Salesforce Essentials discussions

we're a small team of 8 and mostly handle customer interactions through email and calls. is salesforce essentials overkill for us?

we're planning to grow our customer base and want to know if there's a cap on the number of contacts we can manage with salesforce essentials.

i'm genuinely confused about the training aspect. does salesforce essentials provide any resources to help us get started?

i'm curious about how salesforce essentials stacks up against other CRM options out there for small businesses. what are your thoughts?

i'm trying to figure out the overall cost. are there different subscription tiers or just one flat rate?

do you guys know if salesforce essentials integrates with other tools we use like email marketing software or project management tools?

i read something about a free trial. how long is it and what features can we try out?