Today there are 63 different private equity CRMs. We spent 86 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to track deals and keep tabs on the companies in your portfolio.
What is the Best Private Equity CRM?
- Close — best of the best
- DealCloud — best for investment companies
- 4Degrees — best for building relationships
- Affinity — best for automation
- Dynamo CRM — best for portfolio analysis
- Salesforce — best for enterprises
- Altvia — best for due diligence
1. Close
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: Starts at $29/month per user
Close is one of the most powerful CRM softwares in the world. We think it’s the best private equity CRM because of how time-efficient it is, incredible communication tools, and how sales-focused it is.
The Best Part:
It’s a time saving tool. Close’s extensive communication features, along with its automations, and sales tools, like the power dialer, will allow your team to spend more time closing private equity deals, and less time “trying to figure stuff out”.
The Worst Part:
No QuickBooks integration. QuickBooks is the accounting software of choice of so many companies out there… But you can’t integrate it directly with Close. You’ll need Zapier, Make, or something to make it work.
Get it if you get a ton of leads every month from multiple channels, and want to keep them moving down your sales funnel.
I recommend you get started with the Startup plan for $59/month.
(14-day free trial)
Best For
Close is best for private equity firms who want close PE deals faster.
Top Features
- All communication in the same place. Close lets you call, text, and email, all from the same dashboard — and you can even automate them, based on each lead’s behavior.
- Deal flow origination. Close helps you segment all of your leads, so you know where they come from… and then, you can communicate with the right message, every time.
- Sales operations, DFY. Close can save you time and money by setting up and managing the dream marketing and sales stack for your business — with custom integration, syncing, sales training, and a lot more (custom pricing).
- Quicker connection. With the help of Close’s Power Dialer, which automatically calls through lead lists and screens out busy tones, answering machines and more, Close can get your sales reps on the phone with a lead in as little as 3 seconds.
- Don’t pay for moving. Close will migrate all the data from your existing CRM, within one week, for no charge. They’ll even follow up to make sure everything’s running smoothly.
Pricing
Close offers three pricing plans:
- Startup: $59/mo for a single user and up to three sequences.
- Professional: $329/mo for three users and up to 25 sequences.
- Enterprise: $749/mo for five users, up to 100 sequences, and predictive dialer.
Annual subscriptions provide up to 17% discount.
Try Close today with a free 14-day trial.
2. DealCloud
Our Verdict — Best For Investment Companies
Price: Custom
DealCloud is a sophisticated, all-inclusive private equity CRM. We think it’s the best for investment companies because of its efficient data integrations, private equity specific analytics, and powerful relationship management features.
The Best Part:
- Industry-leading data integrations. DealCloud enables you to sync data from top third-party database tools such as FactSet, PitchBook, and Preqin.
The Worst Part:
- Basic email builder. DealCloud’s email marketing features are a bit limited when compared to competitors.
Get it if you want a comprehensive private equity CRM that will adapt to your business’ needs.
I recommend you schedule a demo with DealCloud to figure out a custom plan for your business.
(free demo)
Best For
DealCloud is best for private equity investors who want a powerful CRM to close more deals and save time while managing their relationships.
Top Features
Fundraising management. Manage fundraising processes, track investor commitments, and monitor fundraising progress in real-time.
Custom reporting and analytics. Generate custom reports and analytics to track all of your most important business KPIs from a single dashboard.
Mobile app for iOS and Android. Keep deals moving while on the go. Manage your calendar, contacts, and tasks using DealCloud’s sleek mobile app.
Conflicts management. Identify potential conflicts of interest and manage them effectively to maintain trust and credibility with investors and other stakeholders.
Dedicated training hub. Access tens of crash courses on DealCloud University to help you get the best out of your CRM, with free enrollment for everyone.
Pricing
DealCloud employs a custom pricing model.
Try DealCloud today with the free demo.
3. 4Degrees
Our Verdict — Best For Building Relationships
Price: Custom
4Degrees is a ground-breaking private equity CRM with powerful tools for warm outreach. We think it’s the best for building relationships because of its third-party data enrichment feature, powerful integrations, and outstanding Chrome extension.
The Best Part:
State-of-the-art Chrome extension. 4Degrees’ extension lets you know which team members are connected to a LinkedIn profile you visited, who in your team is best positioned to introduce you to a lead when you visit a company’s website, and which interactions you’ve previously had with a Gmail lead.
The Worst Part:
Weak email marketing features. 4Degrees lacks common email marketing features such as bulk emailing and email merging.
Get it if you want a cutting-edge CRM to develop authentic relationships.
I recommend you book a one-on-one Private Equity demo with 4Degrees.
(free demo)
Best For
4Degrees is best for private equity investors who want a solid CRM to build lasting business relationships and find new opportunities.
Top Features
Personalized warm outreach. Discover the strongest link between your team members and potential contacts, helping you build genuine connections.
AI-powered relationship management. Receive real-time notifications when a connection changes jobs, tweets, or is in the news.
Work and travel power up. Get an email with a full list of relevant potential connections when you visit a new city or country.
Third-party data sourcing. Integrate database platforms such as PitchBook and Crunchbase to feed your contacts with real-time data.
Customizable reporting. Track your investment stages with a flexible deal tracking view and use that to uncover unique insights about your leads.
Pricing
4Degrees employs a custom pricing model.
Try 4Degrees today with the free demo.
4. Affinity
Our Verdict — Best For Automation
Price: Custom
Affinity is a strong private equity CRM for portfolio and deal management. We think it’s the best for automation because of its relationship intelligence features, automated record creation, and deal management capabilities.
The Best Part:
Sleek interface. Affinity provides what’s probably the most eye-pleasing interface design in the entire market.
The Worst Part:
Steep learning curve. Affinity can feel a little overwhelming at first. There are many features and variables, and some integrations are difficult to manage.
Get it if you want a sleek CRM with efficient relationship intelligence and portfolio management features.
I recommend you submit a demo request to get started.
(free demo)
Best For
Affinity is best for private equity investors who want a powerful CRM to automate their lead management while building lasting relationships.
Top Features
Automated data entry. Capture and input data automatically from emails, calendar interactions, and other sources with Affinity’s relationship intelligence.
Streamlined network visibility. Gain visibility into your network relationships to identify potential deal opportunities and referral sources.
Smart pipeline management. Keep a full pipeline with the automatic deal sourcing feature.
Get integrated. Use Affinity along with your current CRM and marketing solutions such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Mailchimp.
All roads lead to Rome. You can access Affinity from many other tools, with Affinity’s extensions for Chrome, Outlook, Zoom, and mobile.
Pricing
Affinity employs a custom pricing model.
Try Affinity today with the free demo.
Our Top Three Picks
Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:
- Close — best of the best
- DealCloud — best for investment companies
- 4Degrees — best for building relationships
Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
Close | 14-day free trial | Starts at $29/mo |
DealCloud | Free demo | Custom |
4Degrees | Free demo | Custom |
Affinity | Free demo | Custom |
Dynamo CRM | Free demo | Custom |
Salesforce | 30-day free trial | Starts at $300/year |
Altvia | Free demo | Custom |
Here are the top 50 private equity CRMs we considered in this review:
- Close
- DealCloud
- 4Degrees
- Affinity
- Dynamo CRM
- Salesforce
- Altvia
- eFront
- Navatar Edge
- Xpedition Private CRM Accelerator
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Backstop Solutions
- Clienteer
- SalesPage
- Satuit
- HubSpot
- SugarCRM
- Zoho CRM
- Pipedrive
- Dialllog
- monday sales CRM
- nTask
- Attio
- EquityTouch
- Efront
- Relevant Equity Works
- MRI Real Estate Private Equity Software
- Hitachi Solutions
- Digiterre Communica
- PE Front Office CRM
- Navatar Edge
- InvestGlass
- Totem VC
- Edda
- Davigold
- Dealfabric
- Copper
- FounderSuite
- Insightly
- Proseeder
- Streak
- Trello
- Vantage
- Zapflow
- Flowlie
- Finta
- folk
- Perfona
- Evolved Metrics CRM
- Pinnakl CRM
What is CRM in private equity?
Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is a crucial aspect of private equity firms' operations. It refers to the process of managing and analyzing interactions with portfolio companies, investors, and other key contacts to improve overall performance with deals and enhance client relationships.
Private equity CRM solutions provide a single source of truth for key data such as asset classes, fundraising processes, deal flow sources, and client relationships. This data is critical for asset management solutions and providing a 360-degree view of a firm's sales funnel and valuation trends. By automating manual processes like data entry, private equity CRM software helps firms streamline their operations and focus on high-value activities.
Private equity CRM solutions also integrate with third-party data providers to enhance the quality and completeness of key data. These solutions provide valuable insights into key relationships and help PE firms build an all-in-one platform for investor relationship management.
What is the best private equity database?
There is no definitive answer to what the best private equity database is, as different databases may have varying strengths and weaknesses depending on factors such as the type of data, the level of granularity, the user interface, and the pricing.
Some examples of private equity databases that may be considered among the best in the industry include Close, PitchBook, PrivCo, Preqin, and Capital IQ.
These databases offer a range of features and tools to help private equity firms, venture capital firms, and other alternative investment firms manage their deal flow pipeline, track industry trends, conduct due diligence, and identify potential investment opportunities.
Private equity CRM software and customer relationship management platforms can also be useful for managing contact information and communication with investors, partners, and other stakeholders. A good idea is to choose a database solution that integrates easily with other software you use such as CRMs.
What is the highest-rated CRM?
There are many customer relationship management (CRM) systems available, but the highest-rated CRM is generally considered to be Salesforce. However, when it comes to CRMs specifically designed for the private equity industry, there are a few options that we consider better than Salesforce. Based on our research, DealCloud, 4Degrees, Affinity, and Dynamo CRM are among the best private equity CRMs, with each offering unique features and benefits tailored to the private equity industry. While Salesforce is the best overall CRM, private equity firms may find that the specialized CRMs are better for their processes; though Salesforce does remain in our top choices at #5, as it can be used with specialized PE tools like AIM by Altvia.
What CRM do VC firms use?
Venture capital (VC) firms use a variety of customer relationship management (CRM) systems to manage their relationships with portfolio companies, investors, and other stakeholders. Some popular CRM systems for VC firms include Insightly, Zoho, Pipedrive, and Salesforce.
- Insightly is a popular choice for smaller VC firms due to its affordability and ease of use. It offers basic contact management features, as well as project management and email marketing tools.
- Zoho, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive CRM system that offers a wide range of features, including contact management, lead generation, and email marketing. It is a good choice for mid-sized VC firms that require more advanced features than basic CRMs can provide.
- Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM system that offers a visual sales pipeline and lead-tracking tools. It is a good choice for VC firms prioritizing deal flow and sales management.
- Salesforce remains one of the most popular CRM systems overall, including among VC firms. It offers a wide range of features, customization options, and integrations with other tools, making it a versatile choice for large and complex organizations. However, it can also be expensive and complex to set up and use, which may not be ideal for smaller VC firms.
Is Salesforce still the best CRM?
Salesforce is still widely considered one of the best CRM systems available, but whether it is the "best" CRM system for your organization depends on your specific needs, budget, and resources.
One of the main advantages of Salesforce is its versatility and scalability. It offers a wide range of features, customization options, and integrations with other tools, making it a popular choice for large and complex organizations. Salesforce can be customized to fit specific business processes and workflows, and its reporting and analytics tools can provide valuable insights into customer behavior and sales performance.
However, Salesforce can also be complex and expensive, which may not be ideal for smaller organizations with limited resources. Its implementation and customization can require significant time and resources, and ongoing maintenance and support can also be costly. Additionally, some users have reported difficulty with the user interface and learning curve.
There are other CRM systems available that may be more suitable for smaller organizations with more limited needs and resources. Zoho CRM and Pipedrive are two good examples of easier-to-use CRMs. These systems may offer simpler and more affordable solutions for basic contact management, lead tracking, and sales pipeline management.
Ultimately, the "best" CRM system for your organization depends on your specific needs, budget, and resources. It is important to carefully evaluate your options and choose a CRM system that can effectively support your business processes and help you achieve your goals.
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best private equity CRMs to try this year:
