How much does a sales CRM cost?

How much does a commercial CRM cost?

This is an essential question for any business looking to structure its sales strategy and effectively track its field activity. In 2026, the price of a CRM depends on many factors: type of solution, number of users, level of customization, or associated services (training, integration, maintenance).

But the cost of a CRM is not just the price of its monthly licenses. You also need to consider the setup, the onboarding of your sales representatives, maintenance, potential technical and human developments…

In this article, we go over the subject by breaking down in detail the different expense items of a commercial CRM to help you estimate a realistic budget and choose the solution best suited to your needs.

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The cost of a commercial CRM

On average, the price of a commercial CRM is between €500 and €1,500 per user per year. This rate depends on several factors such as team size, level of customization, hosting method, associated services (training, maintenance, integrations, etc.) but above all on the chosen model and the functional scope.

There are generally three major categories of commercial CRM:

• Free or freemium CRMs: suitable for very small businesses or solopreneurs, they allow basic contact centralization. These offers are suitable for small structures that want to access the basic features of a CRM, such as centralizing contacts or tracking sales opportunities, without immediately investing in a commercial solution. Their price varies between €0 and €20 per user per month.

• CRM for SMBs (SaaS model): these are cloud solutions billed by monthly subscription. Most of the time, the rate depends on the number of users and the level and number of required features. Some providers, like Sidely, offer plans, while others bill by the module. Their price varies between €30 and €100 per user per month.

• Enterprise CRM (integrated ERP/CRM): these are solutions mostly with tailor-made modules, heavy IT integration, and personalized support, as they are intended for large organizations with complex needs. Their price varies between €100 and €200 per user per month, or even more depending on the options.

Cost per CRM license

Most CRMs are billed per user per month, so we mentioned the rates a little earlier.

To this monthly license cost, the following may be added:

• costs for additional modules (reporting, AI, automation): some providers offer extra modules on top of the base rate,

• administrator licenses: often less expensive than the standard user license,

• or a volume discount based on the number of users.

The cost of setting up a CRM

When you choose a commercial CRM, most providers will charge a setup cost. Generally, this includes:

• needs analysis and CRM configuration,

• migration of existing data,

• integrations with other tools (ERP, emailing, BI),

• user training.

And as you can imagine, this varies based on your CRM project and the complexity of the setup.

On average, implementation costs are around €1,000 to €5,000 for small structures, €5,000 to €20,000 for mid-market companies and SMBs, and can go up to €100,000 for very large enterprises, depending on the complexity of the project.

Keep in mind that if you work with an integrator, this can represent 20% to 40% of the total cost of the project.

This is a line item to consider in your investment calculations. That is why a SaaS CRM like Sidely limits these costs thanks to quick setup and an intuitive interface, adapted to field sales teams.

Custom CRM: what price?

Developing a custom CRM may seem attractive, but it is also the most expensive solution. Indeed, the price of custom sales software will always be higher than the price of an already developed CRM, for the simple reason that it does not require (any more) man-hours to be designed. In addition to the high cost, deployment times are very long: count on average 12 to 18 months.

The budget for a custom commercial CRM depends on the complexity of the software, the number of features, and the required integrations.

On average, the cost is estimated at:

• €25,000 to €40,000 for a basic CRM,

• €50,000 to €100,000 for a complete CRM,

• €100,000 to €250,000 for a complex / multi-entity CRM.

This type of project is only profitable if your needs are highly specific. For most commercial businesses, a configurable and personalizable SaaS CRM, like Sidely, is more economical and faster to deploy.

Most importantly, once the solution is deployed, its maintenance will remain entirely your responsibility, which will lead to higher costs, since it will no longer be up to the software developer to assume all or part of it.

The maintenance cost of a commercial CRM

The maintenance of a CRM differs between a SaaS CRM solution and an On-premise solution.

Maintenance of a cloud CRM includes software updates, user support, functional adjustments, hosting, and data security. You may be billed extra for premium support, for developments specific to your organization (advanced customization, creation of custom reports, development of unique dashboards, etc.), for custom integrations that need supervision, or for additional training not included in your subscription.

In a cloud model, this maintenance is generally included in the subscription. On the other hand, an on-premise CRM requires an additional budget for technical maintenance and security.

Since the solution is installed on your servers, the cost of maintenance, servers, and data security falls on you. You can nevertheless call upon your software publisher for technical maintenance, manual updates (which are sometimes mandatory), or enhanced technical assistance, which will be billed extra.

The maintenance cost of a CRM ranges between 10% and 20% of the CRM's annual cost.

On-premise vs. SaaS: what difference in cost?

As you have understood, the maintenance cost between On-premise and SaaS is not the same. But that is not the only expense item that differs between the two solutions.

Cost of a SaaS CRM

If you choose a SaaS CRM, you will be billed per user license. You can pay monthly or annually, depending on the CRM providers. This cost varies between €20 and €150 per user per month, depending on the level of service and the complexity of the solution.

To this is added an installation cost, which is often low, and includes the configuration of your CRM and the training of your teams. It ranges between €1,000 and €10,000 depending on the providers.

Maintenance, updates, hosting, and security are included in your subscription.

Cost of an On-premise CRM

If you choose an on-premise CRM, you will be billed per perpetual license. You pay annually. This cost varies between €500 and €2,000 per user.

To this is added the setup cost, which is often significant, and includes deployment on servers, configuration, migration, and the security of your data. It ranges between €10,000 and €50,000 depending on the providers.

The annual maintenance costs between 15% and 25% of the annual license price, which means thousands of euros per year.

You must add additional structural costs (purchase, hosting, backups, security).

Comparison of costs between SaaS and On-premise

In the short term, SaaS is less expensive and more flexible. In the long term (≈ 10 years), an on-premise solution can become profitable… if you already have a solid, in-house IT infrastructure.

More than a cost, a strategic investment

A commercial CRM is not an expense, it is an investment in commercial performance. Well used, it improves productivity, visibility of field actions, the quality of customer follow-up, and decision-making.

A suitable CRM also allows you to:

• reduce administrative time for sales reps,

• centralize customer information,

• better manage objectives and profitability.

The real return on investment is measured over the long term: time saved, better-tracked sales, and more loyal customers.

To make sure you stay within your budget and respect the amount initially dedicated to your CRM project, the best way is to perform a cost breakdown analysis.