CiraSync alternative: sync.blue and GALYNSKI compared

Anyone who wants company contacts from Microsoft 365 on their employees’ phones quickly ends up with three names: CiraSync from the USA, sync.blue® from Germany and GALYNSKI. All three solve the same problem, but with different approaches, pricing models and data protection frameworks. This comparison sorts out which tool suits whom. Third-party figures come from the vendors’ websites and from Capterra (as of 10 October 2026, for sync.blue 27 October 2026). Where something could not be verified, it says so.

The problem all three solve

Microsoft 365 has a central directory, the global address list. On the smartphone, however, only the personal contacts of your own mailbox arrive. Colleagues, customers and suppliers from the directory therefore appear without a name when they call. Why that is so and what the built-in options can do, we have described in a separate post. This one is about the tools that close the gap.

The three approaches in one sentence

• CiraSync is a service run on Microsoft Azure that syncs the GAL, public folders and calendars into the users’ mailboxes; the vendor is Cira Apps Limited from the USA.
• sync.blue is a contact management platform from Germany that keeps contacts in sync between more than 80 applications, among them Microsoft 365 and smartphones; sync.blue MOBILE brings the GAL straight to the smartphones.
• GALYNSKI is built for one task: distributing contacts from Microsoft 365 as address books into the employees’ Outlook contact folders, with no extra app, with EU hosting and a German DPA.

Comparison at a glance

CiraSync: the established specialist from the USA

CiraSync has been around for many years; the vendor names more than 3,000 companies as customers. The service syncs the GAL, public folders, calendars and, on request, Salesforce contacts into the mailboxes. According to the vendor, administrators control down to field level who receives which list. The Enterprise Edition syncs several times a day; the free Personal Edition is a stripped-down variant with one source, a weekly run and an upper limit of 1,000 entries.

Important for European customers: the data lives in Microsoft Azure, according to the FAQ in the US East regions and in the EU, and residency can be set in the dashboard. A data processing agreement is available on request; the vendor calls itself “GDPR Ready” and SOC 2 compliant. The prices are not on the website but on Capterra and in the vendor FAQ: 1.25 $ per user per month with annual payment, licences in packs of ten.

A fit if public folders and calendars are to be included, Salesforce is involved, or a US vendor with Azure hosting is acceptable to the data protection officer.

sync.blue: the platform for many systems

sync.blue thinks not in mailboxes but in connections. Both ends of a connection are chosen from more than 80 applications, among them Microsoft 365, Google, CRM systems and phone systems. Contacts flow in one direction, in both directions in the ENTERPRISE plan; CardDAV and LDAP are supported as well. For the route from the GAL to the phones there is sync.blue MOBILE. According to the vendor, no software is installed; the contacts land in the native address books. The interval is configurable, from hourly to monthly.

Billing is by users and by contact volume. Syncing the Microsoft 365 GAL is included from the MOBILE plan (from 11 users, 1,000 contacts, price after a demo); the entry plan TEAM costs 19 € per month for up to ten users with 250 contacts. Each source contact beyond those included costs 0.009 €. According to the vendor, hosting is in ISO 27001 certified data centres in Germany; the DPA and technical measures are in the sync.blue help centre.

A fit if contacts are to stay the same not only on the smartphones but also in CRM, phone system or further systems, or if the phones must be up to date every hour.

GALYNSKI: one task, thought through

GALYNSKI does exactly one thing: distributing contacts from Microsoft 365 as address books into the employees’ Outlook contact folders. The available sources are the GAL, Microsoft 365 groups, the contact folder of a shared mailbox, SharePoint lists and the external contacts from the Exchange admin centre; recipients are everyone, groups or distribution lists; each company gets up to ten address books and up to ten sources. Setup runs through the Microsoft login and an admin consent; no extra app is needed on the phone.

The service is hosted in the EU; the data processing agreement, the list of sub-processors and the technical and organisational measures are published on the website. The price is simple: 4 € per user per month, up to 25 % less with annual payment, and larger organisations can pay by invoice. When the contract ends, GALYNSKI removes the contact folder it created from the mailboxes 14 days later.

A fit if Microsoft 365 is the only platform, each department is to get different contacts, and data protection with a German contracting party, EU hosting and a clean exit is a condition.

What to look at when deciding

• Sources: Is the GAL enough, or should customer contacts from a shared mailbox or a SharePoint list be included?
• Recipients: Does everyone get everything, or should sales see different contacts from the workshop?
• Data protection: Where is the data, is there a DPA without asking, who are the sub-processors?
• Clean-up: What happens to a thousand distributed contacts when the contract ends?
• Price: Per user, per contact or per pack; and what does the first year really cost?

Our verdict

CiraSync is the choice for environments with public folders, calendars and Salesforce. sync.blue fits when many systems are involved or the phones should be updated hourly. GALYNSKI is the shortest route when Microsoft 365 is the only platform: the price is published from the first user, and each department gets its own address books. To try it: register without payment details, choose a plan and pay by card or SEPA direct debit (nothing is charged until after 14 days), connect Microsoft 365, create an address book with a source, and the first run starts by itself.