Can I get a signed DPA / AVV?

Yes. We sign a standard German GDPR DPA (Auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag) on request - reach out from /sales. The text is the standard form most customer DPOs already know, no surprise clauses; we also accept your own paperwork if your legal team prefers their template. Reply time is within a working day. Most teams under 50 seats don't need one (the standard plan terms cover the legal posture); larger setups get a short signed addendum alongside.

How do I export my data?

Account settings → export. Returns a JSON archive containing every record you own, every file you uploaded, and the relevant audit-log entries. No support ticket, no waiting period, no fee. Same export shape works on every plan.

How do I delete my account?

Account settings → delete. Confirms once, then removes records, files, embeddings, and audit-log entries within 30 days. Stripe payment metadata stays as long as German tax law requires it (10 years), in line with §147 AO; everything else is gone.

Who are your subprocessors?

Two: Stripe (payment processing only, transferred under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) and our transactional mail relay (EU-hosted). Neither sees your records. The full list and what each one is allowed to touch lives at /privacy and /security.

Does Contact Book use Google Analytics or Meta Pixel?

No. No third-party analytics at all. Device + session metrics live in our own Postgres + Redis. The cookie banner that GA / Meta require doesn't apply because we don't load them - one fewer dialog between a visitor and the page they came for.

Contact Book

Compare

Contact Book: the GDPR-friendly alternative to Monica

Plain-language privacy notice, standard German GDPR DPA available on request, self-serve export + delete.

GDPR alternative

Personal CRM

Open source

Julia YukovichCo-Founder + CEO

·June 28, 2026·

4 min read

·Updated

GDPR isn't a checkbox - it's a posture. If you're moving off Monica because their AVV / DPA is opaque, Contact Book is what a clean alternative looks like: subprocessor list of two (Stripe + mail relay), self-serve export + delete from account settings, and a standard German GDPR DPA on request when your procurement team needs one.

At a glance

Monica is the elder statesman of the personal-CRM space - mature, open-source, actively maintained, and self-hostable. It is a genuinely good product and we recommend it without reservation to anyone who wants to run their own server. Contact Book is the answer to a narrower question: what if I want Monica's idea without running Monica's server? We're younger and lighter, with a sharper UI, live multi-tab updates, hosting in Germany, and a deliberately small surface. Self-host and tinker - pick Monica. Want a clean, fast, bilingual personal CRM you don't maintain, on a hosted plan from €1 a month - that's us. The short version: Monica without the server.

GDPR posture

GDPR is a posture, not a checkbox

Three things matter under GDPR for a tool like this: (1) lawful basis for processing, (2) data subject rights (export, delete, port), and (3) the auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag / DPA chain. Contact Book treats them as engineering invariants, not legal optics. Lawful basis is the contract you sign with us. Subject rights are self-serve from your account settings - no support ticket required. The subprocessor list has two entries (Stripe + mail relay). A standard German GDPR DPA is available on request from /sales whenever your procurement team needs one - we don't charge for it and don't gate it behind a plan tier. Where Monica sits on each of these is the rest of this page.

Contact Book vs Monica: GDPR 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
Debt / loan tracker
Pets
Stated hosting jurisdiction	Germany	Not disclosed (cloud)
Zero server maintenance		Cloud yes, self-host no
Free tier	Yes	10 contacts (cloud)
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, with the hosting location stated plainly.

You'd rather never touch Docker, backups, certificate renewals, or version upgrades - hosting is our job, not yours.

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 want Monica-specific features we don't carry - debt / loan tracking, or its denser, journal-first writing surface.

Monica's free cloud tier (10 contacts) is enough, or you'll happily run the unlimited self-hosted build for free.

GDPR questions

What customer data-protection teams typically ask before signing a DPA.

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, development, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.

julia.yukovich at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn