A sales pipeline that keeps itself up to date.
You'd rather sell than update a board. So bookings, signed proposals and paid invoices move your deals for you, and Chip points at the ones going cold.
Start with the one thing you need. The rest is there when you're ready. Free plan, no card needed. Or book a demo.
Nobody updates the pipeline. So nobody trusts it.
The client booked a call, signed the proposal and paid, and the card still says "New lead" because you were busy doing the work. startbuddi watches what happens in Bookings, Documents and Money Manager and moves the deal for you.
- Every move goes through one door and lands in the deal's history with the reason
- A won deal turns the contact into a customer, once
- Rules only push open deals forward, never backwards
Deals: the board, with a deal that came straight from an Interested reply to a sequence.
Deals have more than one person. Now yours do too.
The owner signs, the operations manager decides and the accountant pays. Add everyone involved to the deal, pick the main contact, and the deal shows up on each of their records and on the company. It is still one deal, so totals count it once.
- Add or remove people, and choose who is primary
- A company's deals are offered to its people to join, never added on their own
- An Interested reply to a sequence opens a deal, or links the one already open
Five things that move a deal without you.
Each rule can move the deal on its own, wait for your approval, or just suggest the move. Switch off "Keep it current automatically" on a pipeline and every rule becomes a suggestion.
- A reply moves the deal off the first stage
- A booked meeting moves it to the second stage; a proposal or quote sent, to the third
- Signed or accepted: the last open stage. Invoice paid: Won
Silence gets flagged. It never loses you a deal.
A deal with no activity for 14 days (or the number you set) is flagged as stalled and its owner is told. Nothing is ever marked lost on its own. Chip lists what needs you beside the board.
- Chip AI panel (Beta): Follow-up reminders, Stalled deals and At risk
- "Chip spotted N deals to look at", with the move it suggests
- Mark a deal won or lost yourself, with a reason for the loss
A forecast that isn't just hope in a spreadsheet.
The Forecast tab multiplies each open deal by its chance of closing and lays it out by close month and by stage. Naira and dollars are never added together: you see one currency at a time, starting with the one holding most of your pipeline.
- Expected, Commit (70% and up), Best case and Win rate
- A deal with no chance set counts at 50%, not zero
- Deals past their close date or with none are called out, and Chip can tidy them up
The Forecast tab in naira: Expected, Commit, Best case and Win rate, by close month, with what is closing soon.
One pipeline for new work. Another for renewals.
Most businesses sell more than one way. Create a pipeline for each, with its own stages, colours, visibility and currency, and add a deal from anywhere: the contact, the company, the board or the search bar.
- Starts with New Leads, Qualified, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Won and Lost
- Rename stages and give each one a colour
- Run one pipeline in naira and another in dollars
From first chat to paid invoice.
A deal starts with a conversation and ends with a payment. Both happen in startbuddi, so the pipeline always knows.
-
They message you
On WhatsApp, email or live chat. Create a deal from the conversation.
InboxCreate deal -
They book a call
The deal moves to the second stage on its own.
Bookings -
They sign
A signed proposal or accepted quote moves it to the last open stage.
DocumentsMoney Manager -
They pay
The deal is marked won and the contact becomes a customer.
Money ManagerPaystackStripe
The pipeline, next to the usual suspects.
Pipelines are where most CRMs started. Here is what differs for a small service business.
| startbuddi | HubSpot (Free and Starter) | Pipedrive | Zoho Bigin | Less Annoying CRM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipelines | As many as you need, on every plan | Up to 15 per account | Not checked | 1 on Free | Unlimited |
| Moves on bookings, signatures and payments in the same app | Yes | Not checked | Not checked | Not checked | No |
| Deal scoring | Contact lead score, 0 to 100 | Not checked | Deal-fit scoring on Premium | Not listed | Not listed |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes, up to 2 users | Paid per seat | Yes, 1 user | No, 30-day trial |
Where they're better
- HubSpotA free CRM for two users with up to 15 pipelines, and paid hubs to grow into.
- PipedriveScoring based on deal fit, plus a chatbot, live chat and Prospector, all on Premium.
- Zoho BiginA built-in phone on every paid plan, with call recording and routing.
- Less Annoying CRMUnlimited pipelines at one flat price per user, with free support.
startbuddi is our product. Facts about other tools come from their own pages, checked on 6 October 2026, and plans change, so check before you buy: HubSpot Starter · HubSpot free CRM · Pipedrive plans · Zoho Bigin pricing · Less Annoying CRM pricing.
CRM talks to the rest of your business.
Everything below shows up on the client's record by itself, so you never piece the story together by hand.
Ask Chip. It already knows your deals.
Chip works from your own records, so the answer comes with names, amounts and dates, and a next step you can take in one click.
Which plans include deals and the pipeline?
Deals and pipelines are on every plan, including Free, with no limit on pipelines. Plans differ in contacts and seats: 250 and 1 on Free, 2,500 and 2 on Starter, 15,000 and 5 on Growth, 75,000 and 15 on Scale.
- FreeIncluded, free forever
- StarterIncluded, 30-day trial
- GrowthIncluded, 30-day trial
- ScaleIncluded, 30-day trial
More in Sales
Questions about deals and the pipeline
Can I have more than one sales pipeline?
Does a paid invoice really close the deal?
Will it ever mark a deal lost on its own?
Can I stop deals moving on their own?
Can I bring my deals over from Pipedrive or HubSpot?
How accurate is the forecast?
Can more than one person be on a deal?
Stop updating the board. Start trusting it.
Put every deal on one board and let bookings, signatures and payments move it. Free to start.
No need to set everything up on day one.
Or book a demo and we'll set it up with you.