SugarCRM

CRM with AI for precision selling

CRM
★★★★☆ 3.9
2004 Founded
501-1000 Employees
4,000+ Customers
San Francisco, California, USA Headquarters

Quick Facts

✓ Free Trial
Starting Price
19
Pricing Model
per-user
Free Trial
7 days
Company Type
private

About SugarCRM

SugarCRM is a privately held customer relationship management (CRM) software company that provides a unified platform for sales, marketing, and customer service, with a growing emphasis on AI-driven revenue intelligence and automation. Its flagship cloud products—Sugar Sell, Sugar Market, Sugar Serve, and the sales‑i revenue intelligence solution—are designed to help B2B organizations win, grow, and retain customers while integrating deeply with ERP and back‑office systems. sugarcrm.com

Founded in 2004 in California as one of the early open‑source CRMs, SugarCRM has evolved into a full commercial suite offering both cloud and on‑premises editions (Sugar Enterprise). Over the years it has raised significant venture capital (over $80M) and, since 2018, has been backed by private‑equity firm Accel‑KKR, which took a majority stake described as a nine‑figure investment, signaling a long‑term growth strategy. en.wikipedia.org

The company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and serves more than 4,000 customers and over 1 million users in 120+ countries, with particular strength in manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution sectors that require tight CRM–ERP alignment and complex, repeat‑sale workflows. Sugar positions itself as the “flexible CRM for mid‑market companies,” emphasizing no‑code configuration, open APIs, and an ecosystem of ERP and marketplace integrations that support over 180 ERP connections. sugarcrm.com

In recent strategy updates, SugarCRM has doubled down on mid‑market manufacturing and distribution, investing in domain‑specific capabilities, revenue‑intelligence features (via its acquisition of sales‑i), and AI/ML to surface next‑best actions, churn risk, and cross‑sell opportunities. Combined with its native mobile apps, offline access, and both cloud and on‑prem deployment options, SugarCRM sits as a strong alternative to larger CRM suites for organizations that need deep customization, ERP integration, and industry‑specific workflows without committing to a fully monolithic enterprise stack. support.sugarcrm.com

Key Features

Sales automation & guided selling - Configurable workflows, playbooks, and smart guides that standardize sales processes and next-best actions across the team.

AI-powered revenue intelligence - Predicts high-value opportunities, highlights churn risk, and prioritizes leads and accounts using behavioral and transactional data.

Unified customer 360 view - Consolidates sales, marketing, service, and ERP data into a single view of accounts, contacts, and opportunities across the lifecycle.

Marketing automation - Sugar Market supports email campaigns, landing pages, forms, lead nurturing, social campaigns, events, and AI-based lead scoring in one tool. sugarcrm.com

Customer service & case management - Sugar Serve provides an omnichannel service console, SLA management, case queues, and knowledge tools to improve support experiences. sugarcrm.com

Advanced forecasting & pipeline management - Forecast module, pipeline inspection, and interactive dashboards for monitoring pipeline health, conversion, and team performance. sugarcrm.com

No-code configuration - Admins can tailor fields, layouts, workflows, and approval processes with minimal coding, while developers can extend functionality via open REST/SOAP APIs. sugarcrm.com

Deep ERP and back-office integrations - Out-of-the-box connectors and iPaaS partners provide 180+ ERP integrations (e.g., SAP, SYSPRO, Sage) for real-time order, inventory, and invoice data in CRM. marketplace.sugarcrm.com

Mobile CRM with offline access - Native iOS and Android apps let users work online or offline, cache records locally, and sync changes when reconnected, with push notifications and mobile-specific views. support.sugarcrm.com

Reporting & analytics - Built-in reports and dashboards for activities, pipeline, and revenue, plus optional advanced analytics (e.g., Sugar Discover) and revenue insights from sales-i. sugarcrm.com

Email & calendar integration - Bi-directional sync with Outlook and other email/calendar systems, including working from inbox add-ins while logging to CRM. sugarcrm.com

Multi-entity & multi-language support - Supports multiple business units and brands, with availability in 30+ languages and a language pack framework. inetprocess.com

Cloud and on-prem deployment - Offers Sugar Sell/Serve in SugarCloud and Sugar Enterprise for on-premises or private-cloud deployments for customers needing full data control. en.wikipedia.org

Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

  • Highly customizable and extensible platform that can be tailored to complex business processes and industries.
  • Strong automation and workflow capabilities across sales, marketing, and service, which help eliminate manual work and save time. sugarcrm.com
  • Robust integration ecosystem and open APIs, including deep ERP integrations and connectors for tools like Mailchimp, QuickBooks, Outlook 365, and Zendesk. sugarclub.sugarcrm.com
  • Comprehensive reporting and forecasting tools that give good visibility into pipeline, activities, and revenue. sugarcrm.com
  • Mobile app with offline access and good on-the-go usability for field and remote teams. support.sugarcrm.com
  • Generally responsive customer support and active community resources, especially for configuration and troubleshooting. getapp.com

👎 Cons

  • User interface feels dated compared to newer CRMs and can be harder for inexperienced users to navigate. capterra.com
  • Steep learning curve and time-consuming initial setup/customization often require admin expertise or partner assistance. capterra.com
  • Pricing is relatively high for small organizations once per-user licenses and add-ons are included. selecthub.com
  • Reporting and advanced analytics can be complex to configure, and some users find out-of-the-box reporting limited or cumbersome. selecthub.com
  • Some users report occasional slowness or performance issues, especially in heavily customized or larger deployments. capterra.com

User Reviews

G2
4.0
★★★★☆
Capterra
3.8
★★★★☆
TrustRadius
7.6
★★★★★

Integrations

Mailchimp Microsoft Outlook 365 Zendesk PandaDoc QuickBooks DocuSign RingCentral TextExpander SAP ECC / S4HANA Oracle ERP Sage 50 / Sage ERP SYSPRO ERP Microsoft SharePoint Marketo Shopify GoToWebinar Freshdesk Microsoft Teams sales-i Zapier

Best For

Company Size

smb mid-market enterprise

Industries

Manufacturing Wholesale Distribution Industrial Products Business Services Technology Financial Services

Use Cases

B2B sales pipeline and opportunity management Account management for manufacturing and distribution customers Marketing automation and multi-channel lead nurturing Customer support and case management with SLAs Revenue forecasting, sales analytics, and pipeline inspection ERP-integrated selling, quoting, and order visibility

FAQ

What is SugarCRM?

+

SugarCRM is a customer relationship management platform that unifies B2B sales, marketing, and customer service in a single, highly configurable system. It offers cloud products such as Sugar Sell for sales automation, Sugar Market for marketing automation, Sugar Serve for customer service, and a revenue intelligence solution (sales-i) that surfaces cross-sell, upsell, and churn-risk signals based on ERP and transactional data. SugarCRM is particularly strong in mid-market manufacturing and distribution, where tight integration with ERP and complex account management are critical. sugarcrm.com

How much does SugarCRM cost?

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Sugar Sell pricing starts at approximately $19 per user per month for the Essentials package (3-user minimum, billed annually). The main sales tiers are Essentials, Standard (around $59/user/month), Advanced ($85/user/month), and Premier ($135/user/month), each adding capabilities such as advanced workflows, AI-based revenue intelligence, and enhanced support. Sugar Market, the marketing automation module, starts at about $1,000 per month for 10,000 contacts, billed annually. All pricing is subscription-based, billed annually, and a 7-day free trial is available for Sugar Sell; there is no permanent free plan. Organizations with larger user counts or on-premises needs typically negotiate custom enterprise pricing with SugarCRM or a partner. sugarcrm.com

What are the main features of SugarCRM?

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Key SugarCRM features include guided sales automation and workflows, AI-powered revenue intelligence, account and opportunity management, marketing automation (email, landing pages, forms, nurture campaigns, events, and social), customer service and case management with SLAs, advanced forecasting and pipeline inspection, a unified customer 360 view, and deep ERP and back-office integrations. The platform also includes a full-featured mobile app with offline access, robust reporting and dashboards, and extensive no-code configuration and open APIs for customizations and integrations. sugarcrm.com

Who are SugarCRM's main competitors?

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SugarCRM's main competitors in the CRM market include Salesforce Sales Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, HubSpot's CRM and Sales Hub, Zoho CRM, and Pipedrive. For organizations in manufacturing and distribution, it also competes with industry-focused CRMs and ERP vendors' native CRM modules. Many buyers evaluate SugarCRM when they outgrow spreadsheet-based sales management or when they're looking for a more flexible, ERP-friendly alternative to Salesforce or HubSpot. techradar.com

Is SugarCRM good for small businesses?

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SugarCRM can work for small businesses - especially B2B companies with complex sales cycles - but it is generally best suited to mid-market organizations. The Essentials tier and 7-day trial can help smaller teams get started, but there is no free plan, minimum user counts apply, and the platform's flexibility comes with a steeper learning curve than lightweight SMB CRMs. Reviews consistently note SugarCRM's power and customization as strengths, but also mention pricing and setup complexity as challenges for very small firms. Small businesses looking for a simple, low-cost CRM may find tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho CRM easier to adopt, while SugarCRM is better for teams that need deeper automation, reporting, and ERP integration and are willing to invest in implementation. selecthub.com

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