What is the difference between Folk and Twenty?

Folk is best for Small teams and agencies managing relationships, not just sales pipelines, while Twenty is best for Teams wanting an open-source Salesforce alternative. Folk starts at $20/user/mo and Twenty starts at Free.

Is Folk or Twenty cheaper?

Folk starts at $20/user/mo with a free tier. Twenty starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Twenty?

Both Folk and Twenty offer free tiers.

Folk vs Twenty

Folk is Lightweight CRM for relationship management with a spreadsheet-like interface, while Twenty is Open-source CRM with a modern UI, built to be a transparent alternative to Salesforce. The biggest difference up front: Twenty is free, while Folk starts at $20/user/mo. Folk is built for small teams and agencies managing relationships, not just sales pipelines, whereas Twenty targets teams wanting an open-source salesforce alternative.

At a glance

	Folk	Twenty
Best for	Small teams and agencies managing relationships, not just sales pipelines	Teams wanting an open-source Salesforce alternative
Starting price	$20/user/mo	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Chrome Extension	✓	—
Contact Capture	✓	—
Extensible	—	✓
GraphQL API	—	✓
Mail Merge	✓	—
Open Source	—	✓
Pipelines	✓	—
Self-Hosted	—	✓
Tags	✓	—

Folk

Strengths

Spreadsheet-like simplicity
Works for any type of relationship, not just sales
Chrome extension for quick contact capture
Good email integration

Weaknesses

Limited pipeline and deal management
Less powerful automation than HubSpot
Smaller integration ecosystem
No free tier beyond trial

Try Folk → Full review

Twenty

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Open-source codebase gives you full transparency and community-driven development
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Self-hosting requires Linux admin skills and ongoing server maintenance
Data entry overhead can slow down reps who just want to sell

Try Twenty → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Twenty is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Folk starts at $20/user/mo, but Free for up to 200 contacts. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Folk offers Chrome Extension, Contact Capture and Mail Merge that Twenty lacks. Twenty brings Extensible, GraphQL API and Open Source that Folk does not have.

Team fit: Both tools target small teams teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Open source: Twenty is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Folk is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Folk's biggest strengths are: spreadsheet-like simplicity. works for any type of relationship, not just sales. Twenty's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. open-source codebase gives you full transparency and community-driven development.

Watch out for: With Folk, users commonly note that limited pipeline and deal management. With Twenty, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Folk if...

You need a tool built for small teams and agencies managing relationships, not just sales pipelines
You specifically need Chrome Extension and Contact Capture
You care about works for any type of relationship, not just sales
The free tier works for you: free for up to 200 contacts

Choose Twenty if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams wanting an open-source salesforce alternative
Budget is a hard constraint — Twenty is free, Folk is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Extensible and GraphQL API
You care about open-source codebase gives you full transparency and community-driven development