Best CRMs with voice and SMS built in
Three CRMs that put calling inside the pipeline instead of bolting it on. Compared on cost, what's bundled, and who each one is built for.
Close wins for a sales team built around outbound calling: it's the cheapest entry point with native calling and SMS, and its dialer features are built for volume prospecting. GoHighLevel wins instead for an agency that wants CRM, calling, SMS and marketing bundled under one unlimited-seat price for reselling to clients.
The short answer
- Close starts at $9/user/month (Solo plan, annual billing) with native calling and SMS, plus usage costs around $0.02/minute for outbound calls, per close.com/pricing.
- GoHighLevel bundles CRM, inbound and outbound calling, and SMS marketing into flat-rate plans from $97/month with unlimited users, built for agencies reselling to clients, per gohighlevel.com/pricing.
- HubSpot includes a fixed pool of calling minutes per tier (500 to 12,000 depending on plan) but its pricing page does not list SMS as an included feature, per hubspot.com/pricing/sales.
CRM voice and SMS comparison
| CRM | Starting price | Seats | Calling included | SMS included | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | $9/user/mo (Solo, annual) | Per-seat | Native, usage-priced (~$0.02/min) | Native (rate not published) | An outbound sales team built around dialing | A team that wants one flat all-in price with no usage billing |
| GoHighLevel | $97/mo (Starter) | Unlimited users, all tiers | Native, bundled into the plan | Native, described as included | An agency reselling CRM plus calling to clients | A team that wants a pure sales CRM without funnels and marketing bolted on |
| HubSpot | $7/seat/mo (Starter, annual) | Per-seat | Bundled minutes (500-12,000 by tier) | Not listed as included | A team already on HubSpot for marketing and service | A team that specifically needs native SMS |
Figures checked on close.com/pricing, gohighlevel.com/pricing and hubspot.com/pricing/sales, September 2026. Zoho CRM's telephony bundle was reviewed but its pricing page returned only Indian Rupee figures at fetch time; it is omitted here rather than converted.
What each one is actually built for
Close
Built around the phone from the ground up: Power Dialer on the Growth plan and up, Predictive Dialer on Scale, plus a native SMS feature and an AI prospecting agent called Chloe on every tier. Calling and phone numbers are usage-priced on top of the seat cost, which keeps the entry price low but means your bill scales with activity. Not for: a team that wants one flat number with no usage-based line items.
GoHighLevel
A CRM, calling, SMS, email marketing and a website/funnel builder in one flat-rate product, with unlimited users on every tier starting at $97/month. Its Unlimited and Agency Pro tiers add the ability to rebill phone and email to clients, which is the point of the product for the agencies it's built for. Not for: a team that only wants a CRM and finds the funnel builder and marketing tools unnecessary bloat.
HubSpot
Calling minutes are bundled by tier rather than metered per call, which makes the bill predictable if you stay under the cap. HubSpot's own pricing page, as checked for this comparison, did not surface SMS as an included capability, and Professional and Enterprise tiers carry one-time onboarding fees of $1,500 and $3,500. Not for: a team specifically shopping for native SMS or trying to avoid onboarding fees.
When none of these is the answer
A team that already has a dedicated phone system, such as RingCentral or a softphone provider, and just needs the CRM to log the outcome, does not need voice and SMS built into the CRM itself; a webhook or a lightweight integration between two specialized tools can do that job without paying for calling twice.
Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product. It runs outbound calls through Vapi today, with the outcome logged against the contact, but phone numbers, native SMS, and inbound routing are on the roadmap, not shipped. It is not a fair comparison against these three CRMs on this specific "voice and SMS built in" question yet, which is why it is not ranked above.
Questions
- Is calling free inside these CRMs, or metered?
- It varies. HubSpot bundles a set number of calling minutes per tier (500 on Starter, 3,000 on Professional, 12,000 on Enterprise, per hubspot.com/pricing/sales). Close charges usage on top of the seat price, around $0.02/minute for outbound calls plus roughly $1/month per phone number, per close.com/pricing.
- Which of these allows cold calling and cold SMS?
- Close explicitly markets Power Dialer and Predictive Dialer features for calling through a list at volume, which only makes sense for outbound prospecting. GoHighLevel bundles inbound and outbound calling into every tier without addressing list sourcing on its pricing page. Neither page states an explicit cold-outbound policy the way an acceptable-use document would; check each vendor's terms of service before running a cold program, not only their pricing page.
- Do any of these include SMS at no extra cost?
- GoHighLevel's own pricing page describes 'Email + SMS Marketing' as included across tiers, though usage-based messaging costs likely apply at volume; check their rebilling terms. Close's pricing page did not specify a separate SMS rate in what we could verify. HubSpot's pricing page, as fetched, did not mention SMS as an included feature at any tier.
- Is there a cheaper way to get a CRM with calling built in?
- Close's Solo plan starts at $9/user/month with calling and SMS included as native features, per close.com/pricing, making it the least expensive entry point among the three compared here, though usage costs apply on top.