Gaining visibility on leads, tracking agent performance and activity, centralizing operational and financial tasks, and equipping agents with market intelligence so that they can provide their clients the best possible level of service.
Nope, we’re not talking about the daily responsibilities of an account executive or sales representative. These are all daily tasks of real estate agents.
Real estate agents must deftly juggle the sales funnel lifecycle, maintain and sustain their branding efforts, keep track of listings, and field back-and-forth communications between various clients, property managers, and leasing agents.
On top of that, they cannot afford to burn out.
Comprehensive real estate management software does exist — helping agents coordinate everything from tracking agent sales performance and client information to streamlining contract and document management to simplifying transactions and other accounting tasks. But such a platform isn’t wholly necessary for automating workflows and relieving agents from unnecessary busywork. Any real estate tool or software that reduces time-consuming labor and manages the intricacies of the real estate industry can be helpful for real estate agents.
When your real estate business is small or just beginning, you may not always have the budget for an expensive real estate CRM, transactions management software, commissions tracking tool or brokerage management software. And while investing in a solution can actually save your business money by automating tasks and freeing up resources, you may not always have the time, ability or financial resources to prove that. In the meantime, free solutions are an effective way to figure out what aspects of your business would truly benefit from the benefits of software.
Real estate management software differs slightly from property management software, in terms of focus. While they both deal with the ins and outs of real estate properties, the former is designed for real estate companies and agents, while the latter is designed for landlords and property owners.
Real estate management software is specifically concerned with the management of a real estate office, firm, agency or brokerage. Property management software streamlines the day-to-day management of commercial or residential properties.
G2 has already rounded up the 7 best free property management software for your consideration. Now it’s time to take a look at the free solutions that will benefit real estate agents, brokers, investors and non-property manager professionals.
The following products are a roundup of tools that are not exclusive to the Real Estate Activities Management category on G2. They’re not exclusive to this particular category because the scope of a real estate agent does not begin and end in an office. Effective and beneficial tools for real estate agents, REALTORs, and brokers can be found outside of the real estate software categories. CRMs, video production platforms, multiple listing services, and industry-specific mobile applications can all be leveraged to optimize and streamline the myriad responsibilities of a real estate professional.
The list we’ve outlined here includes any real estate solution with an available free offering. It should be noted that this does not include products that are only free on a temporary basis, such as limited trial versions for new users. They may only support one user or one project, but they’re truly free offerings. Scaling, however, will often require full investments.
G2's Real Estate category features over 2,000 products. The products featured on this list have well over 1,600 validated user reviews on G2 as of May 22, 2019, and only represent a small portion of the 22 Real Estate category classifications listed on G2. Products are ranked by number of reviews.
For each product we provide:
For products with G2 verified user reviews, we have included:
Product name: Freshsales
G2 star rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars
Total reviews: 482
Freshworks supplies real estate agencies with a specialized CRM that helps agents focus on posting listings, nurturing prospects and closing deals. Freshsales automates and simplifies back-office operations. Freshsales can be used by both commercial and residential real estate companies, and by agents, brokers or developers.
Screenshot courtesy of Freshworks
Free option
Paid option
Features
“Clean and fast, very good mail and phone integration, reasonable filter and sorting options, and highly customizable lead scoring that also includes customer activity patterns on the website and with the agents.”
— Freshsales review by an executive sponsor in internet
“We dislike that this software lacks many functions and features that can improve the processes for our clients. Its interface should be improved a little more.”
— Freshsales review by Carlos O.
“I recommend looking at the Estate level during the trial. It has a lot of great time-saving features that can save hours in a week.”
— Freshsales review by Edwin G. S.
Product name: Insightly CRM
G2 star rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 456
Insightly’s CRM can be used to organize real estate businesses and streamline processes. This CRM automates workflows, provides comprehensive lead nurturing functionality, triggers necessary projects after deals close, and integrates with third-party tools to encourage normal operations. Real estate companies can leverage Insightly to organize tasks and stay on budget.
Screenshot courtesy of Insightly
Free option
Paid option
Features
“In real estate the main problem is keeping track of potential business over long periods of time. Home sellers or buyers may remain in incubation for long stretches before they turn into money. Software does a very nice job at helping juggle the mass data while keeping a clean, user-friendly interface.”
— Insightly CRM review by an administrator in real estate
“It would be nice if there were a way to create a 'Customers' list that is separate from Contacts. This can be approximated using tags, but I would rather have them on their own list. Leads do not have the linking features that other records (contacts, organizations, opportunities, and projects) do. I'd like to be able to link a lead to the contact that referred them, for example.”
— Insightly CRM review by Bruce H.
“It is so simple to use. But remember, the data must be continually updated. When you first install a CRM program, you drive the processes. Once the program is up and running, it drives the way you interact with your customers and clients. It helps deliver a service by reminding you of your meeting your commitments to your clients.”
— Insightly CRM review by Gary E.S.
Product name: Podio
G2 star rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 257
Real estate investors, brokers, and agents use Podio’s CRM workflow building capabilities to optimize lead nurturing and transaction management, ultimately streamlining business activities. With Podio, real estate professionals can better nurture prospects, close deals and avoid missing out on opportunities. Podio is an extremely mobile-friendly solution, fitting the on-the-go needs of most real estate investors and agents.
Screenshot courtesy of Citrix Podio
Free option
Paid option
Features
“I absolutely love the various features available in Podio. The ability to customize modules to suit your business needs is exactly what we want. Our prior CRM was dull and did not allow us to add features that we needed. Podio is a one-stop shop for the back end of our real estate company. I wouldn't change it at all.”
— Podio review by a user in real estate
“Since Podio is SO customizable, it requires a lot of manual labor. Only one teammate is trained to edit workflows and items, which has become burdensome and time-consuming. When a workflow breaks, it stalls activities until it is fixed.”
— Podio review by Tori W.
“Make sure you understand the relationship between employees & externals in the system and learn how to migrate them back and forth if that's what you need. That was pretty important for us.”
— Podio review by Tip I.
Product Name: Bitrix24
G2 Star Rating: 3.9 out of 5.0 stars
Number of Reviews: 193
Bitrix24 provides free solutions that enable and optimize internal communications, client relationships, project management and overall business management. Bitrix24 offers a real estate-tailored CRM that can be used for agent performance tracking and comprehensive agency management. Bitrix24’s lead management functionality ensures that prospecting efforts aren’t wasted. The product’s email marketing functionality centralizes messaging and correspondence. Its integrated telephony functionality tracks and records phone calls and its reporting functionality identifies the best- and worst-performing agents.
Screenshot courtesy of Bitrix24
Free option
Paid option
Features
“Real Estate marketing solutions; it's a good way to store all your contacts.”
— Bitrix24 review by an administrator in security and investigations
“The interface still looks like something from the early 2000s, which make using the tool less enjoyable. I wish there were a configurable dashboard so each user could show what's most important to them when they log in. More linkage with other software and automated workflows would be really handy too.”
— Bitrix24 review by Jillyn D.
“If you are searching for the best CRM solution, I would suggest you have a look at Bitrix24. It is known to be one of the best platforms you can use.”
— Bitrix24 review by Ruth U.
Product name: Renderforest Videos
G2 star rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 155
Renderforest Videos provides online branding and video-making tools for marketing and advertising. Renderforest Videos can be leveraged by any business in any industry, including real estate. Renderforest Videos provides templates for effortless creation and marketing of real estate listing videos. With Renderforest Videos, you can create engaging corporate real estate listings and promote on social media.
Screenshot courtesy of Renderforest Video
Free option
Paid option
Features
“There's a template for everything, so for someone who knows nothing about animation, it's awesome! They'll also suggest a soundtrack that suits the video that's super cool. And from what I can tell for the time being, their support responded ultra fast.”
— Renderforest Video review by Anthony K.
“Not enough choices for my specific industry, real estate.”
— Renderforest Video review by Brad H.
“Urge anyone responsible for purchasing software for your company to pick this product up. Able to set myself apart from the competition. Customers find the videos entertaining and informative.”
— Renderforest Video review by Bonnie S.
Product name: CamScanner
G2 star rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 93
CamScanner is a mobile photo document scan and capture tool that can be used on both Android and iOS devices. It is excellent for any industry and facilitates the easy storing and sharing of sensitive documents even on the go. CamScanner adds a polished look to scanned PDFs as well as providing OCR functionality to convert any images or characters to easy-to-read text.
Screenshot courtesy of CamScanner
Free option
Paid option
Features
“I dabble in real estate (licensed Realtor) and I have to scan documents all the time when I'm out of the office. I just place them on a table or the ground, take a pic with CamScanner, and voila ... add them right to Dropbox.”
— CamScanner review by Ben B.
“Limited options for exporting. No way to set location in storage.”
— CamScanner review by Carson P.
“If you are looking to save time and a convenient alternative to backup your documents for free, Camscanner will meet all your needs.”
— CamScanner review by Tapan J.
Product name: Zillow Premier Agent
G2 star rating: 2.9 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 26
Zillow Premier Agent is a free real estate CRM, lead generation solution and branding tool. It allows individual real estate agents to create a Zillow.com profile to advertise on Zillow.com. Zillow Premier Agent provides email templates, automated follow-ups and an easy-to-use client management database. The agent profile allows real estate agents to create an “About Me” section and showcase their service areas, sales history and active listings. Additionally, their clients can review the agent’s level of service right on the profile.
Screenshot courtesy of Zillow.com
Free option
Paid option
Features
Integration with Gmail, dotloop, and 35-plus lead generation tools
“I like that I get notified when I receive a new lead. I also really like the concierge service, as I am not always able to call the lead right away.”
— Zillow Premier Agent review by Jenna S.
“95% of these ‘leads’ aren’t legitimate leads. Most of the time, these people have an agent and lie by saying they aren’t working with an agent, so you waste your time with them. They just want you to answer questions and aren’t serious about buying. You pay hundreds and maybe even thousands a month just to have someone waste your time and money.”
— Zillow Premier Agent review by Casey T.
“It really improves the performance of your listing. Listing performance is a numbers game and this gets more people to see it.”
— Zillow Premier Agent review by a verified user
Product name: Reiance
G2 star rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Number of reviews: 1
Reiance is a real estate deal management system that organizes information and data flow between agents. Reiance provides a platform to unify all types of property information, making it easy for team members to collaborate on deals, avoid gaps in contact management, and increase market intelligence. Reiance is designed specifically for real estate investors, agents and brokers.
Screenshot courtesy of Reiance
Free option
Paid option
Features
“Overall, Reiance feels like you have a customized, user-oriented application, rather than a dull, corporate work tool. It almost feels like a social networking app customized for work tasks. It's designed for ease of use and simplicity, and makes entering and calling up data customizable and convenient.”
— Reiance review by a user in financial services
“There are still one or two bugs here or there, but they are being weeded out, and don't have a strong impact on the user experience. They are more quirks than impediments to productivity.”
— Reiance review by a user in financial services
“Try it, and you'll see how convenient and instinctive it becomes. You start using it right away without even thinking about it, and it streamlines a lot of your daily work tasks.”
— Reiance review by a user in financial services
Product name: RealOffice360 CRM
G2 star rating: N/A
RealOffice360 is an easy-to-use real estate CRM that’s designed specifically for real estate agents. The product is hosted on Amazon AWS. With RealOffice360, both real estate agents and brokers can better manage client relationships, keep track of leads and prospects, keep a close eye on deals, and even launch customizable IDX websites. RealOffice360 helps real estate agents be more productive and avoid having to use ugly, clunky solutions.
Screenshot courtesy of RealOffice360
Free option
Paid option
Features
Be the first user to write a RealOffice360 CRM review!
Product name: Nekst
G2 star rating: N/A
Nekst is a powerful real estate transaction management solution that also provides business coordination functionalities. With Nekst, your real estate agency can set reminders for tasks, create emails, automate follow-ups, and send agents daily to-do lists. Nekst enables real estate professionals to remain organized and productive.
Screenshot courtesy of Nekst App
Free option
Paid option
Features
Be the first user to write a Nekst review!
Product name: Open Real Estate CMS
G2 star rating: N/A
Open Real Estate CMS offers real estate businesses a free script for creating a comprehensive web platform and client-facing website. With Open Real Estate CMS, your business can connect agencies and agents with real estate owners and buyers. Additional paid modules do exist, expanding the functionalities of the platform with add-ons and supplemental integrations.
Screenshot courtesy of Open Real Estate
Free option
Paid option
Features
Be the first user to write an Open Real Estate CMS review!
Product name: RPR App
G2 star rating: N/A
RPR App is a market intelligence application that provides real estate agents with the data they need to navigate the market and provide clients with the best listings and service. RPR is offered exclusively to Realtors as a member benefit. The app gathers all available property data, contextualizes it with MLS and public records and mortgage data, and generates customizable reports that are ready to be presented to clients.
Screenshot courtesy of REALTOR Property Resource
Free option
Paid option
Features
Be the first user to write a RPR App review!
Find out what your real estate business needs to be made more efficient or what skills are going unused. Then consider whether you want to ease it into the deep end with one of the above free solutions. Take a look at the myriad real estate solutions featured on G2 to determine whether there are other solutions, free or not, that may better fit your business’ needs.
The phrase “words leap off the page” has found new life with OCR.
by Andrew Zangre
There’s no better feeling then getting paid. That moment — when you get a notification that...
by Michael Gigante
“You get a podcast. And YOU get a podcast!”
by Andrew Zangre