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The best Dex CRM alternatives in 2026, by why you are switching
The best Dex CRM alternative depends on why you are leaving. If writing the message is the problem, not reminders, Capstone Outreach drafts each check-in from your history for you to approve. If you want a free plan with automatic contact updates, Mesh is free up to 1,000 contacts. If you would rather pay once on Apple devices, Contacts Journal CRM sells a one-time Unlimited Personal Plan.
How to choose
- If you get reminders but still skip check-ins because writing them takes time, look for a tool that drafts the message for you.
- If price is the reason, compare free plans, trial length and whether a card is needed to start, since Dex's paid plans start at $12 per month with a 7-day trial.
- List where your contacts live today (LinkedIn, your phone, email, calendar or paper business cards) and pick a tool that imports from those places.
- If privacy matters most, look at tools that keep data on your own server or devices.
- If you mostly need introductions to new people rather than keeping up with current ones, a network search tool fits better than a reminder app.
- If colleagues need to share one pipeline, choose a team CRM priced per member instead of a personal tool.
The picks
1. Capstone Outreach: best for Check-ins drafted and ready to send
A personal CRM for people whose network is their job. Keep-in-touch rhythms run from weekly to every three months, and when a check-in is due it is drafted by AI from your history as an email, text or WhatsApp message, and nothing sends until you approve. It scans business cards, QR cards and NFC tags and includes an AI meeting notetaker. One plan is $25/month on the web after a 14-day trial that needs a payment method. LinkedIn sync, database enrichment and a free plan are not offered.
2. Mesh: best for A free plan with automatic updates
Mesh promises "Every relationship, remembered." It automatically captures emails, meetings and connections, imports people from email, calendar, X, LinkedIn, Facebook and iMessage, and keeps contact details current as job changes appear. It prompts you when it is time to reconnect and sends birthday notifications. The free Personal plan covers up to 1,000 contacts, and Pro is listed at $10 per month with unlimited contacts and a 14-day trial. It runs on macOS, Windows, web, Android and iOS.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs Mesh
3. Happenstance: best for Searching your network for warm intros
Happenstance helps you find anyone in your network for sales, hiring, fundraising and more. You connect Gmail, calendars, LinkedIn, Twitter and other accounts, and it ranks people by how well you know them and shows a warm path to each. You can join friends and groups to search their networks, and use it inside ChatGPT and Claude or through MCP, API and CLI. The free plan is $0 forever with no credit card, and Pro is $24 per month billed yearly.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs Happenstance
4. Contacts Journal CRM: best for Apple users who want a one-time purchase
Contacts Journal CRM tracks conversations, follow-ups and contacts on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, syncing through your own iCloud or Dropbox account. It can generate AI email drafts tailored to each contact, logs calls, emails and messages made from the app, and offers per-contact ToDos with timed alerts and recurring tasks. It requires no account signup. The app is free to try for 20 entries of each kind, and the Unlimited Personal Plan is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs Contacts Journal CRM
5. Nimble: best for Reminders plus email marketing in one
Nimble bundles CRM, email marketing, sales prospecting and automation in one platform. Stay-in-touch reminders can be set weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or on a custom schedule, and plans include AI-powered email creation tools and an AI template generator. Email blasts and automated series send from your own address, and contact records are auto-enriched with business and social details. It costs $24.90 per seat per month billed annually, with a 14-day free trial that needs no credit card.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs Nimble
6. Covve: best for Scanning business cards at events
Covve is a lead capture tool built around a business card scanner for trade shows and meetings. It scans unlimited business cards, event badges and LinkedIn QRs, online or offline, in 60+ languages, and you can create leads and notes by voice. An AI research assistant enriches leads and helps personalize follow-ups, and captured contacts auto-sync to your CRM. Essential is $12 per user per month or $119 per year, with a 14-day free trial.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs Covve
7. Monica: best for Private, self-hosted personal relationships
Monica is a private, open-source personal CRM for remembering friends, family, colleagues and neighbors rather than customers. You can self-host it for free with Docker or PHP, or pay for a hosted version with managed backups. It includes reminders to get back in touch, notes and journal entries, relationship tracking and an activity history, and it says it never sends relationship data to an AI model on its own. It is a web app that also works on phones.
source · Capstone Outreach vs Monica
8. folk: best for Teams that share a sales pipeline
folk positions itself as an AI CRM for teams to close deals and find clients, aimed at sales teams, agencies, startups and partnership teams. It offers contact enrichment to find emails and phone numbers, email, calendar and WhatsApp sync on Standard, an AI icebreaker variable based on past interactions, and AI agents that suggest follow-up emails. Standard is $24 per member per month billed annually or $30 monthly, with a 2-week free trial that needs no credit card.
source · source · Capstone Outreach vs folk
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
What is the Dex personal CRM, and who is it for?
Dex positions itself as a digital rolodex and an alternative to sales CRMs for keeping in touch. It targets professionals building their network, including founders and chiefs of staff, and claims over 30,000 users. It sends keep-in-touch reminders and birthday notifications, syncs with LinkedIn and updates job titles automatically. Premium is listed at $12 per month and Professional at $20, each with a 7-day free trial.
Is there a free alternative to Dex?
Yes. Mesh's Personal plan is free up to 1,000 contacts, Happenstance has a free plan at $0 forever with no credit card, and Monica can be self-hosted for free. Contacts Journal CRM is free to try for 20 entries of each kind. Capstone Outreach has no free plan; it costs $25/month on the web after a 14-day trial.
Which Dex alternative syncs with LinkedIn?
Mesh imports people from LinkedIn along with email, calendar, X, Facebook and iMessage, and job changes appear automatically. Happenstance lists a LinkedIn connector. Queue, an iPhone app made by a single independent developer, can add people from LinkedIn and alerts you to job changes. Capstone Outreach does not offer LinkedIn or social network sync; it imports from your phone, CSV files, WhatsApp chats, business cards and calendar meetings.
Which Dex alternative writes the follow-up message for me?
Several list AI drafting. Capstone Outreach drafts each check-in by email, text or WhatsApp from your history when it comes due, and nothing sends without your approval. Contacts Journal CRM can generate AI email drafts tailored to each contact, Nimble includes AI-powered email creation tools, and folk's AI agents can suggest follow-up emails when new interactions arrive.
Can I bring my contacts over from Dex?
Dex says users can export or delete their data at any time. Capstone Outreach imports CSV files and your phone address book without duplicates, so an export file or your phone contacts can start your list. Mesh Pro imports spreadsheets and CSVs, and Monica imports vCard and CSV files and shows duplicates before merging.