Twenty
Twenty's ORM v2 migration is down to permission and repository edge cases
Comparison · CRM
Affinity vs Phorest
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Affinity and Phorest — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Affinity vs Phorest: at a glance
What is Affinity?
Affinity is wiring deal data into outside AI tools while rebuilding its core list views.
The tracked source is Affinity's blog index rather than a changelog, so most of what lands here is article chrome and case studies. Underneath that, two genuine product items are visible: Affinity Lists rebuilt for faster performance with advanced filtering, and an Affinity MCP Server in beta that connects deal data to AI tools including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. The surrounding material — Speedinvest tracking 500+ LP relationships through automatic capture, a year-in-review post, an executive appointment — is positioning around relationship intelligence rather than shipped change.
What is Phorest?
Phorest lets salons price the stylist, not just the service
Two back-of-house releases landed the same day. Staff pricing can now be set per individual staff member per service, replacing a model where variation came only from branch price or staff category, and it carries through to booking, checkout and online. Alongside it, everything a staff member is qualified for — service, service time, development time, finish time — collapses into one table instead of several screens. Brand creation also stops requiring a support ticket.
Affinity vs Phorest: editorial side-by-side
Affinity
0.0CRM
Affinity is wiring deal data into outside AI tools while rebuilding its core list views.
◆ Current state
The tracked source is Affinity's blog index rather than a changelog, so most of what lands here is article chrome and case studies. Underneath that, two genuine product items are visible: Affinity Lists rebuilt for faster performance with advanced filtering, and an Affinity MCP Server in beta that connects deal data to AI tools including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. The surrounding material — Speedinvest tracking 500+ LP relationships through automatic capture, a year-in-review post, an executive appointment — is positioning around relationship intelligence rather than shipped change.
◆ Where it's heading
Affinity is pushing on two fronts that reinforce each other: making the CRM's own surfaces fast enough to live in, and making its relationship graph reachable from whatever AI tool a dealmaker already has open. The consistent claim across the entries is automatic capture — email and meeting data collected without manual entry — which is what makes both the network mapping and the agent access worth anything. The category framing is relationship intelligence, not CRM.
◆ Prediction
The MCP server is in beta and is the obvious next thing to move; watch for it to gain write access to pipeline records rather than read-only querying, since the existing material already describes updating a pipeline from an AI tool.
Phorest
5.0CRM
Phorest lets salons price the stylist, not just the service
◆ Current state
Two back-of-house releases landed the same day. Staff pricing can now be set per individual staff member per service, replacing a model where variation came only from branch price or staff category, and it carries through to booking, checkout and online. Alongside it, everything a staff member is qualified for — service, service time, development time, finish time — collapses into one table instead of several screens. Brand creation also stops requiring a support ticket.
◆ Where it's heading
The recent run is consistently about removing steps from daily front-desk and manager work: clock-in by geofence, client lookup on the diary, transactions on the client card, voice notes, and now self-serve brands and consolidated staff setup. The direction is deepening the operational core rather than expanding into new surfaces like marketing or payments.
◆ Prediction
With pricing now granular to the individual staff member, the pressure moves to reporting — expect the analytics side to gain per-staff revenue views that make the new pricing dimension readable.
Alternatives to Affinity and Phorest
Other CRM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Affinity or Phorest.
Woodpecker
Woodpecker's public feed is an SEO content engine, not a changelog.
Vendasta
A daily SEO blog pitching AI service lines to agencies, with no product releases in it.
Thryv
Two weeks after the platform relaunch, Thryv's feed is all demand generation for it.
Recruiterflow
Staking the AI-native ATS claim in editorial while shipping nothing visible.
NetHunt CRM
NetHunt's feed is evaluation-stage SEO content, with no product releases visible in it.
See all Affinity alternatives → · See all Phorest alternatives →
Recent activity from Affinity and Phorest
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 22h agoPhorestAdd New Brands
- 1d agoPhorestPricing just got personal
- 14d agoPhorestGeofencing Clock In/Out on Phorest Go
- 19d agoPhorestSales Transactions in the client card on Phorest Go
- 19d agoPhorestFind a client on the diary
- 26d agoPhorestVoice Note to Client/Appointment Note
- 4mo agoAffinityWho knows who? How PE and VC firms use CRM network mapping to find warm introductions
- 4mo agoAffinityWho knows who? How PE and VC firms use CRM network mapping to find warm introductions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Affinity and Phorest?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Phorest is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Affinity better than Phorest?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Phorest is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other CRM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Affinity?
Top Affinity alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Affinity alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/affinity for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Phorest?
Top Phorest alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Phorest alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/phorest for the full list with editorial commentary on each.