you'll be happy to know it's a highly intuitive app with a support team users rave about. 

In terms of integrations, Freshsales (like Zoho) can be connected to a larger software ecosystem called Freshworks, but you'll have to pay for each app in the Freshworks suite separately. Or you can connect Freshsales with Zapier to integrate it seamlessly with the software you use on a daily basis. This will let you do things like automatically add new Freshsales contacts to your Google Ads customer list. Get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Freshsales pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $11/user/month for the Growth plan

Best free client management app 

Vtiger CRM (Web, iOS, Android)

Vtiger CRM pros:

• One platform for client management, sales, and customer support

• Feature-rich free plan

Vtiger CRM cons:

• Feature set can be overwhelming

Vtiger is a comprehensive CRM that combines sales functionality with customer support, marketing, project management, and client management. But this isn't one of those "jack of all trades, master of none" situations: Vtiger has a reputation as one of the best CRMs for small businesses on the market. 

"Best" and "free" don't typically go together, but Vtiger's no-cost One Pilot plan is seriously impressive. It gives you access to nearly all of the app's client management features, including a full view of contact information, interactions, and profile scores. On top of this, you get basic email functionality, project management, document collaboration, and marketing automation—the list goes on.

Sound overwhelming? It can be, especially if you're new to client management apps. Of course, you don't have to use all of Vtiger's many features, but they'll still be there on the interface, staring back at you. 

It's also worth mentioning that the free plan limits you to a maximum of 3,000 contacts, 10 users, and 1,000 emails per month. This should be enough for light monthly usage, but pricing is reasonable if you decide to upgrade to the One Growth plan ($15/month/user). And if you don't want a set plan, you can purchase individual add-ons like API calls or extra data reports.

As for integrations, you'll have to jump two levels up from the free plan to get much beyond Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. That means no Zapier compatibility unless you're on the One Professional plan or higher. But if you connect Zapier with Vtiger, you can connect Vtiger to thousands of other apps. Learn more about how to automate Vtiger, or get started with one of these workflows.

Vtiger CRM pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $15/user/month for the One Growth plan

Best client management software for ease of use

Capsule (Web, iOS, Android)

Capsule pros:

• Clean, easy-to-use interface

• Project boards add task management functionality

Capsule cons:

• Less functionality than other client management apps

While many CRMs have free or otherwise affordable basic plans, a lot of them lock their best features behind plans geared toward enterprise-level businesses. Capsule, on the other hand, has been built from the ground up for small businesses: it's simple, fast, and super easy to implement.

You won't have to empty your bank account to get the most out of Capsule, as the Starter plan gets you access to a wide range of client and task management tools. Outside of automated workflows and some advanced reporting features, the only real reason to jump to higher tiers is to increase your maximum number of contacts (you're limited to 30,000 on the Starter plan).

As far as managing clients goes, Capsule's greatest strength is its interface. No other app on this list is as easy to navigate. All your customer information gets stored in one location—just click on a contact's name and you'll see their communication history, notes, relevant files, and social media links. Other client management software may work the same way, but Capsule has the least cluttered interface of the bunch and takes only a few minutes to set up.

Capsule also doubles as a task and project manager, with easy-to-use project boards that can be shared with your team. But if you really want to expand its possibilities, you can use Zapier's Capsule integrations to connect it with thousands of other apps, letting you do things like creating Capsule contacts from Calendly invites. Here are a few other workflows to try out.

Capsule pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $21/user/month for the Starter plan

Automate client management with Zapier

The best client management app is the one you can easily implement, use to keep your customers happy, and afford. What that looks like will depend on your goals, KPIs, client types, and budget, but the choices on this list should at least point you in the right direction. Plus, they all have free plans or trials, so you know what you're getting before you dip into your funds.

Once you make your pick, you can use Zapier to automate your client management workflows and integrate with all the other apps in your stack.

Related reading:

• The best free CRM software

• The best CRMs for small business

• The best CRM software to manage your leads and customers

• The beginner's guide to CRM