Close vs Pipedrive for outbound sales
A calling-first CRM against a pipeline-first CRM, with seat prices and calling costs checked September 2026.
Choose Close when your outbound team calls and texts every day and wants that inside the CRM on every plan. Choose Pipedrive when outbound is mostly email and your team lives in a visual pipeline at a lower middle-tier seat price.
The short answer
- Close includes built-in calling and SMS on every plan, with calls at about $0.02 a minute, per close.com/pricing, checked September 2026.
- Close seats cost $9, $35, $99 and $139 a month billed annually (Solo, Essentials, Growth, Scale), or $19 to $149 billed monthly.
- Pipedrive seats cost $14, $39, $59 and $79 a month billed annually (Lite, Growth, Premium, Ultimate), per pipedrive.com/en/pricing, checked September 2026.
- At the top tier, a Pipedrive Ultimate seat costs $79 against $139 for Close Scale.
Close vs Pipedrive at a glance
Per seat, per month. Annual billing unless marked.
| Dimension | Close | Pipedrive |
|---|---|---|
| Entry seat | $9 (Solo); $19 billed monthly | $14 (Lite) |
| Middle seats | $35 (Essentials); $99 (Growth) | $39 (Growth); $59 (Premium) |
| Top seat | $139 (Scale); $149 billed monthly | $79 (Ultimate) |
| Calling and SMS | Built in on every plan; calls about $0.02 a minute, SMS at cost | Connect the calling tool your team already uses |
| Phone numbers | From about $1 a month | Through the calling tool you connect |
| Main screen | Inbox of calls, emails and texts to work through | Visual deal pipeline by stage |
| Add-ons | $5 in calling and enrichment credits on the trial | Add-ons such as LeadBooster billed on top of seats |
Figures checked on close.com/pricing and pipedrive.com/en/pricing, September 2026. Close calling and SMS are billed by usage, apart from seats.
What each one does well, and where it costs you
Close
- Calling and SMS on every plan, so a new rep can dial from the CRM on day one
- A $9 Solo seat on annual billing, the lowest entry seat of the two
- Growth and Scale seats cost $99 and $139 on annual billing, checked September 2026
- Calls and texts are billed by usage on top of seats, so the bill moves with dial volume
Pipedrive
- Middle and top seats cost less: $39 to $79 against Close's $99 and $139
- A drag-and-drop pipeline as the main screen suits teams that manage many open deals
- The entry seat is $14 against Close Solo's $9 on annual billing
- Add-ons such as LeadBooster are billed on top of the seat price, so price the add-ons you need too
How to choose for an outbound team
Count how your reps spend the day. If most of it is live calls and follow-up texts, Close's built-in dialer saves you wiring a separate phone tool. You'll pay about $0.02 a minute on top of seats, so a team of heavy dialers should budget that line first.
If your outbound is email sequences feeding a long list of deals, Pipedrive's pipeline view and lower middle-tier seats go further. A ten-rep team on Pipedrive Premium pays $59 a seat, while Close Growth costs $99.
Still torn? Run both trials with the same 50 prospects for two weeks and compare meetings booked. For more options, see Close vs HubSpot and HubSpot vs Pipedrive.
Questions outbound teams ask
- Is Close or Pipedrive better for outbound sales?
- Close fits outbound teams that call and text, because every Close plan includes built-in calling and SMS, per close.com/pricing in September 2026. Pipedrive fits teams whose outbound runs mostly through email and a visual deal pipeline. If your reps dial every day, start your trial with Close.
- Which is cheaper, Close or Pipedrive?
- Close Solo is the cheapest seat at $9 a month billed annually, against Pipedrive Lite at $14. The middle is close: Close Essentials is $35 against Pipedrive Growth at $39. Higher up, Pipedrive costs less: Premium is $59 against Close Growth at $99. Close also bills calls at about $0.02 a minute. Figures checked September 2026.
- Does Close charge extra for calling?
- Yes, by usage. Close lists outbound calls at about $0.02 a minute and SMS passed through at cost, with phone numbers from about $1 a month, per close.com/pricing in September 2026. Those charges sit apart from the seat price, so budget them by call volume.
- Can I import my Pipedrive data into another CRM?
- Yes. Pipedrive exports to spreadsheets, and most CRMs import a CSV of contacts, companies and deals. Going the other way, Pipedrive's spreadsheet import takes up to 50,000 rows and 50 MB per file, per its support centre in September 2026. Map your deal stages before you import.
- Is there an option that runs outbound email and the pipeline for one flat price?
- Yes. SalesCrew runs multi-step cadences from your own mailbox pool beside the deal pipeline, with unlimited seats from $299 a month on Core. Suppression is checked again at send time. Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product.