The 13 best programs for creating and managing a customer database
Do you want to manage your customer data efficiently and put an end to the laborious juggling of your various Excel files? Then this comparison is for you.
A customer database is a system that stores information and content about your customers. This can include their purchase history, their personal information, details of their consumption habits and frequencies, etc.
This valuable data enables you to build up comprehensive customer files, so you can optimise your customer relations and sales initiatives. Customer database software makes it much easier to manage your business.
We have selected the 13 best customer database software for you.
Summary table of the 13 best customer database software packages
1 of 11
 monday CRM |  Axonaut |  Zoho CRM |  Salesforce Sales Cloud |  Bitrix24 |  Dolibarr ERP CRM |  HubSpot CRM |  Odoo |  Saalz CRM |  Scal-e |  Twilio Segment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For companies with 1 to 5000 employees | For companies with 1 to 50 employees | For all companies | For companies with 2 to 250 employees | For companies with more than 1 employees | For companies with 1 to 5000 employees | For companies with more than 1 employees | For companies with more than 1 employees | For companies with 2 to 250 employees | For companies with more than 50 employees | For all companies |
| See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software |
| Learn more about monday CRM | Learn more about Axonaut | Learn more about Zoho CRM | Learn more about Salesforce Sales Cloud | Learn more about Bitrix24 | Learn more about Dolibarr ERP CRM | Learn more about HubSpot CRM | Learn more about Odoo | Learn more about Saalz CRM | Learn more about Scal-e | Learn more about Twilio Segment |
Salesforce Sales Cloud
The software promise
Sales Cloud is the market-leading CRM. Published by Salesforce, it's highly intuitive and modular: it helps you to develop your business easily with the right sales tools. As well as helping you manage your customer relationships, the software is a real all-in-one tool, supporting you at every stage of your sales activity (creating quotes and invoices, managing customer data, statistical tools, generating leads, etc.).
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Our strengths
- Ultra-complete and intuitive customer data management that enables you not only to find and convert qualified prospects, but also to retain your existing customers:
- Get a global view of your customer exchanges,
- obtain information on what customers think of your offer via integration with your various social networks,
- conclude contracts even from a distance, thanks to the mobile application.
- A powerful opportunity management and tracking module that gives you a 360° view of the progress of your opportunities (contract value, progress, competition, etc.):
- create personalised quotes based on the characteristics of each contact,
- update the status of your opportunity in real time using the Salesforce mobile application, and offer constantly updated information to your sales force, etc.
- An effective sales activity planning tool that gives you a real-time view of your teams' sales forecasts; track the adjustments made to each account and adapt the amounts and targets according to the capabilities of your team members .
monday CRM
The promise of the software
monday CRM is an intuitive, customisable platform to help businesses of all sizes create their customer databases. The software is also known for its ability to centralise and organise customer data in a single location, helping to optimise sales performance and improve customer satisfaction.
monday CRM
Key benefits
- Centralise and organise your contacts, whether leads, prospects or customers, in a single platform. monday.com tables can be customised with your own columns to track contact details, interactions, the status of prospects and contracts, for example.
- Customise your sales pipelines for optimum management:
- clear visualisation of prospect progress
- multiple integrations and customisations,
- increased productivity thanks to workflows tailored to your needs.
- Automate your processes and reduce manual tasks: your team gains in operational efficiency. Leads are automatically imported from various sources (Excel, Google Sheets, Facebook, HubSpot, etc.) and assigned to sales reps according to predefined criteria. Automation can even go as far as sending emails!
- Benefit from an active community and responsive customer support for an optimal user experience:
- support at every stage of your use,
- guaranteeing exceptional added value for your customer relationship management.
Axonaut
The promise of the software
Axonaut presents itself as an all-in-one, French business management solution, well suited to the self-employed, VSEs and SMEs. Among its many modules (quotations and invoicing, cash flow and accounting, human resources, project management, marketing, etc.) are functions dedicated to CRM, and therefore to managing a customer database.
Axonaut
Our strengths
- Create your contacts in just one click and centralise them in a single interface using complete customer files :
- contact details
- comments,
- sales figures,
- opportunities,
- orders in progress, etc.
- Customise your database to sort your customers according to your business needs.
- Turn your contacts into customers, and then into loyal customers, because Axonaut includes all the features you'd expect from a good CRM:
- opportunity tracking and sales pipeline
- connection to emails and online diaries,
- prospect follow-up,
- sales statistics, etc.
- Take advantage of a single, all-inclusive, no-obligation price. It's a great deal when you consider the extensive functional coverage!
Bitrix24
The promise of the software
Bitrix24 is a free, collaborative CRM solution that lets you manage your tasks, projects and customer relations efficiently. Designed for all types of business and equipped with a powerful database, it helps you build your customer database simply and in a totally customisable way.
Bitrix24
Key benefits
- Centralise, store and analyse all your customer data on a single platform, ensuring that it is stored in the right place:
- list of your existing and future customers
- complete history of interactions with them, etc.
- The free version of the software does not limit the number of records in the customer database, or the number of users.
- A truly web-responsive platform, you can access your database whenever and wherever you want, from your tablet, computer or smartphone.
- constantly improve your customer knowledge,
- access the information you need whenever you need it.
- Benefit from the advantages of a complete CRM in addition to a database:
- generate leads,
- issue invoices,
- communicate with customers directly on the platform, etc.
Dolibarr
The promise of the software
Dolibarr is a complete Open Source ERP and CRM solution for all types and structures of business. A true all-in-one platform, you benefit from a wide range of customer relationship and database management functions, as well as a high-quality ERP package.
Dolibarr ERP CRM
Key features
- Thanks to its "DoliMyAdmin" module, you can manage your "raw" data directly on the Dolibarr database in use, easily and quickly.
- quickly export the data from the tables that interest you,
- add, modify or delete information submitted directly to the database, etc.
- Benefit from fast, comprehensive data diagnostics in the event of a problem. The system performs a complete analysis and allows you to modify or correct problematic data simply and manually.
- Export all your records and data in CSV format. This special file type is very efficient:
- it allows you to create or modify data via Excel,
- Rather than storing information in columns, CSV files store it separately, making it easier to read and use.
Hubspot CRM
The promise of the software
Hubspot CRM is a free, effective and ultra-intuitive CRM software that needs no introduction. With a strong reputation and a free version for up to 1 million contacts, it is one of the most widely used CRM platforms on the market. Equipped with a powerful customer database and knowledge base, it enables you to considerably improve your customer management.
HubSpot CRM
Highlights
- Take advantage of Hubspot's powerful, customisable database of information on over 20 million companies:
- automatically fill in the details of your new contacts, companies and transactions,
- Spend less time looking for information on your prospects and concentrate on your sales actions.
- Consult, add and modify your data from the same interface:
- make calls and send emails directly from the contact form,
- apply filters to find exactly who you're looking for,
- all your customer files are centralised, so you can manage them more easily and work more efficiently.
- No need for help or a dedicated IT team, the management of your database is simplified thanks to customisation, intelligent filters, categories and summary tables :
- take advantage of a drag-and-drop system that makes it easy to create customer files,
- display only the essential data thanks to a specific data access system.
Odoo
The promise of the software
Odoo is a fully integrated and customisable open source ERP software package, containing hundreds of business applications designed by experts. It 's an all-in-onesoftware solution designed to meet the needs of businesses, whatever their size (or budget). With 45 modules divided into 8 main categories, you can meet all the needs of your customers and your teams.
Odoo
Key strengths
- The Odoo database is ultra-intuitive and equipped with several systems that boost your efficiency and considerably improve your customer management:
- automatic repetition reduction to reduce redundant manual processes,
- interconnected modules that make it easier to process your data from one application to another,
- automation features to limit manual input into multiple applications,
- a team collaboration system that makes it easier to work together.
- The software promises rapid implementation and start-up. Thanks to ultra-fast synchronisation of your old database (or the simple creation of a new one), you'll be up and running in no time.
- An ERP that's 100% customisable and affordable. Choose which applications (CRM, e-commerce, Project, etc.) are most applicable to your functional needs and benefit from affordable prices by only paying for what you use, with pricing based on the applications installed and the number of users.
Saalz CRM
The promise of the software
Saalz.com is a sales prospecting platform designed for SDRs and sales reps who want to facilitate their lead generation tools and improve the monitoring of their sales cycles. Thanks to a Chrome extension, you can simply add your Linkedin leads to the application: their information is automatically transferred and enhanced (email, contact, job title, etc.).
Saalz CRM
Key benefits
- You can view all exchanges with your prospects in a clear, visual way and in real time.
- Synchronisation with your email inbox, so you can send and receive emails directly from the platform,
- A system for tracking email openings and clicks to ensure that your prospects have received the message.
- Customisable sales pipes presented in a Kanban view for a 360° view of your sales cycles.
- assign an opportunity to another member of staff and relaunch your opportunity by email in just 1 click,
- a "Today's activity" filter to find only opportunities with an action to be taken that day.
- A powerful and robust data import, export and filtering system.
- a highly flexible import tool for importing any Excel or CSV table format, without having to adapt your file beforehand,
- a customised filtering tool with unlimited criteria.
- An ergonomic, intuitive interface for smooth, enjoyable day-to-day use.
Scal-e
The promise of the software
Scal-e is a powerful customer data platform (CDP), specialising in the management and exploitation of customer data. It connects to all your favourite sources of information (CRM, e-commerce site, social networks, physical points of sale, etc.) to gather all the important customer data in real time, and exploit it strategically with integrated marketing tools.
Scal-e
The highlights
- Centralise all your important data instantly on the platform and create 360° contextualised customer profiles to understand who they really are. Your data is cleansed, unified and continuously enriched, for ever greater relevance.
- Create audiences to group together similar profiles. This enables you to generate intelligent segmentations and carry out precise, personalised targeting, so you can launch actions that will have a greater impact.
- Build a unique online and offline experience that encourages interaction for each of your customers, by launching coordinated, personalised, multi-channel and complementary marketing actions. So you can send the right message, at the right time, to the right person.
- Measure your performance using customer intelligence, so you can make quick, informed decisions and improve your actions quickly. You'll have powerful analysis and reporting tools at your disposal, so you can optimise your results without fail.
Sellsy
The promise of the software
Sellsy is a complete CRM that offers much more than traditional CRMs. With 10 years' experience behind it, Sellsy has now established itself as a true digital platform. Also available via a dedicated application, this French CRM offers an API for connecting to your software, and hosts your data in France, for greater protection and confidentiality.
Key points
- Create the most comprehensive customer files possible by enhancing them with :
- legal and financial information that you can extract directly from the SIRENE directory,
- online sources such as LinkedIn,
- your other software,
- customer support tickets,
- .csv files that you can import, etc.
- The information is organised so that it can be found very quickly by all the teams working with your customers. So they can work completely independently.
- Using the data collected, you can select several criteria that characterise an audience, so you can dynamically segment your prospects and customers and target them more effectively in your prospecting campaigns.
- Carry out your prospecting campaigns directly from the platform, whether by SMS or email, personalising the experience.
Spread Family
The promise of the software
Spread Family is an open source CRM and lead generation solution designed for all types of businesses and professionals. The platform enables marketing teams to manage their database and their customer relations based on 3 pillars:
- CRM (centralisation, segmentation, etc.),
- marketing automation (ab tests, scenarios, etc.),
- acquisition mechanisms (partnerships).
Key benefits
- Unify your offline and online customer and prospect databases, while benefiting from the enrichment of the various marketing operations that you put in place :
- your database is regularly updated with new customers, new registrations and changes,
- no more duplicate customer files to lose track of: everything is organised, analysed and centralised on a single platform.
- Your customer database is segmented using customisable filters and enriched using intelligent segmentation criteria:
- socio-demographic (age, town, etc),
- behavioural (preferences, habits, average budget, etc.),
- psychological (profile, personality, motivations, etc.).
As a result, you can considerably improve your customer relations and provide your customers with tailored offers, which will help to build customer loyalty.
- A web-responsive platform that lets you access your data from anywhere, using any device (tablet, smartphone, etc.).
Twilio Segment
The promise of the software
Twilio Segment is an easy-to-use , highly intuitive customer data platform that optimises customer exchanges and marketing campaigns, from start-ups to large groups.
It collects all your visitors' and customers' data via APIs and automatically profiles each of them. The result? You launch perfectly targeted campaigns with greater impact!
Twilio Segment
Key strengths
- The platform automatically eliminates data silos and collects user data from any source:
- collect data from every interaction with your websites, mobile applications and digital advertising,
- create a single customer profile accessible to your entire team,
- integrate customer data with every interaction, for a seamless customer journey across all channels.
- The solution ensures that your data is compliant and protects you from obsolete, incomplete or inaccurate data:
- ensure the quality of your data via validation circuits,
- save time by identifying data quality problems at source and correcting them automatically.
- Turn your customers' data into engaging, intelligent campaigns:
- Deliver targeted messages at the right time and frequency for each contact,
- define the best channel for each exchange (SMS, WhatsApp messages, emails, calls, etc.).
Zoho CRM
The promise of the software
Zoho CRM is easy-to-use customer relationship management software suitable for all types of business. Thanks to a high-performance customer database and a wealth of automation and segmentation functions, the solution is perfectly suited to building your customer files.
Zoho CRM
Highlights
- Export your data in CSV format from individual CRM modules directly into your CRM. You can also :
- de-duplicate your database,
- use the right keywords to filter data,
- use navigation at page and record level to locate data, etc.
- Easily import your data and records into your CRM account from external sources using the Import My Organization Records system :
- Import records assigned to you,
- import records assigned to other users.
This means you can manage your database easily, even if the source is external.
- Use advanced filters to filter records and data according to sales criteria such as :
- activities
- email status, etc.
How do you choose your customer database software?
By comparing the software below in a summary table
| Software | Type of user | Main strength | 3 key features | Entry price |
| Axonaut | French VSEs and SMEs | Complete business management in a single tool | Invoicing, CRM, accounting |
From €69.99 excluding VAT per month for 1 user
|
| Bitrix24 | Businesses of all sizes | Free CRM with a host of features | Contact management, task management, team collaboration |
Free for basic functionality
|
| Dolibarr | SMEs and the self-employed | Customisable open-source ERP/CRM | Customer management, invoicing, stock management |
Free (open-source)
|
| HubSpot CRM | Businesses of all sizes | Free CRM with marketing integration | Contact management, lead tracking, integration with marketing tools | Free |
| monday CRM | SMEs and large companies | Customisation and integration with monday.com | Contact management, sales tracking, workflow automation |
From €12 per user per month
|
| Odoo | Businesses of all sizes | Suite of integrated business management applications | CRM, ERP, invoicing |
Free for basic functionality
|
| Salesforce Sales Cloud | From SMEs to large enterprises | Market-leading CRM with numerous integrations | Opportunity management, sales automation, advanced reporting |
Starter package from €25 per user per month
|
| Saalz CRM | French SMEs | Simple, effective CRM tailored to local needs | Contact management, opportunity tracking, reporting | On request |
| Scal-e | Large companies | Data marketing platform for a 360° view of the customer | Campaign management, advanced segmentation, analytics | On request |
| Sellsy | SMEs and SMIs | French CRM with integrated invoicing and accounting | Sales management, invoicing, accounting |
From €29 excl. VAT per user per month
|
| Spread Family | Businesses of all sizes | Relationship marketing platform | Campaign management, segmentation, customer loyalty | On request |
| Twilio Segment | Large companies | Customer data infrastructure for easy integration | Data collection, integration with third-party tools, consent management | On request |
| Zoho CRM | SMEs and large enterprises | Full-featured CRM with integrated artificial intelligence | Lead management, process automation, predictive analytics |
Free for 3 users, then from €14 per user per month
|
Rates as at March 2025.
List the relevant criteria carefully
In order to choose the right customer database software, the solution must meet a number of basic criteria:
- The reputation of the platform,
- The relevance and richness of the customer database functions,
- The ease of use of the tool (ergonomics, graphics),
- The ability to connect from different devices: computer, tablet, smartphone, etc. The software must be able to update its database so that you can make decisions based on reliable information.
But there are also more advanced criteria:
- The more customer data you collect, the more your business grows and your needs change . You need to ensure that the solution you choose can synchronise and integrate with other tools that are essential to the development of your business. A cloud-based solution is recommended.
- Your data must be protected by means of certifications (RGPD, for example). You should also make sure that the software offers a system for managing access rights and several data protection methods (automatic deletion in the event of hacking, automatic backup, etc.).
- The consistency of your data and the ease with which it can be used are essential. You will need to collect different data from different sources, and the software you choose must be able to support this.
So, which customer database software is right for you?
The best way to choose the database software that's right for you is to analyse and define precisely your needs and those of your teams. What functionality will be most useful to you? This may vary according to the size of your company, your sector of activity, your budget or even your customers.
To get a clear idea and decide which features are essential for you, opt for a trial version.
Article translated from French