Free CRM for real estate agents: what's really free in 2026

The quick answer: yes, but not from real estate CRMs

There are free CRMs an agent can use, and they cost $0 with no card. They are general-purpose tools: HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Bigin, Bitrix24, Capsule and EngageBay all publish a free plan. None of the real estate CRMs on our list publishes one.

The real estate CRMs that do publish prices start with a trial instead. Wise Agent, IXACT Contact and Follow Up Boss each offer 14 days. The cheapest with an official published price is Wise Agent at $499 a year billed annually, which works out to $42 a month ($49 billed monthly).

A free CRM is a good place to keep leads. It won’t give you MLS search on your website, so plan for that separately.

What a CRM does for an agent

A CRM (customer relationship management tool) is one place for every person you work with: past clients, buyers, sellers and new leads. It keeps their contact details, notes and the date you last spoke.

A few terms you’ll see on pricing pages:

• Pipeline. The stages a lead moves through, such as new lead, showing, under contract and closed.
• Deal. One possible sale tracked through that pipeline.
• Automation. Rules that act for you, such as sending a follow-up email when a lead fills in your website form.
• Seat or user. One login. Many CRMs charge per seat, so a team of three pays three times.
• Records. Anything stored in the CRM, such as a contact, company or deal. Some free plans cap records instead of contacts.

Free CRM plans compared

These six plans cost $0 with no time limit, according to each vendor’s pricing page. Limits are what you trade for the price.

Notes on each free plan

• HubSpot. The free plan also includes 1,000 records across other object types, plus landing pages and website pages. HubSpot branding appears on free emails, chat, meeting links and pages. For Starter, HubSpot’s Starter page lists $7 a seat a month billed yearly ($10 billed monthly) as special pricing for new customers only; the regular price is $20 a seat a month. HubSpot doesn’t say how long the promo lasts. Our HubSpot review covers the website side.
• Zoho CRM. Zoho’s free-CRM page lists 5,000 records and 1 GB of storage; the pricing page itself states no record limit. The free plan includes leads, deals, contacts, web forms, reports, up to 5 workflow automations, 10 email templates and up to 10 data exports a day. Paid editions start with Standard at $14 per user a month billed annually ($20 billed monthly), per Zoho’s edition comparison page.
• Bigin. Zoho’s simpler CRM. Express is $7 per user a month billed annually ($9 is the other listed rate) and raises the limit to 50,000 records and 3 pipelines.
• Bitrix24. The plan card says “100% free for 1-2 users,” but the FAQ says you can add unlimited users. The page doesn’t settle it. Pipelines, sales automation and phone features are listed only on paid plans.
• Capsule. 5 custom fields on free. Paid prices loaded dynamically and weren’t readable; Capsule says annual billing saves up to 18%.
• EngageBay. Free includes 1,000 EngageBay-branded emails, with no period stated. Basic is $12.74 per user a month on the two-year toggle and includes 500 contacts. EngageBay has a real estate CRM page and email templates, but no MLS or IDX feature.

There is also the no-CRM option. A Google Sheet plus Google Contacts costs nothing, and a free Google Account includes 15 GB of storage shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos. Columns for name, phone, email, source, stage, last contact and next follow-up date go a long way. Nothing reminds you or sends drip emails, though, so it only works at low volume.

Real estate CRMs: who publishes a price

Real estate CRMs add things the general tools lack, such as listing alerts, IDX websites and calling built for agents. None on our list has a free plan. Here is what each one’s own site shows.

• Wise Agent is the cheapest published price here. Extra team members cost $20 a month per batch of 5, and CRM plus WiseSocial is $699 a year ($69 billed monthly).
• IXACT Contact includes CRM, email marketing and an agent website. IDX listings cost extra: IXACT lists IDX Broker Core at $50 a month, plus $24 a year for a domain and a one-time $69 IDX setup fee. The page doesn’t label the currency.
• Follow Up Boss lists “IDX websites” under integrations, so it connects to an IDX site provider rather than building one. Its calling add-on for Grow is $33 per user a month billed annually ($39 monthly).
• Real Geeks sells the CRM and an IDX website together as one platform, with lead routing, calling and texting included. Extra MLS feeds are $10 per board a month.
• Propertybase is built on Salesforce and aimed at brokerages more than solo agents.
• Top Producer lists two different Pro prices and two different 5-user team prices on the same page, so we don’t quote one. Its website add-on is $35 per user a month.

Some vendors don’t publish prices at all. Lofty (formerly Chime), BoldTrail (formerly kvCORE) and BoomTown all ask for a demo or quote, and all three include IDX websites. Realvolve’s dollar amounts didn’t load on its pricing page. LionDesk’s official site showed no readable pricing; Capterra, a third-party review site, lists plans from $30 a month on an undated page, so confirm with LionDesk.

What it costs over 3 years

A headline monthly price hides the total. Here is one agent over 36 months, CRM only, before taxes, texting add-ons and MLS fees.

Billed monthly, Wise Agent comes to $1,764 ($49 x 36) and Follow Up Boss Grow to $2,484 ($69 x 36). Adding IXACT’s listed IDX option ($50 x 36, plus $69 setup and $24 a year for the domain) brings IXACT to $3,624. If HubSpot’s $7 promo applied for all 36 months, Starter would be $252, but the page doesn’t say it does. For full website totals with IDX and MLS fees, see what a real estate website costs.

What a free CRM won’t do for an agent

Free plans store contacts well. They stop short of the jobs that make real estate software expensive.

• No IDX website. IDX is the MLS permission that lets you show listings on your site. None of the free plans includes it. HubSpot’s free pages carry its branding and have no listing search.
• No lead routing. Sending each new lead to the right agent on a team is a paid feature in real estate platforms such as Real Geeks.
• No texting at scale. None of the free plans lists business texting in its free limits. Follow Up Boss sells calling as an add-on, and Real Geeks includes calling and texting in its $399 plan.
• Tight caps. 250 contacts at Capsule and EngageBay, or 500 records at Bigin, fills up fast once you import your phone and past clients.
• Little or no automation. Bitrix24 lists automation only on paid plans, and Zoho’s free plan allows up to 5 workflow tasks.

Check what your brokerage already gives you

Before you pay for anything, ask your broker. Some large brokerages run their own CRM for agents.

• Keller Williams. A KW press release from December 20, 2022 calls Command a “smart CRM-plus solution” for KW agents and teams, generally available since February 2019. It doesn’t state what agents pay.
• Compass. A Compass press release from February 27, 2019 says Compass CRM launched in 2018 and became part of its agent platform. It doesn’t state a cost, and the release is several years old.

Ask three questions: does it cost me anything, can I export my contacts, and what happens to my contacts if I change brokerages? A CRM you can’t take with you is a rental.

Texting, calling and emailing leads: the rules

A CRM makes it easy to text, call and email many people at once, and federal rules apply to all three. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to your broker or a lawyer about your own setup.

• Texts and autodialed calls (TCPA). The FCC’s guide says autodialed texts to a mobile phone are prohibited without the person’s prior consent, and consent for commercial texts must be in writing. This applies even if the number is not on the Do Not Call list. Put consent wording on your lead form and include an opt-out such as reply STOP. In 2024 the FCC also adopted an order (FCC 24-24) strengthening people’s ability to revoke consent in a timely manner, so treat any clear opt-out as final.
• Cold calls (Do Not Call). Under the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, sellers and telemarketers must check the National Do Not Call Registry before covered calls, re-sync their lists every 31 days and keep their own do-not-call list. Calls to people you have an established business relationship with are exempt from the Registry rules. Registry access is $85 per area code per year from October 1, 2026, with the first 5 area codes free and $23,425 for all of them. Penalties run up to $53,088 per violation.
• Email drips and newsletters (CAN-SPAM). The FTC’s compliance guide requires accurate sender details, an honest subject line, a disclosure that the message is an ad, your physical postal address and a working opt-out. Honor opt-outs within 10 business days. Penalties are up to $53,088 per email.

How the CRM connects to your website

Your website is where most new leads start, so the link between the two matters more than any CRM feature. Every form on your site should send the lead straight into the CRM, with the consent wording attached, not just to your inbox.

• Use the CRM’s own forms. Zoho CRM’s free plan includes web forms, and HubSpot’s free tools include landing pages and website pages with built-in forms.
• Use an IDX platform with a CRM inside. Real Geeks, Lofty, BoldTrail and BoomTown sell the IDX website and CRM together, so search sign-ups land in the CRM directly.
• Connect an IDX site to a separate CRM. Follow Up Boss connects to IDX website providers. On WordPress, an IDX plugin handles listings while your forms feed the CRM you choose.

Test it before launch: fill in each form on your phone and check the lead appears in the CRM with its source. Our step-by-step build guide covers lead capture and IDX approval in order.

What you can take with you if you leave

Contacts are the asset. Before you load years of clients into any CRM, check how you get them out. Zoho’s free plan allows up to 10 data exports a day. folk keeps your data if you let the trial lapse, but blocks the account. Real Geeks scores 2/10 on our exit scores: leads export to CSV without the full activity history, and no website export is documented. Our guide to leaving your website builder covers the website side.

Which route fits you

1. New or mostly referral business: a Google Sheet, or HubSpot’s or Zoho’s free plan.
2. Solo agent who wants pipelines and reminders: Zoho CRM Free or Bigin, then Bigin Express at $7 a user if you outgrow it.
3. Wants real estate features at a published price: try Wise Agent, IXACT Contact or Follow Up Boss on their 14-day trials.
4. Wants the IDX site and CRM in one bill: Real Geeks publishes its price; Lofty, BoldTrail and BoomTown quote privately.
5. Belongs to a brokerage with its own CRM: ask about cost and contact export first.

What to do next

• See every way to get an agent website in our real estate websites hub.
• Compare website builders that include a CRM in website builders with a CRM.
• Price the full setup, IDX and MLS fees included, in real estate website costs.
• Follow how to build a real estate website to wire your forms into your CRM.