,

What you get in the free trial

Copper gives you a 14-day free trial and does not ask for a credit card upfront. That matters because a CRM is hard to judge from a feature list alone, and Copper is the kind of tool you understand best once you connect Gmail and see how much admin work it can cut out.

The trial is built around Google Workspace from the start. Copper’s signup flow pushes you to connect Google so you can test the inbox, calendar, contacts, and Drive experience instead of poking around a blank demo account.

Image source: Copper free trial signup

That is a real advantage if you are looking for a Copper alternative to Zoho CRM because the main reason people move away from Zoho is not usually that Zoho lacks features. It is usually that they want something lighter, faster to pick up, and closer to the tools the team already uses every day.

Copper also lets you test integrations during the trial, and its Google Workspace integrations are included on all plans. If your team lives in Gmail, that makes the trial useful fast because you can tell pretty quickly whether this will become a daily habit or just another tab people ignore.

The catch is simple. Fourteen days is enough to judge the fit, but only if you already have real contacts, active conversations, and at least a rough sales process to test with.

If you are still figuring out what you even want from a CRM, the trial may feel too short and Copper may look less impressive than it really is. If you already have leads coming in and you are tired of juggling Gmail, spreadsheets, and reminders manually, the trial is usually enough to make a real decision.

The good stuff

Copper earns its keep in a few very specific ways. It is not trying to beat Zoho by piling on more modules, and that is exactly why the right buyer may like it more.

It feels like Gmail, not a separate system

Copper’s biggest advantage is how tightly it sits inside Google Workspace. Contact details, email history, tasks, files, and meeting context show up where your team is already working, which makes adoption much easier than a CRM that demands a full behavior change.

That matters more than most buyers think. A CRM only pays off when people actually use it, and Copper’s Gmail-first setup gives it a better shot at becoming part of the workflow instead of becoming a management headache.

Image source: Copper email and extension tools

You get automation without turning the setup into a project

Copper’s higher plans add workflow automation, bulk email, reports, email automation, and multi-step email series. That is enough for a lot of service businesses, agencies, and small sales teams that want follow-up help without buying a huge sales stack.

This is also where Copper starts to separate itself from a basic contact manager. You can capture leads from forms, trigger follow-ups, run email sequences from Gmail, and reduce the manual “did anyone reply to this yet?” work that eats up time every week.

There is still a limitation here. Copper is not trying to be your entire marketing machine, and that is why some buyers will still prefer something broader like GoHighLevel if they want funnels, SMS, reputation management, websites, and heavier automation in one place.

It makes the most sense for relationship-driven sales

Copper looks strongest when the sale depends on conversations, follow-ups, referrals, and long email threads. Think agencies, consultancies, B2B services, recruiting, real estate-adjacent teams, and businesses where Gmail is already the center of the day.

It looks less compelling if you want deep marketing automation at the lowest price. In that case, a cheaper tool like Brevo may stretch your budget further, even though it does not feel as focused as a dedicated Google-first CRM.

Image source: Copper email automation tools

Pricing and value compared with other tools

Copper starts cheap on paper at $9 per seat per month billed annually, but the plan most growing teams will care about is usually Professional at $59 per seat annually. That is where workflow automation, bulk email, reporting, leads, opportunities, and broader integrations start making the platform feel like a serious Zoho replacement instead of a lightweight contact tool.

Price is also where hesitation shows up fast, so here is the honest read. Copper is not the cheapest option, but it can still be the smarter buy when it saves your team from paying for a CRM nobody likes using.

Copper wins this comparison when your pain is CRM friction, not missing marketing features. Brevo wins when price matters most, and GoHighLevel wins when you want to replace a bigger pile of tools at once.

Why getting Copper now can make sense

If your current setup is Gmail plus spreadsheets plus mental reminders, waiting usually does not save money. It just keeps the sales process messy, slows follow-up, and makes simple things like ownership, next steps, and deal status harder than they need to be.

Copper is easiest to justify when you already have leads coming in and your team is losing time to scattered information. At that point, you are not paying for abstract software value anymore; you are paying to stop dropping context between inboxes, meetings, files, and deals.

I would not push Copper on a total beginner with no sales process yet. A cheap or free option can be smarter while you are still figuring out your pipeline, and Brevo is the more budget-friendly place to start if cost is your main objection.

I would push Copper for the right buyer though. If Zoho CRM feels too busy, your team already runs on Google Workspace, and you want a CRM people will actually open every day, Copper is absolutely worth trying before you spend another month patching the process together manually.

That is the real pitch here. Copper is not the cheapest CRM and it is not the broadest all-in-one, but it is one of the cleanest answers to the specific problem of wanting a better, more usable alternative to Zoho CRM inside a Google-first business.

Alternatives worth checking before you choose Copper

Copper is not the only answer if you want a better fit than Zoho CRM. It is just one of the cleanest answers when your team already lives in Gmail and wants a CRM that feels easy instead of busy.

That is also why this comparison matters. A Copper alternative to Zoho CRM only makes sense if it solves your actual problem, not just if it looks nicer on the website.

Image source: Copper source page

Copper stays strongest when simplicity and Google Workspace fit matter more than raw feature depth. Zoho still makes sense when you want deeper customization, and cheaper tools can make sense when price matters more than workflow comfort.

Choose Copper if your team already runs on Gmail and keeps avoiding CRMs that feel too bulky. Choose Brevo if your main goal is keeping software spend down, and choose GoHighLevel if you want a broader all-in-one setup instead of a cleaner CRM.

Image source: Copper source page

My honest final verdict

Copper is a strong buy for the right person. I would put it near the top of the list if Zoho CRM feels too heavy, your team works in Google Workspace all day, and you want better adoption without turning CRM setup into a side job.

That is where Copper earns its price. The payoff is not just “you get another CRM,” it is that your sales process starts living closer to Gmail, Calendar, files, and daily conversations instead of being trapped in a system people only open when they have to.

I would skip Copper if you are choosing purely on cost. Zoho gives you a cheaper path into a more customizable CRM, and Brevo is easier to justify if you mainly want low-cost email marketing with some CRM support around it.

I would also skip it if you want a big all-in-one machine with funnels, SMS, websites, and deeper marketing automation under one roof. GoHighLevel is the better fit for that kind of buyer.

Copper shines in a narrower lane, but it shines hard there. If your current process is Gmail, spreadsheets, follow-up reminders in your head, and a CRM your team barely touches, this is one of the easier upgrades to justify.

Image source: Copper source page

So should you buy now, wait, or skip it? Buy now if you already have leads and clients moving through Gmail, wait if you are still figuring out your sales process, and skip it if your real goal is cheapest price or biggest feature stack.

FAQ

Is Copper better than Zoho CRM?

Copper is better for teams that want a lighter CRM inside Google Workspace. Zoho CRM is better for teams that want more customization, more depth, and a lower-cost starting point.

Who should switch from Zoho CRM to Copper?

Switch if your team already lives in Gmail and avoids using Zoho consistently. Copper makes more sense when adoption and daily ease matter more than advanced configuration.

Is Copper too expensive for a small team?

It can be if you only need basic contact storage. It becomes easier to justify when the team is already handling active deals, follow-ups, and projects and needs a CRM that saves time instead of adding admin work.

Does Copper replace other tools?

Copper can replace some of the spreadsheet, task tracking, and light pipeline tools that often sit around Gmail. It does not replace a broad all-in-one marketing stack as well as GoHighLevel can.

Is Brevo a better choice if I want something cheaper?

Yes, if your biggest concern is entry cost. Brevo is the easier budget pick, but it is not as focused as Copper for Google-first CRM use.

Image source: Copper source page

Copper is not the cheapest CRM and it is not the broadest one either. It is the one I would look at first if your team wants a clean, Google-friendly alternative to Zoho CRM that feels easier to stick with.