Personal CRM FAQ: 27 Questions Founders Actually Ask (2026)

The 27 questions we hear most. Each answer is the atomic version. Follow the internal links for the deep-dive.

General

What is a personal CRM?

A personal CRM is a tool that captures and organises your interactions with people outside a sales pipeline — friends, mentors, investors, peers. It optimises for memory and follow-up, not revenue. Full definition: what is a personal CRM.

Do I need a personal CRM?

If you have 200+ contacts you care about, and you've forgotten a follow-up in the last month, yes. Under 100 contacts with a sharp memory, no.

What's the difference between a personal CRM and a business CRM?

Business CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce) optimise for deal stages and revenue. Personal CRMs (Vellaci, Dex, Monica) optimise for memory and cadence. Different optimisation function, different schema.

When does a personal CRM stop being optional?

Around 200-500 contacts. Below that, memory + occasional Notion notes survive. Above, the system fails silently — you stop noticing the follow-ups you miss.

Can I share a personal CRM with my family?

Most don't support it. Vellaci's Family plan covers 4 seats sharing a contact graph ($14/mo). Dex, Monica, Clay, Cloze are single-user.

Is this the same as a relationship intelligence tool?

Related but different. Relationship intelligence (Affinity, Crelate) is team-built for VCs / recruiters with org-wide deduplication. Personal CRM is solo-first. The category lines blur for solos who get pulled into team workflows.

Pricing & free options

What's the best free personal CRM?

Two options: Notion CRM template (free, breaks at 200 contacts) and Monica self-host (free if you provide hosting). For managed free tiers, none of the dedicated tools offer one.

How much does Vellaci cost?

$5/mo Solo. $14/mo Family (4 seats). 14-day free trial, no card.

Is Dex worth $12/mo?

For LinkedIn-heavy networkers, yes. For founders managing iMessage + email + calendar, the price-vs-auto-log trade gets worse — Vellaci does more for less. See Vellaci vs Dex.

Are there annual discounts?

Most tools offer 15-20% off for annual. Vellaci's annual is $50/yr Solo, $140/yr Family. Dex offers similar.

Privacy & data

Is iMessage logging safe?

The Vellaci macOS sidecar reads chat.db read-only and locally. By default only metadata syncs to the cloud — never message body. Apple's E2E encryption on Messages remains intact. Full breakdown: iMessage CRM integration.

Does Vellaci read my email content?

No. We use Gmail's gmail.metadata scope only — Google doesn't return the body. We log sender, recipient, subject, date. Body is never stored, indexed, or trained on.

What about lawyer/journalist confidentiality?

Metadata-only logging + local iMessage processing means the body never leaves your devices. We store sender/recipient/timestamp. If that's still too much, Monica self-host is the right call.

Can I delete my data?

Yes. Account deletion is one click in Settings → Account → Delete. We purge within 30 days (legal retention max). Export-before-delete is available.

Integrations

Which personal CRMs auto-log Gmail?

Vellaci (full), Cloze (full), Clay (full), Dex (partial via Chrome extension), Monica (none), Notion (none).

Which auto-log iMessage?

Only Vellaci (via macOS sidecar). Cloze has partial iOS-only support. Dex, Monica, Clay, Notion don't.

Can I connect Outlook / Microsoft 365?

Vellaci yes (Outlook integration). Cloze yes. Clay partial. Dex and Monica no.

What about WhatsApp?

WhatsApp doesn't expose a programmatic API for personal use. Vellaci's workaround is a weekly chat export — runs on-device, only metadata syncs.

Can I sync with LinkedIn?

Yes — enrichment + manual contact add via Chrome extension or CSV. None of the personal CRMs auto-log LinkedIn DMs as of early 2026.

Tool comparisons

Vellaci vs Dex — which is better?

Vellaci vs Dex. Short: Vellaci wins on auto-log (especially iMessage). Dex wins on LinkedIn-first networks.

Vellaci vs Monica — which is better?

Vellaci vs Monica. Short: Monica wins on privacy / self-host. Vellaci wins on zero manual entry.

Vellaci vs Clay?

Vellaci vs Clay. Short: Clay has best AI summaries. Vellaci is half the price and has iMessage.

Vellaci vs Notion CRM?

Vellaci vs Notion CRM. Short: Notion is free and flexible. Vellaci auto-logs and reminds — Notion does neither.

Vellaci vs Cloze?

Vellaci vs Cloze. Short: Cloze has older iOS polish. Vellaci has modern UI + simpler pricing + macOS iMessage.

Migration & onboarding

How long does migration take?

Under 10 minutes for under 1 000 contacts. CSV export from your current tool, drop into Vellaci, confirm column mapping. See: founder-followup case study.

Will I lose my notes / tags?

No. Vellaci's importer preserves notes, tags, and last-contacted dates. Test with a sample first if you're nervous.

What if I want to leave Vellaci later?

One-click CSV export of all your data. No lock-in. Same data shape (contacts, tags, last-contacted) every other tool accepts.

Related

• The complete personal CRM guide — pillar.
• Best personal CRMs in 2026 — listicle.
• Why Notion CRM templates fail at 200 contacts — problem post.