Is SugarCRM still called SugarCRM?

No. SugarCRM rebranded to SugarAI in 2026. Pricing and plans are now listed under sugarai.com, with the same enterprise-oriented positioning as before.

Does SugarCRM/SugarAI have a minimum number of users?

Yes. All three tiers (Standard $59, Advanced $85, Premier $135 per user/month) require a 15-user minimum billed annually, meaning a small team can't buy just a few seats. Close has no seat minimum at any plan tier.

Is Close a good alternative to SugarCRM for a small sales team?

Yes, especially for teams under 15 people who would otherwise be forced into SugarCRM's 15-seat minimum commitment. Close starts at $9/user/month with built-in calling and no minimum team size required.

Close vs. Sugar CRM

Here at Close, we always value transparency and self-awareness. We don’t sugarcoat things.

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Target sales team size	<100	<10
Pricing	All-inclusivePricing publicly available	All-inclusivePricing tiers have user minimums
Budget	Best value	Affordable
Customer success	Dedicated success team	Based on pricing
Calling	Global calling built-in	Not available
Email automation	Built-in	Built-in
Training & implementation	$0 customized onboarding	$0 customized onboarding
GetApp "ease of use" rating	4.7 / 5	3.7 / 5
Admin or developer needed?	No	No

When should you choose Close, and when Sugar

Close

Close is a CRM built to double your sales team’s productivity.
It’s an “all in one” platform which you can use standalone without needing any other sales emails tools or calling products.
It has been built with scalability in mind and can handle a high volume of leads.

Sugar

SugarCRM connects well with ERP and back-office systems.
If you need an on-premise option with strict data security requirements SugarCRM is a good option.

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Close is the highest-rated CRM by customers

I have tried: Five9, MOJO, PhoneBurner, Zoho, Freshdesk, and the list goes on. You can finish implementing Close CRM for your business before you finish your morning cup of coffee. For the sales gurus that want to provide an impact to their bottom line, while not overspending, Close is the solution.

I used Zoho at my previous startup, I didn’t like it. I love Close CRM—it’s super lightweight, easy to use, and a great first CRM. No Salesforce engineer required. Check out their blog & Steli’s podcast for great insight, too.

If you have experience with Salesforce, I cannot recommend Close’s free trial high enough. The problem it solves is getting new sales people trained up on a new CRM system in days instead of weeks. From a management perspective, the reporting is extensive and I can cut and slice the data to get granular reporting on a company level, campaign level, and individual rep level.