Our verdict
SuiteCRM and FluentCRM are both full-suite tools for restaurants. On our independent rubric, SuiteCRM scores 4.3/5 versus 4.1/5 for FluentCRM. Choose SuiteCRM if you're Teams migrating from Salesforce seeking open-source parity or IT-backed deployments at companies of 50–500 employees; choose FluentCRM if you're WordPress site owners replacing Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign with a flat-fee, self-hosted stack or Course creators and membership sites (deep LMS and membership plugin integrations).
Side-by-side comparison
| Metric | SuiteCRM | FluentCRM |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score | 4.3/5 | 4.1/5 |
| G2 rating | 4.2/5 (97) | — |
| Capterra rating | — | — |
| Starting price | Free (self-hosted community edition) | $129/year (1 site; listed at $103/year with current 20% discount) |
| Free tier | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Integrations | 13 · Outlook, Xero, QuickBooks… | 22 · WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, SureCart… |
| Best for | Teams migrating from Salesforce seeking open-source parity, IT-backed deployments at companies of 50–500 employees, Organizations needing full CRM depth with no licensing cost | WordPress site owners replacing Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign with a flat-fee, self-hosted stack, Course creators and membership sites (deep LMS and membership plugin integrations), Agencies managing email automation across many client sites |
| Category | full-suite | full-suite |
| Founded | 2013 | 2020 |
| HQ | Stirling, Scotland, UK | — |
A teal check marks the stronger option on each measurable row. Ratings are sourced from G2/Capterra with attribution on each listing.
SuiteCRM
- Salesforce-level feature depth at zero licensing cost
- Unlimited users on self-hosted community edition
- Actively maintained — 8.10.2 & 7.15.2 security and maintenance releases shipped July 31, 2026
- Open REST API included at no extra cost
- Steep technical setup and administration curve
- Default UI feels dated compared to modern SaaS CRMs
- Reporting and customisation requires developer skills for complex use cases
FluentCRM
- 80,000+ active installations — most-deployed self-hosted WordPress CRM
- Unlimited contacts and email sends on flat annual pricing
- Free core plugin covers campaigns, automation, and contact management
- Deep e-commerce, LMS, and membership plugin integrations
- Email-marketing-centric — no traditional sales deal pipeline
- WordPress-only; unusable outside a WordPress site
- Email deliverability depends on your own SMTP/sending service
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