The licence is the number everybody compares. It is rarely the number that matters most.

What CRM software actually costs in the UK

The parts of a CRM budget - licences, tiers, setup, data import, integrations and time - and how to compare suppliers fairly.

CRM pricing pages are designed to make one number look small. The real cost of a CRM is made up of several numbers, some recurring and some one-off, and some that never appear on an invoice at all.

This guide sets out what those numbers are, what drives them, and how to compare suppliers on a like-for-like basis. We deliberately do not quote other vendors’ prices - they change too often to be fair.

In this guide

  1. The parts of a CRM budget
  2. What drives the number
  3. How to compare suppliers fairly
  4. When cheap is expensive, and the reverse
  5. How CubeCRM is priced, for reference

The parts of a CRM budget

  • Licences - usually per user per month, sometimes with minimum seat counts or bundles.
  • Tiers and add-ons - features such as quoting, automation, forecasting or telephony may sit in higher tiers or cost extra.
  • Contact or usage charges - some products charge by the number of marketing contacts, emails or automation runs.
  • Setup - configuration, data import and training, whether done by the vendor, a partner or yourselves.
  • Integrations - connectors to accounts, email or telephony, sometimes licensed separately.
  • Administration - the internal or external time needed to maintain the system after go-live.
  • Your own time - the hours your team spends on setup, import checks and training.

What drives the number

Users are the obvious driver, but not the biggest variable. Data quality usually is: importing one clean spreadsheet is quick, while merging four inconsistent lists, an old CRM and years of email history takes considerably longer.

The next driver is how unusual your process is. Standard pipelines, quotes and follow-ups are configuration. A unique calculation, a customer portal or an integration with an obscure system is development, and should be quoted separately.

How to compare suppliers fairly

  1. 1Write down the users you expect in two years, by role.
  2. 2List the features you actually need, and identify which tier of each product includes them.
  3. 3Ask for setup, data import and training as fixed prices, not estimates.
  4. 4Ask what integrations cost, including any per-connector or middleware fees.
  5. 5Ask what administration the system needs and who would do it.
  6. 6Compare the three-year total, in writing, across your shortlist.

If a supplier cannot give you a three-year total in writing after one proper conversation, that tells you something.

When cheap is expensive, and the reverse

A low licence price can be the most expensive option if the features you need sit in a higher tier, or if nobody uses the system and the business carries on as before. A higher licence price can be cheaper overall if it includes setup, integrations and support you would otherwise buy separately.

The cheapest CRM is the one your team actually uses. Everything else is a cost with no return.

How CubeCRM is priced, for reference

CubeCRM is priced per named user per month with every module included, plus a one-off setup fee covering configuration, data import and training, quoted as a fixed price after discovery. The API and standard integrations are included. We describe it here so you can put it into the comparison above, not because it is the only sensible model.

In short

What to take away

  • Compare the three-year total of the configuration you need, not the headline licence.

  • Data quality is usually the biggest variable in setup cost.

  • Check which tier contains the features you are buying for.

  • The cheapest CRM is the one your team actually uses.

Questions

Asked while people are working this out

  • Prices range from free tiers to well over a hundred pounds per user per month for enterprise editions, and they change often. The useful number is the total cost of your configuration, not the per-user headline.

  • The free tier is, within its limits. Costs usually arrive when you need a feature from a paid tier or pass a contact limit. Free is a perfectly good choice if you stay within those limits.

  • It depends on data and process. For a small team with one clean spreadsheet, setup can be modest; for a larger team with several data sources and integrations, it is often the largest first-year cost. Insist on a fixed price.

  • Annual is usually cheaper, and monthly is more flexible. For a new system, some flexibility in the first year is worth having.

Relevant to this

Where CubeCRM fits

Linked because they are relevant to the guide, not because this is where the sales pitch goes.

Next

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After reading

Bring the questions this raised

If the guide has made you think of something specific about your own business, that is exactly the conversation worth having. No obligation and no scripted demonstration.

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