CRM · checked 2026-10-13

Can I vibecode Close?

KINDA· weekend project

The CRM half of Close is ordinary software: leads, contacts, a pipeline, one timeline per lead and saved lists all fit in a SQLite file, and an agent writes that in a sitting. What people actually pay Close for is the phone and the inbox inside the CRM, and those lean on Twilio, IMAP and a public URL for webhooks, which is where the weekend goes. Even then there is no power dialer, no phone app and no team view, so a sales team is better off self-hosting Twenty or EspoCRM than building.

$19/moprice per seat

$228you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.

TimeAn evening for the CRM, plus an hour or two in the Twilio console

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
A mailbox with IMAP accessGmail and Microsoft 365 want an app password or OAuth; a plain IMAP host is the quickest start.
A Twilio account (optional)Only for calls and texts. You pay for the number and per minute, and US texting needs A2P 10DLC registration.
A public URL for webhooksA cloudflared tunnel or a small VPS, so incoming calls and texts reach the app.
A JSON export from CloseJSON is the only built-in format that includes calls, emails and notes.

Before you buildClose has no free plan, but Solo drops to $9 a month billed yearly. If one seat with calling built in is all you need, put that next to your Twilio bill before building.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a personal sales CRM to replace Close. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server and a React front end built with Vite.
  `npm start` serves everything on http://localhost:4700.
- Storage: better-sqlite3 in ./data/crm.db. Leads (companies) hold contacts and
  opportunities (value, confidence, close date, stage). Every lead has one
  timeline of emails, calls, texts, notes and tasks in date order.
- Email: poll my mailbox over IMAP with `imapflow` every 5 minutes and attach each
  message to the lead whose contact matches the address. Send with `nodemailer`
  over SMTP from templates with {{first_name}}-style tags. Credentials in .env.
- Sequences: up to 5 email steps with delays, stopped as soon as the contact
  replies, never more than 50 sends a day per mailbox.
- Calls and texts through Twilio (keys in .env): click-to-call in the browser with
  `@twilio/voice-sdk`, inbound calls ring the open page, and each call is logged
  with its duration and recording link. Without keys, hide these and show a
  manual "log a call" form.
- Smart views: save any search (lead status, last contacted, stage, custom field)
  as a list and work through it lead by lead. A drag-and-drop pipeline board, and
  a home page with today's tasks and leads untouched for 14 days.
- CSV import with a column-mapping preview, CSV export of any view, and a full
  JSON backup command.
- Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first.
- Out of scope: power or predictive dialers, AI calling agents, team permissions
  and mobile apps.
- README: setup, where the data lives, and the Twilio steps. Budget an hour for a
  number and a TwiML app; inbound calls and texts need a public URL (a cloudflared
  tunnel or a VPS); US texting needs A2P 10DLC registration, which can take days.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Close.

Add an importer for a Close JSON export to the CRM in this folder. Requirements:

- A command `npm run import:close -- <file>` that reads the leads export made with
  All fields, gzipped or not.
- Create leads, contacts and opportunities, and turn each lead's activities into
  timeline entries: emails, calls with duration, SMS and notes.
- Map Close lead and opportunity statuses onto my pipeline stages; print the
  mapping and ask before writing anything.
- Keep the Close ids in a column so a second run updates instead of duplicating.
- Print a summary of imported and skipped leads, contacts, deals and activities.
- Update the README with the Close export steps.

Add a simple dialer to the CRM in this folder. Requirements:

- Start a session from any smart view; it queues every contact with a phone number.
- Dial the first one through the existing Twilio setup. When the call ends, show a
  wrap-up form (outcome, note, next task) and dial the next only after I click
  Next or press N.
- Skip contacts called in the last 3 days and numbers marked do-not-call.
- Only dial between 9:00 and 18:00 in the contact's time zone (a field that
  defaults to mine).
- Show session stats: dialed, connected, average talk time.
- Out of scope: dialing several numbers at once.
- Update the README.

Add call transcripts and summaries to the CRM in this folder. Requirements:

- After a recorded Twilio call, download the recording into ./data/recordings/
  using the Twilio credentials in .env.
- Transcribe it locally with whisper.cpp (small model), or with OpenAI's API if
  OPENAI_API_KEY is set.
- Ask the LLM for a 3-line summary, next steps and any dates mentioned. Put the
  summary on the lead's timeline and offer the next steps as tasks to accept.
- Make transcripts searchable from the global search.
- Out of scope: live transcription during the call.
- Update the README with the whisper.cpp install and a note on consent laws for
  recording calls.

What you lose

Power and predictive dialers, voicemail drop and call coaching
Chloe, the AI agent that calls and qualifies leads
Mobile apps for calling and texting on the go
Shared team inboxes, permissions and reporting
Ready-made importers from HubSpot, Pipedrive and others

Why people still pay

Reps spend the whole day in Close because calls, texts, email and the pipeline share one screen and need almost no setup, and the dialers turn a list into an afternoon of calls. Managers pay for one view of what every rep did, while phone numbers, sending limits and US texting registration are handled for them.

Moatintegrations execution polish switching costs

Do the math

Close or your own copy?

Seats

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Close, 1 yr$228

Your own copy, 1 yr$68running + build session

You keep$161pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Without calling it runs for free on your machine. With Twilio you pay for the number plus each minute and text at Twilio's rates, which stays small at personal volume. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Close

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Close

1Open Leads (filter first if you only want some), click the ... menu at the top right of the list and choose Export.
2Pick Leads, Contacts or Opportunities, then JSON or CSV, and Common or All fields. JSON is the only built-in format that carries emails, calls, SMS and notes.
3The file arrives as an emailed download link that expires after 7 days.
4Email and SMS bodies have their own exporters in Close Support Tools, which need an API key from Settings > Developer > API Keys.

2 · Cancel Close

1Sign in with an Admin account: it is the only role with billing access.
2Go to Settings > Billing > Plan, scroll down and click Cancel account.
3The account stays fully usable until the end of the paid month or year, and you can undo the cancellation from the same page until then.

Close permanently deletes an organization's lead data 91 days after it is cancelled, so export before you cancel, not months later.
Exports only work from a Leads Smart View; views built on the Contacts tab can't be exported.
Solo and Essentials keep call recordings for only 30 days, so older recordings may already be gone.
To keep your phone numbers, start a port-out with the new carrier before cancelling; Close support can send the proof of ownership carriers ask for.

Checked 2026-10-13 against Close's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

TwentyOpen sourceModern CRM with pipelines, custom objects and mail and calendar sync; the core is AGPL, a few enterprise features are licensed separately.★ 58k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗EspoCRMOpen sourceLong-running PHP CRM with leads, opportunities, email accounts and workflows; official Docker image.★ 3.5k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗Krayin CRMOpen sourceLaravel CRM for small businesses with leads, a pipeline, quotes and email; you run PHP and MySQL yourself.★ 24k · active Oct 2026 · self-host, real ops
WebVisit ↗

All 5 free alternatives to Close ›

The numbers

Close pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Solo	$19/user	$9/user	One user, up to 10,000 leads, 3 connected mailboxes, calling and SMS, 30-day call-recording retention, 500 AI credits a month.
Essentials	$49/user	$35/user	Unlimited leads, team features, 3 mailboxes per user, open tracking, 30-day recording retention, 1,000 AI credits per user.
Growth	$109/user	$99/user	Adds workflows, power dialer, bulk email, email scheduling, custom activities, 10 mailboxes, 90-day recording retention, 1,500 AI credits per user.
Scale	$149/user	$139/user	Adds predictive dialer, call coaching, custom roles, lead visibility rules, custom objects and unlimited recording retention.
Custom	custom	—	—

Free tier: No free plan; a 14-day trial with no card and $5 of calling and enrichment credit.
Billing: Monthly or annual per user; annual saves up to 50% on Solo. Monthly plans can change or cancel any time; annual downgrades and cancellations apply at the end of the term. 30-day money-back guarantee after purchase.
Hidden costs: Calls and texts are billed on top at cost (most outbound calls about $0.02 a minute, numbers from about $1 a month), and US texting needs A2P 10DLC registration. Call Assistant transcription is $50 a month per organization plus $0.02 a minute; extra organizations are $50 a month; AI credits beyond the plan's allowance are bought separately.
Source: www.close.com

Also on the list

Pipedrive$24/mo · CRMKINDA

Attio$44/mo · CRMKINDA

HighLevel$97/mo · CRMNOT REALLY

Questions

Close, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: Power and predictive dialers, voicemail drop and call coaching, Chloe, the AI agent that calls and qualifies leads.

About $19 a month on the Solo plan per seat, $228 a year (checked 2026-10-13).

Power and predictive dialers, voicemail drop and call coaching; Chloe, the AI agent that calls and qualifies leads; Mobile apps for calling and texting on the go; Shared team inboxes, permissions and reporting; Ready-made importers from HubSpot, Pipedrive and others. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.