# Competitor Analysis — SME CRM

## Direct Competitors

### HubSpot CRM (Free tier)
- **Strengths**: Free for core CRM, large ecosystem, strong brand recognition.
- **Weaknesses**: Upsell pressure is aggressive. Free tier caps at 1M contacts but restricts reporting, automation, and sequences. Migration out is painful (data lock-in via proprietary IDs).
- **Relevance**: Proves SME CRM demand exists. Our differentiator: self-hostable, no upsell walls, open data.

### Pipedrive
- **Strengths**: Pipeline-first UI, intuitive drag-and-drop. Popular with SME sales teams (100k+ customers).
- **Weaknesses**: Starts at $14/user/mo, scales to $99/user/mo for reporting. No self-hosting. API rate limits frustrate power users.
- **Relevance**: Validates pipeline visualization as the core UX pattern. Our price point is lower (free/self-hosted).

### Freshsales (Freshworks)
- **Strengths**: Built-in phone, email, AI scoring. Competitive pricing ($9–$59/user/mo).
- **Weaknesses**: Feature bloat at higher tiers. Indian support hours can frustrate EU/US SMEs. Performance degrades with large contact lists.
- **Relevance**: Confirms communication channels are out of MVP scope.

### Folk CRM
- **Strengths**: Lightweight, spreadsheet-like UX. Appeals to teams migrating from sheets.
- **Weaknesses**: Limited pipeline management. No self-hosting. $20/user/mo standard plan.
- **Relevance**: Validates the "spreadsheet refugees" persona. Our approach: structured pipeline + familiar simplicity.

## Indirect Competitors

| Tool | Why teams use it | Why they leave |
|------|-----------------|----------------|
| Google Sheets | Free, familiar | No pipeline view, no permissions, manual aggregation |
| Notion | Flexible databases | Not built for sales workflows, no deal stages, slow |
| Airtable | Structured data + views | Per-seat pricing, no native CRM concepts |
| Trello | Visual boards | No contact/company linking, no reporting |

## Our Position

**Self-hosted, pipeline-first CRM for SME teams who outgrew spreadsheets but don't need Salesforce.**

| Dimension | Us (MVP) | HubSpot Free | Pipedrive |
|-----------|----------|-------------|-----------|
| Price | Free (self-host) | Free (with limits) | $14/user/mo |
| Pipeline UI | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No | No |
| Data ownership | Full | Vendor-locked | Vendor-locked |
| Setup time | <15 min | <10 min | <10 min |
| Feature scope | Tight MVP | Large but gated | Medium |
