Migrate from FreeCRM to Zoho CRM

FreeCRM Contact records (name, email, phone, address, company association) map directly to Zoho CRM Contacts. Standard fields export cleanly from FreeCRM's CSV export and require no transformation. The related-to link to a FreeCRM Company resolves to a Zoho CRM Account lookup at migration time using the account name as the matching key. Owner assignment migrates by resolving the FreeCRM user email against the Zoho CRM user table.

FreeCRM Company records map to Zoho CRM Accounts with name, domain, and industry preserved. The parent-child relationship between FreeCRM Companies and Contacts becomes a lookup from Zoho Contacts to the Account. Accounts are migrated before Contacts so that the AccountId lookup is satisfied at Contact insert time.

FreeCRM Lead records use the template system so field names vary by account. We extract the full field set during discovery, normalize the lead-status and lead-source fields into Zoho CRM standard fields (Lead_Status, Lead_Source), and map any custom fields to Zoho CRM custom fields created before import. The lead-status normalization step is critical because FreeCRM text values may not match Zoho's picklist values.

FreeCRM Deal records include amount, stage (as free text), expected close date, and related contact. Stage values are account-defined text strings rather than structured values, so we map each distinct FreeCRM stage to a corresponding Zoho CRM Deal Stage during the discovery phase. Amount and expected close date migrate as-is. The Deal-to-Contact lookup resolves via email match against the migrated Contacts table.

FreeCRM uses a Kanban board view with account-defined stage columns. We extract the full stage list from the FreeCRM Kanban configuration during discovery, then create corresponding Zoho CRM Pipelines and Stage definitions before any Deal records are imported. Stage probability mapping follows Zoho CRM conventions. If FreeCRM has multiple Kanban boards (a Pro-tier feature), each becomes a separate Zoho CRM Pipeline with its own stage set.

FreeCRM Activity records (tasks, events, call logs) export with related-to links to Contacts or Companies and a timestamp. We map call logs to Zoho CRM Tasks with Task_Type = Call and call duration preserved. Meetings map to Zoho CRM Events with start and end time. Tasks map to Zoho CRM Tasks with status, priority, and due date. The related-to link migrates as a lookup to the corresponding Contact or Account record by name or email match.

FreeCRM stores tags as comma-separated values on Contact and Company records. We split the CSV into an array and map each tag to a Zoho CRM multi-select picklist field. During scoping, the customer chooses whether tags become a single multi-select field or are split into separate tag records. If the tag vocabulary exceeds Zoho's picklist limits, we flag the overflow for manual review.

FreeCRM custom fields are defined per-record via templates and vary entirely by account. We inventory every custom field in every active template during discovery, then pre-create matching custom fields in Zoho CRM (with the _C suffix convention) before any record migration begins. Field type mapping handles text-to-text, date-to-date, numeric-to-number, and checkbox-to-boolean conversions. This is the highest-risk step in the migration because skipping the inventory results in silent field drops.

FreeCRM web-to-lead forms export with field names but not submission history or automation logic. Form field names map to Zoho CRM standard and custom fields. Historical form submissions migrate as Lead records with a Form_Source custom field identifying the originating form. Form automation (auto-assignment, auto-email) does not migrate and requires manual rebuild in Zoho CRM.

FreeCRM user accounts exist but owner assignment on records is not always consistently populated. We extract every distinct owner email referenced on Contacts, Companies, Deals, and Activities and match against the Zoho CRM Users table by email. Owners without a matching Zoho User go to a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before record import resumes. Active status maps to the Zoho User IsActive field.

FreeCRM Pro supports invoice creation with line items, totals, and status. Invoice records export with line-item detail and status. We map these to Zoho CRM Invoices, preserving line-item amounts, tax, and total. Invoice-to-Contact and Invoice-to-Account lookups resolve by name match. Note that Zoho CRM Standard does not include a full invoicing module; if the customer needs recurring invoices and payment tracking, Zoho Books is the recommended companion application and invoices migrate there as a separate scope.