Migrate your Monica CRM data
Open-source personal CRM for documenting relationships and life. Monica runs as a side project since 2017 and can be self-hosted for free or used via cloud tiers for individuals who want to remember everything about the people they care about.
In its favor
Why people choose Monica CRM
The signal that keeps Monica CRM on the shortlist. Sourced from G2, Capterra, and customer scoping calls.
Generous free tier via self-hosting — Monica can be run on your own server indefinitely at zero cost, which attracts privacy-conscious users and developers.
Very intuitive for personal relationship tracking — users praise how quickly they can start documenting contacts without a learning curve.
REST API for automation — developers highlight the API as a reason to choose Monica, allowing custom integrations and scripted exports.
Open-source transparency with a public GitHub repository — attracts users who want to audit the codebase and self-host without vendor lock-in.
Chrome extension for AI-assisted recall — users value the extension for surfacing context about contacts during web browsing.
No native integrations with popular tools — users want built-in sync with calendars, email clients, and other systems out of the box.
Side project status raises long-term viability concerns — community discussions note the project could sunset with no commercial backup.
Self-hosted rate limits are hardcoded — automated syncs can fail silently when CardDAV scripts hit the 60 requests-per-minute ceiling.
Missing features compared to business CRMs — no pipelines, no team collaboration tools, no advanced reporting for professional use cases.
Open-source forks create fragmentation — Monica-Next and Chandler operate independently, making it unclear which branch receives future development.
Reasons to switch
Why people leave Monica CRM
The recurring reasons buyers give for replacing Monica CRM. Presented as facts, not knocks.
Platform scorecard
Strengths, weaknesses, and where Monica CRM fits
Grades across six dimensions, plus a SWOT-style view of where the platform shines and where it falls short.
SWOT — strengths, weaknesses, and use-case fit
Strengths
Weaknesses
Where it works
Where it struggles
Pricing tiers
Monica CRM pricing overview
Monica offers a free self-hosted open-source option and four cloud tiers ranging from free to enterprise. The paid cloud tiers scale per user per month with increasing API rate limits and feature access. Enterprise pricing requires a sales conversation.
Self-hosted (Free)
Tier 1 of 5
Free
What's included
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Book a free 30 minute consultationPricing is informational. FlitStack AI does not bill on Monica CRM's schedule — see our quote-based pricing →
What gets migrated
Monica CRM object support
Object-by-object support for Monica CRM migrations. Per-pair details surface during scoping.
Contacts
Fully supportedContacts are Monica's primary object with rich sub-structures for contact details, addresses, and pets. We export all fields including the Avatar blob URL and map them 1:1 to standard Contact objects in the target CRM.
Relationships
Mapping requiredMonica stores named relationship types (spouse, child, parent, friend, colleague, pet) per contact. We flatten these into labeled relationship records or custom contact properties on the destination, preserving the relationship direction.
Journal entries
Mapping requiredJournal entries are timestamped activity logs with optional titles and rich text bodies. We convert them to Activity or Note records in the target CRM, preserving the original creation date and author.
Reminders
Mapping requiredReminders include birthday reminders (auto-populated), event reminders, and ad-hoc follow-ups tied to contacts. We convert these to dated task records or calendar events on the destination, mapping the reminder type to the appropriate system object.
Gifts
Mapping requiredMonica tracks gifts given, wanted, and offered with estimated values and dates. We map these to a custom Gift object or labeled notes in the destination, preserving value and status fields.
Debts
Mapping requiredDebts record money owed to or by a contact with amount and currency. We map these to a custom Debt record type or label notes in the destination CRM since most CRMs do not have a native debt object.
Tags
Fully supportedMonica supports tagging contacts with arbitrary labels. Tags export as a simple string array and import as tag fields or list memberships in the target system.
Contact details (emails, phones, social profiles)
Fully supportedEach contact can have multiple contact avenues (email, phone, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.). We normalize these into standard contact detail fields and preserve the label indicating the channel type.
Stay-in-touch tracking
Mapping requiredMonica tracks when users last contacted someone and prompts follow-ups. We convert this to a Last Activity date on the contact record and create a pending task for the next follow-up in the target CRM.
Notes (private)
Mapping requiredContact-specific private notes are stored as separate records with text content. We map these to internal notes or activity logs in the destination, noting that privacy flags may not carry over to all systems.
Users/Owners
Mapping requiredMonica supports multiple users in hosted versions with role assignment per contact (owner). In self-hosted single-user setups there is no multi-user concept. We map the owner field to a User lookup on the destination where supported.
| Object | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | Fully supported | Contacts are Monica's primary object with rich sub-structures for contact details, addresses, and pets. We export all fields including the Avatar blob URL and map them 1:1 to standard Contact objects in the target CRM. |
| Relationships | Mapping required | Monica stores named relationship types (spouse, child, parent, friend, colleague, pet) per contact. We flatten these into labeled relationship records or custom contact properties on the destination, preserving the relationship direction. |
| Journal entries | Mapping required | Journal entries are timestamped activity logs with optional titles and rich text bodies. We convert them to Activity or Note records in the target CRM, preserving the original creation date and author. |
| Reminders | Mapping required | Reminders include birthday reminders (auto-populated), event reminders, and ad-hoc follow-ups tied to contacts. We convert these to dated task records or calendar events on the destination, mapping the reminder type to the appropriate system object. |
| Gifts | Mapping required | Monica tracks gifts given, wanted, and offered with estimated values and dates. We map these to a custom Gift object or labeled notes in the destination, preserving value and status fields. |
| Debts | Mapping required | Debts record money owed to or by a contact with amount and currency. We map these to a custom Debt record type or label notes in the destination CRM since most CRMs do not have a native debt object. |
| Tags | Fully supported | Monica supports tagging contacts with arbitrary labels. Tags export as a simple string array and import as tag fields or list memberships in the target system. |
| Contact details (emails, phones, social profiles) | Fully supported | Each contact can have multiple contact avenues (email, phone, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.). We normalize these into standard contact detail fields and preserve the label indicating the channel type. |
| Stay-in-touch tracking | Mapping required | Monica tracks when users last contacted someone and prompts follow-ups. We convert this to a Last Activity date on the contact record and create a pending task for the next follow-up in the target CRM. |
| Notes (private) | Mapping required | Contact-specific private notes are stored as separate records with text content. We map these to internal notes or activity logs in the destination, noting that privacy flags may not carry over to all systems. |
| Users/Owners | Mapping required | Monica supports multiple users in hosted versions with role assignment per contact (owner). In self-hosted single-user setups there is no multi-user concept. We map the owner field to a User lookup on the destination where supported. |
Gotchas
What to watch for in Monica CRM migrations
Issues we've hit on past Monica CRM migrations, tagged by severity. FlitStack AI handles every one — surfacing them up front because buyer engineering teams want to know.
No v4 to v5 migration path exists
Self-hosted rate limits are hardcoded
Side project sustainability risk
No official bulk export or backup endpoint
Privacy note fields do not enforce access control in most destinations
| Severity | Issue |
|---|---|
| High | No v4 to v5 migration path exists |
| Medium | Self-hosted rate limits are hardcoded |
| Medium | Side project sustainability risk |
| Medium | No official bulk export or backup endpoint |
| Low | Privacy note fields do not enforce access control in most destinations |
Leaving Monica CRM?
Where Monica CRM customers move next
12 destinations Monica CRM can migrate to.
How a Monica CRM migration works
Four steps, Monica CRM-specific
Connect
OAuth 2.0 Bearer token or Personal Access Token. Passed as 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' header per Monica's official API documentation at monicahq.com/api. into Monica CRM. Scopes limited to read-only on the data we move.
Map
We translate Monica CRM-specific structures (custom fields, objects, value lists) to the destination's model.
Sample
Test with a 50–200 record subset to validate Monica CRM quirks before production.
Migrate
Full migration with Monica CRM rate-limit handling. Rollback available throughout.
FAQ
Monica CRM migration FAQ
Answers to the questions buyers ask most during Monica CRM migration scoping. Not seeing yours? Book a call.
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