Corteza vs EspoCRM Comparison
Compare Corteza vs EspoCRM features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Corteza
6.3/10
Corteza is an Apache 2.0 open-source low-code platform. Organisations use it to build self-hosted CRM and other record-based business applications with workflows and a REST API.
EspoCRM
6.9/10
Open-source CRM for small and mid-sized businesses that can be self-hosted free or bought as a per-user cloud subscription.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.3/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | €1/mo Pay what you can | €13/user/mo Basic |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | €1/mo Pay what you can | Free Open Source (self-hosted) |
| Features | ||
| Contact Management | ||
| Customer Support Management | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Opportunity Management | ||
| Reporting & Analytics | ||
| Sales Automation | ||
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Collaboration | Not listed | |
| Lead Management | Not listed | |
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
Corteza vs EspoCRM cost by team size
EspoCRM costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Corteza | EspoCRM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | €1/moPay what you can | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 5 users | €1/moPay what you can | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 10 users | €1/moPay what you can | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 25 users | €1/moPay what you can | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
| 50 users | €1/moPay what you can | FreeOpen Source (self-hosted) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Corteza
- Better fit for enterprise (6/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose EspoCRM
- Has a free plan (Corteza does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs €1/mo
- Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Corteza
Pros
- Released under the Apache 2.0 licence, so it can be self-hosted with no licence fees and no vendor lock-in.
- The project says its data model supports most Salesforce standard objects, and users can add their own custom objects.
- Docker-based deployment gives organisations full control over where their data is stored.
- Releases are still being shipped regularly; 2024.9.10 came out in August 2026 and 2026.9 is the latest stable version.
Cons
- The CRM and Service Solution apps were removed from the default deployment in release 2024.9, so the CRM has to be built or installed separately.
- Reviewers say the interface is complex and can be overwhelming.
- According to Prospeo's review, namespace exports leave out workflow references and access-control permissions.
- There are very few independent reviews, and the user community is small.
- Paid support from Planet Crust is expensive.
EspoCRM
Pros
- The Entity Manager lets administrators add custom entities, fields and relationships without writing code.
- Every cloud plan includes all official extensions at no extra cost, among them the Sales Pack, VoIP, Google, Outlook and Mailchimp.
- The free, self-hostable open-source core keeps costs very low for small teams.
- You own your database and files and can request copies, which limits lock-in.
- Hosting in Germany is available for teams that need GDPR-friendly data residency.
Cons
- Reviewers say the initial setup of entities, roles and automations takes time and some technical skill.
- G2 reviewers point to a steep learning curve and limited documentation.
- A few reviewers reported slower performance with large datasets.
- Cloud support runs only 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, and the vendor team is very small.
- Self-hosted users must pay for reporting and BPM through the Advanced Pack.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
EspoCRM scores higher on our CRM criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.3/10 for Corteza. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 3/10 for Corteza and 6/10 for EspoCRM.
EspoCRM costs less for 10 users: free on its Open Source (self-hosted) plan, against about €1/mo on its Pay what you can plan for Corteza, billed monthly.
EspoCRM has a free plan; Corteza does not list one.
EspoCRM is the better fit for small business: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 3/10 for Corteza.
