How to choose a personal CRM app
A personal CRM remembers the people you know, keeps a log of every interaction, and tells you when to reach out. Check these six things before you pick one.
First: are you managing people, or a pipeline?
A company CRM tracks deals, sales stages and team numbers. A personal CRM tracks your own relationships: who is who, what you talked about last time, how long it has been. If you just want to keep up with the people who matter, a personal CRM is enough.
Six criteria
- It reminds you: birthdays, key dates and people you have not talked to in a while, so you know who to contact today.
- Capture is fast: a business card photo, a screenshot or pasted text becomes a contact without typing every field.
- Logging is effortless: after a meeting or a call, you can note what you talked about in seconds.
- Privacy is clear: where the data lives, whether backups are encrypted, and whether the vendor can read them.
- It fits your platforms and language: phone, web or desktop, in a language you are comfortable with.
- Your data can leave: export to a standard format such as vCard, so switching tools is easy.
Who Relo is for
Relo is a mobile personal CRM for people whose work runs on relationships: salespeople, founders and freelancers. It also works for anyone who wants to remember friends and family.
- The Today screen shows who to contact: birthdays (lunar-calendar birthdays included), key dates, and relationships cooling off based on each group’s rhythm
- Quick add: snap a business card, pick a screenshot or paste text, and AI turns it into a contact
- Log an interaction in seconds; on Android, a floating bubble appears after a call so you can log it with one tap
- Before you meet (AI): a quick recap built from your notes and past interactions
- Swap QR cards and share only the fields you choose; vCard import and export
- Free cloud backup, end-to-end encrypted with your own backup password, so Relo cannot read it
Relo is free, with no limit on contacts or interactions. The optional Plus plan adds more AI use and automatic sync across phones.
When Relo may not fit
- You want to work on a computer or in a browser: Relo is a phone app only for now.
- You want automatic sync with LinkedIn, email or calendars: Relo is built around manual logging and vCard import.
- You need a shared sales pipeline for a team: Relo is a personal tool, not a team CRM.
- You only use an iPhone: the iOS app is coming soon; Android comes first.
Feature comparison
As of November 2026, based on each vendor’s official website and App Store / Google Play pages. Prices are not listed. Features change, so check the official sites for the latest.
“—” means the official pages do not say, not that the feature is missing.
Scroll the table sideways →
| Relo | Dex | Mesh (formerly Clay) | Monica | Covve | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android app | Yes (closed test) | Yes | Yes | Planned | Yes |
| iOS app | Coming soon | Yes | Yes | Planned | Yes |
| Web or desktop | No | Web, desktop | Web, desktop | Web | No web app |
| Keep-in-touch reminders | Yes, rhythm per group | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, weekly list |
| Birthday reminders | Yes, incl. lunar calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Business card scan | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Yes |
| Import and sync | vCard import and export | LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, calendars and more | Email, calendar, address book, LinkedIn and more | vCard, CSV | Phone contacts, Google, Outlook |
| AI features | Quick add, Before you meet | Conversation starters, message drafts, auto-tagging | Nexus, an AI navigator for your network | — | Data entry and catch-up email drafts |
| Free plan | Yes | No, free trial | Yes | Open source, free to self-host | — |
| End-to-end encryption | Cloud backup | — | — | — | Notes encrypted on device |
| Chinese and Japanese UI | Traditional & Simplified Chinese, Japanese | — | — | Open-source repo includes both Chinese scripts and Japanese | — |
Sources (checked November 2026)
- Dex
- Mesh (Clay)
- Monica
- Covve
FAQ
How is a personal CRM different from a regular CRM?
A regular CRM is built for a team’s sales process: deals and revenue. A personal CRM is about your own relationships: remembering people, logging interactions and reaching out at the right time.
Do personal CRM apps cost money?
It varies: some have a free plan, others only a trial. Relo is free with no limit on contacts or interactions; Plus is an optional paid plan.
Isn’t my phone’s contacts app enough?
Contacts store numbers and emails. They cannot hold what you talked about or what matters to someone, and they never tell you it has been too long.
Is my data safe in Relo?
Your data lives on your phone by default. Cloud backup is free and optional, and it is encrypted on your phone with your backup password before upload, so Relo cannot read it.
Start with Relo for free
No credit card. You can start without an account.
iOS coming soon