CRM & Sales - Setup Guide

How to set up Attio

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• July 2026 price increase not yet reflected in most third-party listings. Any comparison sheet quoting Plus at $29 and Pro at $69 is describing the OLD pricing (Source: MarketBetter: https://marketbetter.ai/blog/attio-crm-pricing-breakdown-2026/)
• Hybrid seat + usage pricing means the seat cost is not the full bill. AI enrichment, "Ask Attio" queries, and workflow runs draw from credit pools that refill monthly. Heavy enrichment or automation use adds real cost
• Plus caps at 10 seats. Team growing past 10 must jump to Pro (2.3x price per seat)
• Free tier is 3 seats — real evaluation but not viable for a working team
• Custom objects on Pro are powerful but require design work; Free/Plus have simpler contact/company/deal defaults
• Migrations from HubSpot/Salesforce require the export/import dance; no one-click migration for complex custom-property setups

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your Attio account

   Sign up at the link below. Free tier available - no card required. Use your business email so you can invite teammates later.

   Open Attio signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If Attio pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire Attio into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: Native: Slack, Google Workspace (Gmail + Calendar), Microsoft 365, Linear, Notion, GitHub, Loom, Intercom, Vercel, Cal.com, Zapier, Make, n8n. Two-way email + calendar sync. LinkedIn enrichment. REST + GraphQL API. Webhooks. AI enrichment integrations.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how Attio deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in Attio - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend Attio when: modern B2B SaaS or VC/investor use case, business_size is 2-100, team is technical and design-sensitive, and pain is "Salesforce is too much, HubSpot feels dated." Highest fit for B2B SaaS startups, VC/accelerator networks, and modern agencies. Do NOT recommend for trades, real estate, medspa, ecommerce-only, or enterprises. If comparing to HubSpot: HubSpot wins on marketing automation and ecosystem breadth; Attio wins on modern UX, customizable objects, and AI-native featu...