Close Plans: Free vs Paid and Qualifying Tiers

Map must-haves to Close plan names before you compare starting tiles.

1. Write your day-one must-haves as a list, in outcome language.
2. Beside each one, write the lowest Close plan that research shows carries it. Plan-gated in research: pipeline management (Essentials, Growth, Scale); workflow automation (Growth, Scale); sales automation (Growth, Scale).
3. Highlight anything unclear and check it on /pricing/close/ or in the trial.
4. Note add-ons separately.
5. Ask which plan any demo runs on before you use it as evidence.

Worked example: a 12-person B2B advisory team needs contact management and lead management, email sync, and weekly reporting from Close. Two of those sit on the entry tier in research; the highest-gated one sets the plan, so they stop comparing anything cheaper.

Read these as capability tiers — not good / better / best marketing.

1. Solo — Entry tier. Research shows it carries contact management, lead management, deal management, and custom fields. Choose it only when every must-have on your sheet appears here — otherwise its price is irrelevant to you. Snapshot records a 14-day trial.
2. Essentials — Adds pipeline management in our research on top of Solo. Choose it when at least one of those is a day-one must-have — not because it sits comfortably in the middle. Snapshot records a 14-day trial.
3. Growth — Adds workflow automation and sales automation in our research on top of Essentials. Choose it when at least one of those is a day-one must-have — not because it sits comfortably in the middle. Snapshot records a 14-day trial.
4. Scale — Research shows the same capability list as Growth in our snapshot, so step up only for a reason you can name: seats, scale, governance, or support. Snapshot records a 14-day trial. Confirm what changes on the pricing page.

Worked example: a 12-person B2B advisory team drops Solo once must-haves sit higher, and compares only the Close plans that clear every gate.

1. No free Close plan in our snapshot — the question is trial vs Solo. Our pricing snapshot records a 14-day trial on Solo, Essentials, and Growth — confirm current terms on the Close pricing page before you build a schedule around it.
2. Do must-haves sit on Solo? If no, entry price is irrelevant.
3. Can you prove the loop in the trial window with real deals? If no, ask for an extension in writing.
4. Prefer monthly while fit is unproven over a long annual term.

Worked example: a 12-person B2B advisory team runs a scoped trial with two sellers, then buys the qualifying plan — not Solo — for 12 seats.

Hand this five-line algorithm to anyone on the buying team.

1. List must-haves (M1…Mn).
2. For each Mi, find the lowest Close plan that carries it.
3. Take the highest of those — that is the qualifying plan.
4. Check capacity. Confirm Close seat/record caps on the pricing page. If you do not fit, move up one tier.
5. Count seats honestly (sellers, managers, ops, paid viewers).

Then estimate that plan in the Cost Calculator; add admin / migration / training as categories, not invented totals.

Worked example: a 12-person B2B advisory team lands on a Close qualifying plan set by their highest-gated must-have, counts 12 seats plus ops, and prices only that combination.

1. Stay on the cheapest qualifying plan when must-haves and seats fit.
2. Step up when one must-have sits higher — buy the tier, skip the forever workaround.
3. Walk when the qualifying Close plan breaks a written constraint. Research: stronger for Inside sales and outbound teams that live on phone/email/SMS and Teams that want AI (Chloe) working leads inside the CRM; weaker for Buyers seeking the cheapest visual pipeline CRM and Teams that mainly need marketing automation suites.
4. Write plan name, must-have that set it, and re-check date.
5. Use the worth-it guide for fit — not invented payback maths.

Worked example: when the cheap Close tier missed a must-have, a 12-person B2B advisory team bought the qualifying plan or shortlisted Pipedrive and Freshsales — they did not pretend the workaround was free.