Personal CRM apps compared for 2026

Compare Connections, Dex, Clay, Monica and Covve for keeping track of people, with what each one does and how each one is paid for.

By Uncommon Comforts · 2026-10-15

Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.

Five options match this search: Connections, Dex, Clay, Monica and Covve. They differ in how they are paid for, whether you can run them yourself, and how they gather contact details. The How to choose section matches each option to common situations.

Option	Paid price as published	Free start
Connections	Connections Pro is $39.99 a month ^[1]	Connections Free costs $0 ^[1]
Dex	Premium $12 per month ^[2]; Team $40 per user per month, billed monthly ^[2]	7-day free trial on Premium and Professional ^[2]; a credit card is required to start it ^[2]
Clay	Not published	Mesh is available free to get started ^[3]
Monica	Hosted subscription; amount not published ^[4]	Code is free to run on your own server ^[4]
Covve	Starter for Scanner & Lead Capture $12 per user per month ^[5]; Team $20 per user per month ^[5]	14-day free trial, cancel anytime ^[5]

How to read this list

This page covers the five options in the personal CRM category: Connections, Dex, Clay, Monica and Covve. Each option has its own section, and each section uses only what that option's own published material states, so a section can be shorter where the public information is thinner. The sections below differ in how each option is paid for, whether it can be run on your own server, and how contact details arrive. The table sets out the paid prices and free starts each option publishes, where it publishes them. A cell that says not published means no figure was given for that part, so check that price directly before you commit. Prices use the currency and billing period each source used, so compare like with like: a per-month price, a per-year price and a per-user price are different measures. The How to choose section matches the options to common situations, and the questions at the end cover the details people ask about first.

Connections: a contact book with follow-up tools

Connections is made by the team that publishes this site. Keep a contact book of the people in your life, and the core contacts stay free on every plan ^[1]. Organise each contact with folders, tags, a quality score from one to five stars, and reminders to follow up ^[1]. Log every meeting or conversation on a contact so you can see when you last spoke ^[1]. You can also get a relationship follow-up digest outside the app ^[1]. Bring contacts in from Google, Apple or a CSV file ^[1], and the app reads business cards, flyers and documents for you ^[1]. Paste or screenshot a note and it files the details to a contact ^[1]. You can exchange contact cards by tapping phones or scanning a QR code ^[1].

Dex: a tool for maintaining relationships on the go

Dex is supported by subscriptions rather than advertising, and says it will never sell user data to third parties ^[6]. Its Premium plan costs $12 per month and includes mobile, extension, web and desktop access ^[2]. The Professional plan costs $20 per month and includes all Premium features ^[2]. The Team plan costs $40 per user per month, billed monthly ^[2]. Premium and Professional start with a 7-day free trial ^[2]. Dex has a browser extension that integrates with Facebook, Instagram, X, Gmail and more ^[6], and it offers a mobile app for maintaining relationships on the go ^[6]. New job titles from connected LinkedIn contacts are synced automatically ^[6]. Users can export or delete their data at any time ^[6].

Clay: Mesh, an app that captures emails, meetings and connections

Clay's Mesh is available free to get started, and runs on macOS, Windows, Web, Android and iOS ^[3]. Its page says over 100 million relationships have been entrusted to Mesh ^[3]. Mesh automatically captures emails, meetings and connections, and keeps contact details current ^[3]. It provides reminders for moments that matter ^[3]. A Teams version shows who knows whom and helps surface warm intros ^[3]. Mesh includes an AI navigator for a user's network ^[3]. No paid price was published in the material used for this page, so check Clay's pricing directly.

Monica: an open-source contact tool you can run yourself

The Monica code is free and always will be, and it can run on your own server without payment ^[4]. Self-hosting requires Docker or a PHP environment you are comfortable maintaining ^[4]. The hosted version is a paid subscription, which funds the open-source project ^[4], and it includes automatic updates and managed backups ^[4]. Contacts can be imported from standard electronic contact card files and spreadsheet files ^[4], and users can export their data at any time, in full, including custom structures they built ^[4]. Monica says user data is never sold, never used for advertising and never used to train a model ^[4]. Support staff can access an account only with the user's explicit permission, for a specific problem ^[4]. The web application works on a phone today ^[4], and native iOS and Android apps come after v3 ^[4].

Covve: a scanner for business cards and event badges

Covve offers unlimited scans of event badges, business cards and LinkedIn QR codes, online or offline ^[5]. Contacts can be added by voice input in its app ^[5], and custom fields adapt to a user's workflows ^[5]. Covve's Starter plan for Scanner & Lead Capture costs $12 per user per month ^[5], and its Team plan for the same feature costs $20 per user per month ^[5]. The native CRM integration add-on, which connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and more, costs $6 per user per month ^[5]. Covve says it holds a recognised certification showing it follows a formal process for keeping information secure ^[5], and it says it follows the European Union's rules for protecting personal data ^[5]. Covve offers a 14-day free trial that can be cancelled at any time ^[5].

How to choose

If you want one contact book with folders, tags, a one-to-five-star quality score and a log of when you last spoke, Connections offers those features ^[1] ^[1]. Connections Free costs $0 ^[1], and Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month ^[1]. If a browser extension and a mobile app matter most, Dex offers both ^[6] ^[6]. Check the current price on each page before you start a trial, since Dex requires a credit card to begin its free trial ^[2]. If you want a tool that captures emails, meetings and connections automatically, Clay's Mesh does that ^[3]. If you want to run the software yourself on your own server, Monica's code is free to run that way ^[4]. If you may move your data elsewhere later, Monica says you can export everything, including custom structures you built ^[4]. If you collect business cards and event badges, Covve offers unlimited scans of both, online or offline ^[5]. Covve's prices are per user, so count the people who will use it before you compare them ^[5].

Frequently asked questions

Is Connections free to use?

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you ^[1]. Contacts are not capped on any plan, the free plan included ^[1]. The core contacts stay free on every plan ^[1]. Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product ^[1].

Is Dex free or does it need a subscription?

Dex is supported by subscriptions rather than advertising, and says it will never sell user data to third parties ^[6]. Premium costs $12 per month ^[2], and Premium and Professional start with a 7-day free trial ^[2]. A credit card is required to start that trial, but you will not be charged until it ends, and you can cancel any time before then ^[2].

Can Monica be run on your own server?

Can you export your contacts from Dex or Monica?

Monica users can export their data at any time, in full, including custom structures they built ^[4]. Dex users can export or delete their data at any time ^[6]. Contacts can be imported into Monica from vCard and CSV files ^[4]. Before you commit, check how each tool hands your data back, since the sources above describe export in different terms.

How much does Covve cost per user?

Covve's Starter plan for Scanner & Lead Capture costs $12 per user per month ^[5], and its Team plan for the same feature costs $20 per user per month ^[5]. The Professional plan for the same feature costs 84 euros per user per year ^[5]. Covve offers a 14-day free trial that can be cancelled at any time ^[5]. Because prices are per user, multiply by the number of people who will use it.

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. ^[1] Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product. ^[1]

Try Connections