Freshworks vs SugarCRM
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Freshworks is the stronger AI pick in CRM: it has a visibility score of 18 versus 1.7 for SugarCRM, and ranks ahead in 75% of the answers that name both.
Choose Freshworks if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (18 vs 1.7)
- AI answers describe it more positively (26% vs 20% positive)
- You need ISO 27001 or ISO 27701 or PCI DSS coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
Choose SugarCRM if…
- You need ISO/IEC 27001:2022 or CSA STAR or GDPR or CCPA coverage
- strong midmarket option
- good account and contact management
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Freshworks | SugarCRM |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 18% | 1.7% |
| Change vs last week | up+2.6% | up+0.7% |
| Rank in CRM | #6 | #25 |
| Share of voice | 5.9% | 1.1% |
| Mentions this run | 28 | 5 |
| Positive in AI answers | 26% | 20% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Freshworks +2.5999999999999996pp · SugarCRM +0.7pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Freshworks leads on 3 of 3 engines
Head to head in AI answers
4 engine answers name both brands
| Prompt | Engine | Freshworks | SugarCRM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which CRM vendors do analysts recommend? | ChatGPT | #14 | #11 |
| Which CRM vendors do analysts recommend? | Perplexity | #9 | #11 |
| Which CRM offers a free trial? | Perplexity | #2 | #8 |
| Official website of the top CRM vendors | ChatGPT | #8 | #11 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Freshworks | SugarCRM |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud (SugarCloud) and on-premise |
| Integrations | — | 180+ |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, PCI DSS | SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, CSA STAR, GDPR, CCPA |
| Founded | 2010 | 2004 |
| Headquarters | San Mateo, California, United States | — |
| Employees | 5,000+ | 501–1,000 |
| Funding | IPO | Private equity (Accel-KKR) |
| Best for | — | Mid-market B2B companies in manufacturing, wholesale and distribution that need CRM connected to their ERP. |
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Freshworks
- Affordable pricing and good value
- Free tier or free trial available
- Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- Fast deployment and quick time-to-value
- Strong AI and automation features
- Per-minute charges for advanced calling features
SugarCRM
- strong midmarket option
- good account and contact management
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Freshworks vs SugarCRM”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/freshworks-vs-sugarcrm, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.