Flowgration can be an alternative to Pipedrive if your business needs more than a pipeline: email, SMS and WhatsApp automation, a connection to your online store, invoicing and time tracking, all on the same customer record. Pipedrive is a CRM built around the sales team, with a clear visual pipeline. If you sell consultatively, with a sales team and marketing that lives in another tool that already works, staying with Pipedrive may be the right decision.
This page compares the two tools in detail. If you want five alternatives, read our article on Pipedrive alternatives.
What Pipedrive does well
Before comparing, it is fair to acknowledge its strengths:
- A visual pipeline. Dragging deals between stages is intuitive from day one.
- A focus on the next action. Activities and reminders help stop open deals from going cold.
- A short learning curve for a small sales team.
- A focus on sales. It is built for people whose work runs on the pipeline.
Pricing
Pipedrive prices per user and by plan, and prices vary by country and currency. Check its pricing page for current figures and whether a free plan is available. Flowgration also has a free plan and paid plans, with current limits on the pricing page. Compare both at the same number of users and contacts, over 12 months.
Comparison table
| Aspect | Pipedrive | Flowgration |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Sales CRM; per our review, CRM first | CRM, automation, online store, invoicing and time tracking |
| Pipeline | Visual and built around the salesperson | Configurable stages, tasks and owners |
| Email marketing | Not its focus; check their website | Campaigns, segments and journeys |
| Automation | Check their website, depends on the plan | Journeys with email, SMS and WhatsApp; waits, conditions and A/B tests |
| Online store | Through third-party integrations; check their website | Orders and products synced from WooCommerce, Shopify and WordPress |
| Invoicing | Not part of the core product; check their website | Invoices, credit notes, proformas and delivery notes, with VAT by country |
| Time tracking and leave | No | Yes |
| Pricing | Per user, by plan (check their site) | Free plan and paid plans (pricing) |
| Best for | Sales teams with consultative selling | Small businesses and shops that want one tool |
When to stay with Pipedrive
- Your sales team is the center of the business and you need a very visual pipeline.
- You sell services with long sales cycles and review open deals every day.
- Your marketing lives in another tool that works and you do not want to move it.
- You do not need invoicing or time tracking from the same place.
When to switch to Flowgration
- You want to invoice from the customer record and see invoices next to their sales history.
- You run an online store and want orders to feed email, SMS or WhatsApp flows.
- You pay for a sales tool and an email tool separately and want to consolidate.
- Your team is small and needs one tool for almost everything.
What you give up by switching
- Pipedrive's pipeline is well known and very visual. Flowgration requires you to set up your stages carefully.
- If your team lives inside the pipeline all day, retraining takes a couple of weeks.
- Before you migrate, confirm in a demo the calling features and integrations your team uses every day. Do not assume they are there.
How to migrate from Pipedrive to Flowgration
- Export people, organizations, deals and notes from Pipedrive as CSV.
- Clean before importing: duplicates, contacts without email and fields nobody uses.
- Recreate your pipeline stages in Flowgration before you import deals.
- Import contacts first, then deals, so they link.
- Review 20 records at random against the original.
- Keep Pipedrive read-only for a few weeks in case something is missing.
You will need to rebuild your Pipedrive automations in Flowgration. The general process is in how to migrate to a new CRM.
Which one to choose
- Pipedrive if your priority is the sales pipeline and your marketing and invoicing are handled elsewhere.
- Flowgration if you want CRM, automation, store sync and invoicing in one tool.
For a wider comparison, the best CRM for small business roundup covers eight options.