Copper vs Proton.ai: which CRM should you choose in 2026?

Copper is a Gmail-based CRM with published prices; Proton.ai is an ERP-driven platform for distributors, priced by quote. Features and costs compared.

Published 6 October 2026. Prices and features from each vendor's own pages.

The short answer

CopperPaid from $23/seat

Choose it if your team lives in Gmail and Calendar.

Proton.aiPaid from By quote

Choose it if you're a distributor and want the ERP to drive who reps call and what they sell.

PromptLabPaid from $11.99/seat

Choose it if you sell products, and deals run on quotes, price lists, samples and orders.

Our pick for product teams

Copper and Proton.ai are built for different buyers. Copper is the CRM for Google Workspace teams, running inside Gmail and Calendar. Proton.ai is built for distributors, plugging into the ERP to tell reps who to call and what to sell.

Below, the two are compared on price, setup, quotes and orders, AI, and messaging. Every figure comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages; prices are per user a month, billed annually, unless we say otherwise.

Copper vs Proton.ai at a glance

With PromptLab in the third column, so you can see where it fits.

Copper vs Proton.ai, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 30 September 2026	Copper	Proton.ai	PromptLab
Pricing
Paid plans, a month	$23 – $99per seat	Custom pricing	$11.99 – $99per seat
Number of plans	3	1	3
Free trial
Billing	Billed annually	Priced by quote after a demo	Billed monthly
Import from CSV and Excel
Sales management
Deal pipelines
Quotes	Via marketplace
Sales orders
Sample tracking
Price lists
Meetings and calls
Meeting recording and transcripts
AI meeting summaries
AI follow-up email drafts	From$59/month
Meeting scheduler and call dialer	Via marketplace		From$23.99/month
AI and automation
CRM fields filled in from calls
Connect Claude or ChatGPT (MCP)
Workflow automation	From$59/month
API and webhooks	From$59/month		From$23.99/month
Conversations
Gmail and Outlook email sync
WhatsApp conversations	Via marketplace
Telegram conversations
Save LinkedIn profiles
Privacy and security
Single sign-on (SSO)	From$99/month		From$99/month

Pricing: $23 to $99 against a quote

Copper publishes three plans from $23 to $99 a seat, with a free trial. Proton.ai doesn't publish a price. You book a demo and get a quote afterwards, and there is no free trial.

Copper's entry price has limits: the $23 plan stops at 2,500 contacts, and workflows, the API and follow-up drafts wait for Professional at $59. Proton.ai's pricing and packaging come from its team once you've talked through your ERP, catalogue and setup.

Gmail and a calendar, or the ERP

Copper runs inside Gmail and Calendar and syncs Drive and Contacts on every plan. It tracks projects next to deals, and suits a small team that wants the lightest possible CRM.

Proton.ai starts from the ERP instead, from SAP and NetSuite to AS/400 green screens, and works across catalogues as large as 500,000 SKUs. Its CRM is one part of a wider platform that also covers product data and e-commerce.

Quotes and orders

Proton.ai has quotes and sales orders built in, fed by the ERP. Copper has quotes through a marketplace app and no sales orders.

Neither has price lists or sample tracking, so customer-specific pricing and trial batches live elsewhere in both.

AI and email

Proton.ai includes follow-up drafts, CRM autofill and workflows, with an assistant called Pronto. Copper has follow-up drafts and workflows only from the $59 plan, and no autofill.

Neither records calls or summarises meetings, and neither has MCP. Copper syncs Gmail only, while Proton.ai logs Outlook and Gmail email to customer records.

Messaging, LinkedIn and security

LinkedIn saving is on every Copper plan, and Proton.ai doesn't have it. WhatsApp reaches Copper through marketplace apps, and Proton.ai has none. Neither supports Telegram.

Single sign-on starts at $99 on Copper, and Proton.ai doesn't offer it.

We make PromptLab, so here is why product teams pick it over both.

Why PromptLab is the better choice for teams that sell products

PromptLab is a CRM for B2B teams that sell products. On their entry plans, neither Copper nor Proton.ai includes sample tracking, price lists, meeting recording, AI meeting summaries, Claude and ChatGPT over MCP and WhatsApp. PromptLab has all of them on every plan, from $11.99 a user a month.

Every inbox captured, not just Gmail
We capture email from Gmail, Outlook and any IMAP mailbox on every plan, and file each message on the right contact. A mixed team still gets one history per customer.
Copper vs PromptLab, in full
Prepared before the meeting, recorded during it
PromptLab writes a brief before each meeting, then records and transcribes it in over 100 languages. Afterwards you get the summary, a follow-up email draft and CRM fields filled in from the call.
Proton.ai vs PromptLab, in full
Quotes and orders without a second app
Quotes, price lists and sales orders sit on the account and the deal with us, from the Basic plan up. Reps quote from the customer's price list and follow the order in the same record.
Copper vs PromptLab, in full

Try PromptLab free14-day free trial on Basic and Professional.

Which should you choose?

Choose Copper if…

Your team lives in Gmail and Calendar.
You want a price you can see, and a free trial, before you talk to anyone.
You want LinkedIn saving on every plan.

Choose Proton.ai if…

You're a distributor and want the ERP to drive who reps call and what they sell.
Sales orders and built-in quotes matter more than a Gmail-first tool.
Some reps use Outlook, and their email should log to customer records too.

Choose PromptLab if…

You sell products, and deals run on quotes, price lists, samples and orders.
You want every meeting recorded, summarised and written into the CRM on every plan.
Buyers answer on WhatsApp or Telegram as well as email.

Frequently asked questions

Is Copper cheaper than Proton.ai?

It's hard to say. Copper's plans run from $23 to $99 a seat a month, billed annually. Proton.ai doesn't publish prices and quotes after a demo, so the two can't be compared on list price.

Does Proton.ai have a free trial?

No. You book a demo and get pricing from its team. Copper offers a free trial.

Does Proton.ai work with Gmail like Copper?

Proton.ai logs Outlook and Gmail email to customer records. Copper is built to run inside Gmail and Calendar, and Gmail is the only inbox it syncs.

Do Copper and Proton.ai have sales orders?

Proton.ai does, along with built-in quotes. Copper has no sales orders, and gets quotes through a marketplace app.

Is there an alternative to Copper and Proton.ai for teams that sell products?

PromptLab. It is a CRM for B2B teams that sell products, with quotes, price lists, sales orders and sample tracking, recorded and summarised meetings, and email, WhatsApp and Telegram in one inbox, on every plan from $11.99 a user a month with a 14-day free trial.