A Team Lead's Guide to Picking a Real Estate CRM
Prices and terms on this page come from our product data — last checked against vendor pages October 9, 2026.
You run a small team: you, four agents, and probably an ISA, an admin, or a transaction coordinator somewhere in the mix. You buy portal leads, and the deals you lose are the ones nobody called back fast enough. A team CRM has three jobs: put every new lead in front of the right person in minutes, keep follow-up running when that person is busy, and show you who worked which lead.
This guide covers the six core CRMs we compare side by side (the 11 other platforms we review are noted where they fit). Every price and feature below comes from our product data, checked against each vendor's own pages. Where a vendor doesn't publish something, we say so instead of guessing.
Count seats, not agents
The most common budgeting mistake on a team is pricing the agents and forgetting the people who support them. ISAs, admins, and TCs need their own logins to call, text, and update records — and most CRMs bill every login.
| CRM | How seats are billed | Year one at 5 logins |
|---|---|---|
| Follow Up Boss | Grow is per login ($69/login/mo, or $58 on annual billing). Pro is a flat $499/mo ($416 on annual) with 10 logins included | $3,480/yr on annual billing ($4,140/yr month-to-month; excl. optional dialer) |
| Wise Agent | One flat rate covers up to 5 members on one shared login; individual logins are $20/mo each | $499/yr on annual prepay ($588/yr month-to-month) |
| Real Geeks | Platform includes 2 users; extra users are $25/mo each up to 10 total | $6,308 first year ($474/mo + $10 IDX feed per MLS board + $500 setup) |
| Sierra Interactive | Plans include users: Starter 1, Essential 3, Growth 5 | $7,199/yr on annual billing ($9,199.40/yr monthly, incl. $500 setup) |
| Lofty | Not disclosed — quote-only (official Lofty Team plan) | Not disclosed — quote-only |
| BoldTrail (kvCORE's successor) | Not disclosed — quote-only | Not disclosed — quote-only |
Two things to check before you trust any of these numbers:
- Wise Agent's shared login can't show who touched which lead. If accountability matters — and on a team that buys leads, it usually does — budget individual logins.
- On Follow Up Boss, the dialer changes the math. With every one of 5 people calling, Grow plus the Calling add-on runs $5,460/yr on annual billing ($6,480/yr monthly), while Pro — calling and texting included for everyone — runs $4,992/yr on annual ($5,988/yr monthly). If only one or two people dial, Grow can still come out cheaper. The Follow Up Boss cost breakdown runs the numbers.
Routing: who gets the 11pm Zillow lead?
Speed-to-lead is the whole game with portal leads. Ask each vendor exactly what happens when a lead arrives after hours and the first agent doesn't respond.
| CRM | Lead routing (from the vendor's own pages) |
|---|---|
| Follow Up Boss | Advanced — round-robin, first-to-claim, ZIP-code and price-range rules |
| Sierra Interactive | Yes — rule-based (source, tag, buyer/seller, location, price range); auto-assign rotation, claim-with-timeout, instant call, first-to-claim, lead pond |
| Real Geeks | Yes — assignment, direct routing, geographic round-robin, lead ponds |
| Wise Agent | Lead assignment, distribution and tracking; lead rules auto-route new leads |
| Lofty | Yes — advanced routing on all plans; rules not published, confirm on the demo call |
| BoldTrail (kvCORE's successor) | Yes — included; routing rules not published, confirm on the demo call |
Lead ponds: where the leads nobody is working go
A lead pond is a shared pool of leads that any agent on the team can claim: unresponsive leads, long-term nurture, leads from an agent who left. It stops leads from dying in a busy agent's name.
| CRM | Lead ponds |
|---|---|
| Follow Up Boss | Lead ponds on accounts with more than one user; new leads can route straight to a pond from Lead Flow; when an agent claims a pond lead, running Action Plans keep going; ISA and admin roles see all ponds |
| Real Geeks | Yes — Lead Ponds (shared lead pools for the team), per the official help center (see routing_source) |
| Sierra Interactive | Yes — lead pond, per the official help center (see routing_source) |
| Wise Agent | Not yet verified |
| Lofty | Not yet verified — routing rules not published |
| BoldTrail (kvCORE's successor) | Not yet verified — routing rules not published |
Calling and texting for the team
| CRM | Dialer and texting |
|---|---|
| Follow Up Boss | $39/login/mo add-on on Grow ($33/login/mo on annual billing); included on Pro and Platform |
| Sierra Interactive | Built in on Essential/Growth; $100/mo flat add-on on Starter (usage caps apply) |
| Real Geeks | Dialer included with Platform; Geek AI Text $49/mo standalone (free with any lead package); 10DLC (carrier texting registration) required for texting |
| Wise Agent | Power Dialer is a separate paid subscription (current price not published); WiseText SMS $11/mo + $80 one-time registration |
| Lofty | Basic Dialer included on all four plans; Power Dialer upgrade price unpublished. AI Sales Agent is a separate $60/mo AI-texting add-on (200-lead running quota) |
| BoldTrail (kvCORE's successor) | Not published — confirm dialer pricing on the demo call |
Our pick for a 5-person team: Follow Up Boss
Best for portal-lead teams that live on speed-to-lead. Routing rules, lead ponds, and Action Plans cover the three jobs a team CRM has to do, and the price is published, so you can model year one before you talk to sales. On the team plans, Pro adds team inboxes, call reporting, and unlimited calling and texting for all users; Platform adds teams within teams; mobile app and calendar/email sync on every plan.
Watch out: No native IDX website — and per-login + dialer pricing scales steeply as the team grows.
Consider instead:
- Sierra Interactive if your website is your lead engine — Teams and brokerages that choose a CRM for its website — premium IDX sites with a capable CRM attached.
- Lofty if you want AI working first-touch follow-up — quote-only, so get the team price in writing.
- Real Geeks if you want the IDX website and CRM in one bundle and you don't already have a site you like.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Which roles need their own login — every agent, the ISA, the admin, the TC — and what does each one cost?
- When a lead isn't claimed within a set time, where does it go next — another agent, the team lead, or a pond?
- Does follow-up keep running when a lead is reassigned or claimed from a pond?
- Can I see, per agent, how fast each new lead got its first call or text?
- Is calling and texting included for every seat, or billed per login?
- What happens to the leads and notes of an agent who leaves the team?
- What is the contract term, and what does it cost to leave early? Today: Follow Up Boss — No contract on monthly · 12-month term on annual; Sierra — 12-month term (either billing cycle); Real Geeks — 6- or 12-month term · no month-to-month; Wise Agent — No term · 30 days' notice to cancel; Lofty and BoldTrail — not disclosed, confirm on the demo.
FAQ
What is the best CRM for a small real estate team?
For a 5-person team buying portal leads, our pick is Follow Up Boss — published pricing, routing rules, lead ponds, and Action Plans. If your website is your lead engine, look at Sierra Interactive; if you want CRM, IDX site and transaction management in one month-to-month platform, see Brivity.
Do ISAs, admins and transaction coordinators need paid seats?
Usually yes — most vendors count every login. Brivity's own FAQ says a user is anyone you add, including admins. Count every role before you compare prices.
Which team CRMs publish their prices?
Among those we track: Follow Up Boss, Sierra Interactive, Real Geeks, Wise Agent, Top Producer (Pro Teams 5 is $399/mo for up to 5 users) and IXACT Contact. Lofty, BoldTrail (kvCORE's successor), CINC, BoomTown and Ylopo are quote-only; Brivity publishes only its solo starting price.
Team figures come from data/products, checked against each vendor's official pricing page (latest check October 2026); Follow Up Boss team features and lead ponds were checked on its official pricing page and help center on October 9, 2026. How we verify → · Running solo? The solo agent's guide → · Running a brokerage? The brokerage guide →