Fabriq Alternatives in 2026: The App Is Abandoned, Here Is What to Use Instead
Fabriq has not been updated in roughly two years and is effectively abandoned. Here is the honest head-to-head with Kinu and a clear migration plan.
If you opened Fabriq this week, you noticed it has not been updated in roughly two years. Your data may still be there, but the app is essentially abandoned. The iOS build is stuck on version 2.4.1 from November 2023. There is no public roadmap, no recent team communication, and known bugs that are not getting fixed.
The app still launches. But "still launches" is not a strategy for the relationships you care about. This guide is for people who picked Fabriq because the idea was right and need somewhere to land before something breaks.
The short answer: if you came to Fabriq for gentle, private check-ins with the people who matter, Kinu is the closest active replacement. A private place for the little things about your people. Native iOS and Android. Local-first. Encrypted sync. Desktop on Plus. Free for up to 10 people.
Disclosure: Kinu is our product. We have tried to be fair to Fabriq's original vision and honest about our own limits.
Fabriq vs Kinu at a Glance
| Fabriq | Kinu | |
|---|---|---|
| Last meaningful update | November 2023 (v2.4.1) | Active, monthly releases |
| Development status | Abandoned, no public roadmap | Funded, in active development |
| People cap | 150 contacts | 10 free, unlimited on Plus |
| Platforms | iOS, Android (mobile only) | iOS, Android, Desktop on Plus |
| Data location | On device, no encrypted sync | Local-first, encrypted sync |
| Price | Free with optional paid tier | Free up to 10 people, $69.99/yr unlimited |
| Known bugs being fixed | No | Yes |
| Best for | Nobody, in 2026 | Calm, private, personal use |
If you like Fabriq's vibe, you will recognize most of Kinu. It is the same intent. It is just being maintained.
Why Fabriq Users Are Looking for Alternatives
Fabriq had a good idea and a real audience. The reasons people are leaving are not about the original product. They are about what has happened to it since 2023.
No updates since 2023
The iOS app has been frozen on version 2.4.1 since November 2023. The Android side has had only minor housekeeping. In mobile years, that is a very long silence.
A hard 150-person cap
Fabriq tops out at 150 contacts. For some people that was fine. For anyone with a large extended family, a coaching practice, or just a lot of long-running friendships, it became a wall.
No desktop, ever
Fabriq lived entirely on your phone. There was never a desktop or web version for longer reflection, journaling about a relationship, or looking at patterns over time.
Abandoned in everything but name
No public roadmap. No team updates. Known bugs that have not been touched. The app is in maintenance mode by negligence, not by design. At some point an OS update will probably break something important.
None of this is a pile-on. Fabriq had a real vision: relationships deserve a calm home. The failure is sustainability, not intent. That is worth saying out loud before you move your data.
How Kinu Compares to Fabriq
Kinu started from the same belief as Fabriq. Your people deserve a quiet, private place that is not your inbox or your camera roll. The execution is different in three specific ways.
1. Active development instead of frozen builds
Kinu ships monthly. Bugs get fixed. There is a funded team behind it, not a side project that quietly went silent. That matters because the whole point of a relationship app is durability. You are trusting it with years of context about people you love. If you want the longer version, see why we built Kinu and the philosophy of calm technology behind it.
2. Local-first with real encrypted sync
Your data lives on your device by default, the same way it did in Fabriq. The difference is what happens when you want a second device or a backup. Kinu encrypts everything on your device before it leaves your phone. The server only ever sees opaque blobs, and we do not access your relationship content. You get the privacy story Fabriq users assumed they had, with the multi-device option Fabriq never built.
3. Warmth instead of a counter
Fabriq was a reminder app with people attached. Kinu is a relationship companion. The difference shows up everywhere in the product.
Where Fabriq gave you a contact and a frequency, Kinu gives you the Relational Compass: a visual map of who is close to you, who it might be time to reconnect with, and how you want to show up for each person. You set a closeness level, an intention (closer, maintain, distance), and a mode (active, low energy, paused). The app adapts to the season you are in. No streaks. No "you haven't talked to Sarah in 14 days" guilt.
Other Fabriq concepts that map to Kinu:
| Fabriq concept | Kinu equivalent |
|---|---|
| Contact | Person |
| Check-in frequency | Closeness + Mode (active, low energy, paused) |
| Reminder | Important date plus opt-in nudge |
| Notes on a contact | Moments (light observations) plus Private Notes (never processed) |
| Groups | Lenses (Family, Friends, Work, custom) |
The vocabulary is gentler on purpose. Fabriq users tend to feel at home quickly because the underlying intent is the same.
How to Migrate from Fabriq Before It Stops Working
This is the urgent part. Fabriq is not broken today, but it is one OS update or one App Store policy change away from trouble. Move while you still have a working app to copy from.
Open Fabriq today and screenshot your list
Before anything else, open Fabriq while it still launches and screenshot your full people list and any frequency settings. There is no formal export. Screenshots are your backup.
Start with your inner circle
Do not try to move every contact. Kinu is for the people who matter, not your full address book. Most users start with 8 to 15 people and grow from there. The free tier covers 10.
Re-enter, do not re-import
Re-entering a person takes about 60 seconds. Name, Lens, closeness, important dates, one or two Moments. Typing it out is part of the value. You will remember more about each person than a clean import would have given you.
Park the long tail in paused mode
For people you want to keep around without active maintenance, set their mode to "paused" and drop any context in their Private Note. Kinu will not nudge you. They are still there when you want them.
Honest Trade-offs
We are not going to pretend this is a clean upgrade in every direction.
Where Fabriq was better than Kinu
- Free with no cap on people, historically. Fabriq's free tier allowed up to 150 people. Kinu's free tier caps at 10 and asks $69.99 a year for unlimited. For a strict comparison of free tiers, Fabriq's offer was more generous on paper.
- Simpler mental model on day one. Fabriq had fewer concepts. You picked a frequency and waited for a nudge. Kinu has Lenses, Moments, Modes, and a Relational Compass. That richness is the point, but it is more to learn.
- One-tap input for years. When it was being maintained, Fabriq's check-in flow was very fast. Kinu's flow is fast too, but Fabriq deserves credit for the original pattern.
Where Kinu is clearly better
- It is being maintained. This is the whole conversation. Kinu ships. Fabriq does not.
- Encrypted sync across devices. Fabriq never had this. Kinu has it on Plus and the server never sees your unencrypted data.
- Desktop access. Available on Kinu Plus for longer writing and reflection. Fabriq was mobile only, forever.
- No 150-person ceiling. Plus is unlimited. If your "people who matter" list grew past Fabriq's cap, this alone is worth the move.
- A calmer model. Modes for different life seasons. No streaks. No urgency. Private Notes that the system never processes.
- Free tier that actually works. 10 people, all features, indefinitely. Most Fabriq users fit inside that on their inner circle alone.
Other Active Alternatives Worth Knowing
If Kinu is not the fit, here are the credible options that are still being built in 2026. We covered these in depth in our personal CRM vs relationship apps guide.
Monica
Monica is the open-source personal CRM. Strong on privacy and ownership if you are willing to self-host. The hosted plan removes the setup pain but keeps the web-only experience, which is a downgrade if you came to Fabriq for the phone-first feel.
People who want maximum data ownership and are comfortable with web or self-hosting.
No native mobile app. Self-hosting is a real commitment.
Clay (now Mesh)
Clay was acquired by Automattic in 2025 and rebranded Mesh. AI builds rich profiles from your email, calendar, and social accounts. Excellent for professional networking. The privacy trade-off is real: Clay needs broad access to your data to work, which is the opposite of what most Fabriq users wanted.
Professionals with large networks who want automation.
No Android. AI features feel invasive for purely personal use.
Dex
Dex is the closest hosted equivalent to a full personal CRM. LinkedIn import, email integration, contact enrichment, AI conversation starters. Solid product, still being built. The vocabulary stays CRM-heavy, which can feel cold if Fabriq's warmth was what you liked.
People who want structure and integrations and do not mind the CRM framing.
No free tier. $144 per year. Professional tone throughout.
Should You Even Stay with Fabriq?
The honest answer is no. The app has not been touched in any meaningful way since 2023, there is no team communication, and the bugs that exist will not be fixed. Trusting it with your relationships in 2026 is trusting a building that nobody is maintaining.
That said, if you have a workflow you genuinely cannot break this month, here are reasonable stopgaps:
- Turn off notifications inside Fabriq. If you stay, you do not want a slowly degrading reminder system pinging you with stale logic.
- Screenshot your data weekly. Treat each screenshot as your backup until you finish migrating.
- Do not add new people to it. Add new people only to whichever app you plan to land on. That way your "new" inner circle is already on a maintained platform.
- Set a deadline. Pick a date within the next 30 days to be fully off Fabriq. The longer you wait, the more likely something breaks at a bad moment.
If you want a broader view of the active landscape, our best apps to stay in touch guide compares the leading options head to head.
How to Choose, in One Sentence
If you loved Fabriq because it felt calm and private, choose Kinu. If you want more structure and integrations and do not mind paying for it, choose Dex. If you want self-hosted ownership and live in a browser, choose Monica.
Try Kinu Free
If Fabriq's vision resonated and you just need it to be a product that is actually being built, Kinu is free for up to 10 people on iOS and Android. No credit card. No setup. No 150-person cap waiting for you. You add the people who matter. Kinu helps you keep the little things about them and brings them back when they matter. That is the heart of the product.
For the underlying ideas, see our pieces on how to maintain friendships as an adult and the difference between a personal CRM and a relationship app.
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