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CRM · head to head

Affinity vs Scratchpad

Affinity logo

Affinity

CRM

Relationship intelligence platform for professionals

From
$2000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Scratchpad logo

Scratchpad

CRM

Faster workspace over Salesforce for sales reps to update pipeline, take notes and manage deals

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Scratchpad has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Affinity enterprise tier requires custom quote, pricing not transparent; Scratchpad scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • They diverge on capability: Affinity covers Contact management, Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Affinity and Scratchpad actually diverge.

Attributes where Affinity and Scratchpad differ
AttributeAffinityScratchpad
Starting price$2000/yearFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Chrome extension
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (CRM).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Affinity

  • Contact management
  • Deal tracking
  • Intelligence engine
  • Relationship mapping
  • Integration aggregation
  • Gmail
  • Outlook
  • LinkedIn

Only in Scratchpad

  • Spreadsheet pipeline views
  • Call recorder and notetaker
  • AI field updates
  • Deal and account agent
  • Hygiene monitor
  • Notes linked to records
  • Custom prompts
  • Kanban and forecast views

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Affinity

  • Deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equitynot Scratchpad
  • Automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship recordsnot Scratchpad
  • Finding warm introductions through existing relationship networksnot Scratchpad
  • Investor relations and fundraising trackingnot Scratchpad
  • Portfolio company support and reportingnot Scratchpad

Scratchpad

  • A 60-rep Salesforce team whose forecast is unreliable because opportunity fields are updated once a week in a panic before the pipeline callnot Affinity
  • A rep who wants to update twenty opportunities in a grid rather than opening twenty Salesforce recordsnot Affinity
  • A sales manager wanting stale and incomplete pipeline records flagged automatically instead of chased by emailnot Affinity
  • A revenue operations lead trialling AI notetaking that writes back to CRM fields before committing budget, using the free tiernot Affinity

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Affinity

  • Enterprise tier requires custom quote, pricing not transparent
  • Scale tier API calls capped at 100000 per month
  • All plans charge per user annually

Scratchpad

  • Scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • AI credits are metered per user per month at 400 on Solo and 800 on Team, which means heavy notetaking use pushes teams towards Enterprise for capacity rather than for features.
  • There is no proper native mobile application, so representatives who wanted to update records from a car park between meetings are back in a mobile browser.
  • Sync with Salesforce and call processing can lag, and a pipeline view showing yesterday state during a forecast call undermines the exact meeting the tool was bought to improve.
  • It creates a second notes surface alongside native Salesforce notes, so organisations end up with deal history split across two places unless they explicitly ban one of them.

Pricing, plan by plan

Affinity

$2000/year
  • Essential$2000/year
    • Activity capture (email and calendar)
    • Relationship scoring and interaction history
    • Deal pipeline tracking
  • Scale$2300/year
    • Automatic meeting capture (Notetaker)
    • AI Chat conversational access
    • Affinity Ascend agent platform
  • Advanced$2700/year
    • Third-party data enrichment (PitchBook, Dealroom, Crunchbase)
    • Company growth insights
    • Packaged integrations (Slack, Salesforce, Box)
  • Enterprise$null/year
    • Fund-level permissions
    • Enterprise SSO
    • Custom data retention

Scratchpad

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Workspace limited to 3 views
    • 10 hours a month of call recording and notetaking
    • AI field updates
  • Solo$19/month
    • Unlimited views with sheets and notes
    • Call recorder and notetaker
    • AI field updates
  • Team$49/month
    • Everything in Solo
    • 800 AI credits per user per month
    • Gong integration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited AI credits
    • White-glove agent services included
    • Enterprise security and administration

Which should you pick?

Choose Affinity if

  • You need contact management.
  • You also want deal tracking.
Affinity review

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You need spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome extension.
  • You also want call recorder and notetaker.
Scratchpad review

Questions people ask

Is Affinity or Scratchpad better?
Neither clearly leads. Affinity starts at $2000/year and Scratchpad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Affinity or Scratchpad?
Scratchpad has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2000/year for Affinity and Free for Scratchpad.
Does Affinity or Scratchpad run on more platforms?
Affinity runs on Web. Scratchpad runs on Web, Chrome extension.
Can I use Scratchpad for free?
Yes. Scratchpad has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Affinity starts at $2000/year.
What is Affinity best used for?
Affinity is most often used for deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equity, automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship records, finding warm introductions through existing relationship networks, investor relations and fundraising tracking. Of those, deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equity and automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship records are not what Scratchpad is typically brought in for.
What can Affinity do that Scratchpad cannot?
Affinity covers Contact management, Deal tracking, Intelligence engine, Relationship mapping. Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views, Call recorder and notetaker, AI field updates, Deal and account agent.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Affinity: How much does Affinity CRM cost per user?

Affinity CRM pricing starts at 2000 USD per user per year for the Essential plan, 2300 USD for Scale, and 2700 USD for Advanced. Enterprise tier requires custom pricing.

Source
Scratchpad: Does Scratchpad work with HubSpot?

No. It is Salesforce-only.

Affinity: What is the API call limit on Affinity's Scale tier?

The Scale and Advanced tiers provide 100000 API calls per month. Enterprise tier customers receive unlimited API access.

Source
Scratchpad: Is the free plan usable in production?

Yes for an individual: full workspace with three views, 10 hours of recording and 100 AI credits a month. Teams outgrow it on views and credits.

Affinity: Which Affinity tier includes Notetaker and MCP integration?

The Scale tier (2300 USD per user per year) includes automatic meeting capture via Notetaker and Model Context Protocol server integration for AI tool connections.

Source
Scratchpad: Does it replace Salesforce licences?

No. Every user still needs their own Salesforce licence; Scratchpad is an interface on top.

Affinity: When does Affinity offer Enterprise SSO capabilities?

Enterprise SSO (single sign-on) capability is included only in the Enterprise tier, which requires custom pricing and is designed for established firms with multi-fund complexity.

Source
Scratchpad: What are AI credits spent on?

Notetaking, summarisation, field update suggestions and agent queries. Enterprise removes the cap.

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