Why people search for an alternative to Clay
Pricing pushes toward B2B sales workflows. Auto-capture covers email well but stops short of personal channels like iMessage.
The ranking
#1
Vellaci
Editor's pickThe auto-log alternative. Wins when manual entry is the deal-breaker with Clay.
#2
Notion as CRM
DIY personal CRM built on a Notion template.
Best for
Power users with <100 contacts and a tolerance for maintenance.
Watch out
Notion is a passive document. It doesn't auto-log, doesn't remind you on Thursday, doesn't follow up. Templates collapse around 200 contacts.
#3
Monica
Open-source personal CRM (self-host or cloud).
Best for
Privacy purists and self-hosters who want full data control.
Watch out
Everything is manual. Adding a contact, logging a call, setting a reminder — all keyboard work. Great for hobbyists, fragile for 500+ contacts.
#4
Dex
LinkedIn-first personal CRM with manual enrichment.
Best for
LinkedIn-heavy networkers who already live in their inbox.
Watch out
You still type in every conversation. Auto-capture is limited to LinkedIn and a Chrome extension that decays in week 3 of real use.
#5
Cloze
Long-running personal CRM with iPhone-first roots.
Best for
iPhone-first power users who started with Cloze before the category existed.
Watch out
UI feels frozen in 2017. Mobile-first means the macOS / web experience lags. Pricing tiers are confusing.
How to pick in 30 seconds
- Manual entry is the deal-breaker → Vellaci (auto-logs iMessage + email + calendar).
- Privacy / self-host → Monica OSS.
- LinkedIn-heavy network → Dex or Clay.
- iPhone-first power user → Cloze.
- Free at all costs, < 200 contacts → Notion CRM template.
Migrating from Clay
- Export contacts from Clay (CSV).
- Open Vellaci → Imports → drop the file.
- Vellaci maps name, email, phone, tags and last-contacted in one click.
- Connect Gmail / iMessage / Calendar so timelines populate.
- Set cadence rules on your top 30. Done.