Koban alternative: factual 2026 comparison

Looking for a Koban alternative suited to B2B sales teams selling into the French market? Charik is a modern, generalist B2B CRM built in France, designed for sales teams that want to bring their whole commercial activity into one tool, at a price that is easy to read. This page compares the two solutions factually to help you decide, without bias.

Charik, the B2B CRM that brings your commercial activity back into one tool.

Quick comparison: Charik vs Koban

Criteria	Charik	Koban
Origin	Paris, France (2024)	Lyon, France (2012)
Positioning	Pure sales CRM, focused on modern prospecting	Mid-market CRM + marketing + invoicing suite
Entry price	€17 excl. VAT/user/month (Charik, annual billing), €25 monthly	From €30-40/user/month (CRM only)
Functionally equivalent price	€58 excl. VAT/user/month (Charik Pro, with French company data)	Full pack (CRM + marketing + invoicing) €60-100/user
French company data (SIREN/SIRET)	Included in Charik Pro, native and enriched	Partially included
Multi-relationship architecture	Yes (contact-to-contact, company-to-company, deal-to-deal)	No, classic CRM architecture
Hosting	France	France
Free trial	7 days, no credit card, 10 users	14 days, no credit card

When Koban remains a good choice

Koban remains relevant in several situations:

A French mid-market company (30-200 people) that wants an integrated CRM + marketing + invoicing suite from a French mid-range vendor.
A team with a dedicated marketing department that wants a unified tool for marketing automation campaigns and the sales CRM.
An organisation that has already built its stack around Koban, where the cost of switching outweighs the gains from optimisation.
A case where native, built-in invoicing is non-negotiable and Pennylane is not an acceptable option.

When Charik is the right choice

Charik was designed for B2B teams selling into France that want a consolidated CRM, without stacking three or four subscriptions. Here are the cases where Charik naturally positions itself better than Koban:

A team prospecting in France. Company enrichment (SIREN, SIRET, NAF code, headcount, executives) is native and included in Charik Pro, with no separate subscription to a data tool such as Pappers Pro, Kompass or Société.com.
A team that wants a readable price. From €17 excl. VAT per user per month (Charik), €58 for Charik Pro with French company data, with no credits that run out, no modules to activate, and no mandatory call with a sales rep to get a quote. The pricing details fit on one page.
A team that needs multiple relationships between objects. Charik lets you link a contact to another contact, a company to another company, a deal to another deal. This architecture is rare and particularly useful for law firms, investment funds, recruitment agencies and B2B agencies.
A team that wants its data hosted in France. Strict GDPR compliance, no Cloud Act exposure, compliant with the requirements of a public tender or a French industrial SME.
A team that wants to connect its invoicing to Pennylane. The Charik / Pennylane connector is native. Quotes are created in Charik, invoices are issued in Pennylane, and the accounting export is automatic.
A team that wants to get started in 7 days without a credit card. The Charik free trial lasts 7 days, no credit card required, for up to 10 users and 100 contacts/companies/deals, so you can test in real conditions.

Pricing: what you actually pay

Koban and Charik address different profiles. Public 2026 prices:

Charik: €17 excl. VAT per user per month with annual billing (€25 monthly) for the full sales CRM, and €58 excl. VAT for Charik Pro, which adds French company data, ICP search, public tenders and sales signals.
Koban CRM only: from €30-40/user/month depending on the entry plan.
Koban CRM + Marketing + Invoicing: the full suite reaches €60 to €100/user/month depending on the modules activated.

For a team that wants a deep sales CRM with French enrichment, sequences, ICP search and signals, Charik Pro covers that scope at €58 excl. VAT, and a team that only needs the CRM starts at €17. For a mid-market team with native marketing automation and invoicing in the same tool, Koban is sized for that, but at a higher price on the full suite.

Features: what is included by default

Koban and Charik are not exactly on the same segment. Structural differences:

Sales CRM depth: Charik is CRM-first, with ICP search, hiring signals, public tenders and advanced sequences. Koban covers the CRM with an investment shared between CRM, marketing automation and invoicing.
Multi-relationship architecture: Charik lets you link objects of the same type. Koban stays on a classic CRM architecture.
ICP search with signals: hiring signals, public tenders since 2018, detection of growing companies. Charik integrates these functions natively in Charik Pro. Koban does not cover them.
Marketing automation: Koban has a genuine native marketing automation offer. Charik is limited to sales email sequences.
Invoicing: Koban invoices natively. Charik goes through Pennylane via a native connector.
Sales signals and daily AI: Charik AI indicators. Koban has no direct equivalent.

Data and hosting: the French dimension

For a sales team prospecting French companies, access to official public data is a structural topic. Charik natively integrates French public company data (INSEE SIRENE registry, INPI and other public sources), with no additional subscription on Charik Pro.

SIREN / SIRET: retrieved automatically from the company name or its website.
NAF code, headcount, revenue, legal form, executives: automatic enrichment on the company record.
Hosting in France: servers in France, GDPR compliance, no Cloud Act exposure, usable when responding to public tenders.

Koban integrates French data, but with less systematic coverage than Charik on continuous automatic enrichment. Both are hosted in France.

Migrating from Koban to Charik

Migrating from Koban to Charik goes through Koban’s native exports:

Koban export: from the interface, export contacts, companies and opportunities in CSV format.
Scope sorting: Koban mixes CRM, marketing and invoicing. The migration to Charik focuses on the CRM. For invoicing, plan for Pennylane.
Charik import: CSV import with field mapping.
Reconnect Pennylane if needed: native Charik / Pennylane connector for the quote-to-invoice chain.

Observed timeframe: 5 to 10 working days depending on the complexity of the history.

How to decide between the two?

The decision grid comes down to a few concrete questions:

How many sales users are on your team? If the answer is between 2 and 50, Charik is sized for you.
How many of your prospects are French companies? If the majority, native French enrichment changes daily productivity.
Do you already pay for a company data tool (Pappers, Kompass, Société, Dropcontact, Kaspr) on top of your current CRM? If so, Charik consolidates both.
Does your invoicing go through Pennylane or an equivalent French tool? The native Charik / Pennylane connection avoids a custom integration.
Is hosting in France mandatory for your customers (public sector, healthcare, finance)? The criterion becomes a blocker for a non-European CRM.

If you answer yes to at least three of these questions, Charik deserves a trial. If you are an international scale-up with a team spread across five countries and advanced marketing integrations on ten channels, Koban remains a good choice.

Try Charik as a Koban alternative

Two ways to test Charik:

7-day free trial, no credit card: crm.charik.app/sign-up. Up to 10 users and 100 contacts/companies/deals, access to every feature.
30-minute guided demo: charik.app/en/book-a-demo. A conversation to confirm that Charik covers your use case before investing time in the migration.

For pricing details, see the pricing page. To understand the positioning, see all Charik features.

Frequently asked questions about choosing Charik vs Koban

Is Charik a real competitor to Koban for a company selling in France?

On the pure sales CRM scope, yes. Charik and Koban cover the essential functions. Charik is deeper on modern prospecting (ICP search, signals, sequences). Koban is broader on marketing automation and built-in invoicing.

How much does Koban cost compared with Charik?

Koban CRM only starts at around €30-40/user. The full suite reaches €60 to €100. Charik starts at €17 excl. VAT/user (annual billing) for the CRM, and €58 for Charik Pro with French company data. For invoicing, Charik goes through Pennylane (separate subscription).

Can you migrate your Koban data to Charik?

Yes. Koban allows CSV export of contacts, companies and opportunities. Charik imports with guided field mapping. Koban invoicing switches to Pennylane in parallel.

Why choose Charik over Koban if both are French and hosted in France?

The choice depends on the scope you want. For a team that prioritises modern sales prospecting (ICP search, signals, sequences, daily AI), Charik is deeper. For a mid-market team that wants to consolidate CRM + marketing automation + invoicing, Koban is sized for that.

Does Charik have a marketing automation module like Koban?

No. Charik is limited to sales email sequences (cold outbound, follow-ups, simple nurturing). For multi-channel marketing automation with scoring, landing pages and campaigns, you need a dedicated tool such as Brevo, Plezi or ActiveCampaign alongside it.

Is Charik easier to get started with than Koban?

For pure sales CRM use, yes. The Charik interface is centred on the daily sales routine (pipeline, prospects, sequences) without the extended surface of a mid-market suite. For a team that wants everything in a single tool, Koban’s broader surface also has its logic.

Compare Charik with other CRMs

Evaluating several alternatives at the same time? Here are the other factual Charik comparisons:

For Charik pricing details: see the pricing page. For the full picture: see all Charik features.

Koban alternative: why teams choose Charik