Research-based review with no product testing: Saazora did not buy a Close plan or make calls through it for this article · Prices, plan limits and usage rates read on Close's pricing page and Close help center articles on November 4, 2026 · Prices in US dollars, per user per month unless stated, before tax
Some links on this page are affiliate links: Saazora may be paid if you sign up for Close through them, at no extra cost to you. The plan picks and cost math below do not depend on that.
This Close CRM review lands on a simple test: does your team win deals on the phone? Close puts calling, SMS, email and a pipeline in one per-user subscription, from $19 a month for one person on Solo up to $149 for Scale, and charges call minutes on top at roughly two cents each. For a small inside sales team that dials every day, that bundle is the point, and Growth ($109 monthly, $99 billed yearly) is where the power dialer and workflows start. The catches are in the details: the yearly discount is large only on Solo, the predictive dialer sits on the top plan alone, included AI credits stop growing after 10 users, and Close's AI caller, Chloe, works in English, to US and Canadian numbers, outbound only.
This review is built from Close's own pricing page, its help center and its product posts, read on November 4, 2026. It covers what each plan unlocks, what the annual discount is really worth per plan, how calling is billed, what a three-rep calling team pays in a normal month, the AI credit rules, and who should pick something else. Current Close coupons and the trial terms are tracked on our Close deals and pricing page; if you are still building a prospecting stack, our guide to sales prospecting tools shows where Close sits next to email finders and visitor-identification tools.
What Close is, in one paragraph, and what it does not try to be
Close is a sales CRM for teams that sell through conversations. Its pricing FAQ describes the bill as three parts: "Pricing is based on seats for your team, actual usage for calling and SMS," plus AI credits. Calling runs in the browser ("You can use it from your desktop or mobile browser"), outbound calls reach "nearly 200 countries", and SMS works on every plan. Close also ships its own AI agent: "Chloe is an AI sales teammate built directly into Close." What the pricing page does not list is a free-forever tier or marketing tools such as landing pages. If marketing and sales in one suite, or a CRM you never pay for, is the goal, start with our roundup of free CRMs for small businesses instead.
Close plans and prices on November 4, 2026
Close lists four self-serve plans plus custom pricing for larger teams. Each plan card shows two prices, and the billing toggle labels them: the higher one is the "Regular monthly price", the lower one the "Annual price". Close's FAQ says the same thing in plain numbers, quoting the lower prices as "billed annually".
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Who it is for | What it adds | AI credits per user a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $19 | $9 | One seller | Calling, SMS and two-way email sync; "Limited to 1 user" and "Limited to 10k leads" | 500 |
| Essentials | $49 | $35 | Small teams without automation | "Unlimited contacts & leads", team collaboration, "Centralized inbox & task list"; workflows not included | 1,000 |
| Growth ("Recommended") | $109 | $99 | Teams that call lists daily | Automated workflows, power dialer, bulk email, 90-day call recording retention | 1,500 |
| Scale | $149 | $139 | Managed teams with volume | Predictive dialer, live call coaching, role-based access, lead visibility rules, unlimited recording retention | 2,000 |
Per user per month, from close.com/pricing, November 4, 2026. Every plan includes Zapier and API access, activity reports and an opportunity funnel report. Call recording is kept 30 days on Solo and Essentials.
Two limits shape the choice more than the feature lists. Solo cannot add a second person, so a founder who plans to hire a rep this year will move to Essentials at $49 or $35 a seat. And workflows, the rules that "Trigger SMS, email, and call follow-up when Leads hit a certain criteria", only begin on Growth, so a team that wants automated follow-up pays roughly double the Essentials rate per seat.
The annual discount is mostly a Solo discount
Close's toggle says "SAVE UP TO 50%". That headline holds for one plan. Work the four price pairs through and a pattern appears: on Solo, Growth and Scale, annual billing takes the same $10 off each seat every month, and on Essentials it takes $14. Because the dollar cut stays flat while the list price rises, the percentage shrinks fast.
| Plan | One seat for a year, billed monthly | One seat for a year, billed annually | You save | Saving as % of monthly rate | An annual year equals this many monthly-billed months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $228 | $108 | $120 | 52.6% | 5.7 |
| Essentials | $588 | $420 | $168 | 28.6% | 8.6 |
| Growth | $1,308 | $1,188 | $120 | 9.2% | 10.9 |
| Scale | $1,788 | $1,668 | $120 | 6.7% | 11.2 |
Saazora's arithmetic from the list prices on close.com/pricing, November 4, 2026. Last column: annual cost for 12 months divided by the monthly-billing rate.
The last column is the useful one. On Scale, a year paid annually costs the same as 11.2 months on monthly billing, so the commitment only pays off if you are close to certain you will keep every seat for the full year. Close's FAQ is clear that the commitment is real: annual plans can be upgraded during the term, and "downgrades or cancellations take effect at the end of the term." Monthly plans, by contrast, "can be upgraded, downgraded, or canceled anytime." On Solo, the calculation flips: you break even before month six, so annual billing is the obvious call for a one-person setup that will last.
Close also runs promotions on top of the toggle. As shown on our Close deals page on November 4, 2026: "New Close customers: pick annual billing and enter STACK20 at checkout for an extra 20% off your first year, on top of the annual discount (up to 60% off the monthly rate, depending on plan). Annual plans only, one code per customer, not combinable with other promotions. Ends December 31, 2026." Check the Close savings page for the current terms before you pay, since the code applies only to the annual commitment discussed above.
How calling works in Close, and how the meter runs
Close gives a sales team three ways to dial, and each sits on a different plan:
- Click-to-call, every plan; voicemail drop from Growth. Reps on any plan call from the lead record. The one-click voicemail drop ("Leave a prerecorded voicemail in one click") is marked included only on Growth and Scale in Close's plan comparison.
- Power Dialer, Growth and up. Close's help center says it "will call the following contact on the list as soon as the caller finishes the previous call", working down a saved list one lead at a time.
- Predictive Dialer, Scale only. It "dials multiple numbers at once on a rep's behalf" and connects a rep only when it "detects when an actual human answers the phone." Close's own blog states it is "only available on the Close Scale Plan."
Then there is the usage bill, which no plan includes. Close passes telephony through at cost: "Most outbound calls cost around $0.02/minute, and phone numbers start at about $1/month." Its usage help article adds the rules behind those round numbers: "Calls are charged per minute and phone numbers are charged monthly according to Twilio's "Pay-as-you-go" Voice pricing", "Call rates vary by country and phone number type", and "all phone calls are rounded up to the nearest minute and cent". Money comes out of a prepaid usage balance: "Whenever you make use of these features, a small amount of money is deducted from your usage credit balance."
The rounding rule matters for how you estimate. A 15-second no-answer or a voicemail drop bills as a full minute, so base your minutes on dial attempts, not on talk time. At about two cents a minute, 100 short attempts add roughly $2. Small money per rep, but it is the reason a team that measures only conversation minutes will undercount.
Two calling add-ons are worth knowing. Call Assistant, which transcribes and summarizes calls, "costs $0.02 per minute of transcribed call, rounded up to the nearest full minute" and "carries a $50/month fee, charged once per billing account". Inbound calls are cheaper than outbound on Close's premium-numbers page: "Inbound local calls start at just $0.0085 per minute."
What a three-rep calling team pays in a typical month
Close cannot quote your usage bill in advance, so here is one worked example. Assume three reps, each making about 1,200 billed outbound minutes a month (one hour a day over 20 working days, counting short attempts as full minutes), one local US number per rep, and Close's "around $0.02/minute" average. These are Saazora's assumptions; your country mix and call length will change the usage lines.
| Line item | Essentials | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 seats, monthly billing | $147 | $327 | $447 |
| 3 seats, annual billing (per month) | $105 | $297 | $417 |
| Outbound calling, 3,600 minutes at about $0.02 | about $72 | about $72 | about $72 |
| 3 phone numbers, from about $1 each | about $3 | about $3 | about $3 |
| Monthly total, monthly billing | about $222 | about $402 | about $522 |
| Optional Call Assistant: $50 + 3,600 transcribed minutes at $0.02 | +$122 | +$122 | +$122 |
| Monthly total with Call Assistant, monthly billing | about $344 | about $524 | about $644 |
Saazora estimate from Close's published rates on close.com/pricing and help.close.com, November 4, 2026. Excludes SMS, enrichment, tax and international calls.
The takeaway: for a US team calling domestic numbers, the usage line is a modest share of the bill, and seats dominate. The step that moves the total most is the plan choice. Going from Essentials to Growth adds $180 a month for three reps on monthly billing, and that is the price of the power dialer and workflows. Going from Growth to Scale adds $40 a seat on either billing cycle, $1,440 a year for three reps, which is the price of predictive dialing and live coaching.
If those numbers fit, the cleanest way to see your own usage line is the trial, which needs no card ("No credit card needed", in Close's words) and comes with a small usage balance. You can start a 14-day Close trial (affiliate link) and read the minutes your reps actually bill.
Team cost at 1, 3, 5 and 10 reps over a year
| Plan | 1 rep | 3 reps | 5 reps | 10 reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $228 / $108 | not allowed | not allowed | not allowed |
| Essentials | $588 / $420 | $1,764 / $1,260 | $2,940 / $2,100 | $5,880 / $4,200 |
| Growth | $1,308 / $1,188 | $3,924 / $3,564 | $6,540 / $5,940 | $13,080 / $11,880 |
| Scale | $1,788 / $1,668 | $5,364 / $5,004 | $8,940 / $8,340 | $17,880 / $16,680 |
Subscription only, 12 months, monthly billing / annual billing. Saazora arithmetic from close.com/pricing list prices, November 4, 2026. Add calling, numbers and any add-ons on top. For bigger or complex teams Close offers "Custom pricing".
Per-user pricing means a 10-rep Growth team spends nearly $12,000 a year on seats before a single minute is dialed. That is normal for a calling CRM, but it is the reason to price a full team, not one seat, when you compare Close with tools billed per account. Our monday CRM pricing breakdown shows how a CRM with seat minimums adds up for the same team sizes.
AI credits and Chloe: the rules that are easy to miss
Every Close plan comes with AI credits, and the pricing page marks them "Refreshes monthly (no rollover)". The help center fills in three details the plan cards leave out.
The pool stops growing at 10 users. "Credits are pooled at the account level and shared across all users", and the included amount scales per user only up to a cap: 10 users on Essentials, Growth and Scale, which puts the ceiling at 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 credits a month. An 11th or 20th rep adds no included credits, so the allowance per person falls as the team grows past 10.
Not every AI feature uses credits. Close lists AI email drafting, Notetaker and lead summaries as free; Enrichment and Chloe's voice calls use credits; Call Assistant is billed as telephony instead. When the pool runs dry, credit-based features pause and "Credit-based features resume as soon as more credits are added." Extra credits come as monthly AI credit plans, from $20 for 1,200 credits up to tiers where a credit costs $0.0100. The help article notes that upgrades between those plans are charged the full new price with no proration.
Close does not publish what a Chloe call costs in credits, at least on the pages we read. The Chloe FAQ only says "Chloe voice calls use AI credits included with your plan", and the Chloe overview adds that voice agents use "AI credits (for AI processing) and telephony charges." So an AI call draws on two meters: credits and the same per-minute calling rate as a human rep. The only way to size it before you buy is to run Chloe during the trial and read the credit balance; trial accounts get a fixed 1,000 credits, and the help center says trial credits do not carry over when you upgrade.
Chloe's limits are stated plainly: "English only at this time", calls only to US and Canadian numbers, and "Chloe places outbound calls only at this time." Close's compliance page for Chloe is just as direct about who carries the legal risk. It says US marketing calls require "prior express written consent", that "every AI-generated call must identify the business on whose behalf the call is being made", that Chloe does not check the US or Canadian national Do Not Call registries for you, and that the customer is "solely responsible for ensuring your use of Chloe complies with all applicable laws and regulations." Chloe's AI-and-recording disclosure at the start of each call is built in and cannot be switched off. Batch calling sessions are held to 8 AM to 6 PM automatically, but calls triggered by workflows or placed one-off are not, so you schedule those yourself. This is a summary of Close's own guidance, not legal advice; check consent rules with counsel before you point an AI caller at a purchased list.
Close CRM review verdict: who it fits, and who should look elsewhere
Close fits well if:
- You are a founder or a single closer who calls and emails leads every day. Solo at $9 a month billed yearly is a low entry price for a CRM with built-in calling and SMS, as long as you stay under 10,000 leads and one user.
- You run an inside sales team of roughly 2 to 10 reps working phone lists in the US or Canada. Growth gives you the power dialer and follow-up workflows, and the usage bill stays a minority of the total in our example.
- You want calling, SMS and email activity on the same lead record without wiring a separate dialer into your CRM. Zapier and API access on every plan cover the tools Close does not include.
Look elsewhere if:
- Your team rarely picks up the phone. Then you are paying for telephony features you will not use, and a general CRM, including the free plans in our free CRM comparison, may cover you.
- You need predictive dialing on a small budget. It is Scale only, at $149 a seat on monthly billing.
- You plan to lean on AI calling outside North America or in another language. Chloe does not cover that today.
- Your team is well past 10 users and AI features are central. Included credits stop scaling at 10, so budget for an AI credit plan.
- Seat count may shrink mid-year. Annual billing locks the term, and on Growth and Scale it saves under 10%.
If you sit in the first group, the 14-day trial is the right next step: you can try Close free with no card (affiliate link) and decide on a plan once you have seen your own dial volume.
A short checklist for the 14-day trial
Close says "The trial includes calling and AI credits": the AI part is the fixed 1,000 credits mentioned above, and Close's markdown copy of the pricing page puts the calling part at $5 ("Your free trial includes $5 of calling and enrichment credits"). Fourteen days and a few dollars of calling is enough to measure the numbers this review could only estimate:
- Count billed minutes per rep per day. At about $0.02 a minute, $5 of credit would cover roughly 250 outbound minutes, so watch the usage balance after two or three calling sessions and multiply out to a month.
- Check the rate for your destinations. Close says call rates vary by country and number type; if you call outside the US, look at the per-minute charge on those calls specifically.
- Run Chloe on a handful of consented leads and note how many AI credits each call used, since Close does not publish a per-call figure.
- Decide whether you need the power dialer. If reps work lists in order every day, the Growth step is likely worth it; if they mostly make scheduled calls, Essentials may be enough.
- Pick billing last. Use the break-even column above: annual is an easy yes on Solo and Essentials, and a near-full-year bet on Growth and Scale.
Questions people ask about Close
How much does Close CRM cost per month?
On November 4, 2026, Close listed Solo at $19 per user a month ($9 on annual billing), Essentials at $49 ($35), Growth at $109 ($99) and Scale at $149 ($139). Calling, phone numbers and SMS are billed separately on usage; Close says most outbound calls cost around $0.02 a minute and numbers start at about $1 a month.
Is there a free plan or free trial?
There is no free-forever plan on the pricing page. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card, which includes calling and AI credits, and paid plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee after purchase.
Which Close plan has the power dialer and the predictive dialer?
The power dialer starts on Growth. The predictive dialer is only on Scale, which Close confirms in its own blog post on its calling options.
Are calls included in the Close subscription?
No. Close passes calling and SMS through at cost, based on Twilio's pay-as-you-go pricing, and rounds each call up to the nearest minute and cent. The money is drawn from a usage credit balance on your account.
Can Chloe, Close's AI agent, call leads for me?
Yes, within limits. Chloe is available on all plans, places outbound calls only, speaks English only, and can reach US and Canadian numbers. Her calls use AI credits plus normal per-minute telephony, and Close leaves consent and Do Not Call compliance to the customer.
Can I cancel an annual Close plan early?
Close's FAQ says downgrades or cancellations take effect at the end of the billing term, so an annual plan runs to the end of its year. Monthly plans can be changed or canceled anytime. Within the first 30 days, the money-back guarantee applies.
Ready to measure your own dial volume? Start your free Close trial (affiliate link), then check our Close deals page before you choose a billing cycle.
How we researched this review
This is a research-based review. Saazora did not buy Close, place calls through it or use Chloe for this article, and no vendor reviewed it before publication. On November 4, 2026 we read Close's pricing page (through its published markdown version at close.com/pricing.md, then rechecked on November 5, 2026 in a browser with the monthly and annual toggle), the help center articles on usage costs, AI credits, power and predictive dialing, Chloe and Chloe compliance, Close's calling and premium phone number pages, and Close's May 2026 blog post on its calling options. Every price and limit above comes from those pages. The yearly totals, break-even months, three-rep monthly example and per-rep credit figures are Saazora's own arithmetic from those published numbers, and the calling minutes in the example are an assumption, labeled as such. Close does not publish per-call AI credit costs or exact per-country call rates on these pages, so we did not estimate them. For how Saazora picks and checks tools in general, see our about page.
Sources (checked November 4, 2026):
- Close, Pricing (close.com/pricing, read via close.com/pricing.md; live page rechecked November 5, 2026)
- Close Help Center, Variable Usage Costs (Calling, SMS, Phone Numbers, AI Tools): help.close.com/docs/calling-and-sms-usage
- Close Help Center, AI Credits: help.close.com/docs/ai-credits
- Close Help Center, Chloe and Chloe FAQ: help.close.com/docs/chloe, help.close.com/docs/chloe-faq
- Close Help Center, Chloe compliance: help.close.com/feature-guide/chloe/voice-agent-setup/chloe-compliance
- Close Help Center, Power & Predictive Dialing: help.close.com/docs/power-predictive-dialing
- Close, Calling (close.com/calling) and Premium phone numbers (close.com/premium-phone-numbers)
- Close Blog, "3 Ways to Call in Close: Power Dialer, Predictive Dialer, and Chloe" (May 21, 2026, updated June 23, 2026)
