Last Updated on October 15, 2026 by Elizabeth Nolan
Here’s the answer up front: the best CRM for real estate agents is often the one your brokerage already pays for. Check that first. If it doesn’t fit, choose a CRM by how you get business, not by feature lists.
An agent who works a sphere needs a different tool than one buying Zillow leads. A team needs something else again. Get that match right, and almost any platform on this list will work. Get it wrong, and you’ll pay for software you abandon in three months.
What these CRMs cost (checked October 2026)
- Wise Agent: $49/month, up to 5 team members, month to month
- Follow Up Boss: $69 per user/month (Grow); $499/month for teams (Pro)
- Top Producer: $179 per user/month (Pro)
- Cloze: about $17–$20/month (Pro); about $29–$35/month for Gold, which adds custom fields
- Lofty, BoldTrail: quote-based; ask for a demo and a written price
- Your brokerage’s CRM: often $0 to you
Prices change often. Confirm on the vendor’s site before you buy.
Step 1: Start With the CRM Your Brokerage Already Provides
Most agents at major brokerages already have a CRM. Many never open it. Large firms license platforms like BoldTrail, Lofty or Cloze for their agents, and some build their own. The tool is paid for; the problem is almost never access. It’s activation.
Before you spend a dollar, ask your broker five questions:
- Which CRM do we license, and what does it cost me? Often nothing.
- Does it connect to our MLS and transaction system? Integration saves more time than any single feature.
- What’s already built in? Drip campaigns, market reports and listing alerts may be set up for you.
- Who trains on it? Most firms offer onboarding. Few agents take it.
- Who owns my contacts if I leave? This is the big one. Find out whether you can export your database, in what format, and how fast.
That last question decides whether the brokerage CRM is a good long-term home. If you can export cleanly, use it. If your database stays behind when you leave, keep a copy somewhere you control. How to Change Real Estate Brokerages covers the rest of a move.
This matches what NAR’s data shows about where business comes from. In the 2026 Member Profile, the typical Realtor got 28% of their business from repeat clients and 22% from referrals. A CRM’s main job is protecting that half of your business. Where Real Estate Agents Get Business walks through the numbers.
Step 2: Match the CRM to How You Get Business
If your brokerage’s CRM doesn’t fit, or you’re independent, choose by business model. Real estate CRMs fall into three types.
| How you get business | CRM type | Built for | Look at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sphere, past clients, referrals | Relationship-first | Staying in touch with people who already know you | Cloze, Wise Agent, Top Producer |
| Paid portal leads | Lead conversion | Responding in minutes and running follow-up sequences | Follow Up Boss (Zillow-owned) |
| Website, IDX and ads under your own brand | All-in-one | One login for site, leads and CRM | Lofty, BoldTrail |
Teams change the math. Per-user pricing adds up fast, so look at flat team plans like Follow Up Boss Pro. Brokerage-grade platforms like BoldTrail also make more sense at team size.
If you’re not sure which type you are, look at last year’s closings. Count where each one came from. Most agents find the answer is the first row. Should Real Estate Agents Buy Leads? helps if you’re weighing the second.
The CRM Platforms Real Estate Agents Should Know
Follow Up Boss — best for converting paid leads
Follow Up Boss is owned by Zillow, and it shows. It’s built for speed: new leads land instantly, get routed, and drop into automated follow-up. It connects to most lead sources, including Zillow’s own programs.
- Pricing: Grow is $69 per user/month. Pro is $499/month for teams. The dialer costs extra on Grow.
- Best for: Agents and teams running paid leads who live or die by response time.
- Watch for: It’s CRM-only. You’ll need a separate website and IDX.
Related: Zillow’s All-in-One Tech Stack
Lofty (formerly Chime) — best all-in-one for a branded web presence
Lofty is what Chime became. It bundles an AI-assisted CRM, IDX websites, lead generation and marketing automation in one platform. Plans run from single agents to brokerages.
- Pricing: Quote-based. Third-party reports put agent plans in the mid-hundreds per month.
- Best for: Agents who want their own site, ads and CRM under one login.
- Watch for: You pay for the whole bundle, even the parts you don’t use.
BoldTrail (formerly kvCORE) — best when your brokerage provides it
Inside Real Estate launched BoldTrail in 2024 as the next generation of kvCORE. It combines CRM, IDX sites, lead generation and back-office tools. It’s sold mainly to brokerages and teams.
- Pricing: Quote-based. Solo plans are reported around $499/month.
- Best for: Agents whose brokerage already licenses it. That’s the cheapest way in.
- Watch for: Heavy for a solo agent paying out of pocket.
Cloze — best for sphere and relationship business
Cloze started as a personal CRM and shifted hard toward real estate. Its strength is automatic capture: it pulls in your email, calls and calendar, then tells you who you haven’t contacted lately. It now includes an AI assistant for drafting outreach.
- Pricing: Cloze Pro, built for individual agents, runs about $17–$20/month. Business Gold runs about $29–$35 per user/month; the lower figure in each range is annual billing. 14-day free trial, no credit card. Many solo agents end up on Gold, because the Pro plan restricts custom fields. Some brokerages also provide Cloze.
- Best for: Agents whose business runs on past clients and referrals.
- Watch for: Less built for high-volume cold lead routing.
Wise Agent — best value for small teams
Wise Agent covers the basics well: contact management, drip campaigns and transaction tracking.
- Pricing: $49/month for up to five team members, month to month. 14-day free trial.
- Best for: Newer agents and small teams on a budget.
- Watch for: No full website, and team members share a login.
Top Producer — best for farming
Top Producer is one of the oldest names in real estate CRM. It’s strongest at MLS-connected market updates, farming and long-term nurture.
- Pricing: $179 per user/month (Pro). Team packages cost less per person.
- Best for: Listing agents who farm a geography.
- Watch for: Pricier per seat than newer options.
Salesforce — skip unless your brokerage runs it
Salesforce can do anything, but it doesn’t ship with real estate workflows. It’s built for brokerages with IT budgets. Individual agents are better served by everything above.
What Real Estate Agents Should Look For in a CRM
Skip the 40-item feature checklist. Five things matter:
- Data you can take with you. Clean export of contacts, notes and history. Non-negotiable.
- Integration with what you already use. Your MLS, email, calendar and transaction platform. Some CRMs now connect to Canva too, so your branded mailers and social posts can go out from the same place as your follow-up.
- A mobile app you’ll actually open. You work from the car. So should your CRM.
- Automation you’ll actually set up. Drip campaigns and reminders only help if they’re running.
- AI that works on your existing database. The newer tools score your contacts and flag who’s likely to move. Predictive analytics explains how that works.
Making It Stick
A CRM fails for one reason: nobody uses it. The fix is a habit, not a better platform.
- Start with the 5-minute daily CRM routine.
- Connect your other tools once, using Zapier or built-in integrations like Canva and dotloop.
- See where the CRM fits in your overall tech stack.
The Bottom Line
Check your brokerage’s CRM first. Ask who owns your data. If you need to buy, match the tool to how you get business: relationship-first for sphere, lead conversion for paid leads, all-in-one for a branded web presence.
The platform matters less than the habit. The agents earning half their business from repeat clients and referrals didn’t get there with better software. They got there by staying in touch for years. A CRM just makes that easier to keep doing.
Related reading
- Where Real Estate Agents Get Business: How to Look at the NAR Data
- Should Real Estate Agents Buy Leads? How to Decide
- Beyond the Sale: Building Lifelong Relationships with Real Estate Clients
Pricing checked October 2026. Confirm current rates with each vendor before buying.
