Methodology
CRM Cost Calculator — assumptions & sources
The calculator estimates 3-year total cost of ownership (TCO) across the personal-CRM market. Here is exactly how every number is derived, where the inputs come from, and when they were last refreshed.
What the figures mean
Each row in the calculator shows three things: monthly cost, 36-month total cost, and a normalised "AI credits" line where the competitor's bundled AI budget is converted to OpenAI-equivalent tokens. The 3-year horizon is chosen because it covers the typical software-lifecycle that personal users care about — long enough to compare lifetime against subscription, short enough that the numbers stay live.
Pricing sources
- Public pricing pages. Every monthly figure is taken from the competitor's public pricing page on the date listed in the "Last checked" footer of the calculator. We do not rely on third-party aggregators or scraped data.
- Annual vs monthly. When a competitor offers an annual discount, we list the discounted monthly equivalent — that's the realistic figure a price-conscious buyer pays.
- Currency conversion. USD prices convert at the ECB reference rate on the last-checked date. We do not buffer for FX volatility; that's left to the buyer.
- Free tiers. If a tool has a usable free tier (≥100 contacts, no time limit), we list it as €0 with a note about feature gates.
Sync-overhead estimates
For self-hosted tools (Monica, etc.), we add a typical VPS cost: €1/month for the entry tier (Hetzner CX11, Contabo VPS S, or equivalent), or €5/month for a managed Docker host. We do not include domain, SSL, or backup costs — those vary too widely. The "self-hosted" figure is therefore a floor, not a ceiling.
AI-credit normalisation
Comparing AI features across tools is fraught because "credits" mean different things. We normalise to OpenAI gpt-4o-mini equivalent at $0.15 per million input tokens / $0.60 per million output tokens (as of refresh date). One "AI action" is assumed at 1500 input + 500 output tokens, which is the empirical average across the Magic Buttons in Endearist. Your mileage varies; the figure is meant as an order-of-magnitude check, not a precise prediction.
What we explicitly do not include
- Switching cost. Migrating contacts from one tool to another takes anywhere from 5 minutes to an afternoon. We do not price your time.
- Learning curve. A new interface costs you a few evenings. Not in the model.
- Network effects. If your team standardises on a tool, the personal cost is dwarfed by team-wide effects. We model the individual user only.
Refresh cadence
We refresh the figures whenever a competitor publicly changes pricing — typically within a week — and at minimum every quarter. The "Last checked" date in the calculator footer reflects the most recent verification. If you spot a stale figure, send a note to hi@endearist.com with a screenshot and we will update within 48 hours.
Open source
The competitor database that powers the calculator lives in src/components/islands/TCOCalculator.tsx in the Endearist Web repository — open for inspection, pull-requestable, AGPL-compatible.