Hohem’s new smartphone stabilizer, the iSteady V3 Ultra, is the latest in the manufacturer’s long-running range of mobile gimbals. Like most products of this type, clamping your phone onto the arm will keep its movements smooth and level while you’re filming content – but here, the main selling point is the built-in AI-assisted tracking functionality.
The iSteady V3 Ultra comes with a tracking module that, through the use of a built-in 2MP camera, is able to keep the attached phone constantly pointing at a tracked subject, no matter how much they move. The V3 Ultra’s handle has 360 degrees of motion so, when set up on its built-in mini tripod, it can track a moving subject even if they circle right around it multiple times. And, unlike some of the other tracking modules, this one is able to follow not only human faces and bodies, but other objects too.
I should also note that all of the above applies not only when capturing content using Hohem’s own camera app, but also first-party and third-party camera apps like Zoom, TikTok, and Instagram. And, because the tracking module can be pointed forwards or backwards, it’ll work with both the main rear camera(s) and front-facing camera of any smartphone.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)While testing the iSteady V3 Ultra, I found this tracking to be the clear standout feature. It’s accurate and reliable, and surprisingly adaptable too.
I was able to use the gimbal’s joystick to manually adjust my position in the frame, and the module would continue tracking me while keeping me in the new position rather than just in the dead center of the frame, which is brilliant for those times you want to use the rule of thirds and keep yourself off-center.
I should point out that you can also track using software, via the Hohem Joy app – but it will keep subjects centered at all times. I much preferred the versatility and adaptability of the module-based tracking. And as a nice bonus feature, the AI tracker module doubles as a fill light with a choice of cool, warm, and neutral tones, plus fully adjustable brightness.
There’s a lot to like about this stabilizer besides its tracking capabilities, too. The compact, folding design of the device isn’t anything I haven’t seen before on competitors or Hohem’s own range, but it’s easy to unfold and set up. The built-in mini tripod, which consists of three metal rods that are pulled out of the handle, is sturdy, and a standard tripod thread mount on the base means you can attach the entire thing to an even sturdier full-size tripod or similar should you wish.
An extension rod, concealed in the handle, provides up to about 20cm of extra reach on the gimbal arm. It’s useful if you want to fit more in the frame while using the iSteady V3 Ultra handheld.
I’m also a big fan of the removable remote control module, which comes with a 1.22-inch touchscreen. I first encountered one of these on the Hohem iSteady M7, a larger and pricier smartphone stabilizer, and was pleased to see the concept transferred down the range to a more portable and affordable model.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)The controller has a wireless range of up to 10m / 33ft, and its joystick, button, and touchscreen let you adjust the gimbal arm angle, change settings, and stop/start recording from a distance. The screen also provides a live view from the AI tracker module’s camera, so you can set tracking subjects remotely too.
In my time with the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra, I’ve only encountered one major issue: sound from the gimbal’s motor gets picked up by my iPhone 13’s mic. This results in a quiet, but noticeable, background noise in all the videos I’ve recorded using the built-in mic; when I recorded using the DJI Mic 3 instead, the noise wasn’t audible.
It’s an irritating issue, but it’s not exclusive to this model. I went back and re-tested the Hohem iSteady M7 and Insta360 Flow Pro 2 with the same phone, and found the noise got picked up on these gimbals too. Still, if you’re going to rely on your smartphone’s built-in mic to record videos while using the iSteady V3 Ultra, do be aware that you’ll likely hear this sound in the background. I’ve included a short video clip below so that you can hear it for yourself.
While it’s really the only major problem I have with the iSteady V3 Ultra, it’s a fairly notable one. If you’re using an external microphone for vlogging, it’s not going to be an issue for you; if you’re relying solely on your phone’s mic, you may want to look elsewhere.
The only other potential flaw with the V3 Ultra is that it uses a standard grip on the arm rather than a quick-release magnetic grip of the type seen on the recent DJI and Insta360 smartphone gimbals. This is more of a preference thing, however – some may prefer having the grip built into the gimbal arm, as it reduces the number of components required.
All in all, I’m generally impressed with the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra. Its standout tracking skills and remote control make it the best small stabilizer around at the moment – although I expect the likes of DJI and Insta360 to offer strong competition in the near future.
Hohem iSteady V3: price and availabilityThe iSteady V3 Ultra has an MSRP of $169 / £169 / AU$299 and is available to order now at Amazon or the Hohem online store. I’m also told by Hohem’s PR representative that it will be sold at Best Buy from September 14, 2025. An Australian launch will follow – expect an update to this review once it's confirmed.
Given the gimbal's specs and features, that feels like a competitive price to me. In comparison, the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro currently retails for $159.99 / £144.99 / AU$199.99, and the DJI Osmo Mobile 7P is $149 / £135 / AU$219, so you’ll pay a slight premium for the iSteady V3 Ultra, but in my opinion, its tracking capabilities and remote control module make it worth the extra outlay.
Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra: specsDimensions:
98 x 44 x 160.5mm (folded)
Weight:
428g / 15.1oz
Compatible phone weight:
Up to 400g / 14.1oz
Compatible phone thickness:
Up to 12.5mm
Compatible phone width:
58 to 98mm
Connectivity:
Bluetooth, USB-C
Battery life:
4 hours (with AI tracking and fill light) / 9 hours (balanced and stationary)
Should I buy the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra?(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Buy it if...You want the best small stabilizer for tracking
Not only does the AI module offer the best tracking we've seen on a compact gimbal, it lets you track more than just people and pets.
You like to shoot from a distance
The tracking talent, combined with the remote control unit, makes this a great gimbal for remote shooting. It's basically a camera operator that fits in your pocket.
You’re on a tight budget
The V3 Ultra is a little pricier than its DJI and Insta360 flagship rivals, and a lot pricier than entry-level alternatives.
You don't want to use an external mic
If you don't want unwanted gimbal motor noise in your videos, you'll need some kind of external microphone.
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro
The Flow 2 Pro’s big party trick is native support for subject tracking in hundreds of third-party iPhone camera apps, plus an included LED fill light. With no tracking module, Android users are left out in the cold, however, and trackable subjects are limited to people and pets. The iSteady V3 Ultra is a little more advanced in this regard.
Read our in-depth Insta360 Flow 2 Pro review
DJI Osmo Pocket 3
The Osmo Pocket 3 is a self-contained camera rather than a smartphone gimbal, but offers much of the same functionality – superbly stabilized 4K capture and subject tracking – in a much more compact and easier to deploy package. You’ll pay a little more for it, but it’s a great all-in-one alternative for vlogging.
Read our in-depth DJI Osmo Pocket 3 review
How I tested the Hohem iSteady V3 UltraI used the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra for around a week in total, testing it out both handheld and set up on its built-in mini tripod. It was used with my Apple iPhone 13's front-facing and rear cameras, both indoors and outdoors, and I recorded video using a range of apps (the iPhone camera, Hohem Joy, Instagram) and both the iPhone's own microphone and a DJI Mic 3.
First reviewed September 2025
Keap, formerly known as Infusionsoft, positions itself amongst the best CRM platforms on the market. The platform offers sales enablement and marketing automation for small businesses. With a focus on simplifying the growth process, Keap aims to provide entrepreneurs with the tools they need to capture more leads, manage customer relationships, automate follow-ups, and get paid faster.
What sets Keap apart is its commitment to combining essential business functions into one user-friendly interface. From contact management and appointment scheduling to email marketing campaigns and invoicing, Keap strives to eliminate the need for multiple software solutions by offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored to the needs of small business owners.
In this in-depth review, I'll dive into the core features, ease of use, pricing, and overall effectiveness of Keap CRM. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of whether it’s the right fit for your small business needs.
Keap core capabilities(Image credit: Keap)Keap offers everything you’d expect from one of the best small business CRM platforms. It allows users to easily store, organize, and manage customer information in a centralized database. I was impressed by the level of detail that can be captured for each contact, including personal details, communication history, and purchase records.
For managing your contacts, Keap provides tools to efficiently track and nurture leads throughout the sales process. I particularly appreciated the ability to assign lead scores based on predefined criteria, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts on the most promising prospects. Keap's visual sales pipeline management feature offers a clear overview of the sales funnel, allowing users to drag and drop deals between stages and monitor progress towards closing.
The software provides insights into expected revenue based on the current pipeline and historical data. I found the forecasting reports to be intuitive and customizable, enabling sales managers to make data-driven decisions and adjust strategies as needed. The ability to set quotas and track individual and team performance adds an extra layer of accountability and motivation.
Keap's reporting capabilities enable businesses to gain valuable insights into their customer base and make informed decisions to drive growth. I was able to generate detailed reports on various metrics, such as lead conversion rates, sales performance, and customer engagement. The software's dashboard provides a real-time overview of key performance indicators, allowing users to quickly identify trends and take action.
For sales reps in the field, Keap offers a user-friendly and feature-rich mobile app for iOS and Android. It allows sales reps to access customer information, update deals, and log activities on the go. The ability to work offline and sync data when a connection is available ensures that no important information is lost, even in areas with limited connectivity.
Something that really sets Keap apart, however, is its focus on automation. The software offers a wide range of automation features that streamline repetitive tasks and improve efficiency. From lead nurturing campaigns to follow-up reminders and task assignments, Keap's automation capabilities help businesses save time and ensure consistent communication with customers. I was impressed by the ease with which I could set up complex automation sequences using the drag-and-drop workflow builder.
Overall, Keap CRM delivers on all the core capabilities needed to effectively manage customer relationships, drive sales, and make data-driven decisions. Plus, its built-in automation capabilities add an extra layer of productivity enhancement for sales reps, allowing them to focus on the tasks that matter.
How easy is Keap CRM to use? (Image credit: Keap)Keap maintains a strong focus on usability. Logging into the platform for the first time, I was impressed by the uncluttered layout that allows users to quickly navigate through the various features and tools. I also liked the customizable dashboard, which enables users to personalize their workspace according to their specific needs and preferences.
Onboarding with Keap is a breeze when compared to other CRMs. Each plan includes a dedicated customer success manager who guides new users through the setup process, ensuring that the platform is tailored to their unique business requirements. Additionally, Keap offers a wealth of training resources, including onboarding checklists, video tutorials, webinars, and personalized advice from expert coaches.
Adding even more to its user-friendliness, Keap's drag-and-drop automation builder allows users to create both simple and advanced workflows without requiring any coding knowledge. The availability of customizable templates further simplifies the process of setting up automated lead nurturing campaigns, follow-up sequences, and sales processes.
Speaking about the core CRM, the platform automatically captures and organizes customer interactions, allowing users to access a comprehensive view of each contact's history with just a few clicks. The ability to segment contacts based on various criteria and trigger automated actions for specific groups streamlines communication efforts and ensures that the right messages reach the right audience at the optimal time.
While a custom API with REST hooks is available for developers with advanced knowledge, the pre-built integrations are robust enough to suit most small businesses without custom development. Keap's integration with popular third-party applications, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoom, and Mailchimp, is seamless and requires no coding experience.
Based on my experience, the average time for new users to become proficient with this platform should be relatively short, thanks to the platform's intuitive design and extensive support resources. The combination of a user-friendly interface, customization options, comprehensive onboarding, and accessible automation tools makes this a great option for smaller teams that lack in-house technical expertise.
Keap CRM integrationsKeap focuses on providing a curated selection of integrations that complement its core functionalities and cater to the needs of small businesses. While it does not offer the same number of integrations as Salesforce or HubSpot, the ones that it does offer should fit the requirements of most small businesses.
For example, by connecting Keap with Gmail, Outlook, and social media channels, businesses can automate marketing campaigns and track effectiveness directly within the CRM. Keap also integrates with a variety of other essential business tools, such as Leadpages for landing page creation, Jotform for custom lead capture forms, and BigCommerce for ecommerce functionality.
Keap also integrates with the no-code automation platform Zapier, which allows you to build your own automations with thousands of other third-party applications without any coding requirements. Through Zapier, Keap users can create custom integrations with Slack, Trello, Mailchimp, and more.
While its selection of pre-built integrations may not be as extensive as some other CRMs, Keap’s custom API is open and well-documented, allowing for custom integrations to be developed when needed. Keap also provides documentation and resources to assist users in setting up connected apps, including custom ones built using the API. Dedicated customer success managers are available to offer guidance and support throughout the integration process, ensuring a smooth experience for all customers.
How good is Keap's customer support?(Image credit: Keap)Keap offers a decent range of support options, including human agents and self-service resources. Users can reach out to the support team via phone, live chat, and email, depending on their preference and the urgency of their issue. However, your experience with the support agents might vary depending on the channel you choose to contact them.
U.S.-based phone support is available on weekdays from 6 am to 7 pm PST, with local support also offered for subscribers in the UK and Australia. The inclusion of a dedicated success manager with all plans is a notable advantage. Phone support is generally quite good, with reduced wait times, helpful agents, and quick resolutions.
However, Keap offers a 24/7 chat support option that’s arguably the preferred option for users across different time zones. Yet, chat support can be wildly inconsistent when it comes to quality. Wait times can sometimes be up to 30 minutes, while the agents there seem to have very little knowledge of the product.
Keap does provide a range of self-help resources, including a knowledge base, how-to videos, and a community forum where users can seek advice from peers. These resources offer guidance on various topics, such as automating text messages and connecting the CRM with WordPress. But while they are helpful, they may not always suffice for complex account-specific issues.
Customer reviews on third-party sites like Trustpilot paint a worrisome picture of Keap's customer support. Many users report difficulties canceling their accounts, unresponsive support teams, and billing issues that required escalation to legal action. These experiences, while not necessarily representative of the majority, raise serious red flags.
On a more positive note, Keap's onboarding process and Expert Coaching service aim to set users up for success from the start. The one-on-one support, training webinars, and customized sales and marketing plans help businesses optimize their use of the CRM. However, the $499 one-time fee for this service may be a barrier for most SMBs.
Keap CRM pricing and plansDuring my review of Keap CRM, I found the pricing model to be unique compared to other CRM platforms. Instead of feature-based plans, Keap's pricing is scalable based on the number of contacts, with plans starting at $249 per month for up to 1,500 contacts. Prices can add up quickly as you gain customers, especially if you’re a consumer-facing business. Moreover, adding more user seats to your Keap plan costs you a flat rate of $32 per month, regardless of the plan.
When comparing Keap's pricing to other CRM platforms, it's evident that Keap is on the higher end of the spectrum compared to players like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho CRM. However, the fact that it includes features like marketing automation and invoice management does make it more bearable.
There are a number of implementation packages starting from $1500 one-time. It's also worth noting that Keap does not offer a free plan, unlike competitors like HubSpot and Zoho CRM. However, the CRM does come with a 14-day free trial, allowing potential users to explore the platform's capabilities before committing to a paid plan. While a longer trial period would be nice, two weeks is still sufficient to gain a solid understanding of the features and user experience.
Keap CRM Comparison TableStarting Monthly Price (Billed Annually)
Key Features
Keap Pro
Starts at $249/month for 1,500 contacts and 2 users
All core CRM, sales & marketing automation, email marketing, payments, invoicing, appointments, sales pipeline, and a dedicated business phone line.
Keap Max
Starts at $289/month for 2,500 contacts and 3 users
Includes all Keap Pro features, plus advanced reporting and lead scoring.
Keap Max Classic
Custom pricing
Includes all Keap Max features, plus advanced customization options like custom user roles, affiliate management, and a shopping cart.
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Keap CRM FAQWho is the primary audience for Keap?Keap is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform. It's primarily designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs (often with 1-15 employees and revenues over $100K) who need to automate their sales and marketing processes to save time and grow their business.
What is the difference between Keap Pro and Keap Max?Keap Pro is the more basic plan, offering core CRM, sales, and marketing automation features. Expect things like contact management, sales and marketing automation, invoicing, payment management, and appointment scheduling that syncs with your calendar. Keap Max includes everything in Pro, plus more advanced tools like lead scoring and e-commerce capabilities.
What kind of automations can I create with KeapYou can automate a wide range of tasks, including sending follow-up emails, assigning leads to a sales rep, sending appointment reminders, and managing referral programs. The platform's drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create these "when-then" workflows.
Is Keap easy to learn how to use?In fact, many users note that Keap has a steep learning curve due to its robust features. Complexity comes with price - often a financial one; sometimes in terms of ease of use. However, the platform offers extensive onboarding resources, including a dedicated success manager, video tutorials, and webinars to help new users get started.
Keap CRM review: Final verdictKeap is a solid choice for small businesses seeking an all-in-one CRM, with the added advantage of marketing automation and financial management features. Its core capabilities, such as contact management, lead nurturing, and sales pipeline visualization — are well-designed to the needs of most small businesses.
However, the inconsistent customer support experience is a notable drawback, potentially impacting user satisfaction and efficiency. The pricing structure is yet another deterrent, especially when you factor in the additional costs for initial onboarding and more seats.
On the whole, Keap offers valuable features and automation capabilities that can significantly benefit small businesses, but there's still room for improvement. Go for this platform if you need features beyond what a typical CRM offers at a low cost, but not if customer management is your only requirement.
The reMarkable Paper Pro Move embodies everything I want in a writing tablet. The size is perfect. The features are focused. The writing experience is divine. This is the tablet I’ve been hoping somebody would create, and it’s both surprising and not surprising that reMarkable has created it.
It's surprising because reMarkable doesn’t make many products. Its first mainstream (read: not a Kickstarter) tablet was the reMarkable 2, which launched in 2020, and the colorful follow-up, the reMarkable Paper Pro, arrived only last year. For reMarkable to launch another tablet so soon after its last one is uncharacteristic, and the Paper Pro Move must have been in the works since before the Paper Pro was announced.
I spent a few weeks using the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, and it mostly replaced the reMarkable Paper Pro that I use daily. The Paper Pro Move is much easier to carry – it even fits in the pockets of some of my pants. It’s taller than a Moleskine notebook, but also more narrow across and thinner front to back. I kept the Paper Pro Move enclosed in a Folio, and it was the perfect size and weight.
Having a reMarkable tablet that's pocket-sized is a dream come true, because it means I can truly take my writing tablet everywhere. The Paper Pro and the Paper 2 tablets are too large to carry to the grocery store, for instance, or keep on a nightstand if you want an uncluttered look.
Journaling is easy enough with the bigger reMarkable tablets, but if you want to keep a food journal during the day, or track your workout progress at the gym, a smaller tablet like the Paper Pro Move is ideal.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The Paper Pro Move came with me everywhere, and I used it to do everything I do with my Paper Pro tablet, and so much more. Like most reMarkable owners, there are one or two other things I wish it could also do, but I love the simplicity the Paper Pro Move offers.
It’s unsurprising that the Paper Pro Move is such a fantastic experience, because the Paper Pro was nearly perfect. It delivered on reMarkable’s singular focus – a distraction-free sheet of digital paper that will help you gather your ideas and access them from nearly anywhere. No more and no less than that lofty ambition… now in color.
If you’re looking for an electronic reader like a Kindle, look elsewhere. If you want to run your favorite apps, or chat with an AI, or browse the web… this is the wrong tablet. The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is focused, refined, and it doesn’t do much, by design.
At least, if you’re new to reMarkable, it won’t appear to do much, but fans of previous reMarkable Paper tablets will find the most advanced reMarkable yet in the Paper Pro Move.
What doesn’t it do? There's no clock, for instance. You won’t be hassled by the time. There are no alerts or notifications. It won’t ever buzz or vibrate for your attention. It also won’t serve you ads in any way, or spam you with messages you don’t care about.
A reMarkable Paper Pro Move in front of a reMarkable Paper Pro (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)What can it do that's new to reMarkable? There are features coming to all reMarkable tablets, leading with the Paper Pro Move. Now reMarkable tablets will convert your text to type, and finally the search feature will look through the handwriting in your documents, not just typed text and the tags that you append.
Both of those features are powered by machine learning – aka AI – but you don’t have to care about AI on the reMarkable Paper Pro Move. It won’t offer to draw doodles for you with AI, and it won’t prompt you with insipid AI journal queries.
Nope, the reMarkable Paper Pro Move experience is restrained, and though most reMarkable fans have one or two features they wish were included (I’d kind of like to read my books on the tablet), reMarkable software remains distraction-free by design, and slow to evolve.
I hope it stays that way, because the reMarkable Paper Pro Move does just enough to be the perfect writing tablet. If you want more, keep looking. If you need less, the Paper Pro Move gets less just right.
reMarkable Paper Pro Move review: price and availability(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is an expensive writing tablet, there's no doubt, and it justifies the price by giving you less, not more. It’s much less expensive than the reMarkable Paper Pro, which has a display that's more than twice as large, and even more expensive than the reMarkable 2 monochrome writing tablet. Color is pricey, apparently.
The Paper Pro Move costs $449 / £399 for the bundle with a Marker and $499 / £439 for a bundle with a Marker Plus, which adds an eraser function to the opposing end (pricing for Australia is TBC). Is $50 / £40 worth having a dedicated eraser? If you’re asking that question, you’re considering the wrong tablet. This is a luxury device, not a practical tool.
It’s hard to measure the reMarkable Paper Pro Move against the competition, as there isn’t any real competitor at this size. The Amazon Kindle Scribe is the closest competitor on features, but the Kindle Scribe is a big and chunky (albeit gorgeous in green) reading tablet, and its price is very close to the Move at $399.99 / £379.99 / AU$649.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)You can find smaller ereader tablets with a pen from Boox, like the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II that we recently reviewed. That tablet costs $299.99 / AU$439 (about £245), which might seem like a bargain compared to the Paper Pro Move, but read our review first – it’s not exactly our favorite writing tablet.
The Paper Pro Move launches with new folio options, and reMarkable supplied me with a leather folio and a recycled cloth folio. Surprisingly, I may prefer the cloth; it’s a fantastic color with a unique design that's very appealing. There’s a discount on folio accessories at launch, but no cheap bundle with a folio.
The larger reMarkable tablets have a type folio keyboard option, but reMarkable has skipped this accessory for the Paper Pro Move, at least for now. I think it would be cool to see a mini keyboard for this tablet, but reMarkable had nothing to show me.
reMarkable Paper Pro Move pricingreMarkable Paper Pro Move
reMarkable Paper Pro
reMarkable 2
With Marker
$449 / £399 / AU$TBC
$629 / £559 / AU$929
$399 / £389 / AU$669
With Marker Plus
$499 / £439 / AU$TBC
$679 / £599 / AU$999
$449 / £429 / AU$749
reMarkable Connect
$2.99 / £2.99 / AU $4.99 /month
The reMarkable Paper Pro Move uses a dual-core processor that runs at a higher clock rate than the quad-core processor in the larger Paper Pro. You can see the difference when you use the two tablets side by side, as I discuss in the Performance section below.
The Paper Pro Move isn’t as thin as other reMarkable tablets. The reMarkable 2 is still one of the thinnest tablets you can buy overall at 4.7mm, while the Paper Pro is a svelte 5.1mm. The Paper Pro Move is 6.5mm, which is just a bit thicker than an iPad mini (6.3mm), and thinner than an iPhone 16 (7.8mm).
The Paper Pro Move also weighs much less than an iPad mini, at 235 grams versus the iPad’s 293 grams. More importantly, it weighs less than a standard Moleskine notebook.
reMarkable Paper Pro Move specsStarting price
$449 / £399
Operating System (as tested)
reMarkable OS - Linux-based
Chipset
1.7GHz dual-core Cortex A55 chipset
Memory
2GB LPDDR4 RAM
Storage
64GB
Display
7.3-inch Canvas Color, based on E Ink Gallery 3
Weight
235g
Battery
2,334mAh
Supported File Formats
PDF, ePUB
Supported Cloud Services
Google Drive; Microsoft OneDrive; Dropbox; Slack
reMarkable Paper Pro Move review: display(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The color E Ink display on the Paper Pro Move is probably not what you’re expecting, and while it’s a fantastic display for a writing tablet, you should be prepared before you buy one.
E Ink technology does not use light to create an image, it uses tiny particles that float closer or farther from the surface – including transparent color bits and reflective white particles. Because the particles actually move, E Ink displays react slower than a normal display – by a lot! You can see the ink move, and if you draw in color, you’ll see the display shift a few times as it forms the final image.
Some folks find this distracting – I think it looks cool. I love E Ink technology; it reminds me of steampunk and alternate future concepts that don’t rely on bright, irritating LCD and OLED panels. It’s not for everybody, though.
The reMarkable Paper Pro is admittedly dark to read. The panel is not a perfect white when it's blank; it looks more like light-grey newspaper. There are lights on the Paper Pro Move – just like on the Paper Pro – but they're not bright enough to even light the screen adequately at night. You’ll need extra light if you want to write in the dark (and you can’t use the Paper Pro Move as a flashlight to get to the bathroom – I tried).
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)If you're expecting an iPad or even an e-paper display like the TCL NXTPaper, this will be a disappointment. If you're looking for a screen that looks – and more importantly feels like real paper, this is the tablet for you.
Writing on the reMarkable tablet feels exactly like writing with a pen on paper. I feel like I'm using my favorite Pilot Precise roller ball pens on a thick Moleskine notebook. When the results appear, looking remarkably like ink on paper and not bright lights on a display, the effect seems magical.
I'm astonished that reMarkable continues to refine its writing experience with each new device. While reMarkable tablets become even more pleasing and paper-like, the competition… doesn't exist? It doesn't even seem like any other tablet maker cares about the feel of writing and making its tablets feel like pen and ink on the page. So reMarkable is only improving to impress itself and its return customers.
The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is a thin and very lightweight writing tablet that feels incredibly solid for its subtle heft. I had no trouble holding the tablet in the palm of my left hand and writing comfortably across the whole page with my right. Then I just tucked the tablet into the back pocket of my jeans.
I've always wanted a writing tablet like this. The Kindle Paperwhite might be a good candidate for a pen some day, but it's wider than the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, and just a bit harder to stuff in a pocket, especially with a nice cover.
The Paper Pro Move fit easily in my larger pockets, even with the leather or recycled cloth cover attached. I kept a cover on my device because it's looks great and keeps the pen in place, not because I was worried about durability. The Paper Pro Move feels very sturdy, even though it sadly lacks the IP water and dust protection you'll find on a smartphone or a fancy Samsung Android tablet.
Image 1 of 3Compared to a standard Moleskine notebook (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Image 2 of 3Compared to a standard Moleskine notebook (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Image 3 of 3Compared to a standard Moleskine notebook (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)There's only one button on the Paper Pro Move – the power button – because the tablet doesn't have speakers. It doesn't make any noise, so there's no need for volume rockers. There's a USB-C port for charging on the bottom.
The pen attaches magnetically, and I need a case to feel secure with this arrangement or else I'm sure to lose my pen. The pen is proprietary technology, like the Paper Pro tablet, and not common EMR technology, like the reMarkable 2 tablet and the Samsung S Pen, so it's expensive to replace.
The easiest way to think about the reMarkable Paper Pro Move is as digital paper, and little more. You can create notebooks, then save them in folders. You can also insert tags throughout notebooks to make them easier to search.
What reMarkable does best, besides the luxurious hardware and writing experience, is the background templates it offers for your writing. The selection is enormous, better than you'll find on the Amazon Kindle Scribe or other writing tablets. That selection is growing fast, too – but there's a catch.
Sadly, reMarkable has become friendly with two of the evil villains of the digital world: subscriptions and AI. These are bugbears for the Move tablet.
Some of the best features on the reMarkable Paper Pro Move require a monthly subscription. It isn't much money – $2.99 / £2.99 / AU$4.99 per month – and it adds good value if you use the new templates reMarkable offers only to subscribers, called Methods. But it stings that this ultra-simple tablet needs a subscription plan at all.
Other new features will use AI machine-learning tools, but these don't run on the Paper Pro Move. If you want to convert your handwriting to typed text, that happens in the cloud.
The handwriting recognition results ranged from useless to dangerously hilarious. When I wrote a checklist of items and asked the tablet to convert my writing, I got a paragraph of items, not a list.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The reMarkable AI doesn't format text neatly. In fact, instead of converting my writing on the page where I wrote it, the tablet would create a new page with my converted text. I suppose reMarkable expects me to cut and paste those results into the right spot. No thanks; I'll stick to writing.
The actual results were bad, too. My handwriting can be terrible, but I've been a teacher and I know students can read my scratch off a blackboard, so it's not a terminal case.
The remarkable Paper Pro Move got many words wrong, and in one case it got R-rated. Instead of a “Vertical kitty” toy from my list, it typed “vertical titty.”
Ummm, what the what!?! You can't say that, reMarkable tablet! You can't make a mistake that offers one of the seven words you can't say on television! Even on a simple writing tablet like this, AI proves once again that it can be horrible and useless.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Since this happens in the cloud, I'm hopeful that reMarkable can just hook up with a better service. Handwriting recognition is a useful tool for a writing tablet, and it drives better features like searching through handwritten text.
I've seen much better AI-based handwriting recognition on the Kindle Scribe, so if your main goal is converting your scribbles into type, that's the tablet to choose.
The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is not an Android tablet running apps. Still, it has a unique interface, and the display technology from E Ink is very complicated and requires some formidable hardware development. I’m happy to say the Paper Pro Move is the most responsive and fastest reMarkable tablet I’ve used, for whatever that’s worth on a writing tablet.
That means the tablet opened faster from sleep, and it was more responsive to typing from the moment I tapped out my passkey. Menus respond faster to touch, and I can pan and zoom on documents faster on the Paper Pro Move than on the Paper Pro tablet. The difference is noticeable.
If you're just writing with the tablet the response feels instantaneous – there's no perceivable delay between touching the Market Plus to the screen and the E Ink appearing. If you write calligraphy or draw with the paint brush tools, you'll appreciate the responsiveness.
Of course, adding color adds a delay, but this happens after you lift the pen. Some folks have told me they find this too distracting, as there's a slight flash of color once or twice as the different layers activate. I actually find the effect kind of cool-looking, but your mileage may vary.
I'm not disappointed with the battery life I got from the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, but it didn't blow me away like the Paper Pro. I've had the tablet for more than two weeks and I've charged it twice, including the initial charge time. That's pretty great for modern electronics.
Of course, the reMarkable Paper Pro lasted through my entire review period without needing a recharge, but that tablet is more than twice the size – and weight – of the Paper Pro Move. I think the trade-off is fair. I still get more than a week of battery life, and I can stuff this tablet in my back pocket.
It's possible the Paper Pro Move died faster because I used it more. Since it's so portable, it was easier to use in more places, like I said. If I used it as sparingly as I used my Paper Pro, it may have lasted another few days.
The reMarkable Marker has a battery inside, which makes it different than the Marker on the reMarkable Paper 2 tablet or styluses for other tablets like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 devices. I would rather not have another battery to charge, but the Paper Pro Move juices up the pen when you attach it magnetically to the side. It charges very quickly, too, in case you let the pen battery drop to zero.
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
It’s expensive, but not shockingly so. Still, it’s price is more for the luxury than for a wealth of features on offer.
3/5
Dsplay
A display that makes writing feel like pen on paper. The unusual refresh may be offputting to some, but I found it charming. It’s not bright enough for nighttime writing.
5/5
Design
Thin and light enough to keep in the back pocket of my 501 jeans, but big enough to be useful for journaling and all sorts of writing tasks.
5/5
Software
Simple and elegant at best, with tons of template options and perfect writing tools. At worst, you’re paying subscription fees and relying on AI for handwriting recognition – yuck.
3/5
Performance
Perfectly responsive writing, and now the interface responds faster to touch than any previous reMarkable tablet could. It keeps things simple and that pays off in performance.
5/5
Battery
Amazing battery life means you can forget to charge it for days, it lasts at least a week after tons of writing. Too bad you have to charge the pen, but at least it charges very quickly.
5/5
Buy it if...You want a digital notepad to effectively, simply organize your thoughts
That’s the promise of reMarkable – it’s a simple pad for gathering your thoughts and storing them digitally, locally and in the cloud.
You love the feel of writing, but you've left paper behind
A reMarkable tablet doesn’t feel like dragging plastic over glass; it feels like writing with a real pen on thick paper: tactile and wonderful.
You’ve been eyeing writing tablets but they’re all too big
My dream tablet is an elegant writing tablet I can take anywhere with ease. That makes the reMarkable Paper Pro Move the tablet of my dreams.
You want to read books, browse the web, yada yada yada
This tablet is only for writing. You can’t even make shapes easily, you can only write with the pen. Want more? Look elsewhere.
You like to write but want to convert your writing to type
The Paper Pro Move can convert handwriting to text, but the results aren’t reliable and the layout is ruined. The Kindle Scribe does this better.
You want a bright, shiny display that's colorful and bright and shiny
The Paper Pro Move looks more like newsprint on greyish paper than the glossy magazine you’d expect from an iPad. It’s not for reading, it’s for writing.
Amazon Kindle Scribe
The Kindle Scribe doesn’t have as many writing tools or templates, but it does a better job of handwriting recognition, and you can read your books on it.
Read our in-depth Amazon Kindle Scribe review
reMarkable Paper Pro
The bigger Paper Pro gives you more battery time, more screen size, and even more writing and drawing tools. You can even buy a keyboard folio for it.
Read our in-depth reMarkable Paper Pro review
reMarkable Paper Pro Move
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024)
reMarkable Paper Pro
Price
$449 / £399
$399.99 / £379.99 / AU$649
$629 / £559 / AU$929
Price for premium edition
$499 / £439 / AU$TBC (Marker Plus)
$449.99 / $429.99 / AU$729 (64GB, Premium Pen)
$449 / £429 / AU$749 (Marker Plus)
Display
7.3-inch Canvas Color, based on E Ink Gallery 3
10.2-inch E Ink Carta 1200
11.8-inch Canvas Color, based on E Ink Gallery 3
Supported files
PDF, ePub
PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, AAX (Audible audio format)
PDF, ePub
Storage
64GB
16GB
64GB
Why you can trust TechRadar☑️ 100s of tablets and e-readers reviewed
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☑️ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech
I've had the reMarkable Paper Pro Move for almost three weeks of testing, during which time I used it as my primary writing tablet for note taking, making lists, and journaling. I use a writing tablet daily, multiple times a day, even when I am not reviewing a new tablet, so you can trust I have experience with these devices.
I used the reMarkable Paper Pro Move to write notes for work that I would then send to my Google Drive, my work phone and tablet, and my laptop web browser. I sent web pages and documents to the reMarkable Paper Pro Move from my web browser and from the app. I shared doodles and notes on Slack using the new Slack integration.
I paid for a reMarkable Connect subscription to test reMarkable’s new Methods templates, as well as the advanced sharing features it offers. I also tested handwriting recognition by connecting the reMarkable to my home Wi-Fi.
For battery testing, I charged the reMarkable Paper Pro Move completely on the morning after I first received it, then measured the days until it ran out of battery. In 20 days of testing the tablet, I charged it twice.
I used the reMarkable Paper Pro Move in a leather folio and cloth folio provided by reMarkable. To keep the tablet secret and because I liked the feel, I kept the tablet in the folio for the entire review period.
Read more about how we test.
Zendesk, known primarily for its customer support software, has been expanding its offerings to cover more aspects of customer engagement. Zendesk Sell is one of the best CRM platforms on the market and aims to provide sales teams with a streamlined tool for managing leads, deals, and customer interactions.
It promises to boost productivity, improve pipeline visibility, and ultimately drive revenue growth. The CRM integrates closely with Zendesk's support tools, potentially offering a more cohesive customer experience across sales and service departments.
I'll dive deep into Zendesk Sell's features, usability, pricing, and overall performance to provide an unbiased analysis of how well it stacks up against other CRM competitors for sales teams. Read on for the full Zendesk Sell review.
Zendesk Sell core capabilities(Image credit: Zendesk)Zendesk Sell provides a centralized database for storing and accessing customer information, including contact details, interaction history, and account-specific notes. I began by importing and organizing my test contact list. I appreciated that the system supported both CSV and Excel file imports. It's helpful how the system tracks leads from initial contact to conversion.
The platform offers customizable sales pipelines, allowing me to adjust the stages to fit my sales process. I noticed the intuitive interface for moving deals through stages, making it easy to visualize progress and spot potential bottlenecks. However, some advanced lead management features, such as task automation and lead scoring, are limited to higher-tier plans.
Zendesk includes forecasting tools that enable sales managers to estimate deal volume and revenue growth. During my evaluation, I generated accurate forecasts using sample historical data and current pipeline status. While these features work well, I’ve seen more advanced predictive analytics in other CRMs.
The platform provides 20 pre-built charts, reports, and dashboards for insights into key sales metrics. It also allows the creation of custom reports using a drag-and-drop interface. Analyzing trends by region or team and predicting revenue growth adds value for sales managers. However, some users noted that competitors offer more detailed reporting options.
I liked how the CRM integrates with preferred communication tools. Zendesk works smoothly with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, automatically logging email communications. This integration saves time and ensures all customer interactions are captured within the CRM, offering a complete view of customer relationships. It also provides various automation tools, including task assignments, email follow-ups, and lead nurturing workflows.
In addition to email, Zendesk has a marketplace with many pre-built integrations and developer-friendly APIs. You can select from thousands of pre-built connectors to popular apps like Asana, Dialpad, SurveyMonkey, and Ada. Zendesk also provides API Reference Docs to help developers create custom integrations, offering all necessary tools and step-by-step instructions.
Zendesk’s mobile app, available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, offers full functionality, including geolocation features. You can create and manage tickets, view reports, and receive real-time alerts about customer requests. This allows sales reps to manage customer interactions on the go and enables sales managers to track their progress from the office.
However, while Zendesk Sell covers essential CRM capabilities, some features are restricted to higher-tier plans. Advanced permissions and roles, which are important for larger sales teams, are only available in the Professional Plan. Some users reported slow load times and occasional bugs, especially after adding third-party integrations.
How easy is Zendesk Sell CRM to use?I found Zendesk Sell to be user-friendly, though it has some learning curves. Upon logging in, I saw a clean, modern interface that was easy to navigate. The customizable dashboard lets users prioritize important information for their roles.
I also appreciated Zendesk’s logical organization of information. Contacts, deals, and tasks are accessible from the main menu. I could switch between different views quickly as I changed my focus. The option to customize these views was helpful, allowing me to concentrate on the most relevant details for my workflow.
Zendesk’s CRM interface is very visual. Its smart lists help segment contacts and leads based on various criteria. The drag-and-drop feature for moving deals through the pipeline made it even more user-friendly. Together, these elements simplify the sales process.
Onboarding is straightforward. As an admin user, I could set up the system and invite team members easily. The guided setup process helps new users learn to create contacts, deals, and tasks. This support is useful for those new to CRM systems.
Zendesk Sell excels in integrating with other Zendesk products, especially the customer support platform. For businesses already using Zendesk for service, the smooth connection between sales and support data enhances usability and data consistency.
In terms of customization, Zendesk Sell strikes a balance between flexibility and simplicity. I tailored the system to my needs without feeling overwhelmed. Creating custom fields, deal stages, and pipelines allowed me to adjust the CRM to my specific sales process.
However, I noticed that some advanced features in higher-tier plans required more exploration to understand fully. For instance, setting up custom fields and creating advanced reports took time to master. I also found limitations in customization in lower-tier plans. Advanced automation features and custom dashboards are available only in higher-priced plans.
Zendesk offers mobile apps for both iOS and Android. I found them well-designed and responsive, providing most desktop functionality. This is beneficial for sales teams needing to access and update information while on the go.
Zendesk Sell CRM integrations(Image credit: Zendesk)Zendesk’s integrations are among its best features. Its close connection with Zendesk’s customer support platform ensures smooth data flow between sales and support teams, offering a unified view of customer interactions. Additionally, Zendesk Sell provides native integrations with major productivity suites such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.
For businesses using other popular SaaS applications, Zendesk Sell integrates with tools like Mailchimp for email marketing, QuickBooks for accounting, and Zapier for connecting to many other apps. The setup process for these integrations is easy, typically needing just a few clicks to authorize and configure.
You can find all these integrations at Zendesk Marketplace, which serves as a center for discovering and installing both native and third-party apps and plugins. Although Zendesk offers over 1,500 integrations, some competitors provide even more out-of-the-box connectors for popular applications.
For custom integration development, Zendesk Sell features a powerful API that enables developers to create specific connections with other systems. It includes both REST APIs for basic CRUD operations and advanced APIs like the Sync API for real-time data synchronization. The API documentation is thorough and well-organized, including step-by-step instructions for developers. I appreciate how Zendesk allows you to submit your custom integrations as paid apps to the Zendesk Marketplace, enabling you to earn from your work.
While examining the integration capabilities, I also noticed a few limitations. Some advanced integration features are available only in higher-tier plans, which may affect smaller businesses or those with budget limitations. There’s also a premium API for creating advanced custom apps that’s accessible only from the Growth plan onward.
How good is Zendesk Sell CRM customer support?(Image credit: Zendesk)When assessing Zendesk Sell's customer support, I found a well-rounded system built on Zendesk's customer service expertise. The platform offers various ways for users to get help, including live support and self-service options.
Zendesk Sell provides support via email and live chat for all pricing tiers. However, phone support is limited to higher-tier plans, which might pose challenges for smaller businesses. Chat support is quick, with agents usually available during business hours.
Email support is accessible 24/7, benefiting businesses across different time zones. Users receive replies within a few hours, even during off-peak times. The quality of email responses is generally high, offering detailed answers and step-by-step instructions when necessary.
Zendesk Sell's self-service features are strong, showcasing the company's expertise in knowledge management. The extensive knowledge base covers many topics, from basic setup to advanced features. I found the articles clear, concise, and frequently updated to reflect recent platform changes. Helpful screenshots and video tutorials enhance understanding, particularly for visual learners.
Zendesk's community forum is another useful self-service resource, active and well-moderated, with contributions from both company staff and experienced users. Peer support can be especially valuable for addressing unique or complex issues not detailed in standard documentation.
In terms of response and resolution times, Zendesk Sell generally performs well. Its service level agreements state that the company aims for a first response time of under 8 hours for standard inquiries and under 1 hour for urgent issues on higher-tier plans. Resolution times depend on the issue's complexity, but straightforward problems usually receive solutions in the first interaction.
Zendesk Sell CRM pricing and plansPlan
Team
Growth
Professional
Enterprise
Price
$19/user/month
$55/user/month
$115/user/month
$169/user/month+
Best For
Small teams needing basic CRM functionality
Growing businesses requiring more advanced tools
Larger teams needing customization and automation
Enterprise-level organizations with complex needs
Features
Customizable sales pipeline; Email integration; Basic reporting
Advanced sales reports; Sales forecasting; Prospecting tools
Lead and deal scoring; Task automation; Advanced permissions
Unlimited pipelines; Custom APIs; Premium support
Limitations
Limited to 2 sales pipelines
Lacks advanced automation features
May be costly for smaller teams
Pricing may be prohibitive for some businesses
Zendesk Sell employs a tiered pricing model with four plans tailored for various business sizes and needs. The pricing is clear, calculated per user, per month. While Zendesk Sell's pricing is competitive in the CRM market, it may not be the most cost-effective choice, this means Zendesk typically isn’t the best CRM for start ups on a shoestring budget.
The entry-level Team plan costs $19 per user each month with annual billing. It offers essential CRM features like contact and deal management, email integration, and basic reporting. While this plan makes Zendesk a contender as one of the best CRM for small business, it lacks some common features in other platforms' entry-level plans, such as web-to-lead forms and advanced analytics.
The mid-tier Growth plan is priced at $55 per user per month when billed annually. It introduces advanced features like sales forecasting, bulk email templates, and product catalogs. This plan strikes a better balance of features and cost, making it suitable for growing businesses.
The Professional plan at $115 per user per month provides more advanced tools, including lead and deal scoring, task automation, and advanced permissions. These features can greatly enhance sales processes, but the significant price increase from the Growth plan may cause hesitation for some businesses.
At the highest level, the Enterprise plan begins at $169 per user per month with annual billing. This plan encompasses all features from the lower tiers, along with advanced customization options, dedicated account management, and premium support. While thorough, this pricing positions Zendesk Sell among the higher-priced enterprise-level CRM solutions.
Certain advanced features, like the power dialer or extra storage, incur additional costs. Zendesk offers a bundle called the Zendesk Suite, which combines Zendesk Sell with other products like Support and Chat, potentially offering significant savings for businesses using multiple products.
Additionally, Zendesk Sell provides a 15% discount for annual billing compared to monthly billing, which can lead to substantial savings for larger teams. A 14-day free trial is available for all plans, allowing potential customers to explore the platform before committing. However, Zendesk misses out on being one of the best free CRM platforms with no free tier, which may be a drawback for very small businesses or individuals seeking a no-cost CRM solution.
Zendesk Sell CRM FAQWhat are Zendesk Sell's core features?Zendesk Sell offers a centralized database for customer information, customizable sales pipelines, and tools for sales forecasting and reporting. It also integrates with email and offers various automation tools, meaning it has most of the core capabilities that users expect from a CRM.
How does Zendesk Sell handle customer data?Zendesk Sell provides a centralized database for storing and accessing contact details, interaction history, and notes. It also supports importing data from CSV and Excel files. As such, it provides a variety of ways for users to input and store customer data.
How does Zendesk Sell support the sales process and its aftermath?Zendesk Sell gives users a customizable sales pipelines with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for moving deals between stages. This helps sales teams visualize progress and identify bottlenecks.
Once the sales process has concluded - either successfully or not - Zendesk Sell also boasts reporting and analytics functionality. The platform includes 20 pre-built charts and dashboards and allows for the creation of custom reports using a drag-and-drop interface. This helps sales managers analyze trends and predict revenue growth.
Is Zendesk Sell a good choice for small businesses?That all depends. Certainly, the entry-level "Team" plan is geared towards small teams and offers essential CRM functionality. However, the pricing may not be the most cost-effective for startups on a tight budget, as there is no free tier.
Does Zendesk Sell have a mobile app?Yes, Zendesk Sell has a well-designed and responsive mobile app for both iOS and Android, offering most desktop functionality for sales reps on the go. This is especially important now that hybrid work has become commonplace, with many sales and marketing professionals working remotely at least some of the time.
How does the platform integrate with Zendesk's other products?Zendesk Sell integrates seamlessly with Zendesk's customer support platform, ensuring a unified view of customer interactions for both sales and service teams. If businesses already use some of the other tools within the Zendesk suite, the appeal of Zendesk Sell is sure to increase.
What are some of the limitations of Zendesk Sell?Perhaps the biggest limitation - although, certainly not one that is unique to Zendesk Sell - is that some advanced features, such as task automation, lead scoring, and advanced permissions, are restricted to higher-tier plans. Some users have also reported slow load times and occasional bugs after adding third-party integrations.
Zendesk Sell CRM: SummaryAfter analyzing Zendesk Sell, I find it a strong and user-friendly option that balances essential features with ease of use. Its strengths include an intuitive interface, solid integration with customer support tools, and regular updates that keep the platform competitive.
Zendesk Sell suits small to medium-sized businesses seeking a unified approach to sales and customer support. Its seamless integration with other Zendesk products makes it a great choice for companies using or considering their support platform.
However, larger enterprises or those needing specialized CRM features may find Zendesk Sell somewhat limited compared to established enterprise solutions. Also, while the pricing structure is competitive, it might be high for very small businesses or startups.
Founded in 2010, Pipedrive has grown to serve over 100,000 companies across more than 175 countries. It’s designed to help sales teams manage leads, track deals, and streamline sales processes.
At its heart, Pipedrive CRM offers a visual sales pipeline that lets users easily move deals through different stages by dragging and dropping them. Its intuitive interface is supported by features such as contact management, email integration, reporting tools, and workflow automation. Ultimately, it aims to simplify sales management by providing insights that help teams close more deals, making it one of the best CRM platforms out there.
In this review, I'll take a close look at Pipedrive's key features, usability, pricing, and overall performance to see if it lives up to its reputation as a user-friendly and effective CRM solution. I'll share my hands-on experience with the software and compare it to other CRM solutions in the market to see how it stacks up.
At the heart of Pipedrive’s system is the contact and lead management feature. I liked how easy it was to import and organize contacts, with the ability to add custom fields to capture specific information relevant to my sales process. The system allows for a comprehensive view of each contact, including communication history, associated deals, and activities.
Pipedrive’s visual pipeline interface is one of its standout features, allowing me to track and move deals through various stages with a simple drag-and-drop action. I found it very easy to maintain a clear overview of my sales pipeline and quickly identify which opportunities needed attention.
There’s a paid LeadBooster add-on that enhances Pipedrive’s lead management capabilities even further. It includes web forms, live chat, and a prospecting tool that can help generate and qualify leads automatically. While these are powerful and well-designed, it's worth noting that they come at an additional cost on top of your base plan.
Pipedrive also offers advanced forecasting capabilities — the platform creates customizable sales forecasts based on the deals in your pipeline, allowing for accurate revenue predictions. I found the ability to create multiple pipelines particularly useful, as it allowed me to customize the sales process for different products or customer segments separately.
While it offers a range of pre-built reports based on various KPIs, Pipedrive’s custom reports are where it really shines. It offers a range of options to measure team efficiency, software effectiveness, and sales performance from a bevy of different angles. The reports themselves are incredibly visual, making it easy to understand the different charts, graphs, and numbers.
You can automate your sales workflows easily with Pipedrive. I found the process of setting up these automations to be straightforward, with a visual builder that made it easy to create complex workflows without needing any coding knowledge. However, there isn’t any support for marketing automation, which can put off some teams.
How easy it Pipedrive CRM to use?Pipedrive’s minimalist design eliminates clutter, allowing users to focus on what matters most — managing their sales pipeline and customer relationships. The visual pipeline view is particularly user-friendly, offering a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to move deals through various stages.
Something that really impressed me was the smart contact data feature. With a single click, the system can search the internet for information about a prospect and populate records automatically. It saves a lot of time on data entry and research, allowing reps to focus more on actual selling activities.
Customization options on this platform are robust yet straightforward to implement. Pipedrive allows users to tailor fields, pipelines, and workflows to match their specific sales processes. During my testing, I was able to easily add custom fields to capture industry-specific information and create multiple pipelines for different product lines.
Pipedrive offers a variety of learning materials, including video tutorials, webinars, and a knowledge base. Its in-app guidance is particularly noteworthy, providing contextual tips and explanations as users navigate through different features.
Automation features in Pipedrive further enhance its usability. The platform offers a range of pre-built workflow automations that can be easily customized to fit specific needs. They help streamline repetitive tasks, such as follow-up emails or activity creation, allowing sales reps to focus more on building relationships and closing deals.
Pipedrive offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android. It provides a seamless experience, allowing users to update deals, access contact information, and log activities on the go. I found the mobile interface to be just as intuitive as the desktop version, ensuring that sales teams can stay productive even when out of the office. This is an especially helpful feature for businesses with mobile sales teams.
However, I did find that setting up some of the more advanced features, like email sequences and certain automations, required a bit more time and effort to master. Still, Pipedrive offers ample documentation and training resources to get through the initial stages after implementation.
Pipedrive CRM integrations(Image credit: Pipedrive)Pipedrive CRM offers a powerful ecosystem that allows users to connect the CRM with a wide array of third-party applications. Pipedrive's Marketplace hosts over 400 out-of-the-box integrations, covering essential business tools across categories like email marketing, document management, project management, analytics, live chat, and accounting.
Connecting Pipedrive with popular tools like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams was a seamless process, allowing for real-time notifications and improved collaboration. The integration with email platforms like Gmail and Outlook was particularly useful, enabling me to manage emails and CRM data from a single interface. One integration that stood out was the Leadfeeder connection, which automatically transfers website lead data into Pipedrive.
There’s also an open API, which provides developers with the flexibility to create custom integrations when needed. It uses a JSON format for output and supports CORS requests, which adds to its versatility. I was impressed by the comprehensive documentation and developer resources available for API users, making it relatively straightforward for technical teams to extend functionality through custom integrations.
For users who aren't developers, Pipedrive offers integration with Zapier, a popular automation tool that can connect Pipedrive to thousands of other applications without requiring coding skills. This greatly expands the potential for creating automated workflows across different platforms, even if they don't have a direct integration with Pipedrive.
For a smooth flow of information, the platform uses database replicas that sync in real-time, ensuring data continuity and minimizing the risk of data loss. However, for those concerned about data backup, Pipedrive also conducts nightly backups of all database machines and creates encrypted off-site backups of customer databases.
For businesses looking to create more complex integrations or automate specific workflows, Pipedrive's Developer Platform offers additional tools. This includes webhooks, API endpoints, and SDKs, allowing for deeper customization of the CRM experience.
How good is Pipedrive CRM customer support?(Image credit: Pipedrive)For all users, regardless of plan, Pipedrive provides 24/7 email and chatbot support. While the latter is a great option for basic queries requiring quick resolution, the former is meant for more complex issues that aren’t so time-sensitive.
Users on the Advanced, Professional, Power, or Enterprise plans have access to human agents during live chat. Response times are quick, usually within a few minutes. Support agents are knowledgeable, and able to address most of my basic queries efficiently. However, for more complex issues, I noticed that the initial response often involved directing me to relevant knowledge base articles rather than providing immediate solutions.
The availability of live chat support depends on your subscription tier. Advanced plan users can access live chat during business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the user's timezone), while Professional plan subscribers enjoy 24/5 support. Power and Enterprise users benefit from round-the-clock support, seven days a week.
For users on the Power or Enterprise plans, Pipedrive also offers phone support. However, it's worth noting that this service is only available during limited hours - from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm (CET/CEST) for English speakers, and from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm (CET/CEST) for Portuguese speakers.
For self-help purposes, Pipedrive’s knowledge base is extensive and well-organized, covering a wide range of topics from basic setup to advanced features. I found the articles to be clear, concise, and often accompanied by helpful screenshots or video tutorials.
Pipedrive also offers an online learning platform called Pipedrive Academy. This resource provides a series of video courses and tutorials designed to help users master various aspects of the CRM. I found these courses to be well-structured and particularly useful for new users or those looking to expand their knowledge of specific features.
Pipedrive CRM pricing and plansPlan
Essential
Advanced
Professional
Power
Enterprise
Price
$12/user/month
$24/user/month
$49/user/month
$59/user/month
$79/user/month
Best For
Small teams starting with CRM
Teams scaling sales processes
Larger teams optimizing performance
Big teams with complex needs
Large organizations requiring robust management
Features
Visual sales pipeline; Basic lead management; Simple reporting
Email sync and tracking; Customizable automations; Sales prospecting tools
AI sales assistant; Contract management; Revenue forecasting
Project management; Expanded permissions; 24/7 phone support
Unlimited custom fields; Enhanced security; Advanced customization
Limitations
Limited open deals and custom fields
Restricted automation capabilities
No project management features
Fewer customization options
Minimum 10 users required
Pipedrive’s pricing is competitive and flexible, offering a range of options to suit different business needs and sizes. As of my review, Pipedrive offers five main pricing tiers: Essential, Advanced, Professional, Power, and Enterprise.
The Essential plan starts at $12/user/month, billed yearly. It offers basic CRM features: contact and deal management, customizable pipelines, and simple reporting. This option makes Pipedrive one of the best small business CRM platforms out there. Higher plans add more advanced features.
I found the Advanced plan, at $24/user/month, to be particularly great value. It includes email templates, tracking, and customizable automations, boosting sales team productivity. The Professional plan, priced at $49/user/month adds AI features, revenue forecasting, and e-signatures. It’s perfect for growing businesses.
For larger companies or those needing more complex solutions, the Power and Enterprise plans are available at $59 and $79 per user per month, respectively. These plans include project management, better security, and unlimited custom fields. They also offer incrementally higher limits on deals, reports, and automation workflows.
Across all plans, opting for annual billing instead of monthly can save you up to 17%. Pipedrive also offers a 14-day free trial for all its plans, which is less than some competitors but still reasonable. While the base plans offer comprehensive features, Pipedrive provides several add-ons that can enhance functionality. These include LeadBooster for lead generation (starting at $32.50 per company monthly), Web Visitors Tracking ($41 per company monthly), and Campaigns for email marketing ($13.33 per company monthly).
A potential drawback I noticed is that Pipedrive doesn't offer a free plan beyond the trial period. For very small businesses or solopreneurs looking for a free CRM solution, this could be a limitation. This means Pipedrive isn't necessarily one of the best CRM for start ups on a shoe string budget, although start ups with a small budget could benefit from the affordable Essential plan.
It's also worth mentioning that Pipedrive's pricing can vary depending on your location and the currency you're billed in. I found that prices are often kept at the same numerical value across different currencies (e.g., $99 USD, €99 EUR, £99 GBP), which can result in higher costs for users outside the US.
At its heart, Pipedrive is built around the visual sales pipeline. This standout feature allows users to easily track and manage deals through different stages with a simple drag-and-drop interface. This makes it incredibly easy to maintain a clear overview of your sales process and quickly identify which opportunities need attention.
Of course, there's much more to Pipedrive too, including lead management and workflow automation features. The latter, for example, centers around a visual builder, which makes it straightforward to set up automations for repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails or creating activities. However, it is worth noting that it does not natively support marketing automation, which may be a consideration for some teams.
Can I create my own sales reports with Pipedrive?Although Pipedrive offers a range of pre-built reports, its custom reporting is where it truly shines. You can create highly visual reports to measure team efficiency, software effectiveness, and sales performance from a variety of angles, making it simple to understand the numbers behind your team's success.
Does Pipedrive have a mobile app?Yes, Pipedrive offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android. The app provides a seamless experience, allowing sales teams to update deals, access contact information, and log activities on the go, making it an especially helpful feature for businesses with mobile sales teams.
How easy is Pipedrive to use?Pipedrive's ease of use is one of the platform's core strengths. The CRM is known for its user-friendly interface and minimalist design, which helps users focus on their sales activities without unnecessary clutter. Its visual pipeline and drag-and-drop functionality are particularly intuitive. The platform also includes a smart contact data feature that automatically populates records with information from the internet, saving reps a lot of time on data entry.
Pipedrive CRM review: SummaryAfter thoroughly evaluating Pipedrive across multiple key areas, I believe this is a top-tier CRM platform with its visual pipeline interface and intuitive deal management tools standing out as significant strengths.
With its user-friendly interface and straightforward customization options, companies should have no trouble ensuring a healthy level of adoption even through the early stages of implementation. But while Pipedrive offers a solid range of integrations and a well-documented API, there's room for improvement in terms of advanced marketing automation capabilities. The customer support, though generally responsive and helpful, could benefit from more consistent quality and faster response times for email inquiries.
Overall, Pipedrive CRM is a strong choice for small and midsize businesses looking for an accessible yet feature-rich sales management platform. While there are areas for improvement, it delivers more than its share of value for the price point.