Pipedrive and Insightly are cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions designed to make your sales, marketing and leadership teams more efficient and effective.
While some features overlap, both tools have unique strengths that may suit specific business needs better than the others.
Choosing the right CRM can prove a real challenge, so we created this Pipedrive vs. Insightly comparison guide to help you reap the benefits of an excellent sales app quickly. Learn how each tool performs in areas like core CRM functionality, user-friendliness and customization.
Pipedrive vs. Insightly: at a glance
Pipedrive is an award-winning CRM that helps sales teams manage their pipelines and grow revenue.
Suitable for businesses of all sizes, Pipedrive lets you track leads, organize deals, monitor sales performance and automate various sales activities.
Pipedrive’s key features include contact management, automation, deal tracking and sales reporting.
Users can also expand the cloud-based software’s capabilities with add-ons and third-party integrations – ideal for a growing company.
Insightly is a cloud-based CRM platform that lets businesses manage their sales, projects and customer interactions. Small and medium-sized enterprises can leverage its tools for lead and contact management, opportunity tracking, basic project management and workflow automation.
Insightly’s CRM features include customizable pipelines, task and calendar management, collaboration tools and sales reporting. Like Pipedrive, it integrates with a range of popular business applications.
Note: Insightly isn’t a dedicated CRM provider. Its CRM is part of a product range that includes Insightly Marketing, Insightly Service and Insightly AppConnect. Packaged as Insightly All-in-One, these tools cost between $349 and $2,599 monthly. In this guide, we’ll focus on the standalone Insightly CRM.
Pipedrive vs. Insightly: key features
Features that all CRM solutions must have to effectively support modern sales forces include contact and pipeline management, automation, reporting and mobile app access.
Here’s how Pipedrive and Insightly compare when it comes to core CRM functionality.
Contact management
Pipedrive | Insightly |
| Detailed view of every contact linked to organizations with activity history, attachments and a profile changelog. | Store and organize information about leads, clients and partners with activity timelines and document attachments. |
Any worthwhile CRM lets teams store, organize and quickly access data on their leads, customers, employees and partners.
Pipedrive simplifies contact management with a straightforward, centralized view of every contact’s interactions, preferences and support tickets.
The Pipedrive CRM gives you a “detail view” of every deal, person and company whose data you store. Each view contains clear information on deals, contact methods, interactions and planned sales activities.
Link people to organizations and search for records easily in Pipedrive. There’s also a changelog for tracking profile updates, giving sales reps a single up-to-date source for making informed decisions across the customer journey.
Insightly also offers contact management functionality to store and organize information about leads, clients and partners. The contact records can contain contact details, communication histories, activity timelines and relevant documents.
The maximum number of contacts you can store with Insightly varies by pricing plan. The lowest-paid Plus tier allows up to 100,000 records. Pipedrive has no usage limits for contacts.
Pipeline visibility
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Clear and fully customizable Kanban pipeline view on all tiers, letting you map your unique sales process in detail, forecast revenue and automate buyer interactions. | Kanban pipeline view for real-time visibility of each deal, along with probability-based revenue forecasting. |
A CRM’s sales pipeline view visually represents the selling process in distinct stages (e.g., lead in, contact made and sales demo scheduled).
Complete pipeline visibility is a key Pipedrive offering. You can see where your money, deals and other sales efforts are so you can hold salespeople accountable, fix bottlenecks and refine your sales strategy.
Pipedrive’s pipeline view is fully customizable even with the lowest-tier Essential plan, meaning you can tailor fields and stages to reflect your unique sales cycle. You can either create a new pipeline or use a template with common stages.
While many CRMs have pipeline views, Pipedrive goes further to help you streamline your sales.
Through automation, you can trigger actions when deals reach certain stages, like sending a follow-up email or scheduling a call. The Rotting feature notifies you when deals sit idle for too long so you can keep them moving or direct your team’s efforts elsewhere.
Download our sales pipeline course e-book
Insightly also gives users a visual overview of their sales process and the ability to track opportunities as they progress through each stage. Like Pipedrive, it uses a Kanban view. You can customize this view to suit your sales process, set up probability-based revenue forecasting and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).
Automation
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Automate various sales activities from the Advanced tier and up, such as lead nurturing and allocation, task creation, data entry and email marketing – all plans come with an AI Sales Assistant and integrations. | High-level pipeline and project management automation on all accounts and more advanced workflow automation with top-tier subscriptions. |
The best CRM systems let you automate repetitive sales activities to save time, shorten the sales cycle and increase revenue. According to our State of Sales and Marketing report, people who automate tasks are 16% more likely to hit their targets.
Pipedrive users on the Advanced plan ($34 per user per month, billed annually) can automate a wide range of repetitive admin tasks to free time, including:
Lead nurturing and assignment
Task creation
Data entry
For example, you can trigger personalized emails following a new deal creation. The automation keeps your leads and prospects warm while you focus on high-priority tasks.
Pipedrive’s integrations unlock further automation opportunities on all plans. For instance, Pipedrive can automatically update the tasks in your project management software to reflect deal status changes. It can even deliver updates to your team’s favorite messaging apps.
The automated AI Sales Assistant smartly adapts to your needs and helps optimize your workflow with timely notifications, reports, tips and insights.
Insightly offers three automation methods across its pricing tiers.
All accounts include pipeline and activity sets (i.e., high-level pipeline and project management automations).
Basic workflow automation is available with top-tier plans, while advanced workflow automation – through the Recipes feature – comes with an AppConnect subscription. AppConnect plans range from $249 to $3,499 per account per month, depending on the number of automated tasks you run.
Sales reporting
Pipedrive | Insightly |
| Interactive, shareable dashboards make CRM data accessible to all users and stakeholders, with customizability for tracking KPIs and other more niche sales metrics. | Customizable, configurable report and built-in intelligence dashboards – real-time sales insights available on higher pricing tiers. |
Sales reporting tools enable teams and leaders to track sales performance, find new deal opportunities and make data-driven decisions.
Pipedrive’s highly intuitive interactive dashboard makes spotting winning patterns and preempting issues easy. Your team can tweak your workflows to close more deals and keep customers coming back.
Pipedrive’s Insights dashboard lets you:
Add and sort your reports for customization
Share the dashboard in Pipedrive and with others outside of it
Show and share different reporting data in a single window
As a sales manager or business owner, you can use Pipedrive’s reporting features to monitor team performance. See who’s hitting targets and falling short, then reallocate, reward or train your staff accordingly.
Insightly’s performance-tracking features let you use any data you capture in the platform to generate dashboards and reports to monitor your strategy and team’s progress.
Every Insightly account includes a set of “standard dashboards” – non-editable Insightly-built reports showing high-level sales data. Dashboard customization is available on Insightly’s advanced plans.
Mobile CRM
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Android and iOS mobile apps offering tracked calls, focused day organizer and convenient note-taking. | Android and iOS companion app to the web app with a built-in dialer available at an extra cost. |
Mobile CRMs let users access and manage their customer data on the move, allowing them to stay up-to-date and productive from any location.
Pipedrive’s mobile app closely matches the desktop CRM experience while being easy to use on a smaller screen.
Available for iOS and Android devices, the app offers:
Call tracking and caller ID
Super search to enable seamless follow-ups
A focused day organizer
Quick notes and meeting prep functionality
The mobile version reflects your web app customizations, such as tailored reports, data fields and automation.
Pipedrive’s other mobile CRM features include voice-to-text for easy note-taking, web-to-mobile calling and offline access. There are also integrations for key mobile apps such as Google Maps and Outlook.
Insightly’s Apple and Android mobile apps give users access to contact data from anywhere. The app is a companion to the software’s web version and includes most of the same features.
Insightly’s mobile app has the Insightly Voice inbuilt dialer, which is available to Professional and Enterprise users in the US and Canada for an additional $35 per user per month.
Which is better for key CRM features?
Pipedrive and Insightly have everything a business needs to organize customer data and manage deals effectively. The main difference is the potential cost of their core features.
While Insightly offers some core basic features on its permanently free plan (limited to two users), most teams will need to pay at least $29 per user per month to map out their pipelines, build reports and access data on the go. Pipedrive offers the same functionality and more at the lowest tier – costing $14 per user per month, billed annually.
Verdict: Pipedrive offers key CRM features starting from its lowest plan.
Pipedrive vs. Insightly: user-friendliness
User-friendly CRM software enables a more efficient and streamlined sales process for your team.
Here’s how Pipedrive and Insightly stack up in three key areas of user-friendliness: onboarding, ease of use and customer support.
Onboarding
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Out-of-the-box user-friendliness with three tiers of expert onboarding support available on request | Free online guide for DIY onboarding and access to a Guided Onboarding package for $1,500 |
CRM onboarding is the process of setting up a new CRM tool. It involves configuring the system, importing user data and training people to use the software.
Pipedrive is straightforward enough for any sales team to use immediately. Pipedrive Learn, a comprehensive knowledge base filled with helpful articles and tutorials, makes it easier for small businesses to transition from other tools or methods.
Larger teams can get started straight away, while those with more complex sales processes may benefit from one of Pipedrive’s onboarding support products:
One-time onboarding: Meet with an onboarding specialist to learn best practices and strategies based on your business needs
Extended onboarding: Get one-to-one support from a customer success specialist in your first 45 days with Pipedrive
Personalized onboarding: Work with a dedicated customer success manager to create a tailored onboarding plan
Learning from Pipedrive experts will help you maximize the value of your CRM.
Insightly takes a similar approach with tailored onboarding assistance, available as a paid add-on. The Guided Onboarding package costs $1,500 and you can extend it with an ongoing Premier Support and Success Plan.
Those who prefer to set up their CRM unaided can use Insightly’s online onboarding guide.
Ease of use
Pipedrive | Insightly |
| Award-winning intuitive interface with clear menus, simple customization, easy search and the ability to switch features on and off. | Simple user interface with intuitive menus and a handy search function for finding features and records. |
An intuitive interface drives smooth CRM adoption and enables teams to manage their sales and customer data quickly and efficiently.
Pipedrive is a simple CRM that doesn’t compromise on versatility or features. It has clear menus for speedy navigation, accessible reports and visual pipelines.
You can customize the pipeline view to reflect your exact process and then easily drag and drop deals to the right stages.
It’s not just Pipedrive’s users who find the tool practical. The Motley Fool named it the “easiest to use” CRM for small businesses.
Insightly meanwhile pitches itself as “the CRM software your teams will love”.
Like Pipedrive, it has a straightforward interface that most end users will learn to navigate quickly. However, PCMag reports that the software’s “admin-level options aren’t particularly intuitive, so you may need to tap Insightly’s support team”.
Support
Pipedrive | Insightly |
A comprehensive knowledge base with community, chat, email and phone options for further advice – available around the clock in multiple languages. | Online knowledge base with customer webinars and videos, backed by email and phone support on all packages. |
Reliable and responsive customer support is vital for troubleshooting issues, addressing user questions and maximizing the value of a CRM platform.
Pipedrive’s comprehensive learning section contains a knowledge base with written guides to all features, a resourceful FAQ section and helpful video tutorials and courses.
Pipedrive’s active online community provides a space to get more details, advice and ideas from other users. Pipedrive’s support team is on hand to answer questions via live chat, email and phone, with the best method to get in touch depending on your plan.
Insightly’s Help Center features informative articles on configuring and navigating the software. The knowledge base is slightly more complex to navigate but has a search bar for finding specific topics.
Insightly users looking for additional help can contact the company via email and wait up to 24 hours or phone the support team during US office hours. The Premier Support and Success Plan reduces email response times to four hours on weekdays and expands phone support to 24 hours five days a week.
Which CRM software is better for user-friendliness?
Pipedrive and Insightly are both user-friendly CRMs that most teams will quickly adapt to. Onboarding for either tool should be equally straightforward and you can access additional expert onboarding support.
A range of assistance channels and languages available around the clock provide all Pipedrive user levels with timely help to minimize disruption.
Verdict: Pipedrive has the edge thanks to more comprehensive support available on certain tiers.
Pipedrive vs. Insightly: add-ons and integrations
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Over 400 third-party integrations available to users on all tiers offer various Pipedrive-built add-ons for expanding the CRM’s capabilities. | 2,000+ third-party integrations are fully accessible with a paid ConnectApp subscription. |
CRM integrations let you squeeze more value from your data and expand your system’s capabilities as your business grows. Add-ons are proprietary software plug-ins that offer similar benefits and are sometimes even more powerful.
Pipedrive slots straight into users’ tech stacks with a library of more than 400 third-party apps and integrations.
The Pipedrive CRM has connectivity for a wide range of business software types, including:
Project management
Customer support
Lead generation
Lead management
Team collaboration
Take the Pipedrive–Microsoft Teams integration, for example. You get Pipedrive updates in Teams, schedule Teams calls from Pipedrive and see deal information in the meeting interface.
Pipedrive’s integrations live in an intuitive Marketplace where you can browse by revenue cycle stage (e.g., attract new leads or manage contracts) or search using keywords. The AI Sales Assistant can recommend integrations to fit your team’s needs.
Pipedrive also offers native add-ons that expand its project management, lead generation, email marketing and document management capabilities. Most carry a charge per company rather than per user – more on Pipedrive’s add-ons in the pricing table below.
Insightly has integrations for popular business tools, including Google apps, Evernote, Microsoft 365, PandaDoc, Zapier and Xero. You can get full access to a more advanced library of over 2,000 apps with an AppConnect subscription starting at $249 per account per month.
Which is better for add-ons and integrations?
Pipedrive and Insightly connect to many of the most popular business apps, so you should have no difficulty slotting either into your tech stack.
Pipedrive’s connectivity is more accessible, as only a few add-ons cost extra. Insightly users require a ConnectApp paid subscription to get the most out of the software’s integrations.
If you want to connect your CRM to more niche tools, you may have more luck with Insightly, but it’s worth searching both libraries to see what’s available before signing up. Remember that Pipedrive’s API lets you build custom integrations for lesser-known business applications – which we’ll detail in the next section.
Verdict: While both CRMs connect to key business apps, Pipedrive has a wider selection of free tool integrations.
Pipedrive vs. Insightly: customization
Pipedrive | Insightly |
Highly customizable pipeline views, reports, dashboards and data fields – along with 400+ integrations and API access for heavier tailoring. | Customize data fields, pipeline stages, page layouts and reporting with personalized dashboards available on higher tiers. |
Customizable CRMs let you add or tweak functions to better fit your business’s evolving needs.
Pipedrive is a highly customizable CRM that allows you to tailor pipeline stages, add custom fields and work in multiple currencies and languages.
Other customization options include:
Insights and reports: Generate reports based on custom fields you set up for specific teams, products and industries
Permissions: Choose what users at different levels can do in Pipedrive with variable user permissions
Open CRM API: Build bespoke integrations for your favorite business tools using Pipedrive’s Developer Platform
Pipedrive users can turn off any features they don’t use to streamline the interface further. Seeing only the functions you need helps to increase productivity.
In Insightly, you can customize data fields, pipeline stages, page layouts and reporting to fit your workflows and goals. Some tweaks – like personalized dashboards – require a higher-tier subscription.
Insightly also offers custom objects for collecting and tracking data that doesn’t fit the tool’s standard categories (like leads or opportunities).
Which is better for customization?
Insightly’s customization options are helpful but Pipedrive offers more personalization potential at a lower price point. As a result, Pipedrive makes it easier for startups and small businesses on tight budgets to build the systems they need.
Pipedrive’s comprehensive developer toolset is another bonus for more advanced users.
Verdict: Pipedrive has higher CRM customization to suit different budgets and requirements.
How much do Pipedrive and Insightly cost?
Pipedrive and Insightly’s pricing models reflect their feature sets. Both offer multiple tiers, so you can scale up or down as your business evolves.
Pipedrive pricing:
Plan | Summary |
Essential – $14 per user per month, billed annually | All the core CRM features you need to get started, such as deal, pipeline and contact management, CRM onboarding and around-the-clock chatbot customer support. |
Advanced – $29 per user per month, billed annually | Everything in the Essential plan, as well as automation, call-scheduling features and two-way email sync |
Professional – $49 per user per month, billed annually | Adds Live Chat support, lead routing, forecasting, document management and extra customization options to the Advanced tier |
Power – $64 per user per month, billed annually | Everything above plus 24/7 live chat support, phone support, scalable account permissions, project tracking and more |
Enterprise – $99 per user per month, billed annually | Includes the Power plan and extra features for large-business use, such as enhanced security, increased automation capabilities and unlimited reports and customizations |
Pipedrive’s add-ons:
Add-on | Summary |
LeadBooster – from $32.50 per company per month | Powerful, easy-to-use lead-generation tool set, including Chatbot, Live Chat, Web Forms and Prospector. |
Web Visitors – from $41 per company per month | See which organizations browse your website, how they found you, what they engage with and how long they stay. |
Campaigns – from $13.33 per company per month | Build and manage customizable email campaigns with professional templates, drag-and-drop design and performance reporting |
Smart Docs – from $32.50 per company per month (free with Professional and Enterprise subscriptions) | Centralize the documentation process by sending trackable quotes, proposals and contracts from within Pipedrive |
Projects – from $6.70 per user per month | Map out projects and manage tasks and customers in a single, accessible location. Includes project templates, automations and notes. |
Insightly CRM pricing:
Plan | Summary |
Plus – $29 per user per month, billed annually | Contains the core CRM features for getting started, like basic lead and pipeline management, contact and organization management and real-time performance insights |
Professional – $49 per user per month, billed annually | Adds lead assignment and routing, email scheduling, workflow automation, increased contact record storage (250,000 rather than 100,000) and more |
Enterprise – $99 per user per month, billed annually | Includes everything in the Plus and Professional plans, along with advanced customization options, higher record limits (up to 500,000 contacts) and more file storage |
Insightly offers a free CRM plan limited to two users and 2,500 contact records. Pipedrive’s entry point for paid plans is considerably lower and includes more functionality.
Final thoughts
Pipedrive and Insightly both offer plenty for sales and marketing teams. Ultimately, the right choice of CRM software depends on your business needs and goals.
If you’re looking for a small business-friendly CRM that’s part of a broader, slightly more expensive business package that also includes marketing and customer service, Insightly might be an option.
If you want more bang for your CRM buck with a dedicated sales application built by sales experts, Pipedrive is the way to go.
