Free CRM to Manage Customer Relationships (HubSpot Alternative)

Twenty CRM is the #1 open-source customer relationship management platform — a modern, developer-friendly alternative to HubSpot that you can self-host for free (GitHub | Official Website). It gives you companies, contacts, deals, pipelines, tasks, notes, and a kanban board — all in a clean interface you control. No per-seat pricing, no vendor lock-in, no data silos.

If you're tired of HubSpot's escalating per-seat costs ($20–$90+/seat/month) or spreadsheet chaos, Twenty CRM is the answer. It's built with TypeScript, React, NestJS, and PostgreSQL — the same modern stack your development team already knows. And because it's open source under the ELv2 license, your customer data stays on your own server.

The Problem: CRMs Are Either Expensive or Clunky

Most small businesses face a painful choice when it comes to managing customer relationships:

• HubSpot starts free but quickly escalates to $20/seat/month (Starter), $100/seat/month (Professional), or $150/seat/month (Enterprise). A 10-person team on Professional pays $12,000/year.
• Salesforce is even more expensive, starting at $25/seat/month for Essentials and climbing to $300+/seat/month.
• Spreadsheets are free but don't scale — no pipeline views, no reminders, no email integration, no automation.
• Free tiers on commercial CRMs limit contacts (HubSpot free = 1M contacts but limited automation, no custom reporting).

Twenty CRM solves this. You host it yourself on a $5/month VPS, and every feature is unlocked — unlimited contacts, unlimited deals, unlimited users. No per-seat pricing. Ever.

What You Need

• A VPS with 2GB RAM (we recommend a $5–$12/month VPS from Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or Hostinger)
• Docker and Docker Compose installed (we'll cover this)
• A domain name (optional but recommended — e.g., crm.yourbusiness.com)
• 45 minutes of time
• No coding skills required — just copy-paste commands

What Twenty CRM Gives You

• Companies & Contacts — Track every organization and person you do business with. Link contacts to companies, add notes, log emails, and see a full activity timeline.
• Deal Pipelines — Visual kanban boards for your sales pipeline. Drag deals between stages, set values, assign owners, and forecast revenue at a glance.
• Tasks & Reminders — Never miss a follow-up. Create tasks linked to deals or contacts, set due dates, and get reminders.
• Custom Objects & Fields — Twenty's code-first approach lets you define custom objects (like "Properties" for real estate or "Projects" for agencies) with typed fields — no admin-panel clicking required.
• Workflow Automation — Automate repetitive tasks: when a deal moves to "Closed Won," trigger an email, create onboarding tasks, update a spreadsheet. Powered by BullMQ job queues.
• AI Agents — Built-in AI capabilities let you enrich company data, draft emails, and surface insights from your CRM data without leaving the interface.
• API & Webhooks — Full REST and GraphQL API. Connect Twenty to your website forms, billing system, or marketing tools. Webhooks fire on every record change.
• Data Ownership — Your customer data lives on your server, not in someone else's cloud. No surprise data lock-in, no vendor migration headaches.
• Version Control for Your CRM — Define objects, fields, and views as code. Version them in Git. Deploy changes with CI/CD. This is a CRM your engineering team will actually like.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Step 1: Prepare Your VPS

SSH into your VPS and install Docker if you haven't already:

# Update system packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

Step 2: Download the Environment File

Create a working directory and download the example environment file:

mkdir ~/twenty-crm && cd ~/twenty-crm

curl -o .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/twentyhq/twenty/refs/heads/main/packages/twenty-docker/.env.example

Step 3: Generate an Encryption Key

This key encrypts sensitive data stored in the database (OAuth tokens, API keys, TOTP secrets). Save it somewhere safe — if you lose it, encrypted data is unrecoverable:

openssl rand -base64 32

Copy the output and update your .env file:

# Edit the .env file
nano .env

# Replace these values:
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_generated_key_here
PG_DATABASE_PASSWORD=choose_a_strong_password_here

Important: Use a strong password without special characters for PG_DATABASE_PASSWORD. Avoid @, #, $, and other shell-sensitive characters.

Step 4: Download the Docker Compose File

curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/twentyhq/twenty/refs/heads/main/packages/twenty-docker/docker-compose.yml

Step 5: Configure Your Domain (Optional but Recommended)

If you're using a domain name, update the SERVER_URL in your .env file:

# Without SSL (not recommended for production)
SERVER_URL=http://crm.yourbusiness.com:3000

# With SSL via reverse proxy (recommended)
SERVER_URL=https://crm.yourbusiness.com

For SSL, set up Nginx or Caddy as a reverse proxy with Let's Encrypt certificates. Here's a minimal Caddy configuration:

# /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
crm.yourbusiness.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

# Reload Caddy
sudo systemctl reload caddy

Step 6: Launch Twenty CRM

docker compose up -d

This pulls all required images (PostgreSQL, Redis, Twenty server, Twenty worker, Twenty frontend) and starts them. The first run takes 2–5 minutes to download images and initialize the database.

Check that all containers are running:

docker compose ps

You should see all services with status Up. If any service shows Exited, check the logs:

docker compose logs --tail=50 [service_name]

Step 7: Access Your CRM

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://your-server-ip:3000
# or
https://crm.yourbusiness.com

You'll see the Twenty CRM welcome screen. Create your admin account, and you're in. That's it — your CRM is live.

Step 8: Create Your First Workspace

After signing up, Twenty prompts you to create a workspace. Name it after your business. Then:

1. Click Companies → New to add your first company record
2. Click People → New to add a contact
3. Click Opportunities → Create a pipeline with stages (e.g., Lead → Qualified → Proposal → Closed Won)
4. Add your first deal and drag it across the kanban board

Cost Comparison: Twenty CRM vs HubSpot vs Salesforce

The math: Over 5 years, a 10-person team on HubSpot Professional spends $60,000. The same team on Twenty CRM spends about $600 in VPS costs. That's a $59,400 savings — enough to hire a part-time sales rep.

Too Complex? We Can Set This Up for You

If you'd rather focus on closing deals than configuring Docker containers, we've got you covered. Our team handles the full setup — from VPS provisioning to SSL configuration to data migration from your current CRM.

One-Time Setup — $399

• VPS provisioning and Docker installation
• Twenty CRM deployment with SSL
• Custom domain configuration (crm.yourbusiness.com)
• Initial pipeline and workspace setup
• Up to 1 hour of training via screen share
• Email support for 14 days post-setup

Monthly Managed — $149/mo

• Everything in One-Time Setup
• Monitoring and uptime guarantees (99.5%)
• Automatic security updates and backups
• Unlimited user accounts (no per-seat fees)
• Priority email support (same-day response)
• Monthly health check report

6-Month Managed Bundle — $1,499 (Save $201)

• Everything in Monthly Managed
• 6 months of managed hosting prepaid
• Custom workflow automation setup (up to 5 workflows)
• Data migration from HubSpot, Salesforce, or spreadsheets
• Dedicated Slack/Discord support channel
• Quarterly strategy review call

Get started →

FAQ

Is Twenty CRM really free?

Yes. Twenty CRM is open-source software licensed under the Elastic License v2. You can self-host it for free — the only cost is your VPS ($5–12/month). There are no per-seat fees, no contact limits, and no feature paywalls. The company behind Twenty also offers a cloud-hosted version at twenty.com if you prefer not to manage infrastructure.

How does Twenty CRM compare to HubSpot?

Twenty CRM gives you the core CRM features — companies, contacts, deals, pipelines, tasks, notes, and automation — without HubSpot's per-seat pricing. HubSpot's free tier is generous but limits automation and reporting. HubSpot Professional costs $100/seat/month. Twenty CRM's self-hosted version has unlimited users for the cost of a VPS. The trade-off: HubSpot has more built-in integrations and a larger app marketplace, while Twenty CRM gives you full API access and code-level customization.

Can I migrate my data from HubSpot or Salesforce?

Yes. Twenty CRM has a full REST and GraphQL API. You can export your contacts and deals from HubSpot (via CSV export or API) and import them into Twenty. The API supports bulk creation of companies, contacts, and opportunities. If you need help with migration, our managed setup service includes data migration from HubSpot, Salesforce, or spreadsheets.

Do I need a developer to set this up?

No. The Docker Compose setup is designed for non-technical users — it's a series of copy-paste commands. If you can follow a recipe, you can deploy Twenty CRM. However, if you want custom objects, workflow automation, or API integrations, some technical knowledge (or our managed service) helps.

Is my data safe on a self-hosted CRM?

Self-hosting means your data lives on your server, not in a third-party cloud. This is actually more secure for many businesses — no vendor can lock you out, change their terms, or have a data breach that exposes your customer list. You control access, backups, and encryption. Just make sure to: (1) set up automated database backups, (2) enable SSL, (3) use a strong PostgreSQL password, and (4) keep your server updated.

Can multiple team members use it?

Yes. Twenty CRM supports multiple users with no per-seat fees. Each team member creates their own account within your workspace. You can assign deal ownership, track activity per user, and control what each person sees. Unlike HubSpot, adding your 11th or 50th user costs nothing extra.

What about backups?

Twenty CRM uses PostgreSQL as its database. Set up automated backups with a simple cron job that dumps the database to an off-site location (like AWS S3 or Backblaze B2). Here's a basic backup script:

#!/bin/bash
# Daily 3 AM backup - add to crontab
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)
docker exec twenty-postgres pg_dump -U twenty twenty > /backups/twenty-$DATE.sql
aws s3 cp /backups/twenty-$DATE.sql s3://your-bucket/twenty-backups/

Does Twenty CRM integrate with email and calendars?

Yes. Twenty CRM supports email sync via IMAP/SMTP and has OAuth integrations for Gmail and Outlook. You can log emails against contact records, schedule meetings, and send sequences. The API also supports webhooks, so you can connect it to Zapier, n8n, or any integration platform for custom workflows.

What's the tech stack behind Twenty CRM?

Twenty CRM is built with TypeScript, React (frontend), NestJS (backend), PostgreSQL (database), Redis (job queues via BullMQ), and Nx (monorepo tooling). It's a modern, well-architected codebase — if your team knows JavaScript/TypeScript, they can extend it. The project has 55,000+ GitHub stars and an active community on Discord.