Ask any top-performing real estate agent what their go-to, must-have, can’t-live-without tool is, and chances are they’ll say a great real estate CRM, or customer relationship management system. The only problem is that there are so many options on the market to choose from that it’s hard to know which is the best.
Check out our top picks in the table below and read on to get an in-depth review of each product.
7 Best CRMs for Real Estate Agents, Teams, & Brokerages
Real Estate CRM | ||
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LionDesk | (BEST OVERALL) Budget-conscious agents who want automated email, texting, follow-up tools, and more | |
Top Producer | Agents looking for specialized lead nurturing tools like market snapshots and email drip sequences | |
Elevate | Agents who are looking for social media marketing | |
Market Leader | Agents who are also looking for built-in lead generation tools | |
IXACT Contact | New agents | |
Propertybase | Teams and brokerages | |
Wise Agent | Agents looking for best-in-class customer support |
(Prices as of January 2022)
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Now that we’ve shared how these customer relationship management (CRM) tools stack up against each other, let’s dig a little deeper into each one.
Best Overall Real Estate CRM: LionDesk
Prices starting at $25 / month
LionDesk sets itself apart by doing the fundamentals really well and by offering unique add-ons perfect for real estate professionals who are growing their business. They also stand out for their full-featured, 30-day free trial that doesn’t require a credit card.
When we first published this article, we’ll admit that LionDesk was in our top five but they weren’t our number one. What changed? Their consistent commitment to upgrading their products and rolling out new features like video messaging and their exclusive artificial intelligence (AI) assistant “Gabby.” We also love their best-in-class customer service that delivered prompt answers to us via phone and email.
LionDesk’s incredible value and affordable cost is what every other CRM product is now measured against.
LionDesk Pros & Cons
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[Read more: LionDesk Review: The New King of the Real Estate CRM Jungle?]
How Much Does LionDesk Cost?
Plan Name | ||
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Starter | ||
Pro Plus | ||
Elite |
LionDesk Pricing Details
LionDesk offers three plans ranging from $21 to $99 per month, depending on which package you choose and whether you bill annually or monthly.
- Starter ($21 per month): Robust and full of features—you won’t find yourself lacking in capability.
- Pro Plus ($42 / month): Includes add-ons like a dedicated local phone number, video texting, and custom text-to-sell shortcodes, great for sign riders and other physical marketing.
- Elite ($83 / month): Offers everything you’ll find in the Starter and Pro Plus plans, plus white glove, hands-on service and support that includes third-party integrations. This is worth mentioning because finding customer support when you’re trying to get your tools to work together is sometimes a no-man’s land. It’s hard to find companies willing to help you with someone else’s product, but that’s not true with LionDesk.
Our Favorite LionDesk Feature: Gabby, Your AI-powered Inside Sales Agent (ISA)
One of the biggest factors that affect a real estate agent’s conversion rates for leads is how quickly they can respond, or speed-to-lead. In an on-demand world, interested buyers and sellers expect a response within minutes, not hours or days.
But, we all know this isn’t always possible. We’ve got appointments, we’ve got closings, and, quite frankly, we’ve got to sleep sometime. That’s why LionDesk’s Lead Assist features are so powerful.
Their AI-driven text responder, known as Gabby, automatically follows up with any of your leads promptly, naturally, and with an uncanny ability to sound genuine and interested in what your leads are asking about.
Unless you identify to your lead that they’re not talking to a real person, many people can’t tell the difference until they’ve had a number of interactions.
[Read more: Is the Real Estate World Ready for an AI Assistant? LionDesk Thinks So]
Is LionDesk Right for You?
There are lots of things to like about LionDesk. Mixed automation, a customizable interface, graduated texting options, and AI responsiveness make LionDesk worth your time and money. LionDesk offers a 30-day, full-featured trial, no credit card required. Whether you’re ready for a change to your existing CRM or in need of your first CRM, LionDesk is a great option.
Best Real Estate CRM for Specialized Lead-nurturing Tools: Top Producer
Prices starting at $33.33 / month
Top Producer is one of the OGs in the real estate CRM space, and sometimes, being a product category originator can make you outdated and irrelevant, but not this product.
Top Producer has been working hard to not only keep up with the changing needs of real estate professionals but also to anticipate our next set of needs. Their forward-thinking approach is evident in their latest CRM iteration: Top Producer X.
Many CRMs offer an IDX feed as a part of their features, but Top Producer takes this a step further, adding value by actually connecting directly with your MLS to access all the data your MLS possesses. To put that in context, most IDX feeds pull about 20 data points for each property. An MLS feed pulls closer to 300 (or more) for every current listing, sold property, and even for expired listings.
Top Producer Pros & Cons
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[Read more: Top Producer CRM Review + Video Walk-through]
How Much Does Top Producer Cost?
Plan Name | ||
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Starter | ||
Professional | ||
Advanced |
Top Producer Pricing Details
Top Producer offers three different tiers, ranging from $33.33 per month up to $80 per month. The costs depend on which plan you choose and whether you plan on paying annually or monthly. Top Producer also offers an add-on of a Top Producer website for just $10 more. They require a one-year commitment.
Our Favorite Top Producer Feature: FiveStreet Lead Management
FiveStreet is a product included in Top Producer’s Advanced plan, and if you’re running a team or dealing with a high volume of leads, this is a must-have.
This lead response and management tool offers next-level tracking for agents who want to know where leads are coming from, assign them custom paths to get to the right agent (or, if you’re operating solo, prioritized in the right order), and measure your results afterward.
The real power comes from the analytics you get. Imagine what you could do if you could get a report generated that would tell you how each of the agents on your team is performing based on lead type, their response time performance, and how far their leads are getting in the funnel? Next-level stuff.
This tool is a great way to maximize the effectiveness of the lead generation pipeline you’ve worked so hard to build by making sure that the right lead gets to the right person at the right time, every time.
Is Top Producer Right for You?
If you want to get to the next level when it comes to providing market-level data to your contact via an MLS integration, or if you have a team where your lead routing needs some work, definitely give Top Producer a closer look.
Best Real Estate CRM for Social Media Marketing: Elevate
Prices starting at $110 / month
Elevate is a real estate CRM that recognizes managing your contacts and nurturing your sphere isn’t just about sending automated emails and text messages—it is about maintaining a marketing presence among your sphere of influence such that when the topic of conversation turns to real estate, you’re top of mind.
Elevate achieves this by offering content creation services, social media management, and paid lead generation, all as a part of the CRM package. For agents who are looking for a CRM and help to get social media marketing in shape, Elevate is a great option.
Elevate Pros & Cons
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[Read more: Elevate Real Estate CRM Review + Video Walk-through]
How Much Does Elevate Cost?
Elevate Package | ||
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Social Pro | ||
DMS | ||
DMS + Buyer Leads | ||
Elite Leads | ||
Elite Pro |
*CRM access is limited to basic functionality and does not include automated email marketing.
Our Favorite Elevate Feature: Content Marketing Services
Creating content to demonstrate to your local market that you’re an expert, you’re involved, and you’re active is time-consuming and difficult, which is why most realtors don’t do it well.
However, well-curated content on your blog and on social media is often the difference-maker when it comes to winning a contested listing. Elevate takes the time and grunt work out of content creation by providing:
- Original content, written by Elevate’s in-house experts
- Market-specific, data-driven content perfect for including in your marketing (like mailers or email newsletters)
- Content that is automatically uploaded to your Elevate website blog and social media accounts for you
[Watch: Elevate Real Estate CRM Review + Video Walk-through]
Is it a completely hands-off solution? No. You’ll need to be in charge or interacting with anyone who interacts with you. You’ll also need to step in and tweak content occasionally, especially if there’s something only someone who has spent time on the ground in your community would know.
Overall, this is a powerful marketing tool that takes the Elevate CRM to the next level.
Is Elevate Right for You?
If your needs include marketing strategy and content as well as a CRM, Elevate is the perfect combo for you. They bill themselves as more than a CRM—more as a marketing solution for real estate agents with growing businesses. If that’s you, you should check out Elevate today.
Best Real Estate CRM for Agents Also Looking for Lead Generation: Market Leader
Prices starting at $139 / month
Some of you may be asking, “Why is Market Leader on this list? Aren’t they a lead generation company?” You are correct, Market Leader is primarily a lead gen company, but they offer a CRM as a part of their platform that is so good it needs to be in the conversation for best CRM as well. The real kicker? You can integrate the Market Leader CRM with virtually any real estate lead source, not just their own.
This is a platform that has all the bells and whistles of a top-rated CRM and also happens to be The Close’s first choice for real estate lead generation companies—worth a look for sure.
Market Leader Pros & Cons
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[Read more: 5 Smart Ways to Buy Real Estate Leads]
How Much Does Market Leader Cost?
Since Market Leader is first a lead generation tool, their costs depend on leads, not on the CRM. Access to the Market Leader platform starts at $139 per month, plus an additional $25 or more per lead, depending on your market. Most Market Leader agents pay around $350 to $400 per month to get started.
Our Favorite Market Leader Feature: Guaranteed Leads
Again, you may be asking, “Why all the leads talk in a guide about CRMs?” Hear me out. Your CRM isn’t a static collection of contact information. It is a growing, living database that needs to be constantly fed with new contacts in order to fuel the growth of your business. Market Leader’s value proposition as a lead generation tool is that they guarantee a certain lead volume every month.
From a CRM perspective, that means that you’ll have new contacts in your database every single month, new people to run through your nurturing campaigns, and new opportunities to turn your contacts into transactions. With Market Leader, you’ve got a CRM with a 100% chance of growth.
Is Market Leader Right for You?
The crossover between paid lead generation and CRM makes a lot of sense, and with Market Leader, you get an excellent CRM platform as well as one of our top-rated lead generation options. Yes, you need a healthy budget to make this play work, but if you’ve got the scratch for it, Market Leader is a fantastic option.
Best Real Estate CRM for New Agents: IXACT Contact
Prices starting at $33 / month
IXACT Contact rivals Propertybase in terms of coming close to offering that all-in-one real estate agent solution we’ve been wondering about for a while.
For our money, nobody is quite there yet, but IXACT Contact is on the doorstep. IXACT Contact’s robust CRM also includes options for an IDX website and social media content, bringing them ever closer to completing that lead-generation-to-closing-table journey.
IXACT Contact Pros & Cons
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[Read more: IXACT Contact Wants to Solve All Your Problems… Can It?]
How Much Does IXACT Contact Cost?
IXACT CONTACT OFFERS SIX MONTHS OF THEIR SERVICE FOR FREE TO ANY AGENT WHO HAS BEEN LICENSED LESS THAN A YEAR.
Let that sink in for a moment. If you are a new agent in the industry, IXACT Contact is giving away their service to you. This is a singular offer in the CRM game—nobody has anything like it.
Now that we’ve got the shouting out of the way, the rest of IXACT Contact’s pricing model is intriguing, and there is a lot to unpack here. They offer an a la carte price option for real estate agents, so you aren’t paying for services you don’t need.
IXACT Contact Pricing Details
- Basic version for a single user of the CRM plus an agent website: $33 per month
- IDX website add-ons: $13 per month (standard), $33 per month (professional) plus $65.00 setup fee
- Add team members: $23 per team member, per month
- Additional IDX websites: Starting at $13 per month plus $65 setup fee
- Social Stream: $20 per month
- Mass emailing: Varies by volume
Our Favorite IXACT Contact Feature: Social Media Support
Obviously, we are pretty geeked about the free six months offered to new real estate agents.
If you somehow missed that above, IXACT Contact offers their CRM FOR FREE to any agent who has been licensed for less than a year. Nobody else is doing this, and if you are a new real estate agent looking for a quality CRM, you can get one. FOR FREE.
Also, their Social Stream option adds another level of service to this CRM that the others in the space just aren’t providing. It isn’t original content, but it is a lot of relevant articles from reputable sources, like Huffington Post and Better Homes and Gardens, that will actually be interesting to your contacts.
Is IXACT Contact Right for You?
IXACT Contact is easy to try. If you are looking for a CRM with an IDX website component, something with some social options, or, gosh darn it, SOMETHING FREE, you should give IXACT Contact a go. They also offer a five-week free trial to really kick the tires, so you don’t have anything to lose here.
Best Real Estate CRM for Teams & Brokerages: Propertybase
Prices starting at $79 / month
The Propertybase Salesforce Edition CRM is robust and full-featured, designed for real estate teams and brokerages that need more than just a place to store contacts. Propertybase, powered by Lone Wolf Technologies, also has a single-agent and small teams option called Propertybase Go that is perfect for smaller operations.
Propertybase offers all the features that high-powered teams and brokerages are looking for, including advanced analytics, lead routing, an integrated brokerage, team and agent website experience, and much more.
Their solid, easy-to-use CRM combined with a potent website development arm and a very effective lead generation platform make Propertybase an option all real estate agents should consider.
Propertybase Pros & Cons
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[Read more: Propertybase Review: The (Old) New Kids on the Block Get Serious]
How Much Does Propertybase Cost?
Propertybase Salesforce Edition is ideal for larger teams and brokerages, starting at $79 per user, per month with a minimum of 10 users. The additional IDX-integrated website is an additional $299 per user, per month.
If you’re interested in Propertybase but don’t have the team or budget to support Propertybase Salesforce Edition, make sure to check out Propertybase GO—a great option for individual agents as well as smaller teams, with prices starting $349 per month for their award-winning CRM and a fully integrated IDX-website.
[Read more: Propertybase GO Review: The Next Generation of Real Estate CRM?]
Our Favorite Propertybase Feature: Advanced Lead Scoring
Most CRMs offer some sort of lead score evaluation to allow real estate agents to quickly glance at a lead profile and determine what sort of attention that lead needs today. But no other CRM that we’re aware of allows you to adjust the criteria for that lead score, and certainly not with the granularity and detail that Propertybase offers.
Make adjustments to your lead scoring criteria based on things like a contact’s response to your outreach campaigns or time since last contact.
Is Propertybase Right for You?
Propertybase offers a fantastic CRM with tons of customization options, from the dashboard and user interface all the way down to how your lead scores are evaluated. But their value doesn’t stop at providing a great CRM—they also offer website and lead generation services that make them as close to an end-to-end platform as we’ve seen.
They offer a free, no-obligation 14-day trial—try them today.
Best Real Estate CRM for Real Estate Agents Looking for Comprehensive Support: Wise Agent
Prices starting at $29 / month
Wise Agent has been in the real estate CRM space for a long time (since 2002!). Even though the look and feel of Wise Agent sometimes reminds us of Windows 98, they’ve learned things along the way that make them a valuable platform for real estate agents.
If you’re looking for a CRM with great automation options and 24/7 support included with every package, Wise Agent is for you.
Wise Agent Pros & Cons
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[Read more: Wise Agent CRM Review: Packs a Mean Punch for Agents & Teams]
How Much Does Wise Agent Cost?
Wise Agent has a straightforward pricing structure: $29 a month or $299 per year. Both options include a one-on-one onboarding call and round-the-clock support, 365 days a year.
Considering the fairly long list of features (great email automation, integration partners, and SMS texting, to name a few), you get a good bang for your buck with Wise Agent.
Our Favorite Wise Agent Feature: Extensive Customer Support
We know we’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: 24/7 support, 365 days a year, with a real person. If you have a question about Wise Agent, there is literally always someone ready to answer it.
We wrote an in-depth review of Wise Agent if you want to really get under the hood and see how things function—check it out.
Is Wise Agent Right for You?
If service and support are number one for you, Wise Agent is a great CRM to check out. Their price is very affordable, and you can even try it for free. With a 30-day, full-featured trial, you can put Wise Agent through its paces and see how it could benefit your business.
Frequently Asked Questions about Real Estate CRMs
Here at The Close, we talk a lot about CRMs. Everyone from rookie solo agents to multi-office brokers wants to know how they can get the most out of these platforms.
Of course, we get a lot of “Which platform is right for me?” (which is why guides like this one exist), but we’re also asked a lot of other questions. Here, we answer some of the most popular ones. Feel free to ask anything we haven’t covered here in the comments section.
Do I need a CRM with a website included?
The short answer here is no, but it’s a nice perk to have. A real estate CRM that is directly, organically connected to your website allows you to tap into efficiencies like having your lead’s website activity automatically recorded on their profile or their email drip campaigns personalized based on the property they view.
The long and the short of it is—if you’re also looking for a website, getting a CRM + website combo is absolutely the way to go.
Are there any worthwhile free real estate CRMs?
Yes, there are some platforms you should check out. First off, if you’re new to real estate, circle back up to the section in this guide about IXACT Contact. They offer six months free to anyone who’s had their license for less than a year. Otherwise, check out our buyer’s guide for the best free real estate CRMs.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when starting with a new CRM?
The biggest mistake agents make when starting with a new CRM is, if you’ve used a CRM before, looking at it through the lens of your old CRM. If you’re looking to replicate the functions of your last platform on the new platform, you’re missing out on the opportunities your new tool provides. Do your best to start fresh, and walk through the training as if you’re brand-new to the space.
If this is your first time using a CRM, make sure to avoid moving too fast, too soon. You were most likely sold on the product because of the advanced features it offers, but before you run, you’ve got to learn how to walk. Before jumping into the most sophisticated workflows and automations, before getting started with custom market updates and website integrations, make sure you know the basics.
Build effective lead profiles, start communicating through the platform, and use it to categorize and prioritize your leads. Once you’ve got the basics down, then you can start to level up.
How do I make sure my team / brokerage is using their CRM?
If you’re going to invest in a technology platform designed for teams or entire brokerages, you want to make sure everyone is using it. After all, these tools aren’t cheap, and they don’t work nearly as well if people don’t, well, use them. Here are three ways to ensure your team buys in.
1. Introduce the platform slowly: Even the most technologically comfortable agents aren’t going to jump headfirst into a new CRM; they’ve got clients to service and other parts of their business to maintain. Your agents can’t just put their entire world on pause for a week to learn a new platform, so offer them a transition period to get onboard.
2. Train, train, train: Assume that your team members don’t know anything until they show you they do. Most agents don’t come into the real estate industry with a technology background, so while they are successful on one platform, that doesn’t mean that they’re naturally successful on all platforms. Give them all the resources they need to learn the ins and outs of your new tool.
3. Offer incentives: If everyone on your team is on the same CRM, your productivity is going to go up, your lead conversion will rise, and you’re going to close more deals. That means more money in your pocket, so pass some of that along to your agents. Consider incentivizing them with a reduced split on a commission after successfully adopting the platform or other form of monetary benefit to give them a personal reason to buy in.
Bringing It All Together
With so many different business models, philosophies, and real estate agent types out there, it is easy to see why there are so many different real estate CRMs. Which of these seven is right for you? Is there a real estate CRM that we need to add to our guide?
Drop a comment below and tell us about your favorite CRM. Is it on this list? How has it changed the way that you do business?