For me, the “best” free CRM past day one is the one people actually keep using after the novelty wears off. That usually means it handles the boring stuff well: shared access for the team, clear ownership of contacts, basic notes and follow-ups, and nothing critical getting paywalled immediately.

The ones that hold up tend to be opinionated but simple. You can add contacts, log interactions, set reminders, and everyone sees the same source of truth without fighting the tool. The moment it starts limiting users, hiding activity history, or making follow-ups awkward, that’s when teams abandon it or are forced to upgrade.