How long does switching from Monica actually take?

An evening for most accounts. The export from Monica is the slow step - the import side runs in minutes once the field mapping is settled. Larger teams (50+ seats with custom field schemas) sometimes split it across two sessions: import first, reorganise the next day.

Will I lose data when I switch?

Nothing structural. The CSV/JSON export from Monica preserves the data: records, fields, history, and attachments come over intact. What doesn't transfer is anything tied to Monica-specific UI metadata (custom views, saved searches, in-app annotations) - those don't sit in the export, they sit in the source product's UI. Plan an evening to rebuild your most-used views once you're in.

What about my existing Monica subscription?

Run both side-by-side until you're confident, then cancel Monica from their side. We don't lock you in - export from Contact Book is one click in account settings, same as import.

Is the import path free?

The import button is open on every plan, including the free tier - we don't paywall the way out of a competitor. The data going in still has to fit your plan's per-type quotas (the free-tier caps are listed on /sales); paid plans raise those caps. If you're moving a large set, check the caps first or write to /support and we can advise.

Can I get help with the switch?

Yes. Write to /support - both founders see those threads directly. Reply within a working day. For the field-mapping itself we typically resolve things in one or two exchanges; if your dataset is unusually large or Monica's export shape is unfamiliar, we'll say so up front.

Contact Book

Compare

Contact Book: the alternative to Monica

What moving from Monica to Contact Book actually looks like in 2026.

Switching

Personal CRM

Open source

Julia YukovichCo-Founder + CEO

·February 27, 2026·

2 min read

Contact Book is what people use when Monica stops fitting. Below is the honest side-by-side - same product surface, different posture: hosted in Germany, no third-party trackers, one honest price - plus the migration mechanics that decide whether the switch lands in an evening or in a quarter.

At a glance

Monica is the elder statesman of the personal-CRM space - mature, open-source, and self-hostable. Contact Book is younger and lighter, with a sharper UI, live multi-tab updates, and a deliberately small surface. If you want to self-host on a Pi and tinker, Monica is hard to beat. If you want a clean, fast personal CRM that you don't run yourself, with bilingual support and a hosted plan that costs less than two coffees a month, that's us.

Switching

What moving from Monica actually looks like

The switch goes in three rough phases: export from Monica, import into Contact Book, and reorganise what came over. Most people allocate an evening for it. The export side is where the time goes - Monica hands you a CSV/JSON dump and the field mapping isn't always obvious; once that's resolved the import is a couple of minutes. We don't paywall the import path or pretend it's a pro-only feature, and you can run both side-by-side while you decide.

Contact Book vs Monica: feature comparison

	Ours Contact Book	Theirs Monica
Self-hostable
Open source
Hosted plan available
Hosted in Germany (EU)		France (EU)
Live multi-tab updates (websocket)
Bilingual UI (EN + DE)		Multiple, EN+DE included
Stay-in-touch cadence
Gifts tracker
Activity / journal log
Pets
API + drop-in clients (15 langs)		API only
MCP server for AI agents
Hosted price (per month)	From €1	$9 / €9

When to pick which

Pick Contact Book when

You want a hosted product that's clean, fast, and bilingual out of the box.

Live multi-tab updates matter - you keep two tabs open and want the second to react to the first.

You'd like an MCP server + drop-in clients in 15 languages so AI agents can use the same product you do.

EU jurisdiction, but specifically Germany under German law.

Pick Monica when

You want to self-host on your own box and skim the source.

Open-source on principle - you only adopt tools you can fork.

You like Monica's heavy, journal-style UI and want every preference dial it ships.

Same goal, different shape

Both products want to give you a single calm place to keep the people in your life. Monica gets there with a comprehensive feature surface accumulated over years of community contribution. Contact Book gets there with a sharper, more opinionated subset and a fast UI on top.

The honest take: if you tested both and only had ten minutes per app, you'd probably feel us as faster and Monica as more configurable. Pick whichever feeling matters more.

Hosting + jurisdiction

Monica's hosted plan runs in France under EU law. Ours runs in Germany under German law. For most users this is academic - the EU GDPR baseline is the same. If you have a corporate or legal requirement specifically pointing at Germany, that's a clear win for us. If you don't, treat the two as equivalent on this axis and pick on UX.

Step by step

Export from Monica

Find the export option in Monica's account settings. Most tools provide a CSV or JSON download. Save the dump locally - that's the source of truth for the next step.

Account settings → Export / Download data

Pick the broadest format the tool offers (usually JSON)

Map fields in Contact Book

Open the import tool in Contact Book. Monica's field names rarely match Contact Book' 1:1; the import flags any unmapped columns so you can pair them up before anything commits.

Account settings → Import

Resolve the mapping prompts the tool surfaces

Run the import

Run the import. Contact Book shows a preview of the first parsed rows in the import dialog so you can sanity-check the column mapping + a sample of records before anything commits. If you're nervous about a large dump, import a small subset first, verify it landed the way you expected, then run the full file.

Re-create your views, tags, saved searches

Monica-specific UI metadata (custom views, saved filters, in-app annotations) doesn't transfer with the data export. Spend an evening rebuilding the views you used most - usually a 30-minute job once you've done it once.

Cancel Monica when you're confident

Run both side-by-side for a couple of weeks if you want to be sure. When you're confident, cancel the Monica subscription from their side. Contact Book keeps your export option self-serve in account settings - no lock-in either direction.

Switching from Monica

The five questions we get most often before someone moves their data over.

Start with Contact Book

Free plan, no credit card. We host in Germany. Export + delete are self-serve.

Written by

Julia Yukovich

Co-Founder + CEO

Julia is one of the Co-Founders. She handles design, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.

julia.yukovich at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn