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Endearist vs Attio
A fair, specific comparison — written so you'd be comfortable if a Attio engineer read it.
Fairness pledge
Attio is arguably the best-designed CRM on the market right now — its flexible data model (custom objects, real relations between records), real-time collaboration, Gmail/Outlook sync, and AI research agents make it the tool we'd point any startup at for go-to-market work. The free plan for up to 3 users is genuinely usable, and the product moves fast. But Attio is built for revenue: its defaults are companies, deals, and funding stages, its AI is metered in workspace credits for prospect research, and its pricing ($34–69/seat/month) assumes a business is paying. Using Attio as a personal CRM means bending a sales instrument toward friendships — it bends further than most, but that's still what it is.
Where your data lives
Attio: cloud-only — your contacts, notes, and email history live in Attio's database (SOC 2 / GDPR-compliant cloud infrastructure); the desktop and mobile apps are windows onto their servers. Endearist: your device first — sync optional via your own cloud (Google Drive, iCloud, WebDAV) or Endearist Cloud (EU-hosted).
How AI is accessed
Attio's AI — research agents that enrich and qualify prospects, plus call intelligence on the Pro plan — is metered in workspace credits and runs on Attio's servers; it's built to answer 'is this company worth selling to', not 'how is my friend doing'. Endearist's AI is opt-in: bring your own key (on-device), or Pro Cloud Light (~250 EU-routed actions/mo, €4.99) or Pro Cloud (~600 actions/mo + voice, €9.99).
3-year total cost
Attio Free: €0 for up to 3 users with credit and feature limits. Attio Plus: ~$34/seat/month (annual billing; some plan pages list $29) → ~$1,200 / ~€1,100 over 3 years. Attio Pro: $69/seat/month → ~$2,480 / ~€2,290 over 3 years. Endearist Pro Cloud (with bundled AI): €9.99/month → ~€360 over 3 years. Endearist Pro Lifetime: €69 once.
What we don't do
We don't have Attio's flexible object model, deal pipelines, workflow automations, Gmail/Outlook two-way email sync, API, or AI research agents. Attio is built for teams whose relationships generate revenue and who need the CRM to adapt to their data. Endearist is built for the contacts where no transaction is ever planned — and for one person, not a workspace.
Feature matrix
Side-by-side.
| Feature | Endearist | Attio |
|---|---|---|
| Local-first data storage | Yes — your device is the primary store. | No — cloud-only on Attio's infrastructure. |
| End-to-end encrypted sync | Yes — AES-256-GCM, you hold the key. | Server-side encryption (SOC 2, GDPR); Attio holds the keys. |
| Mobile native apps (iOS / Android) | iOS, Android (native Flutter). | iOS and Android apps — companions to the web workspace. |
| Desktop native apps | macOS, Windows, Linux (native). | Web app + macOS desktop app; Windows and Linux via browser. |
| AI features | Opt-in: bring your own key (on-device) or Pro Cloud Light (~250 EU-routed actions/mo) or Pro Cloud (~600 actions/mo + voice). | AI research agents (credit-metered) + call intelligence on Pro — prospect-research-shaped, on Attio's servers. |
| Self-host option | Not currently — the desktop app is the local store. | No — SaaS only. |
| Pricing | Free up to 25 contacts. Pro Lifetime €69 once, Pro Cloud Light €4.99/mo, or Pro Cloud €9.99/mo. | Free up to 3 users. Plus ~$34/seat/mo, Pro $69/seat/mo (annual; monthly billing costs ~20% more). No lifetime. |
| Open source code | Source-release pledge on shutdown/acquisition. | No — proprietary. |
| Plain-Markdown export | Yes — readable without any app. | CSV/Excel export of any table view, on all plans — solid, but no Markdown. |
| Voice-note transcription | Yes — on Pro Cloud (60 min/mo) or your own key. | Call recording + transcription on Pro — built for sales calls, not personal voice notes. |
| Family / multi-vault share | Family share on Pro Cloud (2 seats). Multi-vault on the roadmap. | Team workspaces with roles and permissions — built for companies, not households. |
| Journal / reflection | Built-in journal + weekly ritual + appreciation prompts. | Notes on records; no journal or reflection surface. |
| Relationship depth (how-we-met, pets) | How-we-met, pets, custom pronouns, life events, debts, attachments. | Custom attributes possible on any object — but defaults are company, deal stage, funding round, not personal-life depth. |
| Calendar / messenger integrations | Read-only calendar (Google/Apple/Outlook); manual share-sheet capture for messenger context. | Strong — Gmail/Outlook two-way email sync, calendar sync, Chrome extension for capture. |
When to pick Attio
When Attio is the better fit.
If you're a founder or operator building a go-to-market motion, pick Attio without hesitation — it's the most modern CRM architecture available, the email and calendar sync is genuinely seamless, and the free plan lets a tiny team start at zero. Some solo users also run their personal network in Attio's free tier and like the table-driven workflow. Pick Attio when your contacts have deal stages. We're for the other half of your address book: the people you'd never put in a pipeline.
Switching
Coming from Attio?
In Attio, open the table view that holds your people, then export it as CSV (available on every plan — open the view options and choose Export, or right-click the list in the sidebar). Import into Endearist via Settings → Import → CSV: names, emails, phone numbers, and note columns map across in one pass. Company, deal-stage, and enrichment attributes are dropped — Endearist has no pipeline concept. Notes written on person records are worth exporting separately or copying into the journal, since Attio's CSV covers attribute columns, not the activity feed. Many founders keep Attio for the company and add Endearist for the people they'd know even if the startup died.
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Prices and positioning verified 2026-06-10.
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