Unscalable manual tracking
Large sheets lag. Without automated workflows, repetitive manual tracking cannot scale as leads grow.
alternativesThe best alternative to Excel CRM
Still managing leads in Excel CRM templates?
Lark helps sales teams turn manual spreadsheets into a collaborative workspace with built-in CRM tools for automated follow-ups, shared pipelines, permissions, and real-time communication.
Why teams outgrow Excel CRM spreadsheets
Chaotic sharing & data leaks
Shared sheets cause version chaos. With limited row-level controls, sensitive customer data can be exposed too easily.
Siloed tools, scattered data
Siloed spreadsheets make CRM data harder to keep in sync. Reps waste hours copying notes between email, chat, and cells.
Why Lark is a practical upgrade from Excel CRM
In Lark Base, teams can update lead stages, assign owners, trigger reminders, and send alerts to Messenger when deals move forward, helping reps follow up without checking spreadsheets manually.
Explore Lark Base
In Lark Base, teams can update lead stages, assign owners, trigger reminders, and send alerts to Messenger when deals move forward, helping reps follow up without checking spreadsheets manually.
Explore Lark BaseFewer tools, fewer costs
Cut software bloat while keeping teams fast, clear, and connected.
Book a demo10xoperational efficiency
39%more productive
70%cost savings
Lark vs. Excel CRM: feature comparison
 Pro$12/ user / month |  $0/ user / month | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop app |  |  | Web only |
| CRM templates | | | |
| Web form lead capture | | | Manual |
| Lead source, owner & stage tracking | | | Manual |
| Kanban pipeline view | | |  |
| Automated follow-up reminders | | | |
| Unified activity timeline (calls, emails, meetings) | | | |
| Row/column-level access | | | |
| Role-based permissions | | | Limited |
| Monthly automation runs | 1,000 runs | 50,000 runs | |
| Messenger deal alerts | | | |
| Real-time CRM dashboards | | | |
| Automated revenue & pipeline forecasts | Basic | | |
Use our calculator to see how much Lark saves you over Excel's hidden cost of extra sales tools
See how much you’ll save
Replace
apps
Lark Enterprisecan replace and surpass at least 4 of your existing business tools.
Saves$
/year
With 1000 employees, your company could save at least $390,000 per year by using Lark.
Hear from fast-growing brands
Lark has changed how we uplevel sales and customer success. The month I shared our sales boards in Lark Base with our teams, I saw a real lift in digital advertising sales. These boards are where our race to the top can happen, and we finally have the transparency to do so efficiently.
With Lark, we enhance internal team collaboration and operational efficiency, enabling us to deliver better customer service and superior products to our clients. As the company enters a new decade, Lark continues to play a critical role in teams daily workflow, communication and task management.
Lark has significantly enhanced the way we manage internal communication, enabling more effective top-down and bottom-up interactions across our organization. From announcing customer promotion activities to driving employee engagement initiatives and recognizing individual performance, Lark has streamlined our communication processes.
Trusted by 2000+ global leaders across 125+ countries
Other top Excel CRM alternatives to consider
Pros
- Customizable relational database structures
- Easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface builder
- Native automations with trigger rules and 30+ app integrations
Cons
- Expensive seat-based pricing as teams scale
- Steep learning curve for advanced relational features
- Lacks native phone dialer or email sequencing
Pricing
- Free plan$0/user/month
- Team plan$20/seat/month
- Business plan$45/seat/month
Pros
- Visually stunning and intuitive pipeline boards
- In-app @mention communication and email sync with activity timeline
- Custom dashboards with widgets for pipeline, revenue, and team activity
Cons
- Minimum 3 seats required for paid plans
- High price jump to unlock advanced features
- Complex setup for advanced custom workflows
Pricing
- Free planNot available
- Basic plan$12/ seat / month
- Standard plan$17/ seat / month
- Pro plan$28/ seat / month
Pros
- Intuitive visual drag-and-drop pipeline interface
- Action-oriented reminders keep deals moving forward
- Native sales forecasting and reports
Cons
- No permanently free plan available
- Most AI features gated to premium plans
- Marketing and support features require paid add-ons
Pricing
- Free planNot available
- Lite plan$14/ seat / month
- Growth plan$39/ seat / month
- Premium plan$59/ seat / month
- Ultimate plan$79/ seat / month
Pros
- Permanently free plan for basic pipeline tracking
- Seamless integration with marketing and service hubs
- Email open/click tracking and sequence automation
Cons
- Pricing scales up very rapidly with growth
- Pro tiers require expensive mandatory onboarding fees
- Key features require purchasing separate core seats
Pricing
- Free plan$0/ user / month
- Starter plan$7/ user / month
- Professional plan$90/ user / month
- Enterprise plan$150/ user / month
Pros
- Build custom data structures and design approval workflows visually
- Highly cost-effective plans for growing sales teams
- Broad integration with the Zoho software ecosystem
Cons
- Interface can feel dated and less intuitive
- Zia AI features limited to expensive tiers
- Initial setup and customization takes significant effort
Pricing
- Free plan$0/ user / month
- Standard plan$14/ user / month
- Professional plan$23/ user / month
- Enterprise plan$40/ user / month
Choosing Excel CRM alternatives by use case
Sales teams need a single source of truth for contacts, deals, activities, and account history as spreadsheets become hard to maintain.
Top pick
Explore Lark's CRM template
Lark provides the Sales & CRM template to manage customer records, deal pipelines, and follow-ups. Use a CRM dashboard and relationship-map visual.
Airtable combines a spreadsheet-like interface with relational database capabilities, allowing sales teams to organize contacts, link accounts, and customize CRM fields.
Growing sales teams must capture leads from multiple channels, qualify them quickly, and prevent promising prospects from disappearing in spreadsheet rows.
Top pickExplore Lark's lead tracking template
Lark's Sales Lead Management template helps organize lead sources, owners, stages, and next steps. Use a lead funnel with priority tags.
HubSpot automatically captures leads from web forms, emails, and ads, enabling quick qualification and seamless lead routing without manual entry.
Sales reps must coordinate reminders, meeting notes, proposals, and handoffs so warm opportunities keep moving after every customer conversation.
Top pickExplore Lark's sales management template
Lark supports follow-up workflows with the Sales Pipeline template, tracking deal stages, activities, and owners. Use a pipeline board with timeline and task-status visual.
Pipedrive centers on activity-based selling, offering visual pipeline stages, automated reminders, and activity scheduling to ensure consistent prospect follow-up.
Sales operations need accurate quotes, contract terms, approvals, and renewal dates connected to each account before spreadsheet versions create risk.
Top pickExplore Lark's contract management template
Lark centralizes quote and contract work through the Sales Contract Management template. Use a contract tracker with approval-status and renewal-date visual.
Zoho CRM provides built-in inventory, quote generation, price books, and visual approval blueprints to govern quotes and contracts seamlessly.
Revenue leaders need real-time visibility into pipeline health, win rates, activities, and forecasts without manually consolidating disconnected Excel files.
Top pickExplore Lark's sales reporting template
Lark makes sales reporting easier with the Sales Performance Dashboard template for revenue, conversion, activity, and forecasts. Use a KPI dashboard with charts and funnel visual.
monday CRM provides real-time customizable dashboards and reporting widgets to visualize sales performance, revenue targets, and pipeline forecasts.
FAQs about alternatives to Excel CRM
What is an Excel CRM?
An Excel CRM is a spreadsheet-based system for tracking customer relationships, sales leads, and deal progress. It is best for small teams or early-stage businesses that need a simple, low-cost way to manage contacts before moving to a dedicated CRM tool. Common fields include contact name, company, email, phone number, lead source, deal stage, owner, deal value, next follow-up date, and notes.
Can I use Excel as a CRM?
Yes. Using Excel as CRM can work for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small teams that only need basic contact and lead tracking. A simple CRM using Excel is easy to set up, but using Excel for CRM becomes harder as your customer base grows because updates, reminders, reporting, and collaboration all stay manual.
Is Excel a CRM platform?
Not exactly. Excel is a spreadsheet tool, not a dedicated CRM platform, but it can be used to organize customer information, sales leads, and follow-ups. If you want to manage customer relationships more efficiently, especially as your business grows, using a dedicated CRM tool is recommended.
How to create a CRM in Excel
To create a CRM in Excel, start with a simple structure that matches your sales process.
Step 1. Define your sales stages, such as New Lead, Contacted, Qualified, Won, and Lost.
Step 2. Create a CRM in Excel by adding columns for contact details, owner, deal value, stage, follow-up date, and notes.
Step 3. Use dropdowns, filters, and a CRM Excel template to keep updates consistent and easy to manage.
How to track leads in an Excel CRM?
Tracking customer data with a CRM in Excel is a manual process. You must diligently update the CRM spreadsheet after every customer interaction, logging details in columns like "Last Contact Date" and "Notes." Using filters is the primary way to sort your sales data and view specific segments, such as leads assigned to a particular team member.
Is there a free CRM template available in Excel?
Yes, you can find an Excel CRM template free to use online, and it may be enough for very small teams. But as your sales process grows, a free spreadsheet template can become difficult to maintain because every update, follow-up, and report still depends on manual work.
Where can I download a CRM Excel spreadsheet or template?
You can download a CRM Excel spreadsheet or template from Microsoft Create and other template websites. For a more collaborative option, Lark also offers Sales & CRM templates for managing leads, pipelines, contracts, and reports in one workspace.
Try Lark's CRM template ->
What are the top 3 CRM tools?
Judged by ease of use for Excel users, scalability, and collaboration, the top 3 CRM tools are:
1. Lark: Best all-in-one option: CRM templates, automation, and team chat in one place.
2. HubSpot: Easiest to set up: intuitive interface and solid pipeline tracking for small teams.
3. Airtable: Best spreadsheet-like interface: familiar grid view plus relational database power.
Are Excel CRM templates enough for small businesses?
You can combine Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and other Office tools to create a basic CRM Excel workflow, but it won't function as a fully integrated CRM system. For growing teams, a unified workspace is usually more efficient because customer data, communication, tasks, and reporting stay connected.
How do I import contacts from Excel into a CRM like Lark?
Most CRM platforms allow you to import contacts from an Excel or CSV file. You simply upload the file and match columns such as name, email, phone number, and company.
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