Attio vs folk: Introduction

Looking for a CRM? Attio and folk are two platforms designed to help teams manage relationships effectively.

Attio is known for its flexible database and real-time collaboration, making it a suitable choice for teams needing customizable data views.

On the other hand, folk provides intuitive contact management and automation features, making it particularly effective for sales teams of 20-50 people who need a balance between usability and efficiency without overwhelming complexity.

What this comparison covers

In this blog post, we'll compare Attio vs folk based on features, ease of use, integrations, pricing, and suitability for different business needs.

folk vs Attio: Quick Test

Overview of Attio and folk

What is Attio?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (G2)

Attio is a flexible CRM that provides custom database structures, real-time collaboration, and API access. It's designed for teams that require complete control over their data and want to build their CRM from the ground up.

Key features

• Customizable database: Create tailored data structures.
• Real-time collaboration: Work on contacts and deals simultaneously.
• API access: Connect with other tools using Attio's API.
• Pipeline management: Organize sales and projects with a visual interface.

Watch: Attio in 60 seconds

Customer Reviews

✔️ "I really like the Notion like interface. Looks modern and it makes the whole app feel smooth. This is what drew me in to manage our consulting business." G2

❌ "When you go below the surface/interface, there wasn't much there. The website is full of claims that it's full of AI and great data models, but you don't feel any of it while using it. Not better than any other CRM I used in the past." G2

What is folk?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (G2)

folk acts as a sales assistant that helps teams stay organized and proactive. Designed for simplicity and seamless integration, it's the go-to choice for over 3,000 service businesses worldwide, particularly excelling with medium-sized sales teams of 20-50 people. By automating repetitive tasks and centralizing contact management, folk enables teams to focus on building meaningful relationships instead of manual data entry.

Key features

• Capture contacts: Import leads from LinkedIn, Instagram, and X using folkX extension
• Sales research: Find emails in 1 click, identify a lead's strongest connection, and import data from your prospect's website with AI
• Personal outreach, at scale: Schedule emails and automate sequences
• 6,000+ Integrations: Connect your emails, calendar, social platforms, and thousands of other tools
• AI follow-ups: Know the best leads to follow-up with based on your past conversations using AI

Watch: folk overview

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Customer Reviews

✔️ "Folk is clean, intuitive, and doesn’t bury me in clutter. Enrichment is one-click and saves me hours of research, pulling in roles, emails, and context automatically. The smart fields and lightweight structure make it easy to keep my pipeline moving without needing a full-time admin. I can import, enrich, and segment my leads in minutes instead of days. And the Sales Navigator click-to-add and Magic Fields let me get creative with my process, building a flow that feels custom without being heavy." G2

❌ "While Folk is a fantastic tool, it could benefit from a few more features to make it even more effective. For instance, adding functionality like scheduling email sends, an analytics dashboard (which I hear is already in the works), and automatic alerts for upcoming client birthdays and events would take it to the next level." G2

Features comparison Attio vs folk

Feature comparison at a glance

Contact management

Attio offers a database-style CRM where users can create custom structures for contacts. You can build custom fields, filters, and views, but it requires manual setup to categorize contacts effectively.

folk takes a smart approach to contact management with automatic organization. It uses AI-driven tagging and categorization, so you don't have to manually update records. This makes it faster and easier for sales teams to stay organized, especially when managing the high volume of prospects typical in 20-50 person sales organization.

Customization

Attio allows users to create fully custom data tables and views. If your team needs to structure data in a highly specific way, Attio provides the flexibility to design fields, labels, and filters from scratch.

folk provides also custom fields and segmentation tools, but with a more intuitive, no-code approach. Users can create lists and custom filters without needing complex setup.

Collaboration

Attio enables real-time collaboration by allowing teams to work on the same records simultaneously. However, it requires users to manually manage data updates to keep workflows aligned.

folk offers shared contact lists, email tracking, and centralized notes, ensuring that team members have access to the latest updates automatically. It's particularly useful for teams working on sales, partnerships, or recruiting.

Email integration

Attio syncs with Gmail and Outlook, allowing users to manage conversations within the CRM. However, it doesn't offer advanced email tracking features.

folk goes beyond basic email sync by offering email tracking, automated follow-ups, and outreach tools. This is particularly useful for teams engaging in cold outreach, sales, or partnerships. Expect performance report for campaigns and the ability to use AI to personalize variables, allowing you to personalize emails at scale.

👉🏼 Try folk now to personalize emails at scale and automate AI-powered follow-ups

Onboarding and implementation time

Attio requires users to set up their database manually, which may take longer but allows for more customization. folk offers quick onboarding with AI-driven organization, making it ideal for teams that want to get started quickly.

Tip: Choose Attio if you need deep customization; choose folk if time-to-value matters most.

Customer support

folk provides migration service, priority support and a dedicated CSM for easy troubleshooting. Enterprise customers get a dedicated point of contact.

Attio offers help center resources and API documentation, but support may be more technical in nature.

Pricing 

Both Attio and folk offer free plans. folk's free plan is limited to 14 days. 

Pros and cons: Attio vs folk

Attio

Pros of Attio

• Highly customizable database for complex needs.
• Real-time collaboration features.
• API access for deep integrations.

Cons of Attio

• Steeper learning curve and requires manual setup.
• Lacks native automation features.
• Limited integrations compared to folk.

folk

Pros of folk

• Easy to use interface with a quick setup process.
• Automation and AI-powered suggestions for better workflow efficiency.
• Seamless integrations with WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and email tools including Gmail and Outlook.
• LinkedIn extension that captures contact information directly from a post.

Cons of folk

• The standard plan doesn't include all features

folk price plans

folk can be used by solopreneurs, small to mid-size teams, and large enterprises, thanks to its ability to scale with you. On an annual basis, folk's price plans are as follows.

• Standard: $17.5/user/month billed yearly
• Premium: $35/user/month billed yearly.
• Custom: Starts from $70/user/month billed yearly.

Attio price plans

Attio has a free-forever plan that includes up to 3 seats. But private lists are only available on premium plans. 

• Plus: $36/user/month
• Pro: $86/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom

Which CRM is best for you?

Both Attio and folk offer strong contact management features, but folk CRM stands out as the ideal solution for sales teams of 20-50 people with its automation, integrations, ease of use and quick implementation time.

If you're looking for a CRM that balances simplicity with powerful features, folk is the better choice.

When choosing, also consider which complementary tools you'll need. For example, neither CRM includes built-in call recording, so you might integrate a revenue intelligence platform such as Claap to capture meeting notes and automatically sync them to your CRM fields.

Key takeaways:

• folk is better for automation and ease of use, helping teams reduce manual work with AI-powered features and smart integrations.
• Attio is better for structured, database-driven customization, ideal for businesses that want complete control over data fields and layouts.
• folk's built-in WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and email integrations make it a strong choice for relationship-driven teams.
• Attio requires more manual setup but offers deeper customization through API access and flexible views.

Choose folk if:

• You want an easy-to-use CRM with quick onboarding.
• You need automation and AI-driven features.
• You rely on LinkedIn and WhatsApp for outreach and networking.

Choose Attio if:

• You need a highly customizable database for your CRM.
• Your team prefers manual structuring of contact data.
• You require API access for deeper integrations.

Conclusion

Notably, Attio and folk cater to different types of users. Attio is ideal for teams that want a flexible, database-driven CRM with custom configurations. folk, on the other hand, is a modern, intuitive CRM that simplifies contact management and automation. If you're looking for a CRM that's easy to use, automates workflows, and integrates seamlessly with outreach tools, folk is the better alternative.

👉🏼 Try folk now to get started in minutes and centralize LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and email outreach

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FAQ

What is the difference between Attio and folk?

Attio is a customizable, database-style CRM with real-time collaboration and API access. folk emphasizes simplicity and automation with AI-driven organization, email sequences and tracking, plus broad integrations for faster workflows.

Which CRM is easier to set up, Attio or folk?

folk is quicker to implement thanks to AI contact organization, templates, and simple setup. Attio takes longer because teams design data structures and views manually, trading speed for deeper customization.

Do Attio and folk include email automation and tracking?

Attio syncs Gmail and Outlook but lacks native automation and advanced tracking. folk provides sequences, scheduling, tracking with performance reports, and AI-based follow-up suggestions.

How do Attio and folk pricing compare?

Attio: free-forever (up to 3 seats), Plus $34/user/mo, Pro $69, Enterprise $119. folk: 14-day free, Standard $20/user/mo, Premium $40, Custom from $80 (annual billing). Pricing may change.