Best iPad CRM 2021: Reviews & Pricing
Introduction
Customer relationship management products have targeted the Mac and iOS user base for a long time.
iPad CRM now comes standard with most CRM platforms. After signing up for a vendor's product, you can simply log onto the App Store and download the related mobile app and start enjoying in-the-field, on-the-go functionality.
Having the best CRM system with you at all times offers major benefits for your whole business, from the sales process to customer service.
Indeed, mobile CRM is fast becoming indispensable. The annual growth rate for mobile data usage is estimated at 45%, meaning that by 2022 mobile data consumption will have increased 10x since 2016. As it stands, 50% of all website traffic goes through mobile, so it makes sense to invest in a CRM that your team can also use on iPad and other mobile devices.
Benefits of iPad CRM
iPad CRM offers some very concrete benefits for everyday work. By being able to access your business data everywhere, you can view customer and contact info, monitor sales pipelines, check out performance metrics, and view your calendar. You'll be able to respond to customers faster and smarter, by tracking, managing, and responding to customer service cases in real-time, wherever you may be.
Being able to track and complete tasks on your iPad increases your productivity. Compose and send important emails, make voice calls, and respond to customers in live chat. Connect with your team with chat and file and customer data sharing, and dial into meetings from anywhere Cloud accessible.
Your iPad CRM is all about making your native desktop app even more useful, offering access to your cloud CRM's info and the opportunity for new data entry from anywhere you happen to be.
Best security
A CRM contains a lot of information about your company and customers, so a compromised device can cause a serious breach of information. Fortunately, Apple devices have great encryption, and the ability to lock and GPS locate lost devices, which are key assets for any iPad CRM. After all, we’re significantly more likely to lose our mobile devices than our computers.
Free cloud service
iCloud Drive allows you to share documents in real-time via your device, with 5GB of data included for free. Meanwhile, iCloud backup automatically backs up your iPad's data to the cloud, offering peace of mind, as well as easy retrieval of work in the event of a lost device, or an upgrade to a new model.
Beautiful presentations
Apple's iPhone, iPad, and Mac all come with a lot of highly functional apps pre-downloaded. iPad CRM can help you build great presentations, reports, and other documents with other apps on your iPad, and show them off on your device or external display in-person, or remotely as shareable files.
Cost-effective
Investing in an iPad CRM is a good way of getting more bang for your CRM buck. If you've already purchased a SaaS desktop CRM (or signed up for a free CRM), you'll get the vendor's mobile app free of charge. After installation, your CRM will instantly become useful out-of-office, whatever time of day, in whatever part of the world you find yourself in.
Enhance customer satisfaction
CRM enhances all your business relationships. An iPad app furthers your CRM's value by allowing you to help deliver more timely and informed service and support, which ensures a better customer experience. That's key for long-term business success, so it's a worthy investment.
Key features of iPad CRM
Task management
iPad CRM helps you manage your everyday tasks, like composing and sending emails, scheduling meetings, and updating contact details. A mobile app can notify you to follow-up on deals, and provide immediate access to key information. You can also use the platform to assign tasks to other team members and keep tabs on who's working on what.
Invoices & payment process
With an iPad CRM, field service agents can quickly create invoices for work and have clients pay them right away, while the product or service you've offered or provided remains top of mind. This translates to more deals closed.
Real-time access
Have real-time access to all your deals, contacts, and company data on the go. Thanks to the cloud, all your business information will automatically be up-to-date. You'll be able to see what everyone else on your team is currently working on and know when anyone makes a change.
Social media integration
An iPad CRM allows you to do deep social listening and manage your company's multichannel social media presence from wherever you are. Integrations with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms help you reach out to audiences and create and post content in-app.
Scheduling appointments
An iPad CRM can help you schedule appointments with clients and automatically send you reminders. Two-way sync with Google Calendar allows you to share meeting information between apps, saving time and eliminating duplicate entries.
HubSpot CRM
Benefits:
Manages workflows for improved project management; you’ll be able to effectively assign and track leads, keep an eye on the sales process, and record customer interactions across channels
Well-built iOS native app with good functionality on iPad; lets you run your sales process on the road, live chat with other clients and team members, and photograph business cards and automatically add them to contacts
Works with both G Suite and Microsoft Office
Zapier integration enhances usefulness by making it easy to share information across apps, such as Google Sheets, Slack, Facebook Lead Ads
HubSpot CRM is free, so you can get started without overhead, while paid add-on packages for HubSpot pile on features like reporting, AI, and advanced automation
Drawbacks:
Customization options are limited
The basic, no-cost CRM’s features are many, but basic, and you may eventually need to buy Sales Hub or one of HubSpot’s other add-on packages to boost the CRM’s capabilities
Pricing:
HubSpot CRM is free, and the number of users is unlimited
Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub add-on packages are $50 each per user/per month, billed monthly
HubSpot CMS starts at $300 per month, billed monthly
All-inclusive Starter Growth Suite starts at $113 per user/per month, billed monthly
There are no free trials for the add-on packages.
Website: hubspot.com
Freshsales
Benefits:
Easy to get up-and-running with critical startup features like lead management, email management, and pipeline management
Lead capture lets you grab leads from emails automatically, and you can also sort out your own lead scoring criteria to better keep track of who’s who and who’s most likely to convert (it's possible to set custom organizational parameters too)
Access customer data and track sales pipeline on your iPad with iOS app
There's a “free forever startup plan” limited to 10 users and 10,000 records (aka leads, contacts, accounts, and deals); it's a bit hidden, however (you'll have to sign up for a 21-day free trial, which gives you the full-stack version of the software; at the end of the period, you’ll be asked if you'd like to commit to one of four paid plans or continue with the free, no-frills version)
Drawbacks:
Once you start to expand your use of Freshsales and access more complex features, there is a significant learning curve
Sorting and filtering tasks is less intuitive than it could be
Pricing:
Blossom plan for small teams is $12 per user/per month, billed annually
Garden plan for growing teams is $25 per user/per month, billed annually
Estate plan for large teams is $49 per user/per month, billed annually
Forest plan for enterprises is $79 per user/per month, billed annually
A 21-day free trial is available for all Freshsales plans.
Website: freshworks.com/freshsales-crm
CentraHub CRM
Benefits:
Customizable CRM with full-fledged business suite functionality and automation tools
iOS-friendly mobile app allows you to create and send reports on the go, as well as assign leads, define tasks, send emails, and collaborate
Contact and customer database features provide the data and purchase histories, as well as useful indicators like ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’
Incoming service and support tickets from email, social media or web forms go into a single platform where they can be grouped or routed individually
Metrics for support ticket stats and for measuring your team’s performance, as well as survey features to monitor customer satisfaction
Drawbacks:
Moderate learning curve
Lots of customization options in terms of functionality, but not so many for interface
Pricing:
Startup plan is $16 per user/per month, billed annually
Professional plan is $30 per user/per month, billed annually
Enterprise plan is $50 per user/per month, billed annually
Ultimate plan is $83 per user/per month, billed annually
Centrahub CRM offers a free trial.
Website: centrahubcrm.com
Salesmate
Benefits:
Sales CRM with contact management tools that help you nurture relationships, find out which conversations to prioritize, and optimize your sales
iPad app lets you message, make and receive business calls in the field, as well as manage your sales pipeline, view all your work dashboards, and bring up contact records
Zapier integration allows you to sync contact data with third-party applications, and access all your cross-platform prospect information from directly within Salesmate
Drawbacks:
UI can lack intuitiveness, so navigating through key features can be confusing at first
Lacks a lead scoring feature
Pricing:
Starter plan is $12 per user/per month billed annually, and $15 per user/per month billed monthly
Growth plan is $24 per user/per month billed annually, and $30 per user/per month billed monthly
A full-featured 15-day full trial is available; no credit card required.
Website: salesmate.io
Bitrix24
Benefits:
Bitrix24 is a well-rounded, full-featured CRM that handles sales management and marketing campaigns, and helps your team collaborate effectively
iOS app lets you use your iPad to access to deals, contacts, companies, and products, reach out with public and private chat, view activity stream, and do project and task management
Allows you to create unlimited work and user groups, set up an HR help desk, and centralize the storage of documents in-app
Bitrix24 offers a free version for up to 12 users with 5 GB of storage, targeted at startups, with HR, task, lead, contact, and project management tools (it's actually the most popular free CRM in the world)
Drawbacks:
UI is a bit "busy," which can hinder app navigation
There are customization and configurability limitations
Pricing:
Free starter business tool suite for up to 12 users
Start+ plan for up to 2 users is $19 per month billed annually, and $24 per month billed monthly
CRM+ plan for up to 6 users is $55.20 per month billed annually, and $69 per month billed monthly
Project+ plan for up to 24 users is $55.20 per month billed annually, and $69 per month billed monthly
Standard plan for up to 50 users is $79.20 per month billed annually, and $99 per month billed monthly
Professional plan for unlimited users is $159.20 per month billed annually, and $199 per month billed monthly
The prices above are for the cloud-based version; On-premise solutions are also available. There are no free trials for paid plans.
Website: bitrix24.com
Gro CRM
Benefits:
Covers full spectrum of business processes, including lead acquisition, deal tracking, task management, invoicing, order processing, and much more
Developed specifically as a mobile CRM for iOS 13, so the app has excellent, desktop-level features and UI on an iPad
Integrated email app routes your prospects into leads and customer contact lists, which saves time and seamlessly increases visibility.
Drawbacks:
A desktop app is in the works, but it's not available yet; that may be a deal-breaker for some teams who want both an out-in-the-field and in-the-office solution
Pricing:
Solo plan for a single user is $14.99 per seat/per month billed annually or monthly
Basic plan for team CRM is $19.99 per seat/per month billed annually, and $24.99 per seat/per month billed monthly
Pro plan for core CRM is $39.99 per seat/per month billed annually, and $49.99 per seat/per month billed monthly
A 14-day free trial is available and offers the full features of the Pro plan.
Website: grocrm.com
Salesflare CRM
Benefits:
Salesflare CRM targets small businesses specifically in the B2B world
iPad optimized app offers desktop-level functionality, including data automation, follow-up notifications, and collaborative work features
Mobile app scans your data and tasks intelligently and sends notifications about top priority tasks in real-time updates
Data from your calendar, your phone, and other mobile apps get logged into their system automatically
Drawbacks:
Some of the iPad version's features are a bit finicky compared to the web browser version
Could use more shortcuts and simple buttons to mark things as favorites or important
Lack of different pricing tiers makes the app less agile for scaling up
Pricing:
It costs $30 per user/month billed annually, $35 billed monthly
Salesflare offers a 14-day free trial.
Website: salesflare.com
Salesforce
Benefits:
Customizable CRM app with deep, well-developed tools for sales processes and team collaboration and many integrations
iPad app provides access to all your CRM data, dashboards, and lets you collaborate and share direct links to records (deals, opportunities, and more)
Allows sales managers and sales teams to build up very complex task management systems
Automates many tedious tasks and decision-making processes out of the workday
Drawbacks:
Definitely has a real learning curve, although this is in part mitigated by the vendor’s comprehensive, well-designed ‘Trailhead’ lessons
No offline functionality
Salesforce is a giant company, and their scale appears to have had some negative repercussions on support (the CRM’s help desk is not always super responsive)
Pricing:
Essentials plan for all-in-one sales and support is $25 per user/per month, billed annually
Professional plan offering complete CRM for any size team is $75 per user/per month, billed annually
Enterprise plan offering deeply customizable sales CRM for your business is $150 per user/per month, billed annually
Unlimited plan for “unlimited CRM power and support” is $300 per user/per month, billed annually
A 14-day free trial is available for all plans.
Website: salesforce.com
Cloze Relationship Management
Benefits:
AI-enabled app for managing relationships, inboxes, and contacts
iPad app lets you track email messages, manage social media, log phone calls, do meetings, take notes, and more on the fly
Pulls contact info from multiple communication channels, as well as social data from LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
Algorithms determine which contacts are important, and nudge you to keep in touch
Makes business email better with reminders, trackers, schedulers and reusable templates
Drawbacks:
UI feels somewhat dated and a bit cluttered
Some users find customer service can be slow to resolve issues
Pricing:
Pro plan is $17 per user/per month, billed annually
Silver plan is $21 per user/per month, billed annually
Gold plan is $29 per user/per month, billed annually
Platinum plan is $42 per user/per month, billed annually
Website: cloze.com
Pipedrive
Benefits:
Flexible and results-oriented CRM that allows you to construct multiple sales pipelines with customizable, unique stages appropriate to a specific product/service’s context
iPad-friendly iOS app for calling, contact management, activity tracking, and more on the move
Customize data fields and workflow for your distinct business processes
Low learning curve speeds the pace of implementation
Reminders, notifications, and follow-up alerts automatically keep you on task
Drawbacks:
No internal emailing platform, meaning you’ll have to use the app's Mailchimp integration
Pipedrive Dealbot integrates with Slack, but notifications get lost easily in a normal Slack chat
Pricing:
The Essential plan is $12.50 per user/per month billed annually, and $15 billed monthly
The Advanced plan is $24.90 per user/per month billed annually, and $29 billed monthly
The Professional plan is $49.90 per user/per month billed annually and $59 billed monthly
The Enterprise plan is $99 per user/per month, billed annually
A 14-day free trial is available for the Essential, Advanced, and Professional plans.
Nutshell CRM
Benefits:
Complete CRM solution with sales force automation and marketing tools
Tablet app is designed for smooth, responsive operation on iPad, with real-time information sync and the ability to log activities and meetings (through text as well as audio and video recordings)
Build and access customer conversation histories for the right communication at the right time, use lead form integration to turn website visitors into contacts with names/email and other contact info, and segment leads and customers in sophisticated ways (including industry, lifetime value, and location)
Lets you automates email lead nurturing, reducing time spent organizing emailing lists and sending follow-ups
Drawbacks:
Importing data can produce duplicate leads, meaning data can become messy if you don't spot duplicates right away
Integrations are limited in number, and automation features are not that advanced
Pricing:
Starter plan is $19 per user/per month billed annually, and $22 per user/per month billed monthly
Pro plan is $35 per user/per month billed annually, and $39 per user/per month billed monthly
A 14-day free trial (with full, Pro-level features) is available.
Website: nutshell.com
Zoho
Benefits:
Zoho CRM is easy-to-use, with a simple user interface targeted at small businesses, including customizable modules, automation, and social media features
CRM and Mail apps for iOS allow for iPad-friendly productivity
Data porting features allow you to quickly migrate your data from spreadsheets and contact management software to the Zoho platform, making implementation pretty straightforward
Integrates with Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ for reaching out and engaging with leads quick and snappy, at just the right time
Drawbacks:
Zoho doesn't have individual email tracking or lead notifications; that can be limiting if you rely heavily on one-on-one engagement
Add-on modules are priced on top of the existing CRM product you purchase, so costs can increase significantly when as you expand your use of the platform
Pricing:
Free version is available for up to three users and is targeted at home businesses
Standard version is $12 per user/per month, billed annually
Enterprise version is $35 per user/per month, billed annually
A free trial is available for the Standard and Enterprise versions.
Website: zoho.com/crm
Monday.com
Benefits:
Customizable, visual CRM with strong project management tools; track business processes easily with colorful, graphical views, including Kanban, maps, timeline, files, charts, and calendar
iPad version carries over strong visual UI of the desktop version, letting you get the information you need at a glance, and manage projects, teams, and deals stage-by-stage
Analytical dashboards and reporting tools transform raw data into visualizations, allowing you to gain insights on the status of your teams, projects, marketing campaigns, and financial goals
Built-in world clock takes the edge off communicating with contacts across multiple regions, displaying time zones (based on geographical location info) clearly next to contacts (and team members)
Drawbacks:
iPad version lacks some of the desktop apps' features
Lacks call recording feature, so if you want to attach phone conversations to a contact record (or generate voice-to-text transcriptions in-app), you’ll have to use a third-party tool
Pricing:
Basic plan is $25 per user/per month, billed annually
Standard plan is $39 per user/per month, billed annually
Pro plan is $59 per user/per month, billed annually
Enterprise plan requires contact with Monday.com
A 14-day free trial is available without a credit card.
Website: monday.com
Sugar CRM
Benefits:
Well-rounded CRM solution encompassing marketing, sales, and customer service, with an emphasis on cross-team sharing of relevant and useful intel
iOS app for iPad lets you manage sales activities, make phone calls, send SMS and emails, and more on-the-go
Automate complex business processes like lead routing quote review and approval with drag-and-drop flowchart
Vendor customer support is attentive, which is a major plus for startups who need quick answers and issue resolution times; on top of that, there's a large user community surrounding Sugar CRM, so you can talk shop with other startups
Drawbacks:
Sugar CRM app's roots are in the open-source, developer community, so there's a moderate learning curve
You have to have at least 10 people on your team to use Sugar CRM, so very tiny teams are out of luck
Pricing:
Sugar Professional plan is $40 per user/per month (10 user minimum), billed annually
Sugar Enterprise plan is $65 per user/per month (10 user minimum), billed annually
Sugar Serve plan is $80 per user/per month (10 user minimum), billed annually
Sugar Sell plan is $80 per user/per month (10 user minimum), billed annually
Sugar Market plan is $1,000 (unlimited users, 10,000 contacts per month), billed annually
A free trial is available for all plans. After answering a few questions on the vendor website, you’ll be assigned the version of SugarCRM that best matches your business needs.
Website: sugarcrm.com
Insightly
Benefits:
Streamlined, user-friendly CRM platform for tracking contacts, communications, projects, sales and documents in a single interface
Intuitively designed iPad version lets you access all your CRM dashboards on your tablet, and offers robust search, scheduling, and task management features too
Provides customization options for structuring and accessing customer data, including customized data capture, display, and validation; users can also create their own specialized fields to add unique information, such as customer types, subscriptions, contract renewal dates, and billing ID numbers
Smooth pipeline integration between CRM features, like managing contacts and customer data, tracking opportunities (aka sales leads)
Insightly sidebar runs as a handy Chrome extension, letting you save Gmail messages directly to your CRM so you can easily cross-reference contact information
Drawbacks:
Two-way sync for Google Calendar can be glitchy at times, with events not displaying for other team members
Custom fields for contacts are capped at 25
Pricing:
“No-frills” plan is free for up to two users
Plus plan is $29 per user/per month, billed annually
Professional plan is $49 per user/per month, billed annually
Enterprise plan is $99 per user/per month, billed annually
A 14-day free trial is available for the Plus and Professional plans.
Website: insightly.com
Conclusion
The maturation of the cloud-based app ecosystem has allowed CRM to thrive on mobile and tablet devices. Whether you're looking for lead management and marketing automation, or business card scanning and point of sale functionality, there's a mobile device-ready CRM that will fulfill your business needs.
Long story short, if you're an iPad user, you'll find that all of the above vendors can provide an on-point solution.
Our advice on how to find out which iPad-friendly CRM will work best for you is always the same—begin by comparison shopping. Sign up for a free trial with one or more of the vendors above, download the related mobile app on your iPad, and get started on boosting your business’s bottom line.