Best Proton.ai alternatives in 2026

Proton.ai is an AI platform for distributors, and the CRM is one product inside it. It plugs into the ERP, even AS/400 green screens, and tells reps who to call, what to sell and who is due to reorder, across catalogues as large as 500,000 SKUs. For a big distributor with ERP data to mine, that is a serious capability.

It is also a platform you buy through a demo. Pricing is custom and quoted after the call, there is no free trial, and meetings are not recorded. If you want to see a price and try the product this week, PromptLab is the alternative we recommend. The list below also covers the CRMs a distributor would weigh next.

Why teams leave Proton.ai

The gaps, all from Proton.ai's own pages, are mostly about buying and using it.

• Pricing only after a demo. You talk through your ERP, catalogue and setup, then get packaging from its team. That makes it hard to compare against anything else.
• No free trial. You cannot try it on your own customers first.
• No meeting recording. Reps can prep with its assistant and log notes by voice, but what the buyer said in the meeting survives only in the rep's notes.
• Email, but not chat. Outlook and Gmail log to customer records. WhatsApp and Telegram stay on each rep's phone, and there is no MCP server for Claude or ChatGPT.

The best Proton.ai alternatives at a glance

Swipe the table sideways to see every CRM →

Prices are per user a month, as of 30 September 2026. Proton.ai has custom pricing, so it has no figure to compare.

Where Proton.ai wins, and what that means for the list

Be clear about the trade first. Proton.ai's strength is the ERP link: reorder prompts, product recommendations and quote and order entry fed from your system of record. PromptLab does not match that depth out of the box.

What every alternative below offers instead is a published price and a free trial. For many distributors that is the better first step, with ERP data coming across as a file.

The best Proton.ai alternatives

1

PromptLab

Our pickAI-native CRM for product salesPaid plans, a month$11.99 – $99 per seat

Best for: Distributors and manufacturers whose reps sell in meetings and messages

We built PromptLab for the people who sell, not for a data team. Quotes, sales orders, sample tracking and customer price lists sit on the account and the deal on every plan, and prices are public: $11.99, $23.99 or $99 a user a month, billed monthly. Start the 14-day trial and see your own customers the same day.

The part Proton.ai leaves out is the conversation. We write a brief before each meeting, then record and transcribe it in 100+ languages, and produce a summary, a follow-up email draft and CRM fields filled in from the call. Email, WhatsApp and Telegram share one Inbox, and Claude or ChatGPT connect over MCP. Ask AI answers questions about accounts, deals, quotes, orders and meetings in plain words.

Order history comes with you: we import quotes and sales orders from an ERP export in CSV or Excel, and Acumatica brings in customers, contacts, leads and opportunities. We do not have the ERP-driven reorder prompts that Proton.ai is built around.

2

Salesforce

Enterprise suitePaid plans, a month$25 – $550 per seat

Best for: Large distributors that want a platform and have admins

Sales Cloud has five editions from $25 to $550 a user a month, billed annually, Agentforce AI and AppExchange for almost any integration. Quotes, sales orders and price lists start at $100.

It is the most configurable option here, and also the heaviest. Call recording is an add-on, CRM autofill and MCP start at $195, and building it usually takes an admin or partner.

3

Dynamics 365

Enterprise suitePaid plans, a month$65 – $150 per seat

Best for: Companies already on Microsoft

Dynamics 365 Sales runs from $65 to $150 a user a month, billed annually, with quotes, price lists and orders built in from Professional. It works inside Outlook and Teams.

Meeting recording starts on Enterprise at $105 and CRM autofill and MCP on Premium at $150. There is no sample tracking, and setup often needs a Microsoft partner.

4

HubSpot

Enterprise suitePaid plans, a month$7 – $150 per seat

Best for: Teams that want marketing and sales in one suite

HubSpot has a free CRM and Sales Hub from $7 to $150 a seat, billed annually. Meeting summaries are included from the entry plan, and MCP is supported.

Quoting is an add-on, and sales orders and price lists are missing. Call recording and CRM autofill start at $90, and Professional and Enterprise carry a $1,500 to $3,500 onboarding fee.

5

Zoho CRM

Sales CRMPaid plans, a month$14 – $52 per seat

Best for: Budget-conscious teams that need quotes, orders and price books

Zoho CRM is free for up to three users, with paid plans from $14 to $52 a seat, billed annually. Quotes, sales orders and price books start at $23, and WhatsApp and MCP are supported.

Samples are not modelled, call recording comes through marketplace telephony apps, and Telegram is not supported.

6

Pipedrive

Sales CRMPaid plans, a month$14 – $79 per seat

Best for: Reps who want a simple pipeline with call recording

Pipedrive runs $14 to $79 a seat, billed annually, with call recording, meeting summaries and CRM updates on every plan, and MCP support. Workflows, a dialer and WhatsApp start at $39, and quotes at $59.

Price lists, samples and sales orders are not part of it.

7

monday CRM

Sales CRMPaid plans, a month$12 – $28 per seat

Best for: Teams who want to shape their own boards

monday CRM costs $12 to $28 a seat, billed annually, with quotes from the Basic plan. The AI notetaker, workflows and email sync start on Standard at $17.

Sales orders, price lists and samples are missing, and there is no WhatsApp or Telegram.

How to choose

Split the decision in two: what you need from the ERP, and what you need from the conversation.

• ERP-driven reorder prompts across a huge catalogue: Proton.ai stays strong. Plan for the demo, the quote and the integration time.
• A platform for IT to build on: Salesforce or Dynamics 365 Sales.
• A CRM your reps use for quotes, samples, orders, calls and chat, starting now: PromptLab.

If you are comparing on cost, ask for Proton.ai's quote and set it beside the plans on our pricing page. For distributors in particular, see Best CRM for distributors and our distributors solution page. The head-to-head is Proton.ai vs PromptLab.

Switching from Proton.ai

The move is in two parts: your ERP export, and anything created only in Proton.ai, which you ask your current vendor for. Then import the files.

Proton.ai alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Proton.ai?

For a distributor whose reps sell in meetings and messages, PromptLab: published prices, a free trial, recorded meetings and one Inbox for email, WhatsApp and Telegram. For a distributor that wants a large configurable platform, Salesforce or Dynamics 365 Sales are the usual comparison.

How much does Proton.ai cost?

It does not publish prices. Pricing is custom and given after a demo, so there is no figure to quote. PromptLab's are public: $11.99, $23.99 and $99 a user a month, billed monthly.

Is there a Proton.ai alternative with a free trial?

Yes. PromptLab has a 14-day free trial on Basic and Professional, with a card required to start. HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive and monday CRM also offer trials.

Does PromptLab connect to my ERP?

We import quotes and sales orders from an ERP export in CSV or Excel, and Acumatica brings in customers, contacts, leads and opportunities. We do not offer a live connection to other ERPs, so that is the main trade-off against Proton.ai.

Can I connect Claude or ChatGPT to my CRM?

With PromptLab, yes, over MCP with OAuth sign-in on every plan. Proton.ai has its own assistant, Pronto, but no MCP server.