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Zero Cost CRM

CI License: MIT Good first issues GitHub stars first-timers-only Open Source Helpers

Salesforce for teams that still live in Sheets — self-hosted pipeline, contacts, follow-ups, SDR activity, and optional call recordings. MIT. One command to run.

We don't need Salesforce. We need to know which SDR is converting and why.

Most early-stage B2B teams hire their first SDR and manage them on Google Sheets, scattered call recordings, and founder intuition. We built the system we wished existed.

Run locally · Good first issues · Fun issues · Architecture · API · Contributing · Discussions · Security · Book a demo

New here? make setup && make dev → open localhost:5173 → pick an unassigned good first issue → comment I'd like to take this. We review fast and mentor first-timers. Rewards: see #23.

Zero Cost CRM login

Why this exists

We're a small team. Paying enterprise CRM prices for three reps is absurd.

We needed:

  1. A 13-stage pipeline we actually use
  2. Visibility into who is working (logins, active time, outcomes)
  3. Follow-up discipline — connected calls without a next step light up as alerts
  4. Call recordings attached to contacts, not buried in Drive folders
  5. Something a founder can stand up in one command

This repo is Zero Cost CRM: pipeline operations for founder-led sales teams.

ConvoBrains is the intelligence layer: conversation analysis for call quality, pitch effectiveness, and objection handling.

Zero Cost CRM tells you what happened.

ConvoBrains tells you why it happened.

Run it in 3 steps

Requires Docker and Node.js 22+.

git clone https://github.com/ConvoBrains/zero-cost-crm.git
cd zero-cost-crm
make setup && make dev

Open localhost:5173 and sign in:

Email:    founder.seed@convobrains.com
Password: TestSeed123!

This is a demo seed account with 3 days of sample SDR activity. It never touches production.

Want conversation intelligence on your own calls? Book 15 min with us.

make setup installs dependencies, starts an isolated Postgres container, applies the schema, and loads companies, contacts, and three days of SDR activity.

make reset-demo   # wipe & reseed local demo data

Environment

cp .env.example .env.local          # production-style local API
cp testing/functional/.env.testing.example testing/functional/.env.testing  # demo path (make setup does this)

Important variables (see .env.example):

Variable Purpose
DATABASE_URL Postgres connection string
JWT_SECRET Required — long random secret
ALLOWED_EMAIL_DOMAIN Login allow-list (convobrains.com, comma list, or * for any)
CORS_ORIGINS Allowed browser origins (comma-separated)
AWS_* Optional — required only for call-recording uploads

Is this for you?

Use this if you:

  • Have 1–10 SDRs and no Salesforce admin
  • Still live in Sheets / Notion / WhatsApp for deal tracking
  • Care more about daily activity + call discipline than forecasting modules
  • Want self-hosted data and an open codebase

Skip it if you need enterprise CPQ, multi-currency ERP integrations, or a full marketing automation suite.

What's in Zero Cost CRM

Capability What you get
Live dashboard Follow-ups due, demos, active opps, won/lost
13-stage pipeline Drag deals from lead → closed
Contacts Champions, statuses, notes, LinkedIn
Paste import Excel / Sheets / CSV → deduped companies + contacts
Call recordings Upload & play audio per contact (S3 optional)
SDR activity Logins, active/idle time, outcomes, targets
Manager alerts No login by 10:30, zero connects, missing follow-ups
Roles Founder / admin / SDR
Self-hosted Your Postgres, your rules
Instance settings Brand name, stages, statuses in DB (Settings UI)

Configuring your instance

Keep the code generic. Put company-specific values in env or the database:

What Where
Postgres / JWT / email domain / S3 / CORS Server .env (DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, ALLOWED_EMAIL_DOMAIN, …)
Brand name, logo, pipeline stages, contact statuses DB app_settings — edit in Settings (founder/admin) or PATCH /api/settings
Champion status → pipeline stage map (championStatusToStage) API / SQL only today — PATCH /api/settings or sql/examples/convobrains-settings.sql
Discovery questions on the company form (discoveryQuestions) API / SQL only today — same as above (not editable in the Settings UI yet)
Optional first-boot brand BRAND_NAME, BRAND_TAGLINE, BRAND_LOGO_URL in env (seeded once)

Settings UI covers branding + stages + contact statuses. The champion sync map and discovery questions still go through the API (or the SQL example). See docs/API.md for a PATCH example.

The SDR operating model

Daily rhythm

  1. Morning brief — open the dashboard; clear follow-ups due today
  2. Pipeline — move cards only when the stage actually changed
  3. Contacts — update status after every dial
  4. Record — attach the call when it mattered
  5. Activity (managers) — check who worked, who coasted, who needs coaching

The 13-stage pipeline

Lead Added
  → Discovery Call Done
  → Follow-up
  → Demo Scheduled
  → Demo Delivered
  → Commercial Proposal Shared
  → POC Kickoff
  → Client Data Received
  → POC Delivered
  → Final Negotiation
  → Closed Won | Closed Lost | Not Interested

Targets (editable in Activity)

Metric Default
Calls made 80
Follow-ups set 25
Demos scheduled 4

Stack

React 19 + TypeScript + Tailwind
              ↓
        Express 5 API
              ↓
          PostgreSQL 16
              ↓
     S3 (optional call recordings)

AWS is only required when testing uploads. Activity, pipeline, and import work without it.

Schema is applied from sql/schema.sql (idempotent). See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Commands

Command What it does
make setup Install, provision, migrate, seed
make dev Web + API against the local demo DB
make reset-demo Rebuild demo fixtures
make lint Static checks
make build Production build
make test Unit tests
make test-api API functional tests (DB prepared)
make help All targets

Import leads

  1. Open Import Leads
  2. Paste from Excel, Sheets, or CSV — or upload .csv / .xlsx
  3. Columns: Company · Prospect Name · Job Title · Email · Phone · Location · Employees · Industry
  4. Import — companies create/update; duplicate emails skip

Samples in the UI use synthetic @*.example data only.

Deploy

Vercel + PostgreSQL

  1. Import the repo in Vercel.
  2. Set DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, ALLOWED_EMAIL_DOMAIN, and optional AWS / CORS_ORIGINS.
  3. DATABASE_URL='postgresql://…' npm run db:migrate
  4. Deploy and hit /api/health.

Docker / VPS

# create .env with production secrets (never commit it)
make docker-build
make docker-up
make health

Root docker-compose.yml runs the app container; Postgres is external (managed DB or your own). Local demo Postgres is provided by testing/functional/docker-compose.yml via make setup.

Security

  • Do not ship demo credentials or testing/functional/.env.testing to production.
  • Use a strong unique JWT_SECRET, verified TLS for Postgres, configured CORS_ORIGINS, and private object storage.
  • Report vulnerabilities privately — see SECURITY.md.

If you ever committed real secrets to git: rotate them immediately. History rewrite does not protect prior clones or forks.

Branding & trademarks

MIT covers the code. The ConvoBrains name, logo, and marketing assets in public/ remain ConvoBrains trademarks. Forks may keep attribution or replace branding; do not imply official endorsement.

Google Fonts (DM Sans, Instrument Serif) are loaded from Google’s CDN under their respective OFL licenses. See NOTICE.

Contributing

We welcome first-time PRs. Maintainers aim to reply within a day on claimed issues.

Start here Link
Beginner tickets good first issue (unassigned)
Showcase / delightful work fun label
How to claim + ship CONTRIBUTING.md
Rewards + onboarding #23 Start here
Ideas & questions Discussions
Hall of fame CONTRIBUTORS.md 
make setup && make dev
npm test
Contributors to Zero Cost CRM

License

MIT © 2026 ConvoBrains

Built by ConvoBrains
Turn conversations into intelligence.

Book a demo · support@convobrains.com · LinkedIn