The 6 Best Personal CRM Tools in 2025

If I asked you to list everyone you know, could you?

The average American knows a huge 611 people. But keeping on top of all those birthdays, job moves, and career changes is a nightmare. 

That’s why personal CRMs are quickly becoming essential for anyone serious about building better relationships, whether you're a freelancer, business owner, or sales professional. These tools help you keep track of your contacts, follow up at the right time, and stop relying on your memory (or all those messy spreadsheets 🙃).

I tested 6 of the top-rated personal CRM platforms on the market, including tools like Wave Connect, Clay, and Monica, to figure out which ones are actually worth your time.

Here’s my extensive review of what I found.

Best Personal CRM Comparison Chart

...and yes, I actually tested them all (with a slight bias) 🤷♂️

1. Wave Connect

Hands down the best free personal CRM for anyone who networks often and needs an easy solution that does it all but doesn’t break the bank. 🏆

Wave Connect might not market itself as a traditional personal CRM… but don’t let that fool you. After testing a handful of tools, I kept coming back to Wave because of one thing: it’s actually built around real-world networking behavior (not just what those execs think you do at a networking event!!)

If you’re the kind of person who goes to events, meets leads, connects with partners, or follows up with clients… This is for sure the tool you want in your pocket.

You can create a digital business card (absolutely free), share it via QR code, email, or Apple Wallet, and (here’s the key) every person you meet is automatically added to your contact hub. 

Not to mention, it’s pretty cool. When I whipped out the QR code it was a great ice-breaker, and I even used the QR code in a presentation I gave, which meant that over 35 people could instantly follow me on LinkedIn and connect, without me even having to address them individually.

Once your new contacts are in your personal CRM system, you can label them, tag them, sort them into groups, and even send automated follow-up emails or texts. Basically, it’s everything a personal CRM promises to do, without the learning curve and the pricey monthly subscription (like LinkedIn Premium 💰)

Wave Pros

✅ Free to use with unlimited contacts and the most affordable PRO price tag
✅ Automatically saves contacts when you share your card
✅ Label, tag, and filter your network
✅ Send follow-up emails and texts (automated or manual)
✅ Search your contact list by name, label, or company
✅ Custom digital card with your logo and branding
✅ Works without an app — just a QR code or URL
✅ Optional NFC cards (matte, metal, bamboo)
✅ Rated easiest-to-use by teams on G2
✅ SOC 2 Type 2 certified for data privacy

Wave Cons

❌ No “relationship timeline” view
❌ No LinkedIn or calendar syncing (yet)
❌ Can’t add manual reminders for follow-ups

My Review (Score: 92/100)

I’ll be honest: most personal CRM tools I tested felt like mini Salesforce setups. They required onboarding, syncing, and hours of setup just to get going. 

Wave is exactly the opposite. It works instantly, and the core features are exactly what someone like me actually needs, without the boring set up or the overload of unnecessary features that eat into my budget.

I used the PRO plan ($4.99/month) and found the ability to switch sharing modes, trigger automatic messages, and track who engaged with my card really useful. It even has analytics so you can see how often your card is being viewed! 

But if you’re looking for a free personal CRM, then Wave fits that bill too. You can get started with a digital business card right away, and the free plan includes unlimited contact storage, tagging, and automatic follow-up tools to help you stay organized without paying a cent.

So, to recap, the best personal CRM that's easy, affordable, and actually built around human interaction… IMO Wave is the clear winner 🔥🔥

2. Clay.earth

Best for social network syncing and a beautiful interface that honestly I loved using, even if it’s not the best for face-to-face networking 🎉 

Clay.earth is one of the most polished personal CRM tools I tested… and definitely the most elegant. It’s kind of like the influencer of personal CRMs and it’s the color scheme I would imagine Kylie Jenner or Hailey Bieber choosing if you know what I mean!

Clay.earth is obviously built for people who want to stay in touch with a wide range of contacts: friends, coworkers, clients, investors, mentors. But it’s got that polished, professional vibe that makes it great for all you super organizers.

What I really loved is how Clay pulls information from everywhere (and I mean everywhere). It syncs up with your email, calendar, LinkedIn, Twitter, and iPhone contacts to automatically build detailed profiles of the people in your life (including how many times you’ve met someone! Which really blew me away even though it wasn’t always accurate).

Clay also has a neat feature that means you can set notifications for important personal events like birthdays, anniversaries, reminders etc. which is great if you’re like me and always buying flowers last min. Sorry mom!

While Clay is great for managing relationships, I don’t think it would be a good choice for those who need to share contact details quickly while networking. It’s not easy to quickly add people, and there’s no easy QR scanning functionality like with Wave, which means you’re probably better off connecting with a new contact on socials and waiting for the integrations to work their magic. 

Also, if you’ve got an Android then don’t bother, there’s no Android app! That’s a pretty big issue IMO, and the premium $10/month price tag means that Clay.earth can get a bit expensive over the long run.

Clay Pros

✅ Gorgeous interface with thoughtful design
✅ Automatically pulls in contacts from Gmail, iCloud, LinkedIn, and more
✅ Timeline of every interaction you've had with someone
✅ Smart reminders and follow-up nudges
✅ Tags, notes, and relationship insights built-in
✅ Available on desktop and iOS
✅ Focus on both personal and professional relationships

Clay Cons

❌ No Android app
❌ Not built for quick lead capture at in-person events
❌ Premium pricing: $10/month after free trial
❌ Can feel overwhelming with too much information imported
❌ Limited sharing or “digital business card” functionality

My Review (Score: 85/100)

Clay is beautifully made and useful but it feels more like a memory extension than a sales tool or a personal CRM. I loved the timeline feature and how it brought in LinkedIn connections and past email conversations automatically, and the birthday reminders are great. 

That said, Clay works best behind a desk…Not out in the world. It’s great for thoughtful relationship management, but less ideal if you’re constantly meeting people at events or need to capture leads quickly. It doesn’t offer a digital business card or any kind of instant contact-sharing tool, which makes it a bit more passive than Wave.

If you’re someone who wants deep context on your relationships and doesn’t mind paying for it, Clay is a solid pick. But for networking on the go, it might leave a few holes in your contact collection (and your wallet!!)

3. Dex

A great personal CRM for staying on top of LinkedIn connections and calendar-based relationships

As a freelance business owner, Dex was actually the personal CRM that I was most looking forward to trying out. I loved the website, with pics of sleek Kanban boards that looked like they were going to work really well for me and all the following up I need to do regularly. 

I’m often running around looking for work, so the DMs in my LinkedIn profile get a lot of traction, but so often I’m having conversations on email, LinkedIn, in Slack… it can get confusing super fast. 

But Dex’s dashboard is meant to solve that issue, with an overview that looks great. Plus, the integration with my G-calendar was suchhh a helpful tool. I live in my calendar and so I loved seeing the actions for the day automatically populated. But then I went to an in person event and I realized that Dex does have some limitations. It was clunky to add new contacts to my personal CRM (even with the mobile app). 

When you’re making those first impressions you can’t be glued to a screen populating fields, so I settled on exchanging contacts using my Wave digital business card, then relying on Dex’s integrations to populate my personal CRM — a bit of a wasted $12 a month when Wave’s own functionality is so great. 

Dex Pros

✅ Auto-syncs with Google Calendar, LinkedIn, and iCloud contacts
✅ Easy-to-set follow-up reminders
✅ Notes and tags for relationship tracking + automatic updates
✅ Chrome extension to quickly save contacts from LinkedIn
✅ Mobile and desktop apps available
✅ Clean interface designed around real-world networking

Dex Cons

❌ No contact sharing, digital business card, or NFC functionality
❌ Limited integrations beyond Google and LinkedIn (if you’re a Microsoft person, you’re going to struggle)
❌ Not ideal for lead capture at events (you’ll have to find another way to connect with new contacts en masse)
❌ Premium plan required for key features ($12/month)

My Review (Score: 80/100)

Dex is a solid option if you spend a lot of time on LinkedIn or live out of your calendar. I used their Chrome extension to import a few recent contacts and found the tagging and reminders really helpful for staying organized without overthinking it.

It’s much more professional than Clay and it’s got some really good features, like job updates and the Kanban board which helps me to arrange contacts to follow up with and is super helpful and visual.

Having said all that, there are some drawbacks. Dex doesn’t offer much in the way of in-person networking tools. There’s no digital card to share, no lead forms, no automated follow-ups… so it’s best suited to people who already have contact info and want to manage it better, rather than collect new leads. To be honest, I still found my Wave digital business card to be critical.

If you’re focused on building long-term professional relationships (like investors, mentors, or partners), Dex works well. But if you want a more active CRM that helps you grow your network and follow up automatically, Wave feels like a more complete option (and is way more useful at events too).

4. Folk

Best personal CRM for small teams working on a desktop looking to manage their customers and sales

I went a bit back and forth about including this in my list here. Is Folk really a personal CRM, or is it just a CRM straight up? And I’m kind of on the fence.

If you don’t have a team and you’re not trying to make sales, Folk is a bit of overkill. It’s made for small businesses with a pipeline to manage, like agencies, partnerships, and early start-ups. That said, it’s not a full CRM, either. It straddles the middle ground between a one person CRM platform and a full blows software solution for businesses. 

But one thing I loved about Folk was how it went a bit extra – so you can send personalized emails from the platform, for instance, which is a tool the rest of the personal CRMs on this list are missing. However, all this means it’s best managed from a desktop/laptop rather than mobile, which means it’s not that useful on the go or at face-to-face networking events.

Folk Pros

✅ Clean, intuitive interface with no learning curve
✅ Easy import from Gmail, LinkedIn, and CSV
✅ Create groups and pipelines (like “Investors” or “Leads”)
✅ Send bulk personalized emails with templates!
✅ Works well for small agencies, founders, and small teams
✅ Browser extension for LinkedIn and Gmail
✅ Collaboration tools built-in for team use

Folk Cons

❌ Web-only — no mobile app yet
❌ No digital business card or QR sharing features
❌ Not designed for in-person networking
❌ Free plan is limited to 100 contacts
❌ More focused on sales outreach than relationship-building and best for a team rather than an individual

My Review (Score: 78/100)

Folk is a great little tool, but it’s perhaps the in-between solution, that’s neither a fully personal CRM nor a full blown sales CRM tool. It’s well-designed and has some great features that I can imagine would be great for teams managing a pipeline, but that are less relevant for individuals. 

I did find some features excellent. The grouping feature was especially useful for example. I was able to organize contacts by client type, investor stage, and even by events I met them at.

But the bottom line is that Folk feels more like a mini outreach tool than a relationship manager. For everyday professionals who meet people organically and in-person and want to stay connected long-term, something like Wave will feel more personal.

5. Covve

Best personal CRM for intelligent reminders and filling in the gaps in your contact list

Covve is a personal CRM that leans hard into automation. And I like that a lot. 

The intelligence BTS of Covve keeps your contacts up to date without you lifting a finger (or copy-pasting another job title ever again!). It scans your phone contacts, enriches them with publicly available data (like company, job title, or location), and then gives you notifications to help you stay in touch.

And, Covve has a digital business card solution, too! That means it’s a good option for those of us who like to meet people the old fashioned way, and the app means you can take your whole network with you wherever. 

But Covve feels a bit corporate — and that’s reflected in its pricing. If you’re looking for a digital business card solution and a personal CRM, you’ll be paying $50 a month per person, which is definitely on the pricier end. Covve is an enterprise solution, so it’s not a good fit for individuals and small teams without enterprise level bank account balances. 

Covve Pros

✅ Automatically enriches contact info (job titles, locations, etc.)
✅ Smart reminders to stay in touch regularly
✅ In-app notes and tagging for contacts
✅ Timeline view of interactions and updates
✅ Works seamlessly with iPhone or Android contact list
✅ Easy-to-use mobile app

Covve Cons

❌ No desktop/web app, mobile-only
❌ Limited integrations with email or calendar
❌ Free version is feature-limited
❌ Paid versions are expensive (over $50 a month! 😲)
❌ Focused more on updating contacts than deep relationship tracking

My Review (Score: 76/100)

I’m not going to lie, I did like how great Covve made my contact list… But I couldn’t justify the pricing when I could get better options (like Wave) for free or for a fraction of the monthly cost.

I’m usually super lazy when it comes to my contacts, so you’ll see a lot of records in my phone called things like ‘Tom (work event)” which aren’t super helpful when it comes to messaging and following up leads. But is that worth $50 a month? Probably not.

6. Monica

Best open-source personal CRM for people with a personal network of family and friends

Monica is a bit of a hidden gem in the personal CRM space… especially if you’re the kind of person who values control and privacy over fancy features. 

It’s an open-source platform designed to help you track and nurture your personal relationships, from friends and family to clients and coworkers. And I love that. On their website, they got me with the question, ‘Can you remember the wedding anniversary of your brother?’ – and I genuinely can’t even though I know it’s coming up 😬

But Monica isn’t really what I was looking for. It’s more of a personal CRM for friends and family, not really to manage my professional life as I grow my business. Sure, it’s got some functionality that could be helpful, like logging interactions and setting reminders, but I’m not their target audience, really.

Monica Pros

✅ Completely free if self-hosted
✅ Privacy-first design with no data selling
✅ Add notes, tasks, reminders, and gift ideas for each contact
✅ Timeline of interactions and life events
✅ Open-source and highly customizable
✅ Great for managing personal relationships with tasks and reminder features

Monica Cons

❌ Not ideal for business networking or lead capture 
❌ More for personal relationships over professional ones
❌ Requires technical setup if self-hosting
❌ No NFC or contact-sharing features so
❌ Outdated interface compared to modern tools
❌ Limited integrations with email or calendar platforms

My Review (Score: 58/100)

I’ve got to say, I like what Monica is doing. 

It’s not trying to be a Silicon Valley startup with a sleek dashboard. It’s built for busy people who care about meaningful, private connection tracking and who are juggling a million plates. I think this would be a great tool for a busy mom or grandma, for example, who has to keep on top of all her grandkids’ birthdays and school commitments.

During the testing process for this blog, I used Monica mostly for non-work contacts and I did like it. I'm just not sure how much of an appetite I have for bringing work-level organization to my private life…

The truth is, Monica is not something I’d rely on for professional networking at all… There’s no fast way to collect contact info, no automation, and certainly no built-in digital business card like Wave. 

What is a personal CRM?

A personal CRM is a piece of software that helps you track, document, and manage your relationships. 

Normally, a CRM (customer relationship manager) is used for businesses to keep track of all their customers and the people that they do business with, like investors, partners, vendors, and potential customers. 

A personal CRM is made for individuals and is a great tool for those who have to keep track of a lot of different people and relationships. This could be people like teachers, business owners, politicians, creators, job seekers, and even just regular folk who are tired of forgetting things like the birthdays of their friends.

You can use a personal CRM to store contact details, add notes about how you met someone, set reminders to reach out, and stay organised without juggling spreadsheets or sticky notes. Some even let you tag contacts, automate follow-up messages, or sync with your calendar and email — so your relationships don’t slip through the cracks.

How I scored each personal CRM

So let’s talk about the scores. Yes, I actually tested all these tools myself. But I didn’t just make up the scores based on how I felt that day. 

To make this review fair, I gave each personal CRM a week to impress me. Just from the nature of my calendar, some of the weeks I was busier than others with more networking, but I tried to make it as fair as possible by thinking about how I would use the tools in all those situations. 

At the end, each CRM was scored out of 100 based on the stuff that actually mattered to me… Because I’m a freelance business owner a lot of this came down to notifications, using the tool for business, and how easy it was to use on the go (I don’t have time or the brain capacity to be desperately remembering what a new lead said while I’m at my desktop three days later).

Here’s what I looked at:

1. Design and usability (20 pts): Is it intuitive, modern, and easy to navigate?

2. Functionality (20 pts): Can it save contacts, send reminders, and actually help you stay in touch?

3. Networking and contact capture (20 pts): Is it useful at real-life events? Can you quickly exchange info?

4. Customization and flexibility (10 pts): Does it adapt to different workflows or styles? Is it only good for one thing, or can many different kinds of individuals use it as their personal CRM?

5. Pricing and value (10 pts): Is the free version good, and is the paid version worth it?

6. Unique features (10 pts): Bonus for things like analytics, automations, and clever add-ons.

7. Security and privacy (10 pts): Does it handle your data responsibly and transparently?

Why Wave came out on top 🏅

Wave came out as the best personal CRM I tested because it actually made sense for how most people really network. 

All of those most important features are included and easy to use: contact capture was instant, follow-ups were built in, and the tagging system made it easy to stay organized. I liked how I could make my business card feel my own, and also capture the data that was important to my business. I gave it near perfect scores for that because it all went without a hitch.

As for price, Wave is free and the pro plan (at $4.99) is one of the cheapest available. You can’t score better than free. 

But Wave did lose a few points for customization and advanced features. It doesn’t integrate with email automations, it doesn’t have slick analytics dashboards, and it doesn’t offer relationship history or things like lead scoring. But to be honest, when I did have those features I found them a little overwhelming for what I want my personal CRM to do.

Overall, Wave just works as a personal CRM, and at that price and with those great features, it’s an easy winner.

How to choose the best personal CRM for you

If you’re thinking about investing in a personal CRM to manage your network, then what do you need to consider before you sign up?

Think about your budget 💸

Some personal CRMs, like Wave, are free 🙌, others charge $10–$50/month which adds up fast. If you’re just getting started or don’t need fancy analytics, there’s no reason to pay a premium. 

Look for mobile apps 📱

If you’re meeting people at events, on the move, or hate being glued to your laptop then a mobile app is non-negotiable. Some tools (like Clay or Dex) are beautifully built but still desktop-first. Others (like Wave) are designed for on-the-go networking with QR codes and no app required.

Networking in-person or online? 🤝

This is a biggie. If you meet people IRL — at conferences, client meetings, or even coffee shops — you’ll want something that lets you share info quickly (QR codes, NFC cards, lead capture etc). If your network lives online (LinkedIn, Gmail, Zoom), you might want a CRM that syncs and organises those interactions automatically.

Ready for automation 🧠

Some CRMs send reminders, auto-tag contacts, and nudge you to follow up while others are more manual and need you to do the grunt work and copy pasting. 

If you like doing that and have a small network, then perhaps you’d rather be more in control. But if you’re a business owner that’s rushed off your feet, then maybe you’d prefer something a bit more automated. 

Personal CRM FAQs

What’s the difference between a CRM and a personal CRM?

A CRM is built for managing customer relationships at a company level, while a personal CRM helps you stay in touch with your own network of contacts.

Do I need a personal CRM if I already use Google Contacts or LinkedIn?

Absolutely. Some of the most valuable contacts you’ll meet in your career won’t be spending their time scrolling LinkedIn or adding emails to a G-doc to stay up-to-date on what their network is doing. A personal CRM is a 

Is Wave Connect a personal CRM?

Yes. Wave is a digital business card and a personal CRM all rolled into one. 

Are there any free personal CRMs worth using?

Yes. A personal CRM doesn’t have to be a boring spreadsheet doc. Wave (also known as Wave Connect) is an easy-to-use, fully customizable personal CRM that makes it easy to keep in touch with your network by scanning a QR code on your digital business card.

Can I use a CRM for personal relationships, like friends or mentors?

Absolutely, in fact, a personal CRM is a great way to keep on top of all your connections as you build your career.