Quick answer: we built Unavoidable CRM because small UK service businesses run their customer work across too many separate tools: one for calls, one for quotes, one for jobs and another for invoices. Unavoidable CRM puts them in one place, with an AI receptionist that answers the phone, for one price per business from £29 a month.
- Unavoidable CRM exists to replace a stack of separate tools with one.
- Every plan has every feature, priced per business rather than per user.
- Texts, calls and AI receptionist minutes are paid at the provider’s price, with no markup.
Unavoidable CRM is one of the products Unavoidable Studio builds and runs, and it has been live since July 2026. You can see where it sits alongside the others on its portfolio page. This article is part of building in public: why we built Unavoidable CRM, the decisions behind it and what we chose not to do.
Who is Unavoidable CRM for?
It is for owner-run UK service businesses: trades, cleaners, pest control firms, clinics and tour operators, where the person doing the work is often the person who answers the phone.
There are a lot of them. The Department for Business and Trade’s Business population estimates 2025 (published 2 October 2025) counted 5.7 million private sector businesses in the UK at the start of 2025. Of those, 5.64 million, or 99.18%, were small businesses with 0 to 49 employees, and 4.3 million (75%) did not employ anyone aside from the owners. Most CRMs are designed for sales teams. We wanted one designed for the owner on a job with their phone in their pocket.
What problem does it solve?
It joins up the steps between a first call and a paid invoice, which in a small business are usually spread across different tools, or not done at all. Follow one customer through:
- the phone rings while the owner is busy, and nobody answers;
- if they do get through, the details go on a notepad or into a contacts app;
- a quote is written in one tool and sent by email from another;
- nobody follows the quote up, because there is no reminder;
- the job goes in a calendar, the invoice in accounting software, and the chasing happens from memory.
The steps that lose the most work are the earliest ones: the missed call and the quote nobody chased. So those sit at the centre of the product. The AI receptionist answers when the owner cannot, takes details and books a visit, and a missed caller gets a text back. Quotes follow themselves up and turn into invoices in one click. Jobs, scheduling, certificates and invoices sit in the same place, so nothing has to be copied between apps.
Why one price per business, with every feature?
Because an owner should not have to work out which tier unlocks quote chasing. Every plan has every feature. Solo is £29 a month for one user, Team is £149 a month for five and Agency is £399 a month, as listed on the Unavoidable CRM pricing page. There is a 14-day free trial with no card needed, and monthly plans have no contract.
Pricing per business rather than per user also matters as a firm grows. Adding an apprentice or an office manager should not mean a new line on the bill every time.
Why are texts and calls charged at cost?
Texts, calls and AI receptionist minutes run on the customer’s own accounts with the providers, and are paid at the provider’s price with no markup. We chose this so the plan price stays the same for everyone and nobody pays a margin on their own phone calls.
The trade-off is honest: a busy month costs a little more than a quiet one. We would rather show that clearly than hide it in a bundle.
How did the studio shape it?
Unavoidable CRM was built the way the studio builds everything. It went through the checks in how we validate an idea before we build it, it runs on the foundations described in shared infrastructure across a studio, and we judge how it is doing using the measures in product market fit for small products. It also keeps its own brand, website and legal pages, separate from the studio and from the other products.
What did we deliberately leave out?
We did not set out to build a marketing platform. Large email campaigns, landing page builders and deep sales reporting are well served by tools such as HubSpot, and a business that grows mainly through campaigns may be better off there. Unavoidable CRM’s own HubSpot comparison sets out where each one fits. Keeping the product focused on calls, quotes, jobs and invoices is what lets it stay simple and priced as one plan.
FAQs
Who owns Unavoidable CRM?
Unavoidable CRM is a product built and run by Unavoidable Studio Ltd, the studio behind this blog. It has its own website, brand and legal pages at unavoidablecrm.com.
How much does Unavoidable CRM cost?
Plans start at £29 a month for one user, with Team at £149 a month for five users and Agency at £399 a month. Every plan has every feature, and texts, calls and AI receptionist minutes are paid at the provider’s price.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Unavoidable CRM has a 14-day free trial with every feature, and no card is needed to start. Monthly plans have no contract.
Where is Unavoidable CRM built?
In Leeds, by the Unavoidable Studio team, for UK businesses. Prices are in pounds and customer data is held in UK data centres.
To see Unavoidable CRM in action, visit unavoidablecrm.com and start a 14-day free trial. For the other products, see the portfolio, and for more from the studio, browse the blog.
Founder of Unavoidable Studio, a UK venture studio in Leeds building six software companies at once. Answers his own inbox.