Insightly
Plane
| Feature | Insightly | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $29/mo | Free / from $7/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | growing-businesses, project-based-companies, professional-services, mid-market | developers, open-source-advocates, startups, engineering-teams |
| Founded | 2009 | 2022 |
| Contact Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pipeline Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Automation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reporting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cycles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Modules | ✗ | ✓ |
| Views | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Insightly Pros
- CRM plus project management
- Good workflow automation
- AppConnect integration platform
- Affordable pricing
✗ Insightly Cons
- Interface feels dated
- Limited marketing features
- Reporting could be stronger
✓ Plane Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Modern clean interface
- Jira-like power without complexity
- Active community
✗ Plane Cons
- Relatively new
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- Documentation still maturing
The Verdict
Insightly is built for growing businesses and project based companies, with a focus on contact-management and pipeline-management. Plane targets developers and open source advocates and leads with cycles and modules.
On pricing, Plane is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $7/mo compared to $29/mo for Insightly. That $22/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.