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Insightly CRM vs Salesforce Essentials comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Insightly CRM
Ranking in CRM
25th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Essentials
Ranking in CRM
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the CRM category, the mindshare of Insightly CRM is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Essentials is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
CRM
 

Featured Reviews

Micah Oren Feldkamp - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly scalable, easy to use, flexible, and affordable
In terms of areas for improvement in Insightly, it would be the project management functionality. It can be integrated with other applications to make it more flexible, but it requires a lot of work redoing the framework from Insightly and creating more custom objects to make it do what you want. For example, in the software developer world, we use the Agile or Scrum methodology, which has a completely different project management system than Insightly. Sadly, Insightly doesn't support that well. You would need to create some custom objects in order for that to work correctly. Also, even without the Scrub methodology or other types of project management styles, Insightly needs support with how it manages its pipelines and activity sets. The access to making templated tasks is very limited. If Insightly could expand access to activity sets and create more flexible project management features, that would be a big win for the CRM. The things I would like to see as a developer and as a consultant for my clients would be more integration and more updates with the project management. When it comes to additional features, I would like to see the ability to connect other data sources inside the dashboard reporting. For example, if you would like to see your sales organization and how many activities you made on a contact, how many phone calls, emails, text messages, etc., Insightly should be able to show that information in the opportunity or the sales report. That would be very valuable, to get data from the contact, not from the opportunity, and see those data points together. Right now, they are silent. There is just a data opportunity report and a contact report. Insightly should put some type of API connection or integration to update the activity into the opportunity record to link it so you would be able to see it. Right now it is siloed but it would be useful to create API connections to automate that so that salespeople don't have to link it to the contact and the opportunity. The AI connection of automation should do that for you like in other software systems.
Srini-Dhanaraj - PeerSpot reviewer
Manages service requests and dispatches engineers to resolve issues
I work from home for a heater manufacturing company. They wanted to move away from their current SAP CRM system to Salesforce. There is a fulfillment process, which involves taking an order, delivering it, and providing service. Salesforce is used to manage the order-taking process. Once an order is taken, the backend system, SAP ERP, handles product manufacturing, delivery, and installation. After installation, the Service Cloud in Salesforce takes over for ongoing service management. Once your order is confirmed, integration with the SAP ERP backend will be seamless. The system takes the sales order from Salesforce and starts processing it for procurement, starting with creating a production order, manufacturing, and then delivery. Once the product is delivered, this information is passed back to Salesforce Service Cloud. In the Service Cloud, a service engineer receives a notification indicating that a product needs to be delivered to a specific location for installation. The engineer then inspects and installs the product at the designated site. SAP ERP manages the product manufacturing and delivery processes. After the product is delivered to the customer, Salesforce Service Cloud takes over. It manages service requests and dispatches engineers to resolve issues reported by customers. Service Cloud captures the information and creates an incident record when a customer reports a product fault. Engineers receive this information and promptly visit the client site to fix the issue. The solution is easy to implement. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the speed of adoption, the simple user interface, and the flexibility of use."
"Salesforce makes tracking every product and customer activity easy, enabling managers to monitor their products, such as key products and their peak performance."
"The CRM system has SAP Sales, SAP Service, and SAP Billing, with everything integrated into an on-premise SAP CRM system. Salesforce Essentials replaced this on-premise system, bringing all functionalities onto the cloud platform."
"Salesforce provides the best they have with the current version. Most of the features we need are already there, and it's very easy to use."
"The solution is very scalable and flexible. It can be customized as per the business need."
"The solution helps to track the performance of salespersons before closing deals."
"The most important feature is how Salesforce Essentials brings together information from multiple channels. The nature of our complex custom product data has been challenging due to our manufacturing nature. Salesforce also allowed business processes like finance, credit lines, customer complaints, and quality issues to integrate seamlessly. I haven’t used the mobile app functionality, because we haven't fully utilized because of our preferance of more personal interactions over using mobile apps."
"I've found the product's basic AI functionalities, such as predictive analytics and workflow automation useful for optimizing processes and improving productivity."
"The product is stable."
 

Cons

"Project management in Insightly could use some improvement. It can be integrated with other applications to make it more flexible, but it requires a lot of work redoing the framework from Insightly and creating more custom objects to make it do what you want."
"I have seen Salesforce evaluate a lot of AI and analytics into that. But as an end user, I don’t have that much input."
"The product's reporting area has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Improvements in connectivity issues, especially for the online version, would enhance the user experience for the product."
"Salesforce Essentials does not contain domain-specific solutions."
"The primary area for improvement in Salesforce Essentials is its pricing. There are other competitors, like Zoho CRM, that offer similar features at a lower cost."
"Less integration would be better. It should work independently."
"The solution's UI is not user-friendly."
"Integrating Salesforce with SAP, considering our business relies heavily on SAP for ERP, has been quite challenging due to the intricate product configurations. Unlike standard products like computers with a few options, our products have hundreds of configurable options, making the integration complex. If such integration were possible, it would have been easier to understand the unique nature of our industry and the limited number of customers who buy steel products, unlike consumer electronics."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is on the higher side, especially with additional costs for professional services like consultants."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"Salesforce Essentials is quite expensive, almost 10 out of 10. I don't have the exact cost, but we found it to be very expensive based on our budget constraints."
"I rate Salesforce Essentials' pricing an eight out of ten."
"We chose quarterly payments."
"It's a perpetual license, and the subscription can be expensive."
"The pricing is a bit on the expensive side."
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Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Insightly CRM?
The most valuable feature is the speed of adoption, the simple user interface, and the flexibility of use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Insightly CRM?
The pricing of Insightly is great. If you buy annually on enterprise, it's $100 per user monthly, so the limit is $1200 for enterprise per user. That is how high it goes and it's fair. It is afford...
What needs improvement with Insightly CRM?
In terms of areas for improvement in Insightly, it would be the project management functionality. It can be integrated with other applications to make it more flexible, but it requires a lot of wor...
What do you like most about Salesforce Essentials?
Salesforce provides the best they have with the current version. Most of the features we need are already there, and it's very easy to use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Essentials?
The costs associated with Salesforce Essentials are substantial, which is a drawback compared to competitors who offer similar services for less.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Essentials?
The primary area for improvement in Salesforce Essentials is its pricing. There are other competitors, like Zoho CRM ( /products/zoho-crm-reviews ), that offer similar features at a lower cost. Sal...
 

Comparisons

No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kings, Savanta, Nimble, 4over, Annexus Health, Atlanta Eats, Book Fuel
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP and others in CRM. Updated: May 2025.
850,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.