Compare
There’s more than one way to keep in touch.
An honest look at the options — including the things other tools do better. We make Howdy Mate!, so weigh our take accordingly.
At a glance
| Howdy Mate! | Personal CRM app | Spreadsheet | Calendar reminders | Your memory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes | Varies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built for friends, not networking | Yes | Varies | Varies | No | Yes |
| Counts from your last catch-upA repeating reminder fires on a fixed date, even if you caught up yesterday. | Yes | Varies | Varies | No | No |
| Tells you who’s due | Yes | Yes | No | Varies | No |
| Log a catch-up in one tap | Yes | Varies | No | No | No |
| Birthday reminders | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Varies |
| No account needed | Yes | No | Varies | Varies | Yes |
| Syncs across devices | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works on Android or the web | No | Varies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
When a personal CRM is the better choice
If you keep up with hundreds of people for work — clients, investors, a network you actively grow — a full personal CRM earns its keep: rich notes, integrations, and your data on every device. Howdy Mate! is deliberately smaller than that. It’s iPhone-only, it doesn’t sync, and it’s built for the people you’d invite to your birthday, not the ones you’d invoice.
We wrote a whole guide on this: do you need a personal CRM for your friends?
Why not just use calendar reminders?
You can — and for birthdays, your calendar is great. The catch is that a repeating reminder fires on a fixed date whether or not you’ve already caught up. Howdy Mate! counts from your last catch-up instead, so logging a chance chat at the shops resets the clock, and nobody nags you about a friend you saw on Saturday.
What about a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is flexible and free, and some people love one. But it won’t tap you on the shoulder, logging a call means opening a laptop, and it’s very easy for one to quietly stop being updated by March.
And your memory?
It’s free, it’s on every device, and it has the best intentions. It also has a habit of remembering your friend at 11pm on a Tuesday — and forgetting again by morning.
Try the simple one.
Free on the App Store for iPhone. No account, no subscription, no catch.
On a computer? Point your iPhone’s camera here.