6 Best Free Real Estate CRMs in 2018

A solid customer relationship management tool, or CRM, cultivates relationships with prospective clients by functioning as a database of their contact information and details, as well as helping to automate follow-ups. We reviewed the best free real estate CRMs to examine their features and capacity to manage leads through your pipeline.

Top 6 Free Real Estate CRMs

How We Evaluated Free Real Estate CRMs in 2018

We evaluated free real estate CRMs by comparing the available features as well as the capacity to manage and nurture leads. We looked for CRMs that offered a solid platform, would organize leads, and make good use of realtor time investment.

These are the specific criteria we used to review each platform.

• Price – While all of our options have a free version, we considered the cost of obtaining further platform features to manage and automate contacts with referrals
• Number of Users – The number of colleagues who also have access to use the platform
• Number of Contacts – This indicates how many contacts can be stored and their information
• Capture Leads From – Different online platforms from which information can be captured and stored into the database
• Call/Text/Email Logging – Mode of contact projected onto leads from application
• Lead/Deal Pipeline – Ability to organize leads based on where they are in your pipeline or what type of lead category you place them in
• Email Marketing – Option to send emails from the CRM as a form of marketing
• Ease of Use – Ability to manage the real estate CRM application in order to provide a seamless experience to the consumer
• Customization Options Available – Capability to adjust and edit information in contacting leads, organizing leads, as well as how the information is stored
• Unique Features – Additional features that make the platform stand out from competitors or is of particular interest

Best Overall Free Real Estate CRM: HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub

We recommend HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub as the best free real estate CRM because of the ability to store unlimited contacts, have unlimited users, create custom sales pipelines, and use basic email marketing features from the CRM. HubSpot provides more features at their free level than many other CRMs do in their paid plans.

HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub Pricing

HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub are offered for free. The website states that you can collect up to one million contacts using HubSpot’s free marketing tools and CRM at no cost. The functionality and features of the free HubSpot CRM and tools were impressive, and allow most people to get started without any subscription service at all.

The sales hub, for example, has incredible usability at no cost, but does have varying packages based on the number of users for a monthly fee that ranges up to $400 per month. The marketing hub also has a number of features at no cost, but ranges with packages up to $2,400 per month for enterprise level clients.

HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub Features

While HubSpot CRM and the Sales Hub could have more expansive features, what they offered at the free service level exceeds most other tools on the market today at the same price point.

HubSpot CRM allows for an unlimited number of users and contacts, along with a range of free features in the Sales Hub.

HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub Features

The Sales Hub feeds the CRM and integrates well to offer the greatest amount of features, and both offer free versions. For example, the free version of Sales Hub allows for email scheduling, tracking, notifications, attachments (e.g., snippets, documents), and the opportunity to schedule meetings and call within the CRM.

Other features offered include the ability to attach up to five documents per account and the option to call a user up to 15 minutes per month. Leads can be captured by Gmail, Outlook and by using various types of forms (e.g., pop-up forms, external and native forms).

All information gathered is used to create a pipeline that is customizable to the user based on account information, deals won or lost, appointments scheduled and contracts sent over based on a timely manner. The Sales Hub package has the ability to automatically track and register calls, emails and/or meetings into its database.

Compare some of these features with other companies, and you can see how HubSpot offers a solid free CRM for real estate. Insightly, for example, allows only two users in their free package with up to 2,500 contacts compared to HubSpot’s unlimited users and unlimited contacts.

A unique feature of HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub is that information can be auto-populated because of how large the network of HubSpot is, which saves time while entering contact information. We did not see that feature in other CRMs like Agile CRM, Bitrix24 or Freshsales. For example, since HubSpot is so widely used in other industries, they even auto-populate contact information from more than 20 million professionals in the United States. That means if you only get, say, a name and email, HubSpot might fill in their office line for you.

What Is Missing from HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub

HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub is a very robust tool at its free offering. Negative reviews of the product tended to focus around Outlook being quirky to integrate and function, and the limited email templates that the product offers.

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Best Free Real Estate CRM for New Agents: Freshsales

We recommend Freshsales as the best free real estate CRM for new agents because of the contact and lead management systems available. While the Sprout CRM is without cost, plans range from $12 to $79 per month if users want to upgrade features.

Freshsales Pricing

Freshsales offers four different package options along with the free model that is offered. The free version, Sprout, has unlimited users and can be continued indefinitely. The paid package pricing is reflected below.

Freshsales Pricing

Freshsales Features

Freshsales offers an interface that is clean-looking, with options that are very customer-focused and a good fit for new agents to begin the lead nurturing process. For example, their lead management system gives you complete information about your potential clients and provides a broad overview of contacts, allowing you more effective interactions.

Freshsales Features

Freshsales offers a robust platform for nurturing leads in the free CRM. For example, they provide social data on potential clients, much like Zillow Premier Agent CRM, though not as extensive. Freshsales also includes an activity timeline, the ability to segment by customer behavior, and a “tasks, appointments, and notes” feature that allows you to sync with your calendar and assure follow up.

Freshsales does offer automatic call and email logging, and though it does not offer customization features for its free version like that of Agile CRM, it does allow more of this as you move up the paid platforms. Freshsales does have a wonderful lead management system where you can track an individual’s conversations, touch points with you, appointments and tasks scheduled with them. Given this, you can also use the lead scoring feature to further enhance how you prioritize your contact and follow up.

What Is Missing from Freshsales

Freshsales is perfect for a new agent just getting started who needs a CRM that will help them organize and prioritize leads. However, if you want file storage, email templates to use, or the ability to send bulk emails, you will have to upgrade.

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Best Lightweight CRM with Project Management Features: Insightly

We recommend Insightly as the best free real estate CRM with project management features, which helps agents track project work related to their contacts. Its ability to store and nurture contacts as well as create and track assigned projects through your pipeline is outstanding. Insightly is offers a free CRM, but also has paid packages starting from $29 per month.

Insightly Pricing

Insightly offers an entirely free CRM, and then a range of paid packages that include extended features that you may use as you grow. The paid packages range from $29 per month to $99 per month for enterprise level clients.

Insightly Pricing

Insightly Features

Insightly offers a free CRM with project management tools that is capable of covering the needs of two users and can store up to 2,500 contacts. The free version also allows for basic core features of project, task and lead management as well as relationship tracking, sales opportunities and API access.

Insightly Features

A standard dashboard is accessible across all versions, but customization is very limited in the free version. There is no option to do any branding customization, custom fields are limited to two per record, there are five custom email templates, and no options to customize any reports. There is a limit to 10 emails per day, but the ability to schedule the email is still available.

Automation for pipelines and activity sets, web-to-contact forms, and web-to-contact leads are available in the free version of Insightly. A unique feature that really sets Insightly apart from the rest is the ability to integrate with third parties like Xero and QuickBooks, which we did not see in free offerings like Freshsales. Insightly also offers the ability to have voice notes in their free package, which is an interesting added bonus not seen in many other packages.

What Is Missing from Insightly

Insightly provides a wonderful free platform for an agent just building a roster of clients, but contains two primary weaknesses: limited contacts and lead nurturing. For example, in the free version of the CRM, an agent can have only 2,500 contacts. While Insightly could be used for beginners, most realtors will certainly quickly outgrow the free platform.

A bigger problem is that an agent cannot follow up via phone, text or email from the platform, making lead nurturing much more time intensive and difficult. There are no automatic lead nurturing or tracking features, which makes outreach efforts to your leads more laborious. When compared to other platforms, such as the Zillow Premier Agent App CRM, agents might find Insightly best for project management and organization rather than true relationship management.

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Best Free Real Estate CRM for Agents on a Budget: Bitrix24

We recommend Bitrix24 as the best free real estate CRM for agents on a budget because of the plethora of free features, including unlimited contacts, email marketing features, custom pipeline features and more, all for no cost at all. Agents can use free services without the need for an immediate upgrade. Paid plans range up to $199 per month.

Bitrix24 Pricing

Bitrix24 offer four different plans: Free, Standard, Plus, and Professional. The prices for all four range from $0 to $199/month. The free version offers the most features, with the paid plans increasing capabilities in a limited fashion, but in ways that would be important to organizations as they scale.

The prices for paid plans are as follows:

Bitrix24 Pricing

Bitrix24 Features

Bitrix24 offers impressive features in the free CRM, with increases in online storage, users, task dependencies, document lock, work reports, multiple sales pipelines, and other expansion features available with paid plans that would benefit teams or brokerages.

Bitrix24 Features

For a free CRM, Bitrix24 is a powerhouse. We were impressed by all of the things the free version offers, and though this version is confined to 12 users, that is not anticipated to be problematic unless you have an expanding brokerage or team. The free version of Bitrix24 offers the opportunity to call and email leads from the app and have it automatically entered into their record. The platform also has the opportunity to customize the fields when entering contact information as well as customizing pipeline stages.

Bitrix24 also has some unique features compared to other free real estate CRMs. For example, when collaborating with coworkers, the ability to video conference and IM is available. This was a feature we did not find in Insightly or HubSpot. Although only 100 sessions per month per user, live chats are also available for clients. Users are able to edit online and calendar share between each other, as well as do some time tracking.

What Is Missing from Bitrix24

While Bitrix24 offers a range of features at absolutely no cost, our only criticism is that it can have a bit of a clustered user interface, and a steeper learning curve than others on the market. Navigating the platform and understanding how everything works might be a challenge for some individuals early on.

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Best Free Real Estate CRM for Marketing: Zillow Premier Agent App

We recommend Zillow Premier Agent App as the best free real estate CRM for marketing. The Premier Agent App allows you to not only work with the leads generated from Zillow, but integrates with over 25 third-party providers to allow you to nurture leads coming from almost anywhere. Great for those looking to nurture incoming leads.

Zillow Premier Agent App Pricing

To best benefit from Zillow Premier Agent App, you want to have an active advertising campaign as a Zillow Premier Agent. While the app and the integrated CRM is absolutely free, to get the most benefit you will want to pay for advertising to generate the most leads. Advertising on the platform is based on your zip code and market.

Zillow Premier Agent App Features

The Zillow Premier Agent App CRM has an array of features that allow you to categorize, search, and nurture leads as well as giving you pipeline management tools and quick response capabilities. Zillow has built a tool that agents can use from first lead contact to deal closing, with the ability for end-to-end communication.

Zillow Premier Agent Features

The Zillow Premier Agent App CRM is functional and powerful, with some perks not found with any other CRM. For example, when a lead from Zillow arrives to your CRM, you are provided with information from their social profiles like Facebook. Often, you will receive a photo, their job title, search history on Zillow (including favorited homes), if they’ve been approved for a mortgage and if they are working with an agent. Zillow, being the largest home marketplace on the internet, can give a tremendous advantage in offering their internal data to you as an agent.

The Zillow Premier Agent App allows you to thoroughly and quickly screen and respond to leads generated from the Zillow platform through their Premier Agent Program. Marketing efforts and outcomes through the Zillow platform and Facebook advertising with their Direct Agent Program become seamlessly connected to your external marketing efforts, with all leads brought in for management by the app and the over 25 different integrations it supports.

The CRM for Zillow also gives you fantastic information to always seem up-to-date with clients. For example, the free Zillow Premier Agent App CRM allows you to review your contact activity, message history and even review time-stamped notes you might have taken after your communications. When following up with clients, you can always refer to previous notes and look back at your history to seem current and on your game. The contact activity tracking is also a feature we also saw on Freshsales, but to a lesser degree.

The pipeline management tools of Zillow Premier Agent App CRM are solid. You can search leads and categorize them into “new, hot, warm, cold, or sold” to follow throughout the process. Also, you can track leads, analyzing where they come from and which sources seem to have the highest rates of conversion. Overall, very impressive tool for no subscription fee.

What Is Missing from Zillow Premier Agent App CRM

Zillow Premier Agent App CRM does one thing, and does it very well, but those who may want expanded functionality into areas like sales or project management may find it lacking compared with others. Zillow provides a customer-focused platform, but does not include project management features like Insightly or sales tools like HubSpot.

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Best Free Real Estate CRM for Growing Businesses: Agile CRM

We recommend Agile CRM as the best free real estate CRM for growing businesses because of the unlimited deals, tasks, and documents that can be used within the platform. Features like appointment scheduling, form builders, and customized branded emails make this CRM distinct. Agile CRM is free, with paid packages ranging up to $80 per month.

Agile CRM Pricing

Agile CRM offers four packages, which include the free version along with the Starter, Regular and Enterprise levels. Below is the pricing for the paid packages. We appreciated that expansion as a professional could start at an unpaid version and expand with minimal expense as features are needed.

Agile CRM Pricing

*Note: All fees are subject to change based on a one-year (20 percent to 34 percent off) or two-year contract (40 percent off). Prices in the table do not reflect discounted rates.

Agile CRM Features

Agile CRM has an intuitive interface, some wonderful features, and some expected limitations given the free version. Of particular note was the document signing ability, breadth of email features, as well as unlimited deals, tasks and documents available within the free version.

Agile CRM Features

While there is no automation available, there is an option to send branded emails and create custom email templates. The data field in the CRM system, as well as deal milestones, are customizable, helping the user define clear goal strategies. We appreciated that Agile CRM offers the unique feature of having document signing available through their platform, which is a feature we did not find with Zillow Premier Agent App CRM, Freshsales, or any other CRM reviewed.

For growing businesses, Agile CRM offered a step up in services for a reasonable price point. At only $8.99 per month, a user could expand their number of contacts and have customer email responses logged in the CRM automatically, saving time as you expand your range of reach. As it stood, the free version offered some impressive customization in their email offerings, with the ability to send 5,000 branded emails per month and develop customized templates.

What Is Missing from Agile CRM

The free platform of Agile CRM allows only 1,000 contacts, unlike HubSpot and Bitrix24 with unlimited number of contacts. Unfortunately, there is no option to do any call/ text/email logging in the free platform and the lead pipeline is not present. While you can track email open rates and contact analytics within the free version, not having a distinct pipeline could make tracking of overall lead progress challenging.

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The Bottom Line

There are a surprising number of free real estate CRMs in the marketplace, with features that may suit particular agents and add to their marketing efforts for absolutely no fee at all. While you may grow into paid programs, some of the free options available may be enough to help you grow and nurture leads for a significant amount of time.

For the best overall free real estate CRM, we recommend HubSpot CRM + Sales Hub. With contact management features, email templates and marketing capability, we found it the best of the group to get you started.

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