Pipedrive
Manage contacts and deals through a visual pipeline with activities and reminders
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Pipedrive, manage contacts and deals through a visual pipeline with activities and reminders. The hard boundary is email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish, plus integrations, data quality, and workflow lock-in.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish
- automatic email and calendar capture
- data enrichment
- large integration ecosystem
- enterprise reporting
Why people still pay
People still pay for Pipedrive because CRM value compounds as the system becomes the shared memory of every customer interaction and embeds itself in the rest of the stack. The recurring cost buys deduplication, permissions, imports, sync, enrichment, email capture, automations, backups, and audit history, not just the visible interface.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
- Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
- Scope boundary: email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Optional external skill: vercel-react-best-practices — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: supabase-postgres-best-practices — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: web-design-guidelines — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: contacts, organizations, deals, stages, activities, expected close dates and outcome history
Project rule — preserve this invariant: A won/lost transition is auditable; changing forecast assumptions cannot rewrite historical closed revenue.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: Move a deal to won, reopen it and retain both transitions; merging contacts preserves linked deals and activity ownership.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Track a small sales pipeline with required next activities, stage movement and contact notes. Import CSV through a mapping preview and show weighted forecasts only with explicit owner-configured probabilities. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture
Phase 2
Durable model. Model contacts, organizations, deals, stages, activities, expected close dates and outcome history Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: A won/lost transition is auditable; changing forecast assumptions cannot rewrite historical closed revenue.
Phase 3
Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.
Phase 4
Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
Phase 5
Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
Phase 6
Acceptance scenarios. Move a deal to won, reopen it and retain both transitions; merging contacts preserves linked deals and activity ownership. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.
WORKING SLICE Track a small sales pipeline with required next activities, stage movement and contact notes. Import CSV through a mapping preview and show weighted forecasts only with explicit owner-configured probabilities. Build this scoped Pipedrive-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states. Architecture - Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. - PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace. Prerequisites and limits A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions. Outside this release: email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture Data model and correctness contacts, organizations, deals, stages, activities, expected close dates and outcome history Invariant: A won/lost transition is auditable; changing forecast assumptions cannot rewrite historical closed revenue. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. Security and privacy Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Recovery and export Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Implementation order 1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Track a small sales pipeline with required next activities, stage movement and contact notes. Import CSV through a mapping preview and show weighted forecasts only with explicit owner-configured probabilities. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture 2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model contacts, organizations, deals, stages, activities, expected close dates and outcome history Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: A won/lost transition is auditable; changing forecast assumptions cannot rewrite historical closed revenue. 3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. 4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results. 5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README. 6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. Move a deal to won, reopen it and retain both transitions; merging contacts preserves linked deals and activity ownership. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder. Acceptance Move a deal to won, reopen it and retain both transitions; merging contacts preserves linked deals and activity ownership. Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees. Optional agent guidance Optional external skill: [vercel-react-best-practices](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Project rule — data model: contacts, organizations, deals, stages, activities, expected close dates and outcome history Project rule — preserve this invariant: A won/lost transition is auditable; changing forecast assumptions cannot rewrite historical closed revenue. Project rule — acceptance evidence: Move a deal to won, reopen it and retain both transitions; merging contacts preserves linked deals and activity ownership.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan
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Alternatives to building your own
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Pipedrive pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| lite | — | $14/user | 2,500 leads+deals per paid seat (company cap 300,000), 30 custom fields, 15 reports/user, 0 automations; contacts unlimitedAnnual charge is $168/seat/year; current month-to-month USD amount was not exposed in the official page text checked. |
| growth | — | $39/user | 5,000 leads+deals/seat (company cap 300,000), 100 custom fields, 50 reports/user, 50 automations/company, 5 sequencesAnnual charge is $468/seat/year; current month-to-month USD amount was not exposed in the official page text checked. |
| premium | — | $59/user | 15,000 leads+deals/seat (company cap 300,000), 300 custom fields, 250 reports/user, 150 automations/company, 100 enrichment creditsAnnual charge is $708/seat/year; current month-to-month USD amount was not exposed in the official page text checked. |
| ultimate | — | $79/user | 20,000 leads+deals/seat (company cap 300,000), 500 custom fields, 500 reports/user, 250 automations/company, 500 enrichment creditsAnnual charge is $948/seat/year; current month-to-month USD amount was not exposed in the official page text checked. |
free tierno free tier (14-day free trial; no credit card required)
billingmonthly + annual (annual page says save up to 42%); verified annual USD rates above, monthly USD rates not exposed in retrievable official text
hidden costsCompany-level add-ons are extra: LeadBooster from $32.50/month, Projects $6.67, Campaigns $13.33, Web Visitors $41 and Smart Docs $32.50 on annual billing; some are included only on higher plans. Lead/deal limits scale per seat but stop at a 300,000-company cap.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-12 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Pipedrive
Can you build your own Pipedrive with AI?
Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Pipedrive, manage contacts and deals through a visual pipeline with activities and reminders. The hard boundary is email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish, plus integrations, data quality, and workflow lock-in.
What does the Pipedrive build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Track a small sales pipeline with required next activities, stage movement and contact notes. Import CSV through a mapping preview and show weighted forecasts only with explicit owner-configured probabilities. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture; data enrichment. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Pipedrive prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Pipedrive project take?
The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Pipedrive?
email sync, automations, marketplace, reporting, mobile apps, and sales workflow polish; automatic email and calendar capture; data enrichment; large integration ecosystem; enterprise reporting. People still pay for Pipedrive because CRM value compounds as the system becomes the shared memory of every customer interaction and embeds itself in the rest of the stack. The recurring cost buys deduplication, permissions, imports, sync, enrichment, email capture, automations, backups, and audit history, not just the visible interface.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Lite plan is $14/mo per seat (annual billing, per user per month), checked 2026-08-12. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Pipedrive?
Twenty: A modern pipeline CRM with custom objects, views and mailbox sync; the subscription becomes a Compose file. Odoo Community: A free CRM buried inside an ERP the size of a small country; excellent if you can ignore the rest. Krayin CRM: A Laravel sales pipeline with leads, contacts and email; glossy enough, but it still wants a PHP stack. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/pipedrive/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.