Groundbase

Getting started

1. Sign up

Head to groundbasecrm.com and click Start free trial. You'll need:

  1. Email + password (8+ characters).
  2. Email verification — after the account is created, we send a verify link to your inbox. Click it before you can sign in.
  3. Credit card — Stripe Checkout collects your card so we can transition straight into the subscription on day 15. You won't be charged until day 15 and you can cancel any time before then.

2. Onboarding

After your first sign-in we walk you through four short steps:

  1. Welcome — your name, an optional business name (it goes into Settings → Business details, which your invoices, documents and newsletters use), and what you do. Type your line of work or pick a suggestion; the preview shows the deal stages we'll set up for it. Every stage can be renamed later.
  2. What did you come here to do? — pick anything that applies (text and call, email from your own address, invoices, booking, run it from an AI assistant). This only sets the order of your setup list. Nothing is hidden by skipping it.
  3. Bring your contacts in — Import my contacts takes you straight to the CSV importer; I'll do it later moves on.
  4. Here's your plan — your setup checklist, in the order you chose. Open my dashboard finishes; Start me off with example data first adds a made-up company, three contacts, two deals, a task and a note so the screens aren't empty while you look around.

Twilio and email are not asked for during onboarding. The setup checklist on the dashboard walks you through each connection when you're ready, and stays until everything is done or you hide it.

Example data is removed from Settings → Preferences → Example data → Remove. Anything you edited yourself is kept. See Settings & customisation.

3. Connect Twilio (for SMS + voice)

Groundbase uses your own Twilio account for SMS and calling, so you're never paying us a markup on usage. If you don't already have one, sign up free at twilio.com — no card required to register, only to buy numbers and send.

In Groundbase: Settings → Phone numbers → Connect Twilio. Paste your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio Console homepage and click Connect. Groundbase lists the numbers already in your Twilio account; pick the ones to bring in (all are ticked to start) and Groundbase configures their inbound webhooks for you.

Full walkthrough — including where to find your SID/Token and how to buy a number — in Phone & SMS.

4. Get the apps (optional)

The web app is the default — it works in any browser at app.groundbasecrm.com. If you'd rather have a dedicated window or use Groundbase on your phone:

Same login on every device. Real-time sync.

5. Add some contacts

The fastest path: Contacts → Import → Upload CSV. Map columns to fields, click Import. Or just hit + Contact and type one in.

That's it — you're running.