Django-CRM vs SuiteCRM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted crm & business apps options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Django-CRM | SuiteCRM |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | CRM & Business Apps | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,426 | ★ 5,764 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Salesforce, Zoho CRM | Salesforce, HubSpot |
What are Django-CRM and SuiteCRM?
Django-CRM
Django-CRM is a free, open-source customer relationship management application built with Django. It manages leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities with a straightforward web interface for small teams.
- Lead and contact management
- Opportunity pipeline
- Account tracking
- Django-based
SuiteCRM
SuiteCRM is a fully featured, open-source CRM with sales, marketing, and service modules, forked from SugarCRM. It targets businesses wanting a mature, free CRM. It is deployed via Docker or a LAMP stack.
- Sales, marketing and service modules
- Workflow automation
- Customizable modules
- Reporting engine
Django-CRM vs SuiteCRM: key differences
Django-CRM is written in Python, while SuiteCRM is built with PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Django-CRM versus AGPL-3.0 for SuiteCRM. Django-CRM is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for SuiteCRM. SuiteCRM is the more established project (first released 2013), while Django-CRM arrived in 2016. SuiteCRM has the considerably larger community, at 5,764 GitHub stars versus 2,426.
Why pick each one
Choose Django-CRM if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Watch out for
- Basic reporting
- Manual data entry
Choose SuiteCRM if…
- Feature-complete CRM
- Free and open source
- Mature
Watch out for
- Interface feels dated
- Setup can be heavy
Frequently asked questions
Is Django-CRM or SuiteCRM better?
Neither is universally better. SuiteCRM has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Django-CRM and SuiteCRM free and open-source?
Yes. Django-CRM is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SuiteCRM under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Django-CRM and SuiteCRM with Docker?
Django-CRM: yes. SuiteCRM: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Django-CRM or SuiteCRM?
Django-CRM has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for SuiteCRM. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.