Tracking leads manually is time-consuming and takes away from time you could be selling. A reliable, free CRM, however, gives agents the tools they need to streamline lead management without paying an upfront cost. We reviewed 10 free CRMs and chose the six best—including the best overall—based on the number of contacts allowed, lead capture abilities, marketing tools, and tracking features.
Top 6 Free CRMs for Real Estate 2020
Free Real Estate CRMs | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best Overall) Agents needing a highly customizable CRM with unlimited contacts | |
Agents seeking a free CRM with lead generation from Zillow | |
Brokers looking for a CRM with strong project management and lead tracking features | |
Tech-savvy agents wanting a CRM with advanced marketing, sales, and service tools | |
Agents seeking a CRM with communication features like video conferencing and group chats | |
Startup brokers needing a CRM with space for unlimited deals, tasks, and documents |
How We Evaluated Free Real Estate CRMs
The best CRMs for real estate professionals allow agents and brokers to manage contacts, marketing efforts, documents, and activities related to closings. Some software tools offer even more industry-specific features, but these features are often only offered at higher-pricing tiers. For this reason, we chose to consider the free plans of both real estate-specific and general use CRMs, provided the software addressed the most important needs of agents and brokers.
These are the specific criteria we used to review free CRM software for real estate professionals:
- Lead capture and contact segmentation tools
- Sales and marketing activity tracking features
- Client insights and reporting
- Limitations on users, records, or factors that might affect ease of use
- Document storage and third-party integrations
- Price and benefits of upgrading when the time is right
Freshworks CRM is the overall best free CRM because it checks all the boxes for lead tracking, ease of use, and reporting. Freshworks CRM includes unlimited users in the free version, lead scoring, and a built-in phone system to make communication easier. Also, the mobile app makes Freshworks CRM easy to use in the office or in the field.
Freshworks CRM: Best Overall Free CRM for Real Estate
Since we last updated:
Freshworks CRM, formerly Freshsales, recently rebranded with a new name, new service plans, and access to Freshmarketer automation software. Forever-free plans are still available and include mobile apps, 24×5 support, live chat, and more.
What it is: Freshworks CRM is a free-forever, general use CRM that boasts unlimited contacts and many options for customization.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: An unlimited number of users can rate leads based on multiple different criteria, giving real estate agents full control over their lead nurturing efforts. This, combined with the ability to send text messages from within the CRM or integrate with other tools like GetAccept, makes Freshworks CRM right for real estate agents who want a budget-friendly and customized contact management solution.
Pros of Freshworks CRM | Cons of Freshworks CRM |
|---|---|
Unlimited contacts and users | Not real estate-specific |
Includes a mobile app | Lacks basic reporting |
Easy-to-use customizations | Lacks visual pipeline management |
Freshworks CRM Free Plan Limits
- Users: Unlimited
- Contacts: Unlimited
- Storage: None
Freshworks CRM Free Plan Features
- Intuitive lead tracking
- Social media enhancement
- Bulk emails and templates
- Text message creation
- Built-in phone functionality
- Lead scoring
- Third-party integrations like Zapier, Freshdesk, Trello, Facebook, G Suite, and GetAccept
Lead scoring in the lead management pipeline
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
Freshworks CRM has paid options in addition to their Free Forever CRM. The Blossom plan costs $12 per user, per month and adds a comprehensive pipeline to the dashboard and basic sales reporting. The $25 Garden plan adds more customized reporting and lead assignment for teams. The Estate plan is $49 for extra security and administrative features.
Zillow Premier Agent: Best for Managing Zillow Leads
What it is: Zillow Premier Agent is a free real estate CRM and lead generation tool with a complimentary agent profile.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: This is the only free CRM on our list designed specifically for real estate agents. The ability to create a complimentary agent profile allows you to market yourself through the Zillow platform. Zillow Premier Agent CRM is best for new agents who want to manage new leads acquired through advertising.
Pros of Zillow Premier Agent | Cons of Zillow Premier Agent |
|---|---|
Designed specifically for real estate agents | Sales reporting lacks depth |
Ability to create a Zillow agent profile | Limited integrations with productivity tools |
Intuitive interface that mirrors email inbox | No pipeline management |
Zillow Premier Agent Free Plan Limits
- Users: Each agent has an individual account
- Contacts: Unlimited
- Storage: None
Zillow Premier Agent Free Plan Features
- Ability to create a Zillow.com agent profile
- Contact management
- Lead reporting
- Task lists
- Email templates
- Autoresponders
- Customer experience reporting
- Social media contact details
- Third-party integrations to over 35 lead generation tools
Zillow Premier Agent CRM contact layout (Source: Zillow Premier Agent)
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
There is no premium version of Zillow Premier Agent. Instead, “upgrading” from the Zillow Premier Agent free real estate CRM means advertising on Zillow.com to highlight your profile on various listings. Advertising on Zillow Premier Agent costs between $20 and $60 per lead depending on your area property values and agent competition.
Insightly: Best for Project Management:
What it is: Insightly is a free, non-real estate CRM with integrated team tools for project management, monitoring contacts, and tracking tasks to completion.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: Insightly uniquely provides real estate professionals with a visual pipeline that clearly indicates the stages of a project, upcoming due dates, and task deadlines. With these strengths, Insightly is best for brokerages or property managers that need organizational tools to track lead progress or projects with no upfront cost.
Pros of Insightly | Cons of Insightly |
|---|---|
Highly visual pipeline management | Not real estate-specific |
Large variety of third-party integrations | No customer support on the free plan |
Platform sometimes runs slowly |
Insightly Free Plan Limits
- Users: Two
- Contacts: 2,500
- Storage: 200MB
Insightly Free Plan Features
- Assigns and tracks projects
- Contact and lead scoring
- Combines project management and pipeline tracking
- Custom pipeline stages
- Email marketing and templates
- Extensive email engagement data
- Sales, deals, task reporting
- Third-party integrations
Insightly email template scoring
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
Upgrading your Insightly plan to the Plus package for $29 per user, per month will add team features like email tracking, shared calendar, and custom reports. Moving up to the Professional plan for $49 per month adds customized dashboards, workflow automation, and lead distribution for agents or teams.
HubSpot: Best for Advanced Marketing & Sales Tools
What it is: HubSpot CRM, which is part of HubSpot’s Growth Suite, is a non-realty-specific free CRM that offers advanced tools for sales and marketing.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: The unlimited space, contacts, and users available with HubSpot CRM mean that growing realty offices do not need to upgrade to get these advanced tools. HubSpot is best for computer-savvy realty teams that want to focus on using marketing and sales tools as part of their CRM to close more deals.
Pros of HubSpot | Cons of HubSpot |
|---|---|
Large variety of integrations | Not real estate-specific |
Easy-to-use interface | Lacks in-depth reporting capabilities |
Advanced marketing and automation tools | Features can be limited on the free plan |
HubSpot CRM Free Plan Limits
- Users: Unlimited
- Contacts: Unlimited
- Storage: Unlimited
HubSpot CRM Free Plan Features
- Lead and contact pipelines
- Lead prequalification tools
- Automated email marketing and templates
- Online advertising
- Pop-up creation for landing pages
- Basic reporting and analytics
- One of the largest varieties of third-party integrations
Card-based pipeline of HubSpot
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
Starter plans for HubSpot Growth Suite cost $113 per user, per month to add texting and email marketing. The Professional Plan increases to $1,200 per month for five users and includes custom reporting, A/B testing, social posts, and video creation. The Enterprise Plan costs $4,200 per month for 10 users with the addition of predictive lead scoring.
Due to COVID-19, HubSpot is offering the Starter Growth Suite for $50 per month with an annual contract until July 31, 2020. Click here to get started today.
Bitrix24: Best for Advanced Communication
What it is: Bitrix24 is a free, general use CRM that includes enhanced multimedia communication tools like videoconferencing and group chat.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: Bitrix24 uniquely offers several ways for agents to stay connected to the buyer and to other team members, and includes a call back request tool that can be embedded on websites to prospective clients engage with agents. Bitrix24 is ideal for teams that love technology and want to offer many communication channels to their clients or team.
Pros of Bitrix24 | Cons of Bitrix24 |
|---|---|
Robust internal communication tools | Not specific for real estate |
Includes a mobile app | Free plan lacks email marketing |
Can be glitchy |
Bitrix24 Free Plan Limits
- Users: Unlimited
- Contacts: Unlimited
- Storage: 5GB
Bitrix24 Free Plan Features
- Instant communication tools like live video chat, social media messenger connections, call back forms, and phone-in calling
- Tracks lead and task progress on a visual calendar
- Team collaboration tools
- Customizable reporting features
- Third-party integrations
Bitrix24 pipeline in CRM (Source: Bitrix24)
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
Bitrix24’s paid plans start at $24 per month and increase to $199 per month for the Professional Plan. Each plan adds more features, such as multiple pipelines, additional admin privileges, weekly meeting sales tracking, custom URLs for team portals, and many more.
AgileCRM: Best for Unlimited Storage
What it is: AgileCRM is a non-realty CRM that stands out for offering unlimited document storage, deals, and tasks on its free plan.
What makes it great for real estate professionals: AgileCRM accommodates up to 10 agents for free—ideal for startup brokerages and small agencies that need room to grow their storage and team without having to upgrade to paid plans.
Pros of AgileCRM | Cons of AgileCRM |
|---|---|
Fast and easy setup | Not real estate-specific |
One of the most affordable upgrade costs | Free plan lacks third-party integrations |
Limited analytics and reporting |
AgileCRM Free Plan Limits
- Users: 10
- Contacts: 50,000
- Storage: Unlimited
AgileCRM Free Plan Features
- Appointment setting
- Task pipelines
- Email tracking and call features
- Email templates
- Web tracking
- Landing page builders and pop-ups
- Basic marketing analytics
- Document tracking
- Suite of third-party integrations
AgileCRM pipeline management
Why You Might Want to Upgrade
The initial upgrade for AgileCRM is the most reasonable of all upgrades on our list. The Starter plan costs $8.99 per month, billed annually, and includes social monitoring and mobile marketing. The Regular plan is available for $49.99 per month for a year and offers help desk functionality and a robust reporting dashboard.
How to Choose a Free Real Estate CRM Software
Free real estate CRMs are often ideal for single agents or brokers who are just getting started and need to organize their leads quickly. However, it’s important to consider the price to upgrade, expanded features, mobility, and integration before selecting one.
These are the critical things to focus on when choosing a free CRM for real estate:
- Cost: Considering the next stage of pricing for upgraded features might not seem essential at the free level. However, if the free real estate CRM you choose is too expensive to upgrade, then you may find yourself managing a clumsy, time-consuming, and expensive migration to a new CRM.
- Mobility: A free CRM for real estate should have an app that helps agents on the go and teams stay connected. Buyers will not wait until an agent is back in the office to communicate, so the app should make staying connected easy.
- Expansion possibilities: A CRM should have a list of upgradable features to expand the current service offering without adding bulky modules. Make sure that features available in both free and premium plans meet your specific needs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why should I use a free CRM in real estate?
Using a free CRM for real estate gives you the opportunity to try out a platform without incurring any cost. In many cases, the free version of a CRM will suffice for new agents or small brokerages. You can upgrade to paid plans as your agency grows or you want to add more features.
Which CRM is the easiest to use?
While different agents will use CRMs in varying ways, AgileCRM and Freshworks CRM are the easiest for most agents to use. Not only are they relatively easy to set up and customize, but daily task completion and platform maintenance are intuitive.
Why is third-party integration important for a CRM?
Third-party app integration allows agents to add functionality to their CRM without paying for functionality they don’t need. For example, if your CRM does not include lead generation management, you will likely want to integrate a platform like BoldLeads so you can create lead generation ads and manage new lead information in one place.
Bottom Line: Free CRM for Real Estate
A free CRM allows agents and brokers to collect and track leads effectively to ensure they maximize sales. As a business grows, agents will likely want to upgrade these free CRMs to paid options with more robust features, but a free CRM should include easy contact management, marketing features, and communication tools accessible via an easy-to-use interface.
Freshworks CRM is the best overall free CRM because it offers unlimited contacts in an easy-to-use platform forever. Freshworks CRM helps real estate agents organize leads, track them through the sales funnel, and market to them to help close deals. Find out more about the benefits of Freshworks CRM and sign up for their Free Forever CRM today.
Mohd Basheeruddin
The 6 best real estate CRM mentioned in the article are awesome and thanks for sharing this information with us.
Nate White
Thank’s for the post. Bitrix24 is a real gem, never seen a free CRM that powerful.
Emile L'Eplattenier
Hey Nate,
Bitrix does have a ton of features considering it’s free. That said, their interface can be a bit too complicated for some users. I always say that the “best” CRM is the one you actually use! A very simple system might actually work better if you can get your agents to actually use it regularly. If you’re working on your own, then whatever works best for your own work flow is the way to go. Fighting your technology means that you’re less likely to take full advantage of it.