Replace / Google Contacts
Best free Google Contacts alternatives (open source, self-hosted) 2026
The best open-source alternative to Google Contacts is Radicale (or Baïkal) with Xandikos, self-hosted on Railway. Contacts and calendars you host. Radicale is GPL-3.0; Baïkal is GPL-3.0 — Google Contacts without the Google account as the vault.
Estimated save $1,200 a year.
Open the stackStart on Railway
How Google Contacts compares
| Google Contacts | Radicale / Baïkal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hosted subscription | Open-source or fair-code license; you pay the host |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Self-hosted on Railway or any VPS |
| Rough monthly cost | Public list price not verified this run | Hosting only — no SaaS seat meter in this repo |
- Radicale
GPL-3.0 CalDAV and CardDAV server
- Baïkal
GPL-3.0 Calendar+Contacts server on sabre/dav
- Xandikos
GPL-3.0 CalDAV/CardDAV backed by Git
FAQ
- What is the best free open-source Google Contacts alternative?
- The best open-source alternative to Google Contacts is Radicale (or Baïkal) with Xandikos, self-hosted on Railway. Contacts and calendars you host. Radicale is GPL-3.0; Baïkal is GPL-3.0 — Google Contacts without the Google account as the vault.
- Is it free?
- The Radicale / Baïkal licenses are open source or fair-code. You still pay hosting (Railway or any VPS) and any APIs the stack calls. There is no Google Contacts seat or task bill on this path.
- Can I migrate from Google Contacts?
- Yes. Start with the workflows or data you actually use, then cut over. The Radicale / Baïkal stack page has the agent prompt and the cost table; most teams rebuild the slice that matters and leave old Google Contacts links until they expire.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open the Radicale / Baïkal stack, copy the agent prompt, and deploy on Railway (one service, PORT, and a volume when the app needs disk). Placeholder: Radicale (or Baïkal) plus a volume for the collections. HTTPS only. Bind HTTP to 0.0.0.0:$PORT. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. A Drive suite stays on /stacks/nextcloud-files.
- What does this replace?
- Google Contacts. The published small-team estimate on this stack is $1,200 a year.
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