A CRM (customer relationship management) app keeps your contacts, deals and emails in one place. Two open-source CRMs tie for the top spot at 4.5/5: EspoCRM and Twenty. Pick EspoCRM if tracking deals matters most: it shows them on a board with one column per stage, lets you set a win probability for each stage, and can run more than one pipeline. Pick Twenty if email matters most: you sign in with Google or Microsoft, or connect another provider, and it links your emails to the right contacts automatically.
Both come with an official install script that sets up the app and its database for you. SuiteCRM (3.0/5) is the one to skip for a first install: you set up the web server and database yourself, and emails from your personal inbox must be imported by hand before they appear on a customer’s record. Not sure yet? EspoCRM and SuiteCRM both have online demos you can try first.
Our picks
Scores
1–5 per criterion · total is the weighted average · select a score to see its source| # | Product | Sales pipeline ×3 | Email integration ×3 | Customization and API ×2 | Self-hosted setup ×2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EspoCRM | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.5 |
| 1 | Twenty | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.5 |
| 3 | SuiteCRM | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.0 |
How each criterion is scored
Sales pipeline ×3
How the CRM tracks deals (called opportunities in most CRMs): stages you can edit, a Kanban board where each column is a stage, a win probability or deal total per stage, and more than one pipeline.
- 5 Everything in 4, plus more than one pipeline.
- 4 Stages you can edit, a Kanban pipeline view, and either a win probability or a deal total per stage.
- 3 Sales stages plus either a Kanban pipeline view or a win probability per stage.
- 2 Opportunities with sales stages only.
- 1 No deal or opportunity tracking.
Email integration ×3
How the CRM connects to your mailbox: sending and receiving through IMAP/SMTP (the standard protocols for reading and sending mail), linking emails to customer records automatically, built-in sign-in for Gmail and Microsoft 365, and bulk email campaigns.
- 5 Automatic linking, built-in Gmail and Microsoft 365 sign-in plus IMAP/SMTP for other providers, and bulk email campaigns.
- 4 Mailbox sync that links emails to customer records automatically, but Gmail or Microsoft 365 sign-in needs an extension or is not documented.
- 3 A personal mailbox can be connected over IMAP/SMTP, but emails must be linked to customer records by hand.
- 2 The CRM can send email, but cannot read a mailbox.
- 1 No email features.
Customization and API ×2
Whether you can add your own fields and record types (objects or modules) without writing code, and connect other software through an API (application programming interface) and webhooks (messages the CRM sends to another app when something changes).
- 5 Custom fields, custom record types, a documented API and webhooks.
- 4 Custom fields, custom record types and a documented API.
- 3 Custom fields and custom record types (objects, entities or modules).
- 2 Custom fields only.
- 1 No custom fields.
Self-hosted setup ×2
How much a first self-hosted install asks of you, judged by the official install methods.
- 5 A single container or program with nothing else to set up.
- 4 An official install script or Docker Compose file that sets up the app and its database together.
- 3 A manual install plus an official Docker image that you connect to a database yourself.
- 2 Manual install only: you set up the web server, PHP and the database yourself, then run the installer.
- 1 No official self-hosting guide.
EspoCRM has the strongest sales tools here. A Kanban board shows each deal, called an opportunity, as a card in the column for its stage, and EspoCRM opens opportunities on that board by default. An administrator can define the stages and a win probability for each one, and you can turn on more than one pipeline if you sell in different ways. For email, each user can connect a mailbox over IMAP (the standard way to read mail from a server), and EspoCRM tries to match each new email to the right record.
Setup has two official routes. The install script sets EspoCRM up in Docker, a tool that runs apps in self-contained packages, together with a web server and database. Or you upload it to a PHP web host and run the setup wizard, which offers to configure cron at the end. Start with the online demo, then use the install script.
- Deals open on a Kanban board by default, with your own stages and win probabilities
- More than one sales pipeline can be turned on
- Custom record types and fields through the Entity Manager, plus a REST API and webhooks
- An official script installs it in Docker with the Nginx web server and a MariaDB database
- Gmail sign-in comes with the separate Google Integration extension
- Reports and workflows are part of the Advanced Pack extension, not the core
- Incoming email needs cron, the server's scheduled-task tool, to be set up
Skip it if: Teams that want Gmail or Microsoft 365 sign-in without adding an extension.
Twenty is the only one here with Google and Microsoft sign-in built in. You connect Gmail and Google Calendar, or Outlook and Microsoft Calendar, by signing in. Other providers work through IMAP and SMTP (the standard protocols for reading and sending mail). Twenty then links each email to the right person, company or opportunity, and you can send email campaigns from your CRM data.
Its sales pipeline is a Kanban board of opportunities: you add, remove or rename stages and can show the total deal value for each stage. The pages we captured don’t mention a win probability or more than one pipeline. To self-host it, run the one-line install script on a server with at least 2 GB of RAM; it sets up Twenty with its PostgreSQL database and Redis.
- Sign in with Google or Microsoft to sync email and calendar, or use IMAP and SMTP for other providers
- Emails are linked to the right people, companies and deals automatically
- Custom objects and fields, REST and GraphQL APIs, and webhooks
- A one-line install script for its Docker setup
- Email and calendar sync works only with people, companies and opportunities
- Needs a server with at least 2 GB of RAM
- Mostly AGPL-licensed, but certain files are under a commercial license
Skip it if: Teams that want to forecast sales with a win probability for each stage.
SuiteCRM has a broad feature set: opportunities move through sales stages, each stage sets a probability for weighted pipeline calculations, and you can add fields and whole new modules without writing code. It also runs marketing campaigns and supports over 60 languages.
It ranks last because of setup and email. It runs on a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) that you set up yourself before running its installer. Each user can connect a personal mailbox, but those emails are not stored in SuiteCRM until you import them. If you already run a LAMP server, try the online demo first; it is public and resets every hour, so don’t enter real customer data.
- Opportunities with sales stages and a probability used in weighted pipeline calculations
- New fields and whole new modules without writing code
- Marketing campaigns and over 60 languages
- A public online demo to try first
- Manual install only; you set up the web server and possibly the database yourself
- Emails from a personal inbox must be imported by hand to show on a record
- No Kanban view or webhooks in the documentation we captured
Skip it if: Anyone setting up their first server.
Questions
Which one is easiest to install?
EspoCRM and Twenty. Each has an official script that sets up the app and its database in Docker for you; Twenty needs a server with at least 2 GB of RAM. SuiteCRM needs a manual install on a web server you set up yourself.
Can I try one before installing anything?
Yes. EspoCRM and SuiteCRM have online demos. SuiteCRM’s demo is public and resets every hour, so don’t upload personal information. Twenty has a hosted version: you sign up at twenty.com and get a workspace without running a server.
Which one works best with Gmail or Outlook?
Twenty, which lets you sign in with Google or Microsoft directly. EspoCRM offers Gmail and Outlook sign-in through separate extensions, and connects other mailboxes over IMAP. SuiteCRM supports OAuth for mail accounts, but you import emails by hand to log them on a record.
Method
Each CRM was scored 1–5 against a published scale on four weighted criteria: sales pipeline (×3), email integration (×3), customization and application programming interface (API) (×2), and self-hosted setup (×2). The ranking is the weighted average. Every score cites quotes from the project’s own documentation, website or GitHub README, captured on 5 November 2026.
We did not install or benchmark these apps, so a feature the documentation doesn’t mention counts as missing until a project documents it. How our rankings work.