CRM Without a Subscription: One-Time Payment CRMs Compared
TL;DR: One-time payment CRMs exist and cluster at $67-79: DejaOffice (Windows desktop), CRM in Excel (application built in Excel), Sheetify (Google Sheets, not offline), Lifetime CRM (browser extension), plus free OfflineCRM and $20 indie templates. The real differences are not price: they are what happens when the vendor disappears, and what an update costs.
Subscription software has one honest disadvantage that no feature list fixes: it stops working when you stop paying. For a sales team of forty, that is a fair trade. For one person with a client list, paying every month, forever, for a table of contacts is a habit worth questioning. Disclosure up front: CRM in Excel is our product and it is one of the options below. The comparison includes everyone regardless, including a free tool, and we point out where a competitor is the better pick.
The short answer: yes, you can still buy a CRM once and own it. As of July 2026 the serious one-time options are DejaOffice PC CRM (from $69.95), CRM in Excel ($70), Sheetify CRM ($67), Lifetime CRM ($79) and the free OfflineCRM, with AppSumo lifetime deals as a separate, riskier category. Prices checked 13 July 2026 on vendor sites. Sources: DejaOffice, OfflineCRM, Sheetify, Lifetime CRM.
Why this category is suddenly interesting again
For twenty years the default answer to "which CRM should I buy?" was a desktop box: Act!, GoldMine, and their cousins. Then the industry moved to the cloud, and in September 2023 Act! retired its last perpetual license. Since then, buying a CRM has meant renting one, and a growing group of buyers, especially former Act! users and one-person businesses tired of stacking monthly fees, has been looking for tools they can own again. The market answered with a small but real shelf of one-time products.
Every one-time CRM worth considering in 2026
Prices checked on 13 July 2026, on each vendor's site. Vendors change prices; treat these as a snapshot.
| Tool | Price (one-time) | Category | Offline? | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DejaOffice PC CRM | from $69.95 | Native Windows desktop app | Yes | Major version upgrades cost extra; dated interface |
| CRM in Excel (our product) | $70 | Full CRM application built inside Microsoft Excel for Windows: pipeline, follow-up reminders, SMS and e-mail templates | Yes | Windows + desktop Excel 2016 or newer only; single user; capacity 5,000 clients + 5,000 leads |
| Sheetify CRM | $67 (vendor has announced a rise to $97) | Google Sheets template pack, up to 100 users on one license | No (needs Google + internet) | One-time price, but your data lives in Google's cloud, not in a local file |
| Lifetime CRM | $79 | Chromium browser extension, data stored locally | Mostly | Tied to one browser profile on one machine |
| OfflineCRM | Free | Standalone desktop app (Windows/macOS) | Yes | Young product, quiet development; test before trusting it with your whole base |
| AppSumo lifetime deals (e.g. DealDrive, $69) | typically $49-79 | Discounted lifetime access to young cloud startups | No | "Lifetime" means the startup's lifetime; data stays on their servers |
| Indie templates (Gumroad, Etsy) | ~$20 | Spreadsheet layouts for Sheets or Excel | Varies | A layout, not an application: no automation, no support, no updates |
The three questions that actually decide it
1. What survives the vendor? This is the whole point of buying instead of renting, so take it seriously. A cloud lifetime deal survives nothing: if the startup folds, your "lifetime" ends. A local tool with a proprietary database (DejaOffice, OfflineCRM) survives as a working program, though you depend on export formats. A CRM that IS a file you already know how to open (an Excel workbook) survives everything, including us: if crminexcel.com vanished tomorrow, your .xlsm would keep working, because Excel is Microsoft's problem, not ours.
2. What does year three cost? One-time pricing has fine print called upgrades. DejaOffice charges for major versions. Sheetify currently promises future updates at no charge. We include updates within the purchased version and the file keeps working regardless. Whatever you pick, get the upgrade policy in writing before paying.
3. One-time or offline, or both? These are different promises and vendors happily blur them. Sheetify is one-time but online. DejaOffice and CRM in Excel are both. If data ownership is your reason for leaving subscriptions, "one-time but cloud" only solves half the problem. We ran the full offline test separately in our comparison of the best offline CRMs.
Who should NOT buy a one-time CRM
Same honesty section as always. Stay on a subscription if a team shares one pipeline in real time, if you need integrations doing work while you sleep (forms, sequences, VoIP logging), or if your business runs from a phone. HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho are good at exactly that, and for those needs the monthly fee buys something real. The argument for owning your tools is strongest for one-person businesses, which is the case we lay out in why small businesses don't need expensive CRM software.
Where CRM in Excel fits, stated plainly
Our product exists for one specific buyer: the person who already runs their business life in Excel and wants a real CRM, not a prettier spreadsheet, without renting one. $70 once buys a working pipeline, follow-up reminders that refresh daily, SMS and e-mail templates, and a database that is an ordinary file on your disk. The free trial holds 50 clients and 50 leads, which is enough to know within two weeks whether it fits. If you are not an Excel person, buy DejaOffice; if your budget is zero, take OfflineCRM and make regular exports. If you are deciding whether a spreadsheet can be a CRM at all, start with CRM in Excel explained.
FAQ
Is there a CRM you only pay for once?
Yes: DejaOffice (from $69.95), CRM in Excel ($70), Sheetify ($67, online), Lifetime CRM ($79), free OfflineCRM, and rotating lifetime deals on AppSumo. Prices as of July 2026.
What is the cheapest CRM without a subscription?
OfflineCRM is free; indie templates start around $20; full products cluster at $67-79. The gap between $20 and $70 is the gap between a layout and an application.
Do one-time payment CRMs get updates?
Policies differ: some vendors charge for major versions, some promise updates forever. Ask what you keep if the vendor disappears and what an upgrade costs in three years, before you pay.
What is the catch with AppSumo lifetime deals?
"Lifetime" means the company's lifetime, not yours. Most LTDs are young cloud startups; if they fold, access ends, because the data lives on their servers.
Are one-time CRMs also offline CRMs?
Not always. Sheetify and most LTDs are one-time but cloud-based. DejaOffice, CRM in Excel and OfflineCRM are both one-time and offline: software and data live on your machine.
Why do most CRMs only offer subscriptions?
Recurring revenue is worth more to the vendor and cloud servers cost real money. Reasonable business model; just not automatically in the interest of one person with a contact list.
Which one are you? We wrote a version of this for realtors, tradespeople, consultants and solo recruiters.
— Michał B. Fedor