Around
Folk
| Feature | Around | Folk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Free / from $20/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | remote-teams, hybrid-teams, developers, creative-teams | agencies, founders, partnerships-teams, investor-relations |
| Founded | 2019 | 2020 |
| Floating Bubbles | ✓ | ✗ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Leveling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Meeting Notes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Contact Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pipelines | ✗ | ✓ |
| Email Sequences | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mail Merge | ✗ | ✓ |
| Browser Extension | ✗ | ✓ |
| Enrichment | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Around Pros
- Minimal screen footprint with floating video bubbles
- Excellent AI noise cancellation
- Auto-equalizes audio levels between participants
- Designed for casual always-on collaboration
✗ Around Cons
- Limited features for formal presentations
- Smaller user base than major platforms
- No recording on free plan
✓ Folk Pros
- Intuitive spreadsheet-like interface
- Browser extension captures contacts from anywhere
- Built-in email sequences and mail merge
- Great for lightweight relationship management
✗ Folk Cons
- Limited reporting and analytics
- Not suited for large enterprise sales teams
- Fewer automations than Salesforce/HubSpot
The Verdict
Around is built for remote teams and hybrid teams, with a focus on floating-bubbles and noise-cancellation. Folk targets agencies and founders and leads with contact-management and pipelines.
On pricing, Around is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $10/mo compared to $20/mo for Folk. That $10/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.