What is the difference between SuiteCRM and Vtiger?
SuiteCRM is a free, open-source CRM with no per-user fees that you host yourself or pay SalesAgility to host per instance. Vtiger is mainly a hosted CRM sold per user per month, with a free plan for up to ten users and an open-source edition that was last released in July 2025.
Two forks of SugarCRM
Both products began as copies of SugarCRM's open-source code. Vtiger forked SugarCRM 1.0 in 2004 and is developed by Vtiger Systems, based in Bengaluru with an office in San Francisco. SuiteCRM forked the last SugarCRM Community Edition in 2013 and is led by SalesAgility in the UK. They have long since gone separate ways, but the shared ancestry is why both organise data in similar modules: accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, cases.
The bigger difference today is the business model. SuiteCRM is open source first, and SalesAgility sells hosting, support and implementation around it. Vtiger's main product is its hosted CRM, Vtiger One, sold per user; its open-source edition still exists, but its most recent release, 8.4.0, came out on 9 July 2025.
SuiteCRM and Vtiger side by side
| SuiteCRM | Vtiger | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Open source, GNU AGPLv3 | Hosted Vtiger One is proprietary; the open-source edition uses the Vtiger Public License (based on MPL 1.1) |
| Latest release | 8.10.2 and 7.15.2, both 31 July 2026 | Open source 8.4.0, 9 July 2025; Vtiger One is updated in place by Vtiger |
| How you pay | Software free; managed hosting from £50 a month per instance, no per-user fees | Per user per month: $12, $30, $42 or $50 (billed annually); free plan for up to 10 users |
| Where it runs | Your server, or managed hosting from SalesAgility or another host | Vtiger's cloud; the open-source edition on your own server |
| Mobile | Responsive web layout; native apps from third parties | Official Vtiger CRM Mobile app for the cloud edition |
| Help desk | Cases with a customer portal and a knowledge base | Help desk with email-to-case and SLAs, even on the free plan |
| Quotes and invoices | Quotes, invoices, contracts and products with PDF templates, included | Inventory in the open-source edition; in the cloud, invoicing from the Growth plan and purchase orders from Professional |
| Automation and reports | Workflows on save or on a schedule; reports with charts and scheduled email | Workflows and reports |
| API | V8 API: JSON:API over HTTPS with OAuth 2 | REST web services |
| Branding | Install a colour theme (SuiteP sub-theme on 7, two compiled themes on 8) and set your logo | Set your logo in Company Details; the cloud edition takes custom CSS through a TAP Style in Module Designer |
What each costs for a team of ten
List-price arithmetic for ten users over a year, before tax, from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026. The two are priced in different currencies and the page does not convert them.
| Option | Year one, 10 users | How it scales |
|---|---|---|
| SuiteCRM, self-hosted | Free software; your server and time | Same cost for the 11th user |
| SuiteCRM, managed hosting | From £600 (£50 a month) | Priced per instance, not per user |
| Vtiger One Pilot | $0 | Stops at 10 users and 3,000 records |
| Vtiger One Growth | $1,440 ($12 x 10 x 12) | Each user adds $144 a year |
| Vtiger One Professional | $3,600 ($30 x 10 x 12) | Each user adds $360 a year |
SuiteCRM gets relatively cheaper as a team grows, because nothing is charged per seat; Vtiger is cheaper to start, especially on the free plan, and needs nobody to run a server. Implementation, support and add-ons are extra on both. SuiteCRM's own support and implementation prices are in the SuiteCRM review.
Making it look like your company
Both let you replace the logo. Beyond that they differ. Vtiger's cloud edition takes custom CSS through Module Designer, which needs someone who writes CSS. SuiteCRM has no colour setting in Admin either, but its theme system was built to be extended: a SuiteP sub-theme on SuiteCRM 7, or a legacy sub-theme plus an Angular stylesheet on SuiteCRM 8, installed through Module Loader without touching core files. Brandtint builds that theme from your logo.
Which should you choose?
Choose SuiteCRM if per-user fees add up for your team size, your data has to stay on infrastructure you control, you want to change the product itself, or you deliver CRM to clients under your own brand. Budget for hosting and someone to maintain it.
Choose Vtiger if you want a vendor to run everything, a mobile app matters, your team fits the free plan or per-user pricing is acceptable, and the built-in help desk and inventory cover what you need.
Sources
Every fact above was read on 21 October 2026. Both vendors change their prices; check the pricing pages before relying on a number.
- Vtiger pricing, vtiger.com, for the Vtiger One plans, per-user prices and the free plan's limits.
- Vtiger open source download, for the 8.4.0 release and its date; Vtiger open-source CRM, for the licence.
- Vtiger terms of service and About Vtiger, for the company, its offices and founding year.
- Vtiger CRM on Wikipedia, for the 2004 fork of SugarCRM 1.0.
- Vtiger CRM Mobile on the App Store, for the official mobile app.
- SuiteCRM pricing and the SuiteCRM release notes linked from the SuiteCRM review, for the SuiteCRM side.
Questions
Is Vtiger open source?
Partly. Vtiger publishes an open-source edition under the Vtiger Public License, last released as 8.4.0 on 9 July 2025, but its main product, the hosted Vtiger One CRM, is proprietary and sold per user per month.
Is SuiteCRM cheaper than Vtiger?
Usually, as a team grows. SuiteCRM has no licence or per-user fee, and managed hosting starts at £50 a month for the whole instance, while Vtiger One charges $12 to $50 per user per month. For a very small team Vtiger's free plan, up to ten users, costs nothing.
Are SuiteCRM and Vtiger related?
Both began as forks of SugarCRM's open-source code: Vtiger in 2004 from SugarCRM 1.0, SuiteCRM in 2013 from the last SugarCRM Community Edition. They are separate products from separate companies today.
Can I move from Vtiger to SuiteCRM?
Yes, as a data project: export each module from Vtiger to CSV and import it into the matching SuiteCRM module, mapping fields as you go. There is no official one-click migration between the two, so test the import on a copy first.
About the author
Muhammad Ilyas builds Brandtint at Techholds, including the SuiteCRM 7 and SuiteCRM 8 theme packages these guides are written from. Muhammad Ilyas on LinkedIn · About Brandtint