Closara32 CRMs, and what keeps you there
We build a self-hosted CRM, whose source is delivered to you but which is NOT under an open-source licence, used by our own clients and by the agencies that resell it under their brand: we are judge and party, and that is better said upfront. So these pages compare what can be verified (the billing model, the licence, what remains when you leave) and each one ends with the cases where staying put is the right call.
The open-source CRMs you install yourself
| CRM | Licence | Language | Source code |
|---|---|---|---|
| EspoCRM | AGPL-3.0 | PHP | github.com/espocrm/espocrm |
| SuiteCRM 8 | AGPL-3.0 | PHP | github.com/SuiteCRM/SuiteCRM-Core |
| Odoo Community | LGPL-3.0 | Python | github.com/odoo/odoo |
| Twenty | AGPL-3.0 (some files under a commercial licence) | TypeScript | github.com/twentyhq/twenty |
| Closara | Proprietary, source code delivered (not an OSI licence) | Node.js, SQLite | - |
Licences checked on 2026-09-24 in each public repository's licence file. All of them install on your own server; so does Closara, but its code is delivered under a proprietary licence.
Proprietary, vendor-hosted CRMs
| CRM | Billing model | The comparison |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | A free tier, then paid plans billed by paid seats and, for Marketing Hub, by marketing-contact tier. | Open-source HubSpot alternatives → |
| Salesforce | Per user, per month, across editions that do not include the same scope. | Open-source Salesforce alternatives → |
| Pipedrive | Per seat, per month, across several tiers. | Open-source Pipedrive alternatives → |
| Zoho CRM | Per user, with bundles that combine several Zoho applications. | Open-source Zoho CRM alternatives → |
| monday CRM | Per seat, sold in seat packs: you may pay for places nobody occupies yet. | Open-source monday CRM alternatives → |
| Close | Per seat, with calling and sequences included. | Open-source Close alternatives → |
| Attio | Per seat, with automation and reporting features that depend on the tier you choose. | Open-source Attio alternatives → |
| Folk | Per seat, with tiers that cap contacts and messages sent. | Open-source Folk alternatives → |
| Copper | Per seat, with a Google Workspace integration that is the entire argument. | Open-source Copper alternatives → |
| Freshsales | Per user, with a very accessible entry tier and AI features sold above it. | Open-source Freshsales alternatives → |
| Zendesk Sell | Per seat, on a grid designed first for customer support. | Open-source Zendesk Sell alternatives → |
| Insightly | Per user, with CRM, marketing and service sold as three separate products: add up the ones you need. | Open-source Insightly alternatives → |
| Nutshell | Per seat, with a marketing module billed by contact count: two separate meters to watch. | Open-source Nutshell alternatives → |
| Capsule CRM | Per user, with tiers that mostly raise limits: contacts, pipelines, custom fields. | Open-source Capsule CRM alternatives → |
| Less Annoying CRM | One flat price per user, no tiers, for a product the vendor itself presents as simple. | Open-source Less Annoying CRM alternatives → |
| Salesflare | Per seat, across several tiers, with automatic data capture as the core argument. | Open-source Salesflare alternatives → |
| Streak | Per user, grafted directly into Gmail. | Open-source Streak alternatives → |
| Nimble | Per seat, with enrichment credits and sending caps included per user. | Open-source Nimble alternatives → |
| Keap | Based on contact count and user count, with onboarding fees on some plans. | Open-source Keap alternatives → |
| ActiveCampaign | By contact count, with the CRM sold as an extension of marketing automation. | Open-source ActiveCampaign alternatives → |
| GoHighLevel | A flat agency plan, with a higher tier for white-label resale. | Open-source GoHighLevel alternatives → |
French vendors
| CRM | Billing model | The comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Brevo | By email volume sent rather than per contact; the CRM is one brick among several, and each brick (marketing, conversations, transactional) has its own meter. | Open-source Brevo alternatives → |
| noCRM.io | Per user, on a short grid, from a French vendor. | Open-source noCRM.io alternatives → |
| Axonaut | Per user, cheaper on annual commitment, from a French vendor. | Open-source Axonaut alternatives → |
| Sellsy | Per user, with modules (CRM, invoicing, cash, marketing) each adding to the bill. | Open-source Sellsy alternatives → |
CRMs that are already open source
| CRM | Billing model | The comparison |
|---|---|---|
| EspoCRM | The core is free to self-host; paid extensions (advanced portal, VoIP, advanced workflows) are sold separately by the vendor. | EspoCRM alternatives → |
| SuiteCRM | Fully free to self-host, with managed hosting and support sold separately. | SuiteCRM alternatives → |
| Odoo CRM | A free Community edition, and an Enterprise edition billed per user that includes additional applications. | Odoo CRM alternatives → |
| Twenty | Free and self-hostable, with a per-seat cloud offer. | Twenty alternatives → |
| Vtiger | A self-hostable open-source edition and a cloud edition billed per user. | Vtiger alternatives → |
| Dolibarr | Fully free, with a marketplace of paid modules and managed hosting offers. | Dolibarr alternatives → |
| Krayin | Free (MIT licence), built on Laravel, with paid extensions on its marketplace. | Krayin alternatives → |
How these comparisons are built
One page per CRM, not one page per phrasing. Each sheet describes the vendor's billing model as the vendor presents it, what keeps a team there, the migration path, and the cases where staying is the better call. We quote no prices: every sheet links to the vendor's own pricing page. Licences of the open-source CRMs are read from the licence file of their public repository (last check: 2026-09-24).
The real subject is not price, it is where your data lives. The General Data Protection Regulation makes you the controller even when the tool belongs to someone else, and the CNIL, France's data protection authority, is explicit that transfers outside the European Union must be framed. A self-hosted CRM exempts you from none of this: it makes it verifiable, because the server is yours.
Frequently asked questions
Which open-source CRMs can you self-host?
EspoCRM (AGPL-3.0), SuiteCRM 8 (AGPL-3.0), Odoo Community (LGPL-3.0) and Twenty (AGPL-3.0, some files under a commercial licence), as well as Dolibarr (GPL-3.0) and Krayin (MIT): licences read from their repositories on 2026-09-24. The right choice depends on your technical team and what you expect from a CRM; each sheet covers one. Closara is not open source: it also installs on your server, with local AI and a white-label.
Why do you quote no prices?
Because a copied price becomes wrong at the first grid change, and because price is not what decides your three-year bill: the model is. Per seat, per contact, per credit, per module, each reacts differently to your growth.
Is a self-hosted CRM really cheaper?
Not mechanically. A server has a cost, so does its upkeep, and for a small team a cloud subscription can come out cheaper. The maths depends on your number of users and the billing model of the tool you leave: Closara's pricing page lets you run it with your own headcount.
What does "local AI" actually mean?
That the language model runs on your machine: call prep, scoring and summaries send no text to a third-party service. It is not a privacy setting, it is the absence of an outbound connection.
Written by Skander Mallek, founder of INEYA Studio. Reviewed and updated on 2026-09-24. For information only, not advice.