Free CRM app: what free should really include

Finding a free CRM app in the store is easy. Knowing what that “free” covers before you install it is hard. A paywall at your fifth customer, or losing access to the cards you saved, is the most common way people drop an app at the worst time. This post lists what to check, and says plainly what stays free in Musteri.

Where “free” ends

The same complaints repeat in store reviews of customer and business card apps:

• A record limit. A user of one customer tracking app wrote that they could add only 5 customers and had to pay monthly for the rest (Cari Takip, App Store TR, March 2026, reviews). In another app the free version stops at 20 contacts (Covve, Google Play, May 2026, review).
• What you saved gets locked. A user of a business card app describes losing access to saved cards without the new subscription (CamCard, App Store US, September 2026, reviews).
• A credit card for the free plan. One user asks why the free version wants a credit card (Mesh, App Store US, April 2026, reviews).
• No export. A user found the app “worthless” because the cards could not be exported to CSV or Excel (ABBYY BCR, App Store US, January 2026, reviews).
• A new phone, and everything is gone. A user could not see their customers on a new phone (Hesap Müşteri Takip, Google Play, February 2025, review).

These are individual reviews, not a study. But each one points to a question you can ask before installing.

Questions to ask before you install a free CRM app

Look for answers to these six questions before you try. If the answer is not on the store page or the pricing page, that is an answer too.

1. How many customers, how many contacts? If there is a limit, where does it start, and what happens to old records when you reach it?
2. Can I always see what I saved? If I leave the paid plan, are my records read-only, or locked completely?
3. Is export free? Can I take the whole list in a format Excel opens, as CSV or vCard?
4. Is an account required? Does trying it need an email, a password or a card?
5. Does it work offline? Does a record open on a phone with no signal, in a fair hall or a warehouse?
6. How do I move to a new phone? Is there a backup, and is it paid?

A free CRM app for iPhone and Android, or a desktop program

Many people hear “free CRM” and think of a program installed on a computer. For someone who works at a desk and keeps accounts or invoices, that can be a good choice. If you meet customers face to face, at a fair, in the field or in your shop, the moment you record someone is on your phone. A desktop program opens in the evening; a phone app is open while the customer is in front of you.

That is often the difference between a customer record tool and a CRM too: a record tool keeps who someone is; a free CRM app also reminds you when to get back to them. What CRM means for one-person selling is in what is a CRM for small business.

What is free in Musteri

You download Musteri and use it straight away: no account, email or card. On the free plan:

• Unlimited customers, contacts, addresses and follow-ups.
• Unlimited business card scans, QR reads and voice notes.
• Reminders, widgets, Turkish search and maps.
• Unlimited CSV and vCard export.
• If you sign in, backup and sync on one device; when you move to a new phone, everything comes back.
• A web panel on your computer, which stays open alongside your phone.
• Fair Mode for one fair within the last 12 months.

There are no ads in the app. That makes it a CRM without subscription to get started: you pay only if you want more.

What Musteri Pro adds

Musteri Pro is for people who go to many fairs a year and use more than one device:

• Fair Mode for unlimited fairs.
• Sync across all your phones and tablets at the same time.
• The Apple Watch and Wear OS app.

It costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year on the web; store prices vary by country, and new subscribers get a 14-day free trial on the annual plan. Details and how to cancel are on the pricing page.

A limit never cuts your records off

We built the free plan’s limits so that they never touch your records:

• Whether you never buy Pro or stop paying for it, you can still see, edit and export every record.
• If you hit the Fair Mode limit in the middle of a fair, “Continue for today” keeps you going to the end of that day. Outside Fair Mode, including business card scanning, nothing is ever limited.
• You can always sign in on a new phone; the old phone keeps its records and only stops syncing.

Why no account

Starting without an account is a design decision, not a convenience: your records live on your phone first, and the screen never waits for the network. We explain why in why Musteri works offline and without an account.

In short

• The limit of a “free” app is usually in record count, locked data or export.
• Ask six questions before you install: limit, access, export, account, offline, new phone.
• In Musteri, customers, contacts, follow-ups, scanning and export are unlimited and free; Pro is for many fairs and many devices.
• If your list is in a spreadsheet, start with how to keep track of customers in Excel.