Folk
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
A lightweight CRM built around your contacts: it pulls people in from your inbox and LinkedIn, groups them, and reminds you who you have not spoken to.
Build me a contact-first CRM. STACK - Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite, Gmail and Calendar APIs read-only PEOPLE - One row per person: name, emails as an array, company, tags, notes - Merge rule: same email means same person; anything else needs a human to confirm - Every merge is recorded so it can be undone FILLING IT IN BY ITSELF - Poll the mail and calendar APIs for threads and events with external addresses - Update last_contacted from that; never require anyone to type a date - Store only the address, the subject and the timestamp — never the message body GROUPS - A group is a saved filter over tags and fields, evaluated at query time WHO IS GOING COLD - A view of people with a tag whose last contact is older than N days, sorted oldest first - That single list is the reason to open the app CAPTURE - A bookmarklet that posts the current page URL, plus a name and email typed once Include the schema, the mail poller and the merge rules.
What you lose
- A browser extension that captures a person from LinkedIn or a website in one click, which is the habit the product sells
- Mail and calendar sync that fills in the last-contacted date without anyone updating a record
- Deduplication across sources, which is harder than it looks once the same person arrives three ways
If you would rather not build
- A spreadsheet with a last-contacted column, which is honestly competitive
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Twenty
$0An open-source CRM with a modern data model, self-hostable.
twentyhq/twentyfree · open source
Monica
$0A personal CRM built around remembering people rather than deals.
monicahq/monicafree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
74/100
Verdict yes at 74. The going-cold list is the whole product and is one query; the enrichment extension is what you would miss.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Folk
answered from the record above
Is Folk free?
No — the plan we track is $20 a month. Standard at $20 per user per month billed monthly, around $18 annually.
Can you replace Folk by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 74 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Folk cost?
$20 a month on Standard — $240 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Folk?
A browser extension that captures a person from LinkedIn or a website in one click, which is the habit the product sells; Mail and calendar sync that fills in the last-contacted date without anyone updating a record; Deduplication across sources, which is harder than it looks once the same person arrives three ways. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Folk?
Yes: Twenty, Monica. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
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