Best Business Software 2026: Independent CRM, Accounting and Project Tools Ranking
We rank well-known CRM, accounting and task or project management tools for businesses in one list, using only facts from vendor sites: the entry price per user, free plan and trial, whether prices are public, SOC 2 and ISO 27001, single sign-on, two-factor login, choice of data region, uptime commitment, status page, support hours, public API, data export and mobile app. Use the filters to see only one kind of tool. Every fact links to an official page with a check date. We do not use reviews or user scores and do not judge how well a tool fits your work, and paid placements never change the Score.
| # | Company | Who it serves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smartsheet | 98 | $9.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 2 | Wrike | 96 | $10.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 3 | Asana | 90 | $10.99 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 4 | Freshsales | 84 | $9.00 | Yes | Yes | CRM Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 5 | Notion | 82 | $10.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 6 | HubSpot Sales Hub / Smart CRM | 80 | $20.00 | Yes | Yes | CRM Free plan SOC 2 SSO Data region |
| 7 | Trello (Atlassian) | 79 | $5.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO |
| 8 | monday work management (monday.com) | 78 | $10.02 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO |
| 9 | Bitrix24 | 75 | $49.00 | Yes | Not verified | CRM Tasks Free plan SSO Data region |
| 10 | ClickUp | 74 | $9.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 11 | Jira (Atlassian) | 73 | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 SSO Data region |
| 12 | Odoo | 71 | $16.58 | Yes | Not verified | Accounting Free plan SSO Data region |
| 13 | Zoho CRM | 70 | $14.00 | Yes | Yes | CRM Free plan SOC 2 ISO 27001 Data region |
| 14 | Xero | 66 | $27.00 | No | Yes | Accounting SOC 2 ISO 27001 |
| 15 | Close | 65 | $9.00 | No | Yes | CRM SOC 2 SSO |
| 16 | Todoist | 64 | $5.00 | Yes | Yes | Tasks Free plan SOC 2 |
| 17 | Insightly | 58 | $29.00 | No | Yes | CRM SOC 2 SSO |
| 18 | Basecamp | 47 | $29.00 | No | No | Tasks |
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $9.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Support around the clock
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $10.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Documented public API
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $10.99
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Documented public API
Details Visit site ↗ 92% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $9.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
Details Visit site ↗ 88% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $10.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
Details Visit site ↗ 84% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $20.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
Cons
- Vendor does not state ISO 27001
Details Visit site ↗ 92% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $5.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
Cons
- No published uptime commitment
Details Visit site ↗ 88% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $10.02
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Documented public API
Details Visit site ↗ 80% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $49.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Not verified
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Support around the clock
- Documented public API
Cons
- High entry price
Details Visit site ↗ 85% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $9.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Support around the clock
- You can export your records yourself
Details Visit site ↗ 76% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Publishes an uptime commitment
- Documented public API
- Vendor states SOC 2
Details Visit site ↗ 79% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $16.58
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Not verified
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Single sign-on available
Cons
- No published uptime commitment
Details Visit site ↗ 85% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $14.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Vendor states SOC 2
Details Visit site ↗ 73% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $27.00
- Free plan
- No
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Support around the clock
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Vendor states SOC 2
Cons
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 81% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $9.00
- Free plan
- No
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Vendor states SOC 2
Cons
- No permanent free plan
- Vendor does not state ISO 27001
Details Visit site ↗ 88% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $5.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Low entry price
- Has a permanent free plan
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
Cons
- Vendor does not state ISO 27001
- No single sign-on
- No choice of data region
Details Visit site ↗ 84% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $29.00
- Free plan
- No
- SOC 2 stated
- Yes
Pros
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Vendor states SOC 2
- Single sign-on available
Cons
- No permanent free plan
- Vendor does not state ISO 27001
Details Visit site ↗ 80% backed by facts
-
- Entry price per user per month
- $29.00
- Free plan
- No
- SOC 2 stated
- No
Pros
- Support around the clock
- Documented public API
- You can export your records yourself
- Free trial without talking to sales
Cons
- No permanent free plan
- Vendor does not state SOC 2
- Vendor does not state ISO 27001
- No single sign-on
Details Visit site ↗ 84% backed by facts
Not ranked yet: not enough verified data
These services are known to us, but we haven't verified enough facts to rank them fairly.
- FreeAgent (54% backed by facts)
- FreshBooks (65% backed by facts)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales (61% backed by facts)
- QuickBooks Online (Intuit) (65% backed by facts)
- Salesforce Sales Cloud (49% backed by facts)
- Wave (38% backed by facts)
How we calculate the Score
30%
Price
List price of the cheapest paid plan for one user for one month, at the annual billing rate where offered (both billing rates are shown next to the fact): $0 scores 100, $60 or more scores 0 (weight 3). Plans sold per company count at their whole monthly price. First-months promotions are ignored. If a vendor shows no USD price, we convert at the ECB rate and show the original. Also a permanent free plan (weight 2), a free trial without talking to sales (weight 1) and a public price for the entry plan (weight 1).
30%
Security
Whether the vendor states SOC 2 (weight 2) and ISO/IEC 27001 (weight 2) for this product, offers SAML or OIDC single sign-on on any plan (weight 2), two-factor login (weight 1) and a choice of data storage region on any plan (weight 1). We record the vendor's statement; we do not audit it.
20%
Reliability
Whether the vendor publishes an uptime percentage as a commitment on any plan (weight 2; a non-binding target does not count), whether a public status page exists (weight 1), and how many hours a week human support is available on ordinary paid plans (weight 2): 168 hours, that is 24/7, scores 100. Paid support add-ons and Enterprise-only support are not counted.
20%
Openness
A documented public API (weight 2), self-service export of your core records (weight 2) and the vendor's own mobile app (weight 1). These decide how easily the tool connects to others and how easily you can leave.
How to choose business software
Count the full cost
Multiply the price by your team size and check minimum seats, annual billing and what the entry plan leaves out. Entry plans often exclude automation, reports or integrations.
Check which plan has what you need
Single sign-on, uptime commitments and longer support hours are often limited to the top plans. The fact shows that a feature exists on some plan, not on the cheapest one.
Plan your exit before you start
Try exporting your data during the trial and check that the file is complete. Changing tools is much easier when your records come out in a usable format.
Ask where data is stored
If your customers or regulator expect data to stay in a region, confirm this with the vendor in writing, and for accounting check support for your country's tax rules.
Frequently asked questions
Which business software is best?
The tool in first place has the highest Score under our open method, but the Score does not measure how well a tool fits your work. Filter by kind first, then compare the factors that matter to you.
Why are CRM, accounting and task tools in one ranking?
All three are bought by businesses and can be compared on the same facts: price, security, reliability and openness. Use the CRM, Accounting and Tasks filters to see one kind. Functions specific to one kind are not scored.
How do you compare per-user and per-company prices?
We take the price one user pays for one month on the cheapest paid plan. Plans sold per company count at their whole monthly price, which favours per-user plans for a single user; a larger team should recalculate. Annual and monthly prices are shown under the fact.
Why do you not use reviews?
Reviews are hard to verify and are not comparable across tools. This ranking uses only facts readable on vendor sites, so anyone can repeat it.
What does an empty fact mean?
We could not confirm it on an official page, sometimes because the vendor's site refused automated access. An empty fact scores zero and lowers data completeness. A product with too little data is not ranked.