Introducing Twenty: The Open Source CRM Challenger to Salesforce

Twenty: An Open Source Alternative to Salesforce

Many software products lead to the creation of open source alternatives. However, no modern open source CRM exists that rivals Salesforce. Twenty aims to change that. This startup has been developing a new CRM platform for two years and shares the code on GitHub under the AGPLv3 license.

Though Twenty lacks some features of Salesforce, it is building a community of CRM and open source supporters. In the last year, over 300 contributors have joined, and the project has gained 20,000 stars on GitHub.

The founders of Twenty previously worked on Luckey, a mini CRM for Airbnb users focused on vacation rentals. When they sought to start a new venture, they observed the rise of open source companies replicating popular software. Examples include Baserow, which mirrors Airtable, and Documenso, which offers a DocuSign alternative.

Félix Malfait, the CEO of Twenty, believes CRM is crucial because it encompasses marketing, customer support, and operations. While some companies like SugarCRM attempted to create an open source CRM, they did not achieve the success of Salesforce or HubSpot. SugarCRM stopped its Community Edition in 2018, viewing open source as a constraint at that time.

The dynamics of open source have shifted, and CRMs now serve more than just sales teams. Companies often use CRMs as the primary source of customer data, building products on top of it. Malfait believes that every software category will eventually have an open source leader, especially those reliant on network effects and extensibility.

Flexible Framework

Twenty aims to create a versatile platform customizable to each company’s needs. Users can create standard objects like people or companies and custom objects for specific needs, such as conferences or restaurant chains. This allows for the assignment of custom fields, simplifying data capture and comparison.

Users can view data in list or Kanban formats, enabling sorting, filtering, and note-taking. Additionally, Twenty’s data can be accessed through GraphQL and REST APIs, facilitating extensions beyond standard CRM capabilities. Eventually, Twenty intends to foster a developer ecosystem, aiming to match Salesforce’s functionality.

Building a CRM presents challenges, especially for Twenty, which emphasizes creating a full platform without shortcuts. To date, Twenty has raised $5 million from around 50 investors, including founders from notable companies and support from Y Combinator and Automattic.

Malfait explains that Salesforce’s strength lies in its flexible data model, programming language (Apex), and front-end customization. This combination allows for comprehensive data management and user interaction. Twenty aspires to replicate this feature set over time.