Capstone Outreach vs Affinity: deal team CRM or personal check-ins
Affinity is a CRM for private capital deal teams, priced from $2,000 per user per year and bought through sales, with relationship scoring, deal pipelines and agents that draft follow-ups. Capstone Outreach is a $25/month personal CRM for one professional: it drafts each check-in when it is due and sends it from your own email or phone, by email, text or WhatsApp. Pick Affinity for firm-wide deal work; pick Capstone Outreach for your own network.
Side by side
| Feature | Capstone Outreach | Affinity |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | A personal CRM for people whose network is their job: the personal CRM that writes your check-ins. | A CRM built for deal teams at private capital firms such as PE and VC, pitched as finding the next deal in your network.123 |
| Pricing | One plan: $25/month on the web; $24.99/month or $250/year on iPhone; $9/month Global plan in six countries. | Per user per year, billed annually: Essential $2,000, Scale $2,300, Advanced $2,700; Enterprise has custom pricing.456 |
| Free plan or trial | 14-day free trial; a payment method is required to start. No free plan. | Every plan is bought through sales and the site offers a demo request; standard onboarding is included with no mandatory implementation fee.78 |
| Platforms | Web, iPhone and Android, one account. | Gmail extension, Chrome extension, Outlook add-in and mobile app.18 |
| Keep-in-touch reminders | Rhythms from weekly to every three months by email draft, text, WhatsApp or call reminder; the check-in is drafted when due and waits a full cycle if you have talked since. | Reminders are listed among plan features, and relationship intelligence flags relationships that are going quiet.1923 |
| AI writing | AI drafts emails, texts and WhatsApp messages in your voice, and drafts each check-in from your history when it is due. | Ascend agents update records and draft follow-ups on their own, included at no extra cost from the Scale tier up; Scale also adds AI Chat.121314 |
| Sending | Emails send from your own Gmail or Outlook after you approve; texts and WhatsApp messages open on your phone already typed and send from your own number. Nothing sends without approval. | A Bulk Email feature is listed among its AI and productivity features.20 |
| Texts and WhatsApp | Drafts texts and WhatsApp messages that you send from your own number; WhatsApp chats can be imported. | Not listed on their site (checked Oct 8, 2026) |
| Business card scanning | Scans paper business cards, QR digital cards and NFC tags. | Not listed on their site (checked Oct 8, 2026) |
| Contact sync and enrichment | Imports the phone address book without duplicates, CSV files and WhatsApp chats; calendar meetings become contacts. No LinkedIn sync or database enrichment. | Every tier captures email and calendar activity; a LinkedIn importer; enrichment from its own data plus 40+ sources including Pitchbook, Preqin and Grata.91921 |
| Meeting notes | AI notetaker for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex that drafts a follow-up per attendee. | Scale adds a Notetaker for automatic meeting capture and follow-up; meeting briefs before calls and pipeline updates after meetings.1122 |
| Pipelines, integrations and AI agents | Lead tiers, tags and search; Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP agent can connect, and a person approves what they propose. | Deal pipeline tracking from first contact to close; a hosted MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools from Scale up; Slack, Salesforce, Box and more on Advanced.101516 |
Choose Affinity if
- You work on a PE or VC deal team and want a CRM built for private capital firms.
- Your firm wants relationship scoring that shows the warmest path to any contact, with flags when relationships go quiet.
- You track deals in a pipeline from first contact to close, with workflow automations that move stages on the Advanced tier.
- You want agents that update records and draft follow-ups on their own, plus a Notetaker and AI Chat, from the Scale tier.
- You need enrichment from PitchBook, Dealroom and Crunchbase, integrations with Slack, Salesforce and Box, or fund-level permissions and enterprise SSO.
Choose Capstone Outreach if
- You are one professional keeping your own network warm, not a firm buying seats through sales.
- You want each check-in drafted from your history when it is due, and held a full cycle if you have talked since.
- You keep in touch by text and WhatsApp as well as email, sending from your own Gmail, Outlook or phone number.
- You meet people in person and want to scan business cards, QR digital cards and NFC tags.
- You want to start on a 14-day free trial at $25/month, on web, iPhone and Android.
The differences that matter
A firm's deal platform vs one person's network
Affinity describes its CRM as built for deal teams at private capital firms such as PE and VC, and pitches itself as finding the next deal in your network. Its plans include deal pipeline tracking from first contact to close, relationship scoring that shows the warmest path to any contact, and on Enterprise, fund-level permissions and enterprise SSO. Capstone Outreach is a personal CRM for people whose network is their job. It keeps one timeline per person with every email, text, call and meeting, plus lead tiers, tags and search, and you can ask what you discussed or promised.
Both draft follow-ups, on different triggers
Affinity's Ascend agents update records and draft follow-ups on their own, included at no extra cost from the Scale tier, and Scale also adds a Notetaker for automatic meeting capture and follow-up. Its relationship intelligence flags relationships that are going quiet. Capstone Outreach drafts on a rhythm you set, from weekly to every three months, by email, text, WhatsApp or call reminder. When a check-in comes due, AI drafts it from your history in your voice; if you have talked since, it waits a full cycle. Its notetaker covers Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex and drafts a follow-up per attendee.
Email and calendar capture vs email, text and WhatsApp
Every Affinity tier automatically captures email and calendar activity, admins and users control what gets synced, and it works through a Gmail extension, Chrome extension, Outlook add-in and mobile app, with Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations. Capstone Outreach sends emails from your own Gmail or Outlook after you approve. Texts and WhatsApp messages open on your phone already typed, and you send them from your own number. It also scans paper business cards, QR digital cards and NFC tags, imports WhatsApp chats, and turns meetings from Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly into contacts. Nothing sends without approval.
Enrichment and integrations vs your own history
Affinity enriches data from its own sources plus 40+ others including Pitchbook, Preqin and Grata. Its Advanced tier adds enrichment from PitchBook, Dealroom and Crunchbase, packaged integrations with Slack, Salesforce and Box, and workflow automations, and its plans list a LinkedIn importer. Capstone Outreach does not offer contact enrichment from databases or LinkedIn and social network sync. Each record comes from your own emails, texts, calls and meetings, and private notes are never sent to the AI. Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP agent can connect, and a person approves what they propose.
Pricing
Affinity is priced per user per year, billed annually, across four tiers: Essential at $2,000, Scale at $2,300 and Advanced at $2,700, with custom pricing for Enterprise. Every plan is bought through sales, and the site offers a demo request. Standard onboarding is included with no mandatory implementation fee, and Scale and Advanced include 100K API calls per month. Capstone Outreach has one plan: $25/month on the web after a 14-day free trial that requires a payment method, or $24.99/month or $250/year on iPhone through the App Store, with Android billed through Google Play. A $9/month Global plan is offered in India, the Philippines, Malaysia, the UAE, South Africa and Nigeria. There is no free plan, and you can cancel anytime.
Switching to Capstone Outreach
To move to Capstone Outreach, upload a CSV file of the people you want to keep in touch with, or import your phone address book, which skips duplicates. Meetings from Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly become contacts, and you can import WhatsApp chats. Connect your Gmail or Outlook so emails send from your own account, then set keep-in-touch rhythms and review the first drafted check-ins during the 14-day free trial.
Keep them warm without the busywork. Capstone Outreach is the personal CRM that writes your check-ins. Put each person on a rhythm (weekly to every three months), and when they're due, the next message is already written from your history with them. If you've talked since, it waits a full cycle. You approve every message, and it goes out from your own email or phone.
Start 14 days free, then $25/mo iPhone: 14 days free, then $24.99/mo
A study of 20 million LinkedIn members found that acquaintances, more than close friends, led to new jobs (Science, 2022). Capstone keeps those people warm. You approve every message, and it goes from your own email or phone.
Also on Android. Cancel anytime in the first 14 days and you pay nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Does Affinity draft follow-ups with AI?
Yes. Affinity's Ascend agents update records and draft follow-ups on their own, and they are included at no extra cost on the Scale tier and up. Capstone Outreach also drafts with AI: emails, texts and WhatsApp messages in your voice, with each keep-in-touch check-in drafted from your history when it comes due. Nothing sends without your approval.
Is Affinity a personal CRM?
Affinity describes its CRM as built for deal teams at private capital firms such as PE and VC, with deal pipeline tracking and relationship scoring. Capstone Outreach is a personal CRM for one professional whose network is their job, built around drafted check-ins that you send from your own email or phone.
How much does Affinity cost compared with Capstone Outreach?
Affinity lists Essential at $2,000, Scale at $2,300 and Advanced at $2,700 per user per year, billed annually, with custom Enterprise pricing, and every plan is bought through sales. Capstone Outreach is one plan at $25/month on the web after a 14-day free trial, $24.99/month or $250/year on iPhone, or $9/month on the Global plan in six countries.
Do both have a meeting notetaker?
Yes. Affinity's Scale tier adds a Notetaker for automatic meeting capture and follow-up, and Affinity produces meeting briefs before calls. Capstone Outreach's AI notetaker works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex and drafts a follow-up for each attendee, which you review and approve before it sends from your own email.
Can I connect Claude or ChatGPT to either one?
Yes. From the Scale tier up, Affinity offers a hosted MCP server that lets you use Affinity data in Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools. With Capstone Outreach, Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP agent can connect to your account; agents propose and a person approves before anything is sent.
Sources
Everything about Affinity on this page comes from its own website, checked 2026-10-08. If something has changed, tell us and we'll update it.
- Affinity pitches itself as a platform that finds the next deal in your network. Source: https://www.affinity.co ("Your next deal is in your network")
- Affinity describes its CRM as built for deal teams. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("The CRM built for deal teams")
- Affinity is built for private capital firms such as PE and VC, not adapted from sales software. Source: https://www.affinity.co ("Built for private capital’s deal lifecycle, not adapted from sales software.")
- Affinity is priced per user per year, billed annually, across four tiers. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Affinity is priced per user per year, billed annually, across four tiers.")
- Essential costs $2,000 per user per year, Scale $2,300 and Advanced $2,700. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Essential is $2,000 per user per year, Scale is $2,300, and Advanced is $2,700.")
- The Enterprise tier has custom pricing. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Enterprise is custom.")
- Every plan, including the $2,000 Essential tier, is bought through sales; the site offers a demo request. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("$2,000 USER / YEAR Contact sales")
- Standard onboarding is included, with no mandatory implementation fee. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Nothing is quoted as a mandatory implementation fee.")
- Every tier automatically captures email and calendar activity. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Automatic activity capture across email and calendar")
- Essential includes deal pipeline tracking from first contact to close. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Deal pipeline tracking from first contact to close")
- Scale adds a Notetaker for automatic meeting capture and follow-up. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Notetaker: automatic meeting capture and follow-up")
- Scale adds AI Chat for conversational access to the pipeline and network. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("AI Chat: conversational access to your pipeline and network")
- Ascend agents update records and draft follow-ups on their own, available from the Scale tier. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Ascend agents complete the task themselves, updating records, drafting follow-ups, flagging deals that need attention")
- Ascend agents are included at no extra cost on Scale and up. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("available to every customer on Scale and up at no additional cost")
- A hosted MCP server lets you use Affinity data in Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools, from Scale up. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("MCP server: use Affinity data in Claude, ChatGPT, and more")
- Advanced adds packaged integrations with Slack, Salesforce, Box and more. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Packaged integrations: Slack, Salesforce, Box, and more")
- Scale and Advanced include 100K API calls per month. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Scale and Advanced include 100K API calls per month")
- Affinity offers a Gmail extension, Chrome extension, Outlook add-in and mobile app. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Gmail extension Chrome extension Outlook add-in Mobile app")
- Plan features include a LinkedIn importer, warm intro path and reminders. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("Warm Intro Path LinkedIn Importer")
- A Bulk Email feature is listed among AI and productivity features. Source: https://www.affinity.co/product/affinity-pricing ("File Analyzer Bulk Email")
- Data is enriched from Affinity's own data plus 40+ sources including Pitchbook, Preqin and Grata. Source: https://www.affinity.co ("Enriched with Affinity’s proprietary data and 40+ sources, including Pitchbook, Preqin, and Grata.")
- It produces meeting briefs before calls and pipeline updates after meetings. Source: https://www.affinity.co ("Meeting briefs before every call. Pipeline updates after every meeting.")
- Relationship intelligence flags relationships that are going quiet. Source: https://www.affinity.co ("flags what's going quiet before it costs you the deal")