A +67% price hike that reopens the self-hosting calculation
The Kommo CRM Base plan price increase on September 1, 2026 — from $15 to $25 per user — is not a cosmetic adjustment. For a three-person sales team, the monthly subscription goes from $45 to $75, representing $360 in annual additional cost. Add a fourth user and you are at $400 more per year in licenses alone.
This per-user billing model is the reason self-hosting a CRM has become a serious topic again. A VPS at 99 DH/month per month is a server dedicated to your entire team — no seat counter, no contact quota, no API access surcharge. The monthly VPS cost does not grow with your team size: it is the opposite model of per-user SaaS.
Kommo CRM, Twenty CRM, Monica CRM: what actually changes
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| Criterion | Kommo CRM (SaaS) | Twenty CRM (self-hosted) | Monica CRM (self-hosted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost model | $25/user/month (Base plan) | VPS from 99 DH/month/month, no user limit | VPS from 99 DH/month/month, no user limit |
| Data | Hosted by Kommo (US/EU servers) | On your VPS, in your chosen datacenter | On your VPS, in your chosen datacenter |
| Customization | Limited to configuration settings | Open source, modifiable | Open source, modifiable |
| API integrations | Proprietary API, paid above quota | Native GraphQL API, native webhooks | REST API, configurable webhooks |
| Focus | Sales pipeline, unified messaging | B2B CRM, relational objects, kanban/table views | Personal and client contact management, life journal |
| Migration from Kommo | N/A — that is the origin | CSV import or via Kommo API (manual export required) | CSV contacts import only |
| License | Proprietary, subscription | MIT — free commercial use | AGPL — self-hosting free |
Twenty CRM or Monica CRM: choosing based on your use case
Twenty CRM and Monica CRM share the same economic model — open source, self-hostable, no software subscription — but they address different needs.
Twenty CRM is designed for sales teams: sales pipeline, B2B company and contact management, kanban and table views, customizable object system. Its GraphQL API and native webhooks allow you to connect it to your existing tools. If you use Kommo to manage prospects, opportunities and sales cycles, Twenty CRM is the natural successor.
Monica CRM is a broad personal and professional relationship manager: interaction journal, reminders, personal detail tracking for each contact. It suits independent consultants, coaches and freelancers managing a client portfolio qualitatively rather than volumetrically. It does not replace a structured sales pipeline.
Why CRM self-hosting is viable in 2026
- No seat counter — the entire team accesses the same VPS, the monthly cost stays fixed.
- Data under your control — your contacts, pipelines and history stay in the datacenter you chose, subject only to your own GDPR policy.
- No pricing dependency — a hike like Kommo's in September 2026 no longer forces you to renegotiate or migrate under pressure.
- API and webhooks without quotas — Twenty CRM exposes a full GraphQL API; no paid plan governs the number of calls.
- Schema customization — you add objects, fields and relationships without waiting for a vendor roadmap.
- Backups integrated into your infrastructure — the database sits on your VPS, backed up by your own policy, restorable at any time.
- Perpetual license — Twenty CRM's MIT license imposes no commercial use conditions; Monica CRM (AGPL) is free for self-hosting.
Exporting your data from Kommo CRM
Before migrating, you need to retrieve your data. Kommo CRM allows you to export contacts, companies and transactions through its interface: go to settings, Data Export section, and request a CSV export for each entity.
The Kommo export produces separate files — contacts, companies, leads — that you can then import into Twenty CRM or Monica CRM. Field mapping is not automatic: allow about an hour to map columns from the Kommo export to the target fields.
For active pipelines (open deals, pending tasks, call notes), Kommo also provides REST API access to extract data in JSON format. Twenty CRM can ingest this data via its own import endpoint, but the operation requires a transformation script — it is not a one-click migration. If your pipeline is complex, plan for a transition period where both systems coexist.
Migrating without downtime: the progressive transition method
Do not cut Kommo before Twenty CRM is operational and tested by the whole team. The recommended sequence: deploy Twenty CRM on your VPS, import contacts and accounts first (cold data), train the team on a parallel pipeline for two weeks, then switch active deals once the new workflows are mastered. Keep Kommo access in read-only mode for a month to consult the history of old calls and notes.
Deploying Twenty CRM on a ServOrbit VPS
Twenty CRM requires a server with at least 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM for production use with a small team. A VPS Power plan at 299 DH/month per month covers this usage comfortably. The Twenty CRM template on the ServOrbit Marketplace configures Docker, the database and the nginx reverse proxy in a few minutes, without a command line.
For Monica CRM, requirements are more modest — 1 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM are sufficient for individual use or a small team. A VPS Start plan at 99 DH/month is appropriate. The Monica CRM Marketplace template deploys the PHP/Laravel environment, the MariaDB database and the SSL certificate automatically.
In both cases, your domain can be configured at the time of order: you point your subdomain (crm.yourcompany.com) to your VPS IP, the SSL certificate is issued automatically via Let's Encrypt, and HTTPS access is available in under ten minutes.
If you do not want to manage the server yourself, the VPS administration option is available at order time: a technician handles updates, backups and monitoring — you manage your pipeline, we hold the infrastructure.
The twelve-month calculation: Kommo vs self-hosted
Let us run the numbers for a four-person team. With Kommo CRM at the new Base plan rate, the annual cost is $1,200. With Twenty CRM or Monica CRM on a VPS Power VPS at 299 DH/month per month, the annual cost is only the VPS — the software is free. The difference becomes positive from the first month for a team of five or more users.
This calculation does not account for migration time — allow one to two working days for a careful deployment with data import. That is a one-time, non-recurring cost. It also does not account for backups and administration if you choose autonomous management: these are real costs that must be estimated honestly.
However, the calculation becomes even more favorable as your team grows: each new user costs $25 more per month at Kommo, and zero additional cents on a VPS.
Annual cost calculation by team size
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| Team size | Kommo CRM Base plan (annual) | VPS VPS Power + Twenty CRM (annual) | Annual savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 users | $900 ($75/month) | 299 DH/month × 12 | Varies by VPS plan |
| 5 users | $1,500 ($125/month) | 299 DH/month × 12 | Positive at this threshold for most plans |
| 10 users | $3,000 ($250/month) | 299 DH/month × 12 | Very significant |
| 20 users | $6,000 ($500/month) | 499 DH/month × 12 (more resources needed) | Substantial |
Self-hosting limitations to know before deciding
Self-hosting a CRM is not the right answer in every case. Here are situations where Kommo or another SaaS remains relevant.
If your team has no internal technical resource and you do not wish to take the VPS administration option, the operational burden — updates, backups, monitoring — rests entirely on you. This is manageable for Twenty CRM (Docker, updates via docker compose pull) but must be acknowledged explicitly.
If you make heavy use of Kommo's native integrations — WhatsApp Business, Instagram Direct, integrated SIP calls — be aware that Twenty CRM does not offer these connectors out of the box in the current version. Webhooks allow connecting an external messaging tool, but it is not native.
Finally, if your CRM is coupled to a VoIP phone or call center, the technical migration will be more complex. In this case, evaluating existing integrations must precede any decision.
Summary: when to migrate, when to stay
- Migrate to Twenty CRM if your main use is a B2B pipeline (prospects, deals, follow-ups) and you have a team of four or more.
- Migrate to Monica CRM if you manage qualitative client relationships (consultant, coach, freelancer) with fewer than a hundred active contacts.
- Stay on Kommo if you depend on its native WhatsApp/Instagram connectors and cannot replace them with an external webhook integration.
- Evaluate first if your active pipeline is complex (more than fifty open deals with rich history) — migrating active data requires significant field mapping work.
- Take the VPS administration option if you do not want to manage updates and backups yourself — it is the compromise between self-hosting control and SaaS peace of mind.
- Plan a two-week transition minimum so the team is trained before the final cutover.
- Refer to the linked articles for step-by-step installation guides for Twenty CRM and Monica CRM on VPS — this article covers the choice and migration, not the detailed deployment.
