How we picked
Indie hackers buy software with their own money and configure it between shipping features. So the bar here is different from a funded startup: the CRM has to be useful for one person on day one, cost little or nothing until there's revenue, and never demand an admin. We prioritized free or solo-priced tiers, sub-hour setup, automatic data entry over manual logging, and clean exports so you're never locked in. Tools that only make sense with a sales team — or that gate basics behind a 3-seat minimum — were ruled out.
What to consider
- Tracking beta users and design partners → Attio. Its flexible objects let you model "users," "feedback," and "interviews" however your product works, and enrichment fills company details automatically.
- Selling through DMs, Twitter/X, and communities → folk. Contact-first design with a browser extension that pulls people in from social profiles, plus light sequences for warm follow-ups.
- Chasing your first real sales → noCRM.io. Built around the next action on each lead, so nothing rots in an inbox — ideal when you're context-switching between code and customers.
- Wanting a clean visual pipeline → Pipedrive. The most legible drag-and-drop stages if you think in deals.
- Bundling CRM + email marketing → HubSpot Free. One free login covers contacts, forms, and basic email so you don't buy a second tool.
Pricing snapshot
The relevant tiers run from $0 to roughly $30/seat/mo. Attio and HubSpot have free plans that survive a solo founder for a long time; noCRM.io starts near €12/user/mo; Pipedrive opens at $14/seat/mo billed annually. The trap to watch is multi-seat minimums and marketing add-ons — as a team of one you should never pay for capacity you can't use.
Setup without a sales ops person
The whole point is that you set this up yourself in an afternoon. Import contacts from a CSV or Gmail, create one pipeline (or just a list), and wire a single Zapier or native automation so new signups land in the CRM automatically. Skip custom fields until a real workflow demands them — over-configuring a CRM is the classic indie time sink. The right setup is the smallest one that stops you from forgetting a follow-up.