According to a Gartner survey, companies estimate that bad data costs them nearly $12.9 million annually.
What does this information tell us? Correct data, such as employee or customer contact information, can save your organization money and generate more revenue.
And if you use the global address list as your contact repository, you’d want to sync its data across employee devices.
But what are the best global address list sync tools? What should you consider when choosing one?
Keep reading to find out!
Key Takeaways:
- The 10 best GAL sync tools include CiraSync, CiraHub, Itrezzo, Cloudiway GAL Sync, GALsync, Connecting Software GAL Sync, Enow, NETsec, DayOne, and DidItBetter Software.
- When choosing a GAL sync tool, consider key points such as scalability, cost, ease of use, security, and customer support.
Best GAL Sync Tools: Compared
| GAL Sync Tool | Standout Features | Starting Price | Best for |
| CiraSync | Sync GAL, Contacts, Public Folders, and CRMs | Free for up to 1000 GAL contacts | Automatically syncing GAL and public folder contacts to smartphones |
| CiraHub | Multi-way GAL sync, multi-way sync between GAL and CRMs | $600/Year | GAL-to-GAL synchronization |
| Itrezzo | Sync Exchange GAL, public folders, and shared calendars to smartphones | Contact for quote | Syncing Exchange contacts to smartphones |
| Cloudiway Gal Sync | Sync target user selection and contact filtering | Free trial | Automated GAL syncing |
| GAL Sync | Sync mail-enabled objects with mail-enabled contacts between Exchange environments | Free trial | Exchange environments or Microsoft 365 tenants |
| Connecting Software GAL Sync | Easily sync Outlook accounts hosted in Office 365 or Microsoft Exchange Servers | Free trial | Syncing Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange Servers Gals |
| Enow’s GALsync | Sync all your contacts from the GAL and user mailboxes into a single platform | Free demo | Syncing the GAL from Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 onwards |
| NETsec | Synchronize global address lists and shared and public contacts | 21-day free trial | You can use GALsync to synchronize calendar data |
| DayOne | DayOne Sync GAL and shared calendar data | Free for up to 400 objects | Syncing GAL data between multiple Microsoft 365 tenants |
| DiditBetter Software | DiditBetter Software Cross Tenant GAL Sync between two Microsoft 365/Office 365 Tenants | Add2Exchange Enterprise 365 Contacts: $975 for 1 year | Syncing the GAL in in-house Exchange, Microsoft Office 365, and Exchange Online systems |
10 Best Global Address List Sync Tools
1. CiraSync – Best for Syncing GAL to Smartphones
CiraSync is a synchronization platform that allows users to sync GAL, Public Folders, Shared Calendars, and notes to an unlimited number of smartphones.
With CiraSync, whether adding a new contact or updating an existing one, the tool will show the changes across all your smartphones within seconds.
Moreover, unlike most GAL sync tools that only sync GALs, CiraSync allows users to sync data from various sources, including Salesforce and Shared Mailboxes.
More than 17000 companies with over 300,000 sync GAL contacts to smartphones every day. This allows them to solve communication issues and increase revenue.
For example, Ed Handschuh and his IT team at The Morse Group were manually syncing the company Global Address List contacts to smartphones.
“We have 2,500 employees and contractors working at different job sites across the United States. These people need and deserve to have up-to-date contacts at their fingertips. We had a problem and tried to solve it in creative ways before we found CiraSync.”
He continued:
“CiraSync is a solution we find indispensable; no other syncing solution comes close.”
The More Group is just one of the 17,000 companies that use CiraSync.
Pricing
- Personal Edition: $0 for up to 1000 GAL contacts
- Enterprise Edition: $45/user/year
2. CiraHub – Best for Syncing GALs Together
CiraHub is second on our list of the best Global Address List sync tools, and we’re so proud to call it “CiraSync’s brother.” After all, they are part of our Cira Apps family.
Unlike CiraSync, which syncs GAL contacts to iPhones and Android devices, CiraHub focuses on multi-way syncing.
In simple terms, CiraHub allows companies to sync multiple Global Address Lists together.
They sync shared contacts and calendars for Microsoft 365, Exchange Server, and other Microsoft Enterprise Applications users.
We designed the software to make it easy for people lacking IT expertise to set up shared contact and calendar sync for their company. What makes CiraHub stand out is its flexibility. You can easily customize settings and apply filters to tailor how synchronization works for your organization.
The multi-way GAL sync tool also allows companies to sync GAL with tools like ActiveCampagn, Zoho CRM, Google Contacts, Salesforce, HubSpot, and more.
CiraHub operates on a « Hub » and « Spoke » system. The « Hub » is a central repository for all the data synced to and from it. The « Spokes » represent the data sources.
The number of apps you can sync the GAL with makes CiraHub one of the best GAL sync software.
Pricing
- PE Promotional: $95/year
- Pro: $90/year
- Hub Pro + GAL: $1,800/year
- Multi Tenant GALsync: $3,600/year
- IT Admin Pack: $4,400/year
- Enterprise+: $16,800/year
- GAL Sync Special Offer: $600/year
3. ITrezzo – Best For Syncing Exchange Contacts to Smartphones
Itrezzo is a web-based platform that syncs Microsoft Exchange GAL contacts to smartphones. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, you can control access to specific contact lists and fields.
Itrezzo is also a proud CiraSync’s and CiraHub’s brother, and we specifically created it for Microsoft Exchange users.
The global address list sync tool is also the fastest and easiest server-side solution for automatically syncing public folder contacts and calendars to iPhone and Android devices. Our customers, like Office Pavilion Houston, use our syncing software.
John T., IT Director at Office Pavilion Houston, said:
“itrezzo UCM is among my all-time top three software providers. Their support is very professional, quick, and capable.”
Pricing
- Get a quote
4. Cloudiway GAL Sync
The global address list sync tool is one of the many services Cloudiway offers. This tool is part of their online platform, and it works independently in your browser, requires no installation, and supports Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, and Google Workplace systems.
Cloudiway’s GAL Sync solution is automated, regularly syncing contacts in all GALs and keeping all mail systems up to date. Specifically, this includes contact lists, details of individual users, and group information stored on each remote system.
The GAL tool offers dozens of useful features, like:
- Choosing which users and groups to synchronize
- Filtering by domain, and
- Excluding specific users or groups.
A simulation mode lets you see the changes before you push them to the targets. Finally, you can set up an automatic schedule to run the synchronization at the time of your choice.
Pricing:
- Free trial
- Contact sales for paid plans
5. GALsync
GALsync is a synchronization solution that can sync information between different Microsoft Exchange environments, which include on-premise Exchange or Microsoft 365 tenants.
This platform allows users to sync mail-enabled objects with mail-enabled contacts between Exchange environments. They might do this to add user mailbox contacts to their Global Address List.
GALsync supports Microsoft Exchange 2019, 2016, and 2013 and Exchange Online (Microsoft 365).
Pricing
- Free trial
- Contact for pricing
6. Connecting Software GAL Sync
Right off the bat, I must point out that CB’s Gal Sync tool is an add-on feature. It’s available only for companies that use the CB Exchange Server Sync tool.
This secure GAL migration tool lets you sync several Outlook accounts hosted in Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange Servers.
CB Gal Sync works between two domains, two Office 365 tenants, and two different forests. There, it will sync emails and general information, calendars, notes, tasks, and folders.
How about calendars?
The GAL sync tool allows the synchronization of multiple calendars into a central calendar, and if you’re often offline, it will check for updates automatically whenever you come back online.
Pricing
- Free trial
- Contact for pricing
7. Enow
Enow’s GALsync is a simple tool that requires no additional software or add-ons to do its job – it does, however, take a while to set up.
After the sync, you’ll have all mail addresses at your fingertips. At the same time, all users who have migrated to a new exchange organization can still message users in the original organization.
The downside is that this new software only supports Microsoft Exchange Server releases from 2013 onwards and the online system. This means that you can’t use it with older servers.
Pricing
- Free demo
- Contact for pricing
8. NETsec
NETsec’s GALsync tool is an easy-to-use solution for sharing mail data between organizations.
Similar to CiraHub, you can use it to synchronize global address lists and shared contacts. However, it only supports Exchange Online and the 2013, 2016, and 2019 Microsoft Exchange.
When transferring data, GALsync enables the transfer through a Windows shared directory, an FTP transfer, or an email sent using the Exchange mailbox of the GALsync service account.
Aside from transferring contact and data, you can use NETsec’s GALsync to synchronize calendar data (free and busy periods). At the same time, automated processes save time as you don’t have to transfer the data manually.
As for safety, all data is transferred in encoded files so that nobody can read the details of the information during the transfer.
Pricing
- 21-day free trial
- Contact for quote
9. DayOne
DayOne is next on our list of the best global address list sync tools.
It’s a Gold Microsoft Partner and certified Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, which makes it a preferred choice for many. Using DayOne, you can sync GAL data between multiple Microsoft 365 tenants.
The tool allows you to
- Define the data you want to sync and
- Delete objects, like deleting an employee from your address list.
DayOne only needs you to
- Appoint an admin,
- Add tenants (users with email addresses within your organization) and
- Configure connectors with other companies (which data do you want to send their way and which data do you want to receive).
To stay on top of everything, DayOne automatically runs every three hours to update all new addresses and keep a unified global address list. They built it on top of Azure Active Directory (now known as Microsoft Entra ID) for security.
Pricing
- Free for up to 400 objects
- Request quote for 401+ objects
- Request quote for 50,001+ objects
10. DidItBetter Software
DidItBetter is another popular global address list tool. It lets you add contact photos for caller ID for mobile use (compatible with Android, Windows, and Apple smartphones).
This software doesn’t require any mobile apps or add-ons on your desktop. It automatically synchronizes data based on your selected settings – there is very little user involvement after setting the software up.
The GAL sync tool works with in-house Exchange, Microsoft Office 365, and Exchange Online systems. It’s hosted cloud-based solutions.
Pricing
- Add2Exchange Enterprise 365 Contacts: $975 for 1 year
- Add2Exchange Enterprise 365 Suite: $1,145 for 1 year
- Hosted Diditbetter Sync Suite Bundle: $4,760 for 1 year
- Hosted Diditbetter Sync Contacts Bundle: $4,560 for 1 year
What is the Global Address List (GAL)?
A Global Address List (or GAL) is a shared address book containing contact information of all people within an organization.
These address lists become important when organizations work together or merge. After all, contact information sometimes includes tens of thousands of users in each company.
Organizations with thousands of on-site employees sync their GAL contacts to their smartphones. I discuss this in my article on how construction companies sync Gal contacts to smartphones.
A typical GAL entry includes the:
- Name and surname of the user,
- Work title,
- Email address (and sometimes their work phone number as well), and
- Office location.
Some GALs, depending on the size and structure of the organization, can include distribution lists, which are groups of email addresses (users).
What to Consider When Choosing a GAL Sync Software?
These are the key components to consider when choosing a GAL sync software.
1. Scalability and Performance
If you’re considering buying a GAL sync software because of an oncoming merger, you must also consider your company’s possible growth. You don’t want to pay for a service that cannot handle a growing number of data entries.
The GAL sync tools listed above are all reputable solutions from well-known companies in the industry. They can handle large amounts of oncoming traffic.
Speaking of performance, we’re mostly looking at updating speed.
This is particularly important with large corporations constantly updating their GALs. It’s also essential for a company with subsidiaries spread all around the world.
With CiraSync, users can sync up to 50,000 GAL contacts per month, unlimited Public Folders, and unlimited shared calendars. You can learn more about this on our pricing page.
With CiraHub, on the other hand, users can sync up to 400,000 items.
2. Cost and Licensing Options
The GAL tool cost is one of the most important aspects to assess. You don’t want to overpay for something, and you don’t want to get scammed.
Take CiraSync and CiraHub, for instance.
CiraSync offers a free plan that supports 10 users and lets you sync up to 1000 contact or calendar items. The premium plan, however, allows you to sync up to 50,000 GAL contacts to smartphones for $45.00 per user per year.
On the other hand, CiraHub’s base plan allows you to sync 18,000 GAL items, while the Enterprise plan syncs 400,000. They, respectively, cost $95 and $16,800 per year.
Moreover, CiraHub offers a special plan for organizations that mainly want to connect multiple GALs.
The goal is to compare multiple GAL tools to choose the one that fits your budget.
3. Ease of Use and Management
Most GAL sync tools have centralized management. This means that a single administrator controls the entire GAL, one of the key features of GAL tools.
Ease of use is also essential; you don’t want software that needs weeks to learn.
A global address list sync tool needs to be user-friendly and have an intuitive interface. Many administrators don’t have programming experience (or they only have it at a low level), and the software needs to consider that.
At Cira Apps, we always aim to make our GAL sync tools user-friendly, and CIraSync is no exception. Pssst, we’re currently redesigning CiraSync to improve user experience further. Look forward to it!
Finally, it’s important to remember that a good GAL synchronization tool is supposed to run without manual input. Once the administrator sets it up, it’ll automatically update the company’s GAL.
4. Security and Compliance
Security is arguably the most crucial feature of any software, especially for a GAL sync tool that handles employee and customer data.
As you may have noticed, a few tools we mentioned in the list rely on Microsoft’s Azure for security, and it’s imperative to ask around about the tool’s security measures before buying.
According to Statista, there were 6.06 billion malware attacks globally in 2023.
Moreover, the number of data breaches in the U.S. has significantly increased in the last ten years, from 614 in 2013 to 3,200 in 2023.
These stats indicate that your employees’ data must always be safe from breaches.
That’s why, at CiraSync, we’ve taken many measures to keep your data safe. Here are the key takeaways:
- CiraSync integrates with Microsoft Azure and the Azure Consent Network.
- CiraSync servers in Azure are all in a secure VNET with 10.x addressing.
- CiraSync does not store passwords. Logging in to CiraSync takes the user directly to the Microsoft Login page.
- CiraSync is GDPR compliant.
- CiraSync service does not handle any patient-related data, so it is unnecessary to be HIPAA compliant.
To learn more about CiraSyncs security measures, check out our:
- User data security whitepaper,
- Privacy policy and
- Security guide.
For more questions, kindly contact our customer support team. We’ll happily explain our measures further.
5. Customer Support and Documentation
We now circle back to pricing and licensing. Some GAL sync tools require yearly fees (subscriptions) and include a customer support service. Other tools are a one-time purchase that don’t provide customer support.
If support is vital to your organization, I recommend a yearly subscription.
To help you solve problems independently, especially with minor issues, GAL sync tools document everything that happens internally (including crashes and bugs) to help you figure out what went wrong.
However, I firmly believe 24/7 support and good documentation are essential in 2024. After all, we’re in an era where customers can talk about their frustration online.
I recently came across this tweet on X where Kelly Vaughn, director of Engineering at Spot AI, shared her bad experience with Zendesk. The tweet was viewed 800k+ times.
This experience shows the importance of providing excellent customer support. That’s why we provide a help center on our website. Users can use it to find the solutions to their problems quickly.
At the same time, we understand that problems are never identical. As such, we provide a chat option on our site. You can use it to chat with our customer support team.
And you can find our number on our website footer if you prefer phone communication.
An excellent global address list sync tool must provide a unique customer experience. Consider this point when choosing a GAL sync software.
Choose the Best Global Address List Sync Tool
There you have it!
I shared the top 10 tools to sync the global address list in this guide. We saw their key features and pricing plans. For example, I shared tools like CiraSync, which syncs GAL contacts to smartphones, and CiraHub, which syncs multiple GALs.
Finally, we saw the most important points when choosing a global address list sync tool.
Now is your turn!
Choose a tool that fits your business needs and start syncing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Without syncing the GAL, you will manually update hundreds of thousands of contact information whenever a change occurs. By synchronizing your GALs, you guarantee that all contact information within your organization is always up to date.
GAL sync tools are centralized tools that only require an administrator to set them up. After that, they automatically update the GAL on every member’s device.
The compatibility between GAL sync tools and email systems depends on each GAL sync tool. However, most of them can synchronize data from different email systems.
GAL sync tools are generally secure. However, it’s crucial to research each tool’s security measures manually. For CiraSync, check out this page and this one for CiraHub.
Yes, GAL sync tools sync other information besides email addresses. GAL sync tools can also sync the work phone number, title, office location, and name and surname of an employee within an organization. Your GAL administrator must ask the tool to sync these elements.
GAL sync tools cost $100 to $20,000 per year. Some tools have a one-time purchase model, while others require monthly or yearly subscriptions.
