The Lean B2B Tech Stack
The five tools a small B2B team actually needs to find, capture, track and close business — what each one costs, which to buy first, and what you can safely skip.
The short version
A functioning B2B stack costs less than most people assume — roughly $50 to $120 per user per month. The expensive mistake is not buying the wrong tool; it is buying five tools before you have a working process for any of them.
Buy in this order: CRM first (you cannot fix what you cannot see), then lead capture, then prospecting, then automation last. Automation applied to a broken process just breaks things faster.
The five layers of a B2B stack
Each layer does one job. If a tool you are paying for does not clearly own one of these, question why you have it.
Layer 1 · Buy this first
CRM — Pipedrive
From ~$14/user/mo
Where your pipeline lives. Every deal, every follow-up, every reason you won or lost. Pipedrive wins on the thing that decides success: your team will actually keep it updated.
Layer 2
Lead capture — Jotform
Free tier, paid from ~$34/mo
Forms that feed the CRM directly. Quote requests, enquiry forms and qualification questions that route to the right person instead of an inbox nobody owns.
Layer 3
Prospecting — Apollo.io
Free tier, paid from ~$39/user/mo
Contact data and outbound sequences. Only worth adding once you have a CRM to put the replies into — otherwise you are generating leads with nowhere to land.
Layer 4 · Buy this last
Automation — Make.com
Free tier, paid from ~$9/mo
The glue between everything else: form to CRM, deal won to invoice, job complete to review request. Powerful, and genuinely the last thing you should add.
Foundation
Website — Hostinger
From a few dollars a month
Where enquiries actually come from. A fast, credible site with a working enquiry form does more for pipeline than most sales tools.
Optional
AI assist
Varies
Useful for proposals, research and drafting — genuinely time-saving. Not a replacement for a pipeline, and worth adding only once the basics run themselves.
What the whole stack actually costs
Approximate figures for a 3-person B2B team in 2026. Always confirm current pricing with each vendor — these move.
| Layer | Tool | Starting free? | Approx. paid cost | When to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM | Pipedrive | Trial | ~$14–49/user/mo | Day one |
| Lead capture | Jotform | ✅ Yes | ~$34+/mo | As soon as you have a website |
| Prospecting | Apollo.io | ✅ Yes | ~$39+/user/mo | Once outbound is a real motion |
| Automation | Make.com | ✅ Yes | ~$9+/mo | Last — after the process works |
| Website | Hostinger | No | A few dollars a month | Before anything else |
Realistic total: a 3-person team running Pipedrive plus free tiers elsewhere lands around $50–60 per month. Add paid Apollo and Jotform and you are closer to $200–250 per month for the full stack. That is the entire cost of making a small B2B operation visible and followed-up. Compare it to the value of one recovered job.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we would use ourselves, and the buying order above reflects what we think is right, not what pays most.
Choosing your CRM: the head-to-heads
Most of the decision is CRM choice. These compare the realistic options directly.
All 5 CRMs scored →
Our full comparison with weighted scores across pipeline, adoption, automation, reporting and value.
HubSpot vs Pipedrive →
The most common small-team decision, settled.
Salesforce vs HubSpot →
When enterprise depth is worth the admin overhead.
Pipedrive vs Zoho →
Two budget-friendly options with different trade-offs.
HubSpot vs Zoho →
All-in-one platform versus best value.
HubSpot alternatives →
If the Professional price cliff has put you off.
Salesforce alternatives →
Lighter options that small teams actually adopt.
HubSpot for B2B →
The CRM side reviewed, plus Marketing Hub costs.
Zoho for B2B →
Best value in the market, and what it costs you back.
Start with layer one
Get the pipeline visible first
Everything else on this page is easier once you can see every live deal and its next action. That is one afternoon of setup.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Setting it up properly
CRM setup checklist →
The exact steps to configure a CRM your team will use.
Why your CRM isn’t used →
Adoption is a management problem, not a software one.
HubSpot CRM setup →
Step-by-step configuration for B2B sales teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools does a small B2B team actually need?
Five layers cover it: a website to generate enquiries, a form tool to capture them, a CRM to track them, a prospecting tool if you do outbound, and an automation tool to connect the rest. For most small B2B teams that means Pipedrive, Jotform, Apollo.io, Make.com and a decent host. You do not need all five on day one, and buying them in the wrong order is the most common and expensive mistake.
How much does a B2B sales tech stack cost?
Roughly $50 to $120 per user per month depending on how much you run on free tiers. A three-person team on Pipedrive with free tiers elsewhere sits around $50 to $60 per month in total. Adding paid Apollo.io and Jotform brings the full stack to roughly $200 to $250 per month. Confirm current pricing with each vendor, as these figures change.
Which tool should I buy first?
The CRM, without exception. Until every enquiry, quote and follow-up is in one place, you cannot see what is being lost or where. Prospecting tools generate leads with nowhere to land, and automation applied to an undefined process simply breaks things faster. Get the pipeline visible first, then add layers as the volume justifies them.
Can I run a B2B business on free tiers alone?
For a while, yes. HubSpot’s free CRM, Jotform’s free forms, Apollo.io’s free credits and Make.com’s free tier will genuinely run a small operation. The limits you hit first are usually automation steps and email sending volume. Free tiers are the right way to prove a tool earns its place before you pay for it.