A personal CRM helps you remember people: what you talked about, when their birthday is, and when it’s time to get back in touch. Here is an honest look at the most popular options for iPhone, with what each one needs from you and what it costs.
Updated October 2026
We make Starrise Contacts, so we are not neutral. We have tried to describe every app fairly, using only facts from the makers’ own websites and App Store listings (seen on 11 October 2026, US prices). Prices and features change, so check the links at the end before you decide.
| App | Account / where data lives | Uses your iPhone address book | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starrise Contacts | No account. On your device; optional sync through your own iCloud (Pro) | Yes, directly | Free; Pro $0.99/month or $5.99/year |
| Dex | Account required; data in Dex’s cloud | Own database; two-way sync via CardDAV (beta) | No free plan; from $12/month billed yearly (website) |
| Mesh (formerly Clay) | Account required; cloud service | Own database; imports your address book | Free up to 1,000 contacts; Pro $10/month (website) |
| Covve | Covve sign-in; notes end-to-end encrypted | Own app with card export to your address book | Free download; Covve PRO from $4.99/month |
| Cardhop | Contacts stay in your accounts; Flexibits account for Premium | Yes, directly | Free basics; Flexibits Premium $6.99/month or $56.99/year |
| Apple Contacts | Your Apple Account, iCloud, Google or Exchange | It is the address book | Free, built in |
Starrise Contacts is a contacts app and personal CRM for iPhone, iPad and Mac that works directly on the address book you already have, including iCloud, Google and Exchange contacts. There is no account and nothing to import; your contacts are never sent to us.
Dex is a cloud-based personal CRM for people who network a lot. It pulls contacts in from many sources, including LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, calendars and messaging apps, and offers keep-in-touch and birthday reminders, a map view and AI research features. It runs on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and the web.
You need a Dex account and your data is stored on Dex’s servers. Dex keeps its own database; an optional two-way sync with your iPhone address book (in beta) runs through Dex’s CardDAV server, and notes, tags and reminders stay in Dex. There is no free plan: on the website Premium starts at $12 per month billed yearly ($20 month to month), with a 7-day trial.
More: Dex alternative for iPhone.
Clay was acquired by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, in 2025 and renamed itself Mesh in March 2026; it is the same app. Mesh builds contact profiles automatically from email, calendar, your address book, LinkedIn and social networks, reminds you to reconnect, and has an AI assistant for questions about your network.
Mesh is a cloud service with an account. Its website lists a free plan for up to 1,000 contacts and Pro at $10 per month; in the App Store the membership is listed at $19.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
Covve – Personal CRM focuses on business contacts: it scans business cards, gives you a digital business card, reminds you to follow up, and shows news about your contacts. Since version 29 it encrypts notes, interactions and reminders end to end. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro; Covve PRO is an in-app subscription starting at $4.99 per month.
Cardhop by Flexibits, the makers of Fantastical, is a fast contacts app that works directly on your existing contacts. You add and edit people by typing a sentence such as “Anna Lee anna@example.com birthday May 4”. Birthday notifications, notes and widgets are free; Flexibits Premium ($6.99 per month or $56.99 per year, shared with Fantastical) adds business card scanning, smart groups and more.
More: Cardhop alternative.
The built-in Contacts app is free, syncs through iCloud and works with Google and Exchange accounts. Each contact has one notes field, and birthdays you save appear in the Calendar app’s Birthdays calendar, where you can get an alert. It has no keep-in-touch reminders, no dated notes timeline and no gift ideas.
More: Apple Contacts vs Starrise Contacts.
UpHabit, once a popular personal CRM, was reported to have stopped development in April 2026. folk is mainly a web CRM for teams. Monica is an open-source personal CRM you can host yourself. We did not include them in the table because we could not verify their current iPhone apps.
Facts about other apps were checked on 11 October 2026 on the pages below.
It depends on what you need. If you want your contacts to stay on your iPhone without an account, Starrise Contacts and Cardhop work directly on your address book.
Yes. Starrise Contacts is free to download and its core features, including notes, birthday reminders, gift ideas and the map, are free. Mesh has a free plan for up to 1,000 contacts, and Cardhop’s basics are free.
Clay was acquired by Automattic in 2025 and renamed itself Mesh in March 2026. The app, now called Mesh, continues under the new name.
Starrise Contacts needs no account at all: it works on the contacts already on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Cardhop also works on your existing contacts and only asks for a Flexibits account if you subscribe to Premium.
Starrise Contacts works on the contacts already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. No account, nothing to import. Free to download, with an optional Pro subscription.
Free on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Pro costs $0.99 per month or $5.99 per year in the US.
Find the right way to manage your contacts and relationships on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
