Rucksack vs Dex

How this comparison was made

We make Rucksack, so read this page with that in mind. Dex was not tested hands-on. Everything said about it comes from its website and pricing page, checked on 13 September 2026. Everything said about Rucksack comes from its own product board on the same day, including what it does not do. Prices and features change, so check both before you decide.

Two different starting points

Dex starts from the network you already have. It pulls contacts in from email, calendar, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook, Instagram, your phone and CSV files, keeps them in one place, and reminds you to keep in touch. Its site also describes pre-meeting briefs and updates when a contact changes roles.

Rucksack starts from the conversation you just had. It imports nothing. After you talk to someone, you tell Rucksack what mattered — by speaking for half a minute, or by typing — and it turns that into facts filed under the people, places and organisations you mentioned. When a name could mean two different people, it asks you instead of guessing. Every fact links back to the recording it came from.

Put simply: Dex is organised around who you know. Rucksack is organised around what people told you.

Where Dex is clearly ahead

• Contact import and sync from the channels you already use. Rucksack has none.
• Keep-in-touch reminders. Rucksack has no reminders today.
• Apps for web, iOS, Android, macOS and Windows, plus a Chrome extension. Rucksack is one installable web app, so far verified on iPhone.
• It is a finished, paid product. Rucksack is a closed beta whose only user so far is its founder, with the first invited testers next.

Where Rucksack is different

• Capture is built around speaking right after a conversation, not around filling in a contact record.
• It pulls the facts out of what you said, so you never sort them into fields.
• It does not silently pick between two people with similar names. It asks, and remembers your answer.
• Every fact is traceable: open it and play the recording it came from.

Dex lists a "voice mode" on its Professional plan. Its public pages do not describe what that does, so this page does not compare it.

Price

Dex: Premium costs $12 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. Professional costs $20 a month billed annually or $34 billed monthly. Enterprise is priced on request. There is a 7-day free trial that needs a credit card, and no free plan.

Rucksack: there is nothing to pay during the beta, and no way to pay yet. The plan for afterwards is that Rucksack stays free to use and you pay a fee for usage. The details are not set.

Which one fits

If your problem is a scattered address book and people you forget to follow up with, Dex does that job, and Rucksack does not.

If your problem is that you meet someone, learn something that matters — a new job, a child's name, a plan for next spring — and a week later it is gone, that is the job Rucksack is built for.

They do not exclude each other. Dex can hold the contact; Rucksack holds what the conversation contained.

Related

Comparison

Rucksack vs Mesh (formerly Clay)

Mesh, formerly Clay, builds your network automatically from email, calendar and social accounts. Rucksack captures what people tell you, by voice.

Comparison

Rucksack vs Notion as a personal CRM

A Notion personal CRM is a database you design and fill in yourself. Rucksack builds its notes about people from what you say. When each makes sense.

Use case

A personal CRM for freelancers

As a freelancer, your client relationships are your business. How to keep what clients tell you without a sales CRM, and where Rucksack helps.