Copper vs Insightly
An independent, review-free comparison compiled by the SaaSTracker editorial team. Both products are profiled in full, and neither can pay for placement here.
The short answer
Editorial assessmentInsightly compared with Copper
Copper is the Google Workspace-native CRM that also carries project tracking for post-sale work, and it is far more pleasant to use day to day. Insightly is heavier, scales to more records, and has stronger administrative controls. Small Google-centric agencies should try Copper first; firms that need permission structures, sandboxes, and 250,000-plus records should look at Insightly.
Choose Copper if
Service businesses of 3 to 50 people running on Google Workspace (agencies, consultancies, advisors, production and construction firms) that want relationship tracking, light pipeline management, and post-sale project handoff living directly inside Gmail with minimal setup or training.
Choose Insightly if
Small and mid-sized project-based businesses (agencies, consultancies, professional services, specialist contractors) that need the sale and the delivery to share one system, and that value record scale and permissions over deep sales automation.
Side by side
13 attributes| Attribute | Copper | Insightly |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CRM | CRM |
| Starting price | $23/user/mo (Basic, billed annually; $29 monthly) (14 days trial) | $29 per user per month, billed annually (Plus) (14 days trial) |
| Pricing model | Per-seat subscription across three tiers, billed monthly or annually (annual saves up to about 26%), with contact-count caps and feature gates defining the upgrade path; 14-day free trial, no free plan. | Per-user subscription across three CRM plans billed annually, with marketing automation priced by prospect volume, service ticketing priced per user, and the AppConnect integration platform priced by monthly task volume. |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card required | 14 days |
| Best for | Service businesses of 3 to 50 people running on Google Workspace (agencies, consultancies, advisors, production and construction firms) that want relationship tracking, light pipeline management, and post-sale project handoff living directly inside Gmail with minimal setup or training. | Small and mid-sized project-based businesses (agencies, consultancies, professional services, specialist contractors) that need the sale and the delivery to share one system, and that value record scale and permissions over deep sales automation. |
| Setup time | Days: install the extension, connect Google, import a CSV, and pick a pipeline template. Copper's marketing leans on a customer going live in 3 days versus a 3-month HubSpot rollout, and that order of magnitude is credible for small teams. | A working CRM in a day or two through CSV import and pipeline configuration. Setting up project pipelines, task templates, routing rules, and dashboards so that sales and delivery genuinely connect takes 2 to 4 weeks of part-time work. |
| Learning curve | Low, and that is the product's point: anyone who can use Gmail can use the sidebar. Admin-level work (workflow automation, report building) is modest and documented. | Moderate. The CRM half is conventional and familiar, and the project half requires deliberate process design, since the value only appears if the opportunity-to-project handoff mirrors how the business actually delivers. |
| Platforms | Web app, Chrome extension (Gmail sidebar), iOS app, Android app, REST API | Web app, iOS, Android, Gmail and Outlook integrations |
| Compliance | GDPR alignment via EU Standard Contractual Clauses in its terms, No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification published on the public security page as of this review | SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, HIPAA support on eligible configurations |
| Founded | 2013 | 2009 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Ownership | Venture-backed | PE-owned (Crest Rock Partners, merged with Unbounce in July 2024) |
Strengths and limitations
Copper
Strengths
- The deepest Gmail integration in the CRM market: for Google Workspace teams the sidebar workflow eliminates the adoption problem that kills most CRM rollouts.
- Automatic contact and activity capture means the CRM stays current even when the team ignores it, which for service firms is the realistic scenario.
- Project management and task automation extend the system past the close, matching how agencies and consultancies actually operate.
- Fast time-to-value: days to running, with templates by industry and essentially no implementation project.
Limitations
- Google-only by design: on Microsoft 365 or mixed environments, Copper's core advantage evaporates and better options exist at every price.
- No native calling, SMS, or dialer, and no sales-engagement depth (mailbox rotation, multichannel cadences), so high-velocity outbound teams need other tools.
- Automation and customization ceilings arrive early: no custom objects, workflow automation is field-and-task level, and the AI story is thin next to Attio's agents or Close's Chloe.
- Contact caps on the lower tiers function as a stealth price increase for any team doing list building or newsletter-scale email.
Insightly
Strengths
- Genuine project management inside the CRM, with opportunities converting into delivery projects that keep the customer history attached; almost nothing else in this price band does this properly.
- Generous record and storage limits (up to 500,000 records and 250 GB) compared with most small-business CRMs.
- Serious administrative controls at the top tier including sandboxes, audit logging, and serverless function authoring.
- One vendor now covers landing pages, CRM, marketing automation, and service following the 2024 Unbounce merger, which is a coherent story for marketing-led service businesses.
Limitations
- No free plan and a 14-day trial only, with an entry price double Zoho Standard for less configurability.
- The Plus plan has no workflow automation and only two permission roles, which makes $49 Professional the real starting point.
- Native sales sequencing and cadence tooling are thin; serious outbound follow-up pushes you toward the separately priced marketing product.
- Four separate subscriptions (CRM, Marketing, Service, AppConnect) make total cost of ownership opaque, and AppConnect at $249 a month is expensive for an integration layer.
Pricing compared
Copper
Per-seat subscription across three tiers, billed monthly or annually (annual saves up to about 26%), with contact-count caps and feature gates defining the upgrade path; 14-day free trial, no free plan.
- Basic$23
- Professional$59
- Business$99
For a Google Workspace service business, Professional at $59 per seat is fair value: automatic capture, pipelines, projects, workflow automation, and bulk email cover the whole client lifecycle for less than half a HubSpot Sales Professional seat. The economics sour in two directions: list-heavy teams hit contact caps and get pushed to the $99 Business tier for capacity rather than capability, and feature-per-dollar hawks will note that Attio sells deeper automation, custom objects, and AI at a lower entry price. You are paying a premium for the Gmail-native experience; whether that premium is worth it depends entirely on how much your team lives in the inbox.
Insightly
Per-user subscription across three CRM plans billed annually, with marketing automation priced by prospect volume, service ticketing priced per user, and the AppConnect integration platform priced by monthly task volume.
- Plus$29
- Professional$49
- Enterprise$99
Insightly is not cheap and does not pretend to be. Against pure sales CRMs it looks expensive: $49 for the automation tier where Zoho charges $23 and includes far more configuration. The value case rests entirely on the project layer. If your business genuinely delivers work after the sale and would otherwise buy a CRM plus a project tool plus an integration between them, Insightly at $49 a user is competitive and simpler. If you would never open the project module, you are paying a premium for shelf space, and the multi-product pricing around it makes the total cost harder to predict than most competitors here.
Editorial verdict on each
Copper
Copper is the best CRM for one precisely drawn buyer: a Google Workspace service business whose past CRMs died of neglect. The Gmail sidebar and automatic capture solve adoption better than any competitor, and the project-management layer matches how agencies and advisory firms actually run client work. Outside that profile the case weakens fast: no telephony, early automation ceilings, contact caps that tax growth, and a security posture described rather than certified. Buy Copper for the inbox-native experience and the client lifecycle; look to Attio for power and flexibility, or Close for the phone.
Read the full Copper profileInsightly
Insightly is a specialist wearing a generalist's clothes. As a sales CRM it is fine and slightly expensive; as a system that carries a customer from lead to won deal to delivered project on one record, it is one of very few options a small business can buy self-serve. Agencies, consultancies, and contractors are the natural buyers, and they should budget for the $49 Professional plan because Plus has no automation and only two permission roles. Treat the surrounding product family with caution: marketing, service, and AppConnect are separate subscriptions that can triple the bill. And factor in that the company is two years into private equity ownership and a merger with Unbounce, so the combined-platform pitch is still a promise. If the project layer is not the reason you are looking, buy something cheaper.
Read the full Insightly profileCopper profile last reviewed 2026-08-22; Insightly last reviewed 2026-08-22. Pricing is compiled from public sources and can change without notice. See our methodology.