# CRM for startups: which vendors AI models recommend (September 2026)

Source: Memetik Index, https://www.memetik.ai/index/startup-crm
Field: Startup stack. Edition: 2026-09. Run: 2026-09-02.
Method: 5 fixed buyer prompts sent once each to 10 current models (GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Fable 5, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro) via their APIs with web search enabled. 50 answers. Answer share = fraction of answers naming the vendor. Named first = fraction where it was the first tracked vendor named.

**HubSpot leads** with 100% answer share (named in 50 of 50 answers) and was named first in 64%. Pipedrive follows at 100%. 13 vendors were named at least once.

## Answer share

| # | Vendor | Answer share | Named first | Mentions | Models |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HubSpot | 100% | 64% | 50/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 2 | Pipedrive | 100% | 16% | 50/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 3 | Attio | 68% | 4% | 34/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 4 | Salesforce | 62% | 2% | 31/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 5 | Close | 58% | 2% | 29/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 6 | Zoho CRM | 54% | 8% | 27/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 7 | Notion | 30% | 2% | 15/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 8 | Folk | 26% | 0% | 13/50 | ChatGPT, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 9 | Freshsales | 22% | 2% | 11/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, ChatGPT, Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Perplexity, Sonar Reasoning Pro |
| 10 | Airtable | 16% | 0% | 8/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash |
| 11 | Copper | 10% | 0% | 5/50 | GPT-5.6 Sol, Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini 3.5 Flash |
| 12 | Streak | 10% | 0% | 5/50 | Claude, Claude Fable 5, Gemini, Gemini 3.5 Flash |
| 13 | Monday CRM | 8% | 0% | 4/50 | Claude Opus 5, Claude, Claude Fable 5 |

## By model

- **GPT-5.6 Sol** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-sol, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 80%, Salesforce 60%, Close 60%
- **GPT-5.6 Terra** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-terra, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 80%, Close 80%, Salesforce 60%
- **GPT-5.6 Luna** (OpenAI, gpt-5.6-luna, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 80%, Salesforce 60%, Close 60%
- **Claude Opus 5** (Anthropic, claude-opus-5, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Salesforce 100%, Attio 60%, Zoho CRM 60%
- **Claude Sonnet 5** (Anthropic, claude-sonnet-5, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Salesforce 100%, Zoho CRM 80%, Attio 40%
- **Claude Fable 5** (Anthropic, claude-fable-5, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Zoho CRM 80%, Close 60%, Attio 40%
- **Gemini 3.6 Flash** (Google, gemini-3.6-flash, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 80%, Notion 80%, Salesforce 60%
- **Gemini 3.5 Flash** (Google, gemini-3.5-flash, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 100%, Notion 100%, Close 60%
- **Sonar Pro** (Perplexity, sonar-pro, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Close 80%, Attio 60%, Salesforce 40%
- **Sonar Reasoning Pro** (Perplexity, sonar-reasoning-pro, 5 answers): HubSpot 100%, Pipedrive 100%, Attio 60%, Salesforce 60%, Close 60%

## Sources the models cited

- youtube.com: 71
- attio.com: 39
- withallo.com: 38
- spotsaas.com: 35
- reddit.com: 30
- hubspot.com: 25
- lightfield.app: 23
- saasmaste.com: 20
- techradar.com: 18
- startupik.com: 16
- smashsend.com: 16
- zoflowx.com: 15
- johngalt-finance.com: 15
- autogrowthsuite1.com: 14
- twilead.com: 13

## Prompts

1. What is the best CRM for an early-stage startup? Name specific products.
2. Which CRM should a 5-person B2B SaaS sales team use?
3. Compare the top CRMs for startups in 2026.
4. I'm a founder doing my own sales. Which CRM do you recommend?
5. Best affordable CRM for a startup that will scale to 50 reps?

## Tracked but never named

Insightly

Raw answers: https://www.memetik.ai/index/startup-crm (every answer published in full). Chart image: https://www.memetik.ai/charts/startup-crm.png. Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit "Memetik Index".