Monica

What Monica is

Monica is an open-source personal CRM for keeping track of friends, family, colleagues, and other important people. Contact records can hold contact methods, family details such as significant others and children, pets, private notes, reminders, gifts, and money owed. The app also supports relationship notes, journal entries, and histories of calls, meals, trips, and events. Contacts can be imported from vCard and CSV files, with duplicates shown before merging. A REST API supports contact data import and export and automation of parts of the application. Monica says it does not sell personal data, show ads, or use private account contents to train models. The hosted service includes managed backups and email support. Self-hosting is open source and available through Docker or manual installation, but users provide and maintain the infrastructure and backups. The self-hosted plan is free; hosting costs may apply. Hosted Monica is $90 a year, with unlimited contacts, notes, reminders, activities, and journal entries, plus email support and managed backups.

Who it suits

Monica suits people who want to keep detailed records and reminders about personal relationships. Hosted service is for those who want managed backups and email support; self-hosting suits people prepared to maintain their own infrastructure and backups.

Limits

The free self-hosted plan has unlimited contacts and allows unlimited users as infrastructure allows, but users manage updates and backups and rely on community support. Hosted Monica costs $90 USD / year and includes unlimited contacts, notes, reminders, activities, and journal entries, plus email support and managed backups.

Getting started

1. Choose the hosted Monica plan or the self-hosted edition.
2. For self-hosting, install with Docker or use the manual installation route and provide the infrastructure.
3. Open the web application, including on a phone if needed.
4. Import contacts from a vCard or CSV file, then review any duplicates shown before merging.

Verdict

Monica offers detailed personal contact records and relationship histories, with both hosted and self-hosted options. The hosted plan includes managed backups and email support, while self-hosting puts infrastructure and backup management on the user.