Waitlist open for Bowerbird: the most-wanted dupes get built firstClose CRM alternative Bowerbird, a sales CRM for one for $99 once
A pipeline and a daily follow-up list for one salesperson. Runs in your browser, keeps your leads on your device, $99 once.
Pay once
$99 once (planned), against $324 for three years of Close Solo.
Your leads stay yours
The pipeline lives on your device, not on our server. Import and export CSV whenever you like.
Build it free
Paste our starter prompt into Claude Code and build the core of Bowerbird yourself, step by step.
| Feature | CloseSolo · $9/mo, yearly | Bowerbird$99 once · planned |
|---|---|---|
| Leads and a pipeline | Yes | Yes |
| Follow-up tasks and a daily list | Yes | Yes |
| Email templatesBowerbird: opens in your own mail app | Yes | Yes |
| CSV import and export | Yes | Yes |
| Your leads on your device | No | Yes |
| One payment, no subscription | No | Yes |
| Built-in calling and SMS | Yes | No |
| Bulk email and sequencesClose: Growth and up | Yes | No |
| Team collaboration | Yes | No |
| Three years, one person | $99 |
Close prices from comparison sites, per person. All Close plans.
What's the best Close CRM alternative?
It depends what you want from it. The short answer, by need:
- No subscription
- Bowerbird: $99 once (planned; waitlist open), against $324 for three years of Close Solo. Web app · phone and computer.
- Free
- HubSpot CRM: 2 users and 1,000 contacts.
- Open source
- Twenty, from $9/mo (free to self-host; cloud is a 30-day trial).
More options and their catches in Other Close CRM alternatives.
Why people switch
Why people look for a Close CRM alternative
What Close users raise in reviews and forums, and what its own pages say. In our words, with the source; checked Oct 12, 2026.
Workflows, the power dialer and bulk email need Growth, $99 per user a month billed yearly.
Source: close.comCalling, texting and phone-number rentals are billed as usage on top of the seat price.
Source: pipeline.zoominfo.comIt's built for phone-heavy outbound teams; people who mostly follow up by email find it more than they need.
Source: automationatlas.ioThe original
What Close does
- A sales CRM for small and mid-sized teams, with built-in calling, SMS and email.
- Solo is one user and up to 10,000 leads; Essentials adds team collaboration.
- Bulk email, scheduling and automated workflows start on Growth.
The dupe
What Bowerbird does
- Leads, a drag-and-drop pipeline, and a timeline of every touch.
- A Today view: who to follow up with today and who's overdue.
- Email templates that open as drafts in your own mail app.
- CSV import and export. Your leads stay on your device.
The face of Bowerbird
Meet Julian Vance
freelance founder and sales consultant in Sydney
Julian runs a one-person consultancy in Surry Hills and treats every client detail like a rare blue trinket: collected, kept and arranged just so. He won't rent a CRM built for fifty salespeople to remember a handful of people.
Most people don't lose clients from conflict. They lose them from total amnesia.
Bowerbird is named after the bowerbird, which collects things and keeps them in order. Julian is a fictional character we made with ppl.studio, not a customer.
Waitlist open · Bowerbird
Get Bowerbird first
We build the dupes people sign up for first. Join and you'll get one email, the day Bowerbird is ready.
$324 Close Solo, 3 years$99 once
- Just your email: no card, no account
- One email when it ships, nothing else
- Planned price $99, once
Free
Build Bowerbird yourself
Paste this into Claude Code in an empty folder. It builds the core of Bowerbird in steps and stops after each one so you can try it.
- Built withWeb app (PWA) · IndexedDB
- You needClaude Code
- Not includedThe full spec, polish, updates
Build me a web app called Bowerbird: a sales CRM for one person. It runs in the browser, keeps everything on my device, and works offline.
What it does
- Leads and contacts with company, email, phone, source, value, and notes.
- A pipeline board with stages I can rename (New, Contacted, Demo, Proposal, Won, Lost). Drag a deal between stages.
- Every lead has a timeline: notes, calls, emails I log, and the next follow-up date.
- A Today view: follow-ups due today and overdue, with one click to log what happened and set the next date. This is the screen I open every morning.
- Email templates with placeholders ({first_name}, {company}). Clicking one opens a mailto: draft in my own email app. Nothing is sent from the CRM.
- Import leads from CSV, export everything to CSV and JSON.
- Simple reports: deals by stage, won this month, and conversion from each source.
Tech
- Vite, TypeScript and plain CSS, no framework. Data in IndexedDB. Installable as a PWA, works offline. No server and no account.
How to work
Build it in steps and stop after each so I can try it: 1) leads and pipeline, 2) timeline and follow-ups, 3) Today view, 4) templates, import and export, 5) reports. After each step tell me exactly how to run and test it.
Brand
- The app's mascot is Julian Vance, a satin bowerbird in a royal-blue suit and round tortoiseshell glasses. Use his portrait (https://dupe.software/characters/bowerbird-icon.jpg) as the app icon, and his full-length picture (https://dupe.software/characters/bowerbird.jpg) on the first-run and empty screens.
- Write every label and message in his voice: crisp, deadpan, deliberate and fiercely pragmatic. Julian would say: "Most people don't lose clients from conflict. They lose them from total amnesia."All of their plans
What Close costs
Close's pricing page shows two prices per plan without saying which is monthly and which is annual; we read the lower one as annual. Checked 2026-10-12.
| Plan | Billing | Per month | 3 years | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close Solo | monthly | $19 | $684 | 1 user, up to 10k leads |
| Close Solo | annual | $9 | $324 | 1 user, up to 10k leads |
| Close Essentials | annual | $35 | $1,260 | per user, team collaboration |
| Close Growth | annual | $99 | $3,564 | per user, bulk email, workflows |
| Bowerbird | once | — | $99 | planned price |
Not sold on a dupe?
Other Close CRM alternatives
Bowerbird isn't for everyone. These do the same job in other ways: free plans, open source, teams, other platforms. Prices from their own pricing pages, checked Oct 12, 2026.
Pipedrive
Solo sellers who think in deal stages and want a clean visual pipeline
The catch: No free plan; two-way email sync and automations start on the Growth tier. Runs on Web, iPhone, Android. Price from a pricing roundup (pipedrive.com shows prices by location; it showed €14 a seat, billed yearly).
HubSpot CRM
Getting a real CRM free, with room to add marketing tools later
Free plan: 2 users and 1,000 contacts. The catch: Free plan stops at 1,000 contacts; Professional jumps to $100 a seat monthly. Runs on Web, iPhone, Android. Price from HubSpot's product page (its pricing page loads prices by script).
Attio
Founders who want a flexible, modern CRM with a generous free plan
Free plan: up to 3 seats and 50,000 records. The catch: Flexible means setup work; Plus at $35 costs more than simpler CRMs. Runs on Web, Mac, iPhone, Android, Gmail extension.
Streak
People who live in Gmail and want deals tracked beside their inbox
Free plan: email tools only, no pipelines. The catch: Pipelines need the $49 Pro plan, and it only works inside Gmail. Runs on Gmail (Chrome, Safari, Edge), iPhone, Android.
Twenty
Founders who want to own their CRM data and can run a server
Free plan: free to self-host; cloud is a 30-day trial. The catch: Self-hosting means running your own server; cloud has no free plan. Runs on Web, self-hosted (Docker).
Bigin by Zoho CRM
Solo sellers on a tight budget who want a simple pipeline app
Free plan: 1 user, 500 records, 1 pipeline. The catch: Free plan stops at 500 records; Gmail integration needs paid Express. Runs on Web, iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac.
We don't earn anything from these links, and none of these companies is affiliated with dupe.software. Seen a price change? Tell us. How we research these pages.
Leaving Close?
Take your Close data with you
Whatever you switch to, export first, then cancel. From Close's own help center, checked Oct 12, 2026.
1 · Export
Export your Close data
- Open the Leads page. To export only some records, search, filter or open a Leads Smart View first.
- Click the ... menu, then Export. Pick Leads, Contacts or Opportunities, CSV or JSON, and Common or All fields.
- Close emails you a download link when the file is ready. The link expires after 7 days.
- FormatsCSV or JSON. Only JSON includes all activities (emails, calls, SMS, notes).
- Watch outOnly Admins and Super Users can export. Activities come out only in JSON, and Contacts Smart Views can't be exported. Emails, notes and templates as CSV need Close's Support Tools and an API key.
2 · Cancel
Cancel Close
- Sign in as an Admin and go to Settings > Billing > Plan.
- Scroll down to Cancel account and confirm.
Afterwards: You keep full access until the end of the billing period, and can undo it until then. On annual plans the cancellation only takes effect at the end of the term. Close permanently deletes lead data 91 days after the account closes, so export first, and port your phone numbers before you cancel.
Source: help.close.comQuestions
Close CRM alternative FAQ
Is Bowerbird a Close clone?
It's an independent CRM for one salesperson, built from our own spec. Close does far more for teams: calling, SMS and sequences. We aren't affiliated with Close.
Who is Bowerbird for?
Founders, freelancers and solo salespeople who need a pipeline and a daily follow-up list, not a calling platform.
When can I get Bowerbird?
Bowerbird is on the waitlist: we build the dupes people sign up for first. Join and you'll hear the day it's ready.
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Bowerbird is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by Close. Close is a trademark of its owner, named here only to describe what Bowerbird is an alternative to. All dupes.