Compare/folk
Handshake vs folk
Updated
folk is a lightweight, modern CRM for teams – shared contact bases, pipelines, mail merge, and email sequences, from $20 per user per month (July 2026). Handshake is a free, local-first desktop app for one person's real network, stored as plain markdown files.
folk often appears in personal-CRM lists, and its design is genuinely lovely – but its center of gravity is team work: shared pipelines, deal stages, outreach sequences, per-seat pricing. If your team manages a funnel together, folk is a fine tool and Handshake simply isn't a competitor.
The confusion is the word 'relationships.' folk manages contacts your team works; Handshake maps the people in your life – who you actually know, how warmly, and who connects to whom. Solo users evaluating folk are usually looking for the second thing while being sold the first.
At a glance
| folk | Handshake | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $20–40/user/mo, custom from $80 (July 2026) | Free, open source (MIT) |
| Where your data lives | Their cloud, shared with your team | Plain markdown files on your device |
| Platforms | Web + Chrome extension | macOS, Windows & Linux desktop |
| Works offline | No | Fully offline – no account |
| Data format | Proprietary; CSV export | Already plain text; nothing to export |
| Seeing your network | Tables and pipelines | A spatial board of your whole network |
| Auto-sync / enrichment | Email sync, LinkedIn extension, enrichment | None – you decide who's on the map |
| Open source | No | Yes (MIT) |
Competitor details checked July 2026 – check their site for current pricing.
Where folk wins
Team collaboration
Shared contact bases, roles, and pipelines. Handshake is deliberately single-player; there's nothing to share.
Outreach machinery
Mail merge, sequences, templates – if you're running campaigns, folk does work Handshake will never do.
Integrations
Gmail, LinkedIn, Zapier, an API. Handshake integrates with your file system.
Where Handshake wins
Built for a person, not a funnel
Warmth-weighted ties, introduction chains, notes with backlinks – the vocabulary of a life, not a sales process.
$0 vs $240+/year
folk's entry tier runs $240/year per seat. Handshake is free, open source, unlimited.
Your files, your machine
No cloud, no account, no per-seat anything. A folder of markdown that's yours forever.
The honest verdict
Choose folk if…
- A team shares the contact base and works a pipeline together
- You send sequenced outreach and mail merges
- You need Gmail/LinkedIn integrations and an API
Choose Handshake if…
- It's your personal network, not a team funnel
- You want free and private over integrated and shared
- You want to see the map of who-knows-whom
Questions
- Is folk a personal CRM?
- folk markets to individuals occasionally, but it's built and priced for teams – shared workspaces, pipelines, and per-seat plans from $20/user/month. For a personal network, a purpose-built tool fits better.
- What's a free folk alternative for individuals?
- Handshake – free, open source, local-first, and designed specifically for mapping your own network rather than running team outreach.
Try the local-first way
Handshake is free, open source, and takes about two minutes to meet your network. If it's not for you, your notes are plain markdown – nothing lost.