I set up a CRM on Attio. Here's what I found out about it.
Attio is a CRM built around custom objects and flexible data modeling. Think Airtable for customer relationships. You're not locked into Companies, Contacts, and Deals. You create any object you need and map relationships between them with lots of integrations.
Onboarding
Setup took 15 minutes and if you've used Notion or Airtable, navigation feels familiar. One weird thing: orboard felt too short. I wish they added more questions like default currency instead of having to fix these in settings later.
Data import
I imported test CSVs with messy data to see what would happen. Import failed when fields weren't properly mapped, same behavior as every CRM I've tested. Mapping was straightforward once I formatted the CSV correctly and the user experience in Attio was more intuitive at this stage than HubSpot.
Custom objects
I tested creating a Partners object with revenue share %, referrals sent, commission owed, and tier level. Then a Referrals object linking Partner → Company → Deal. The data model stayed clean and revenue attribution worked without tagging workarounds.
I also built a marketplace workspace with Buyers, Sellers, Projects, and Payments as separate objects in 30 minutes. Each has its own pipeline stages, fields, and reporting views. This would take a day of workarounds in traditional CRMs.
HubSpot has custom objects but you need Enterprise tier. Sales Hub Enterprise is €150/seat/month and Marketing Hub Enterprise is €3,600/month. Attio gives you custom objects on the Free tier.
This works for companies tracking Workspaces and Users separately, marketplaces needing Buyers and Sellers as distinct objects, partner-heavy businesses where referrals need clean attribution, or VCs, LPs, and Portfolio Companies that don’t need Sales Hub Enterprise.
AI enrichment
I ran the AI Research Agent on 10 test contacts. Fast (seconds per contact) and accurate for basic firmographic data like headcount, funding stage, industry, and headquarters. Good for binary ICP checks or pulling public data like LinkedIn profiles and recent funding.
Limitations: output is thin when source records are sparse, no access to proprietary databases, and enriched data stays in Attio without syncing externally. Not a Clay or Apollo replacement but good for basic enrichment and ICP validation on known leads.
The Research Agent costs 10 credits per run. Pro tier includes 10,000 workspace credits per month. Running enrichment on 100 contacts per week burns about 400-500 credits monthly. Heavy automation users hit the limit fast and add-on credit blocks cost extra.
Sequences
Sequences only exist on Pro tier at €86/user/month and they're email-only. No LinkedIn tasks and no call tasks. I tested personalization with custom fields (works), auto-unenroll on reply (works), and Slack notifications (works). But if your outbound requires coordinated touchpoints across email, LinkedIn, and calls, you need external tools like Lemlist, Smartlead, or Outreach.
HubSpot Sales Hub Pro is €90/user/month and includes multi-channel sequences with email, LinkedIn, and calls plus A/B testing. €4/month more for significantly more functionality.
Integrations
Fewer than 50 native integrations. Gmail, Outlook, Slack, and Zapier work natively but everything else requires Zapier or custom API work.
The opportunity is that you can connect Attio to cheaper outbound and enrichment tools through the API and build a stack with specialized tools instead of paying for bloated all-in-one packages. Use Lemlist or Smartlead for sequences, Clay for enrichment, and Attio for the data model. The API is excellent and developers compared it favorably to Stripe and Shopify. API and Zapier access are available on the Free tier.
If your team is technical or you work with someone who can build integrations, you can build a cheaper and more flexible stack than traditional CRMs offer.
Reporting
I tested building dashboards with insight reports, funnel reports, and time in stage reports. The visual report builder works and you can create dashboards, filter by date ranges, segment by custom fields, and set targets.
What's missing: custom HTML reports, full dashboard exports, scheduled report delivery, revenue attribution across marketing channels, and advanced forecasting. For basic pipeline visibility Attio works but for reporting to others, you need to add them as a paying user, export the data or build reports elsewhere.
My take
Attio could be the best option to get a personalized CRM without the cost creep + learning curve of traditional options or the mess/lag of a spreadsheet IF your use case doesn't fit the standard GTM, you don't have endless entries, and you can consult with someone to build you a well-designed and integrated system.
