# Zoho CRM vs Nutshell: 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 Nutshell. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/revops/crm/zoho-crm-vs-nutshell/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM | 10% | #3 of 11 | 13% | 54 | 12 of 12 |
| Nutshell | 2% | #8 of 11 | 0% | 11 | 8 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)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Attio, Pipedrive, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- 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)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Freshsales, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Salesflare)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Coevera) (alternatives: Freshsales, NetSuite, Salesflare)

## 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 Nutshell

- "The best CRM for a company with a limited budget is Nutshell, starting at $13 per month per user" (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Nutshell if you want an affordable, easy-to-use CRM for a growing B2B sales team" (Perplexity Sonar, paraphrase prompt, alternative)
- "Start with HubSpot Free/Starter or Nutshell for ease of use and support" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, paraphrase 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.