Best Open Source CRM Software in 2026
Seven CRMs you can inspect, self-host, and never pay a per-seat license fee for.
Twenty CRM is the sharpest purpose-built open source CRM for sales teams. Odoo and ERPNext fit teams that want CRM bundled into a full open source business suite. Dolibarr and Vtiger work well for smaller, lightweight self-hosted setups. All seven are free to self-host with full source code access and no per-seat license fee.
Most tools listed under CRM are closed-source SaaS: you rent seats, and if you cancel, you lose access to the software that holds your customer history. From the 10,000+ tools Toolradar tracks, these are the open-source CRMs a team can self-host and own their customer data on, no vendor required to keep the lights on.
We checked every CRM in Toolradar's database against its actual license and self-hosting story in 2026, not its marketing copy. Tools that call themselves "open" but ship a source-available, commercially-licensed core, like Bitrix24's on-premise edition, or that discontinued their community edition years ago, like SugarCRM, were cut. What remains are CRMs whose source is public under an OSI-style license (LGPL, GPL, AGPL, or an MPL-derived license) and that you can genuinely run on your own server today.
Top Picks
Based on features, user feedback, and value for money.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twenty CRM | From $19/mo | n/a | Sales teams that want a modern, purpose-built open source CRM instead of a full ERP suite |
| Odoo | From $31.1/mo | 4.2(2,589) | Teams that want CRM bundled with the rest of the business, sales, inventory, and accoun... |
| ERPNext | From $25/mo | 4.5(186) | Companies that want CRM plus accounting, inventory, and HR without paying per seat |
| Dolibarr | Free | 4.6(186) | Freelancers and small businesses that want a lightweight, free ERP and CRM on ordinary... |
| Vtiger | From $30/mo | 4.3(765) | Small teams that want CRM and help desk combined in one self-hosted app |
| CiviCRM | Free plan | 4.1(148) | Nonprofits, NGOs, and advocacy groups managing donors and members instead of sales pros... |
| OroCommerce | Free plan | 4.4(44) | B2B companies that want CRM and e-commerce running on the same open-source platform |
Sales teams that want a modern, purpose-built open source CRM instead of a full ERP suite
Value 85/100. Twenty CRM's pricing is quite competitive, especially for an open-source solution.
Watch out: Self-hosting requires infrastructure costs
Teams that want CRM bundled with the rest of the business, sales, inventory, and accounting, under one open source roof
Value 90/100. Odoo offers exceptional value for ERP.
Watch out: Implementation costs ($2K-50K)
Companies that want CRM plus accounting, inventory, and HR without paying per seat
Value 75/100. ERPNext's pricing structure is quite flexible, offering options from a modest $25/month for private sites to $400/month for premium dedicated hosting.
Watch out: Potential for customization costs
Freelancers and small businesses that want a lightweight, free ERP and CRM on ordinary web hosting
Value 95/100. Dolibarr's pricing is exceptionally generous, offering a full-featured open-source ERP/CRM suite completely free.
Watch out: Self-hosting requires server infrastructure.
Small teams that want CRM and help desk combined in one self-hosted app
Value 85/100. Vtiger's pricing is quite generous, especially with the free 'Pilot' tier offering basic CRM for up to 10 users.
Watch out: Per-user pricing can add up quickly
Nonprofits, NGOs, and advocacy groups managing donors and members instead of sales prospects
Value 95/100. CiviCRM offers an incredibly generous pricing model, with a fully functional 'Do It Yourself' free tier that provides immense value for non-profits.
Watch out: DIY requires significant technical knowledge/resources.
B2B companies that want CRM and e-commerce running on the same open-source platform
Other CRM worth considering
Beyond the editorial top picks, these are also strong choices we evaluated.
What Is an Open Source CRM?
An open source CRM is customer relationship management software whose source code is public under a license like the GPL, LGPL, AGPL, or MPL. Anyone can download it, run it on their own server, modify how it works, and audit exactly what it does with customer data. That is a different model from renting seats in a vendor's cloud: you install the software yourself, or pay a hosting partner to run it for you, and the vendor's business shifts from license fees to support, hosting, and paid add-ons.
Open source does not mean free of any cost. Self-hosting means paying for servers, backups, security patches, and someone's time to keep it all running. In exchange, you get a CRM you actually own: no seat-based price hikes, no vendor sunsetting a feature you depend on, and a customer database you can export in full at any moment.
Why Self-Hosting Your CRM Matters
Vendor lock-in is the core risk with SaaS CRMs. If a closed-source vendor raises prices, changes its export policy, or gets acquired and folded into another product, a company's entire sales and customer history moves at the vendor's pace, not the company's. An open source CRM removes that leverage: the database lives on infrastructure the company controls, and the software keeps running even if a support contract or paid tier stops making sense.
Self-hosting also matters for data residency and compliance. Teams in regulated industries, or outside the US, often cannot legally keep customer data on a third party's servers in another jurisdiction. Running an open source CRM on infrastructure the company controls sidesteps that problem, at the cost of taking on the operational work a SaaS vendor would otherwise handle.
Key Features to Look For
GPL, LGPL, AGPL, or an MPL-derived license, not a source-available license that restricts who can use the code, like a church-only or non-commercial-only clause.
A documented Docker Compose setup or manual install, not just a hosted cloud product with the words open source in its marketing copy.
The self-hosted edition should include real CRM functionality, pipeline, contacts, reporting, not a crippled trial of the paid product.
Direct database access or a documented export path, so leaving the tool never means losing customer history.
Recent commits and releases. Some open source CRMs are effectively abandoned, like SugarCRM's old community edition, and are unsafe to run unpatched.
A plugin or module system and a documented API, so you can customize the CRM without forking the core codebase.
Mistakes to Avoid
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Treating source-available as open source. Bitrix24 markets on-premise freedom, but it ships under a commercial per-user license, not an OSI-approved one; you get to read the code, not run it free.
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Picking a CRM whose open source edition was discontinued years ago. SugarCRM's Community Edition reached end of life in 2017; the codebase lives on as a separate community fork, not as SugarCRM itself.
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Underestimating hosting cost. The software is free, but servers, backups, TLS certificates, and someone's time to patch security issues are not. Budget for that before comparing license fees.
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Choosing a full ERP like Odoo, ERPNext, or Dolibarr when only a sales pipeline is needed, or the reverse: picking a CRM-only tool and later bolting on a second system for accounting and inventory.
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Ignoring AGPL obligations. If you plan to modify one of these CRMs and offer it as a hosted service to others, AGPL-licensed tools like Twenty and CiviCRM require sharing those modifications back.
Expert Tips
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Read the LICENSE file on GitHub before trusting a vendor's open source claim on its marketing site. That file, not the homepage copy, governs what you can actually do with the code.
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Start with the project's official Docker Compose setup instead of a from-scratch install. Every tool on this list ships one, and it is the fastest way to test before committing infrastructure.
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Test the data export path on day one, before entering real customer data. The whole point of self-hosting is being able to leave without losing history, so confirm that actually works.
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Budget a part-time sysadmin role, internal or through a hosting partner, for anything beyond a small pilot. Self-hosted CRMs do not patch, back up, or upgrade themselves.
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If the team is nonprofit or advocacy-focused, start with CiviCRM instead of a general sales CRM. Its donation, membership, and event objects save months of custom-building those into a generic pipeline tool.
The Bottom Line
Twenty CRM is the strongest pick for a team that wants a modern, purpose-built open source CRM, while Odoo and ERPNext fit teams that want CRM bundled into a full open source business suite. From the 10,000+ tools Toolradar tracks, these are the open source CRMs a team can self-host and own their customer data on, without the license fees or lock-in of a closed-source SaaS platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free open source CRM?
Twenty CRM is the best fit if you want a modern, purpose-built CRM: it is AGPL-3.0 licensed, and the self-hosted Community edition is the same product as the paid cloud version, with no feature gating. Odoo is the better pick if you want CRM bundled with accounting, inventory, and other business apps under one open source roof, and it is free to self-host under LGPLv3.
Is Odoo really free?
The Odoo Community edition is genuinely free and open source under LGPLv3, including its CRM, Sales, and Inventory apps, and you can self-host it at no license cost. Odoo Online and Odoo Enterprise are separate paid plans with hosting, support, and extra apps included, priced per user per month.
Can I self-host Twenty CRM for free?
Yes. Twenty's self-hosted Community edition is free under the AGPL-3.0 license, with unlimited records and no feature cap, the same codebase as the paid cloud plans. You pay only for the server it runs on. The Pro and Organization cloud plans exist for teams that would rather not manage hosting themselves.
What is the difference between open source and free CRM software?
Free CRM software can still be closed-source SaaS with a limited free tier, like a capped free plan on a proprietary product. Open source CRM software, like Odoo, ERPNext, or Dolibarr, publishes its actual source code under a license such as GPL, LGPL, or AGPL that lets anyone self-host, modify, and audit it, with no vendor able to revoke access or change the terms later.
Is SuiteCRM or SugarCRM still open source?
SugarCRM's Community Edition was discontinued and reached end of life in 2017; the current SugarCRM product is closed-source commercial software. SuiteCRM is the actively maintained open source fork of that old Sugar codebase and remains free and open source today, though it is not yet in Toolradar's CRM catalog, which is why it is not one of the picks above.
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