Is Vellaci cheaper than Monica?

Roughly comparable. Vellaci Solo is $5/mo; Monica is around $9/mo. Vellaci's Family plan ($14/mo for 4 seats) is unique in the category.

Can I import my Monica contacts?

Yes. Monica exports a CSV; Vellaci's importer maps name, email, phone, tags and last-contacted dates in one step. Most users finish in under 10 minutes.

Does Vellaci auto-log iMessage like Monica?

Monica doesn't auto-log iMessage. Vellaci does, via a local macOS sidecar that reads chat.db read-only. By default only metadata syncs.

Should I pick Monica instead?

Pick Monica if: Privacy purists and self-hosters who want full data control.. The honest win for Monica: True self-host — Vellaci is SaaS-only today.

Vellaci vs Monica: Which Personal CRM Wins in 2026

Where Monica was great

Privacy-first by default, self-hostable, no vendor lock-in. The OSS option in this space.

Why founders search for an alternative

Everything is manual. Adding a contact, logging a call, setting a reminder — all keyboard work. Great for hobbyists, fragile for 500+ contacts.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Vellaci	Monica
Auto-log email	Full	No
Auto-log iMessage	Full	No
Auto-log calendar	Full	No
LinkedIn enrichment	Partial	No
WhatsApp logging	Partial	No
Open source	No (SaaS)	Yes
Native mobile	iOS	Web-only
Family plan	$14/mo · 4 seats	—
Cheapest paid tier	$5/mo	$9/mo

Last reviewed 2026-02-01. Pricing changes — we refresh quarterly.

Where Monica still wins

True self-host — Vellaci is SaaS-only today.
No subscription if you host it yourself.
Mature data model (life events, debt tracking, gift ideas) we haven't matched yet.

Where Vellaci wins

Auto-log on day 1 — Monica is 100% manual entry by design.
Mobile app that doesn't feel like a Bootstrap PWA.
iMessage capture via local macOS sidecar — Monica has no equivalent.
Calendar + email integrations work out of the box without DIY plumbing.

Who should pick Monica

Privacy purists and self-hosters who want full data control.

Who should pick Vellaci

You have 500+ contacts across email, iMessage and calendar; you stopped opening your last CRM because manual entry decayed in week 3; you want zero typing on day 1. If that's you, the iMessage auto-log alone usually decides it.

Migration path from Monica to Vellaci

Export your contacts from Monica as CSV.
Open Vellaci → Imports, drop the file.
Vellaci enriches each row (email + calendar + LinkedIn) within minutes.
Connect Gmail / iMessage / Google Calendar. Your timelines populate.

Vellaci vs Monica