Monday CRM is a sales layer on top of monday.com, a flexible work OS built for teams to run projects, boards, and automations together. Orbit is a simple all-in-one CRM for one person, with an AI assistant called Hiro that drafts follow-ups, writes proposals, and manages tasks on your approval. If you coordinate a team across many workflows, Monday fits. If you are the whole team, Orbit keeps it simple.
Monday started as a work operating system, and the CRM inherited that DNA. Everything is a board you can shape: columns, statuses, automations, and views you bend to almost any process. Sales, onboarding, projects, and support can all live in the same workspace, color-coded and visible to everyone on the team.
That flexibility is the real draw. A small team can wire up no-code automations, dashboards that roll up across boards, and a shared place where deals and delivery sit next to each other. If your business is as much about coordinating work as it is about closing deals, and a few people need to see the same boards, Monday is a strong base. Check their site for current plans and seat counts.
Side by side on what a one-person business actually feels day to day.
| Orbit | Monday CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| AI assistant that drafts and does the busywork | Hiro drafts follow-ups, proposals, and invoices on your approval | AI assist and automations, not one assistant that acts for you |
| All-in-one: invoices, proposals, and booking pages | Included, free plan covers the basics | Via integrations or apps, check their site |
| Nothing sends without your approval | Every Hiro draft waits for you to approve, edit, or dismiss | Not applicable, people run the boards |
| Built for one person | Yes, solo-first design | Built for teams coordinating work |
| Relationship timeline per contact | Emails, notes, tasks, and invoices on one timeline | Possible to build with boards and columns |
| Built-in email inbox | Send and receive from your own Orbit address, 100/mo free | Via integrations, check their site |
| Built-in MCP server to connect Claude | Yes, on Pro | |
| Free plan | Free CRM plan, no credit card | Limited free tier, then per seat, check their site |
| Pricing model | Free CRM, Pro $14/mo or $112/yr, AI included free | Per seat, per month, often a seat minimum, check their site |
Monday answers "how does our team run its work?" Orbit answers "how does one person keep up with none?" In Monday, a board is a place to track tasks. In Orbit, one assistant does the busywork. Ask Hiro to draft the bump for a thread gone quiet, write a proposal, send an invoice, or clean up a messy contact, and it returns a draft you approve. It also remembers facts across chats, so you are not re-explaining your business every time.
None of it auto-sends. Every draft, reply, and reminder lands as something you approve, edit, or dismiss, so judgment stays yours while the legwork does not. If you want a single relationship record instead of a wall of boards, Orbit gives every contact a full timeline. That is the heart of relationship management, and it is what a solo operator usually needs more than another project board.
The free plan covers the working core: 250 contacts, one pipeline, unlimited tasks and GTD lists, a calendar, notes, a built-in email inbox (100 sends a month), and basic Tables. Hiro runs on free monthly AI credits, included on every plan, no API key to paste and nothing to configure. Two-way Google Calendar sync, the Chrome extension, the meeting recorder, and the MCP server are part of Pro at $14/mo.
Monday gives a team a flexible place to run its work. Orbit gives one person a simple CRM and an assistant that does the busywork.
Yes, if you work alone. Orbit is a simple all-in-one CRM with one AI assistant, Hiro, that drafts follow-ups, writes proposals, sends invoices, and manages tasks, with you approving every action. Monday CRM is stronger for teams that need flexible shared boards and cross-workflow automation.
monday.com offers a limited free tier and then charges per seat, often with a seat minimum. Check their site for current details. Orbit has a free CRM plan with no credit card: 250 contacts, one pipeline, unlimited tasks, and a built-in email inbox. Pro is $14/mo or $112/yr, with an optional 30-day free trial (card required).
Hiro can create and update contacts, deals, and pipelines, manage tasks and your calendar, write and send proposals and invoices, draft follow-ups and replies, build pages and forms, and remember facts across chats. Nothing sends on its own: every draft waits for your approval. Orbit does not make phone calls.
The free plan, no credit card: 250 contacts, 1 pipeline, unlimited tasks and GTD lists, a calendar, notes, a built-in email inbox (100 sends a month), basic Tables, plus 10 invoices, 10 proposals, and one booking page. Hiro runs on free monthly AI credits, and Pro ($14/mo) raises the limits.
No. Orbit ships as a working CRM with contacts, a pipeline, tasks, and a calendar already set up, so there is little to wire up. Monday's strength is that you build the process. Orbit's strength is that the CRM is built and one assistant helps you run it, with your approval.
Orbit's CRM is free, no credit card. Start a 30-day Pro trial (card required), let Hiro draft with the AI credits already included, and approve every draft before it sends.
Free forever plan. No credit card. No spam.