Salesforce vs Django-CRM
Django-CRM (branded BottleCRM) is a focused, self-hostable alternative for teams that primarily need customer records, pipelines, tasks, support tickets, invoicing, mobile access, and an API—and can operate the required infrastructure. Salesforce remains the stronger fit for organizations needing broad sales automation, marketing, commerce, unified-data, low-code, or advanced analytics coverage. The central tradeoff}
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Django-CRM if
- Small teams with straightforward lead-to-contact-to-deal workflows
- Organizations requiring self-hosting and direct control of the CRM database
- Python/Django teams that want to modify an MIT-licensed CRM stack“,”Teams combining sales pipelines, support tickets, tasks, and invoicing in one customer record“,”Multi-tenant operators that require PostgreSQL row-level
Stay with Salesforce if
- Lead scoring, nurturing, or workflow automation is required
- Marketing automation, personalization, or campaign operations are required
- Commerce, payment processing, or a customer-facing “Pay now” flow is required“,”A configurable permissions matrix is required beyond BottleCRM’s Admin and User roles“,”Dashboard building or broader enterprise analytics ”
Deployment and operations
BottleCRM is MIT licensed and can be self-hosted or purchased with managed hosting. Docker Compose starts PostgreSQL, Redis, the API, a Celery worker, and the web app. Self-hosters must maintain backups, upgrades, TLS, and a mail provider; scheduled functions also depend on the Celery worker and beat process. No Kubernetes deployment is documented in the supplied material.
Migration considerations
Migration is a material risk: the backend CSV importer is described as built and tested, but it is not accessible from the web or mobile applications. The vendor lists data migration from an existing CRM as a paid service, but the supplied excerpts do not document Salesforce field mapping, metadata compatibility, automation conversion, or a complete self-service import path.
Feature fit
What Django-CRM covers
- Lead, contact, and account records
- Deal pipeline management
- Task management
- Customer support tickets
- CRM analytics and forecasts
- Custom fields
- Mobile CRM access
- API-based record access
What’s different or missing
- Lead scoring and nurturing
- Workflow automation
- Outbound webhooks
- Calendar feeds
- Payment processing
- Dashboard builder
- Granular role matrix
- Usable CSV import interface
- Documented marketing automation
- Documented commerce operations
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 2,384
- Contributors
- 48
- Language
- Python
- Last commit
- Aug 17, 2026
- Latest release
- Aug 17, 2026
Categories: Customer Data Platforms, Marketing Automation, Customer Support, Workflow Automation, Customer Relationship Management, Business Intelligence, Data Integration
Sources and editorial review15 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Open Source CRM for Startups and enterprises. Django + SvelteKit · Self-hosted · Multi-tenant · Free forever
repository description · github.comA free, self-hosted, multi-tenant CRM built with Django REST Framework, SvelteKit and Flutter.
readme · github.comIt covers the full customer lifecycle: leads, accounts, contacts, opportunities, support tickets, tasks and invoices.
readme · github.comthrough a SvelteKit web app, a native Flutter mobile app, and a documented REST API sharing one Django backend.
readme · github.comPostgreSQL Row-Level Security isolates each organization's data at the database layer, so a single deployment serves one startup or hundreds of tenants.
readme · github.comA full helpdesk with SLA timers, approvals, escalations, macros and a knowledge base
readme · github.comgit clone https://github.com/django-crm/Django-CRM.git ... docker compose up --build
readme · github.comNo lead scoring, nurturing, or workflow automation
verdict · bottlecrm.ioIt covers the full customer lifecycle: leads, accounts, contacts, opportunities, support tickets, tasks and invoices
shared feature · github.comAdmin and User. That is the whole list
missing feature · bottlecrm.ioTicket analytics by agent and by queue, a weighted pipeline forecast, and a real accounts-receivable aging report with buckets rather than a single overdue flag. Not a dashboard builder.
missing feature · bottlecrm.ioBackups, upgrades, TLS and the mail provider are yours.
deployment · bottlecrm.ioThe Docker Compose stack brings up Postgres, Redis, the API, a Celery worker and the web app.
deployment · bottlecrm.ioThis project is licensed under the MIT License
deployment · github.comThe importer is built and tested on the backend, with per-row error reporting, and neither the web app nor the phone can reach it. Moving an existing CRM in is one of the things the paid migration covers.
migration · bottlecrm.io
