# Zoho CRM vs Freshsales: which do AI models recommend for CRM, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, CRM. Zero of twelve models named Zoho CRM first on the direct prompt; zero named Freshsales. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/revops/crm/zoho-crm-vs-freshsales/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM | 10% | #3 of 11 | 13% | 54 | 12 of 12 |
| Freshsales | 2% | #6 of 11 | 10% | 30 | 12 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Pipedrive, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Coevera, Freshsales, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive) (alternatives: Freshsales, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Freshsales, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Salesflare)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Attio, Pipedrive, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Coevera) (alternatives: Freshsales, NetSuite, Salesflare)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Close, Coevera, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Pipedrive, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM, Zoho One)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Freshsales, Pipedrive, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Close, Monday.com, Nutshell, Pipedrive, Pipeline CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, NetSuite, Zoho CRM)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Cloud) (alternatives: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales)

## What the models said about Zoho CRM

- "Zoho CRM: 300+ negative G2 reviews... Affordable but frustrating for growing teams." (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "complaining about email sync failures - Systemic reliability issues" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Start with a free tier (HubSpot or Zoho) to test the waters. Both offer strong functionality at no cost" (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "For most small businesses with limited budgets, Zoho CRM offers the best balance" (Mistral Small, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Freshsales

- "14+ Reddit threads about poor support - Tickets going unanswered for weeks" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Be careful with Freshsales/Freshworks if you need reliable support." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Others like Insightly, Freshsales: 100+ negatives on workflow/UI" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Start with Freshsales if you want the cheapest credible upgrade path with AI and calling built-in." (Kimi K2, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Freshsales is another option for mid-market B2B companies wanting industry-specific lead segmentation" (Llama 4 Maverick, direct prompt, alternative)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.