What’s the estate agent’s antidote to shrinking margins, tighter compliance and customers who expect lightning-fast comms?
It’s having a dedicated CRM that acts as the operating system at the heart of your agency
Far from just being an address book or a glorified diary, the right CRM controls everything that drives performance – from instructions and pipelines to marketing, compliance, prospecting, reporting, and strategic decisions.
With the pressures building in 2026, investing in the right CRM is critical. To help you choose wisely, we’ve taken a straight-talking look at three of the UK’s most talked-about CRMs: Alto, Reapit, and Street.
We’ll break down how they compare on what really matters (including onboarding speed, ROI, AI and automation, integration ecosystem and ongoing support) so you can move forward with confidence.
What makes a ‘best estate agency CRM’ in 2026?
This comparison is based on a combination of publicly available product information, customer feedback, third-party reviews where available, and Alto’s internal onboarding and usage data as of 2025.
Feature availability, pricing, onboarding timelines and outcomes may vary depending on agency size, configuration and usage. This article is intended as a practical guide to help agencies evaluate fit — not as a definitive or exhaustive technical comparison.
Before you start comparing specific CRMs, it helps to know what actually makes one stand out.. Here’s what to look for when judging which one is right for you.
Onboarding speed and migration experience
Getting started should be fast, smooth and supported. Full data migration should be included, not an afterthought or extra cost. The quicker you go live, the sooner you see value.
Ease of use and user adoption
A CRM only works if your team actually uses it. That means a clean, intuitive interface, logical workflows and features that support how agents already work. Adoption drives results.
Automation and AI
A modern CRM should cut admin, not add to it. Look for automation that handles routine tasks like reminders, updates and follow ups. AI features should save time and boost productivity, not sit unused.
Prospecting and instruction growth
The best CRMs help you grow your business, not just run it. Look for tools that identify new leads, help win instructions and track what works, especially in a tough market.
Reporting and business insight
You should be able to see what is working, where the gaps are and where to focus next. Real time dashboards, easy filters and smart reporting help turn data into action.
Integrations and ecosystem
A great CRM connects with the rest of your tech stack. That includes portals, marketing tools, compliance apps, accounting systems and more. The more joined up your systems are, the smoother your operation becomes.
Support, training and change management
Switching systems is a big move. You’ll want a platform that makes onboarding easy, trains your team properly and provides ongoing support that fits around your business.
Return on investment
Whether it is time saved, headcount avoided or more instructions won, the right CRM should pay you back quickly.
In the next sections, we’ll use these criteria to compare Alto, Reapit and Street so you can see which one delivers where it counts.
Alto: the market leader raising the bar
Alto is the UK’s most widely used CRM for estate and lettings agents. With over 15 years in the market, it supports more than 6,000 agencies and 25,000 users, including many of the UK’s fastest-growing independents and multi-branch brands.
The momentum behind Alto shows no signs of slowing. The company recently recorded its strongest quarter in five years, with sales up 73% year on year. It’s a reflection of Alto’s growing status as the go-to platform for agents who want ‘the last CRM they’ll ever need’.
Let’s look at how Alto performs across the key areas that matter most in 2026, from onboarding speed and automation to ROI and support.
1. Onboarding and migration
One of Alto’s biggest strengths is how quickly you can get started. Onboarding and full data migration are included as standard, with no hidden fees. Based on Alto onboarding data, many agencies go live in about 16 days. That’s around three times faster than the typical onboarding time for legacy systems.
The migration process is handled by a dedicated team that has completed over 1,600 successful CRM transitions in the past three years. Alto takes care of everything, including historic data, so you can get started without disruption to your everyday operations.
Alto users rave about the onboarding approach, with one multi branch agency saying: “We were nervous about switching, but it was seamless. We were live and seeing benefits in no time.”
2. Automation, AI and everyday time savings
In 2026, the best estate agent CRMs are streets ahead on AI and automation.
Alto is an AI-native CRM that includes a suite of AI-powered tools designed to save time and streamline daily tasks.
- AI Listings lets you generate full property descriptions in seconds, saving 30 minutes or more for every listing.
- AI Analyst allows you to ask natural-language questions like ‘Which negotiator is converting the most valuations?’ and get instant answers.
- Lettings Compliance Agent tracks certificate expiries and automatically updates landlords, tenants and contractors.
On average, Alto users save over 40 hours every month thanks to these built-in features. For most agencies, that is the equivalent of adding one or two extra team members.
3. Prospecting and growth
Alto Prospecting helps agents identify properties and landlords who are likely to come to market before they appear on portals. It covers England and Wales, uses GDPR-compliant data and includes built-in tools for direct mail and outreach.
Agencies using Alto Prospecting report winning up to 22% more instructions than those not using it.
4. Integrations, ecosystem and compliance
Alto has the UK’s fastest-growing PropTech partner ecosystem. It’s already connected to the tools most agencies rely on, including marketing platforms, portals, EPC providers, AML checks and more.
All integrations are managed through the Alto Marketplace, which makes it easy to add new services without needing extra technical support. The platform also includes strong compliance features across lettings, documentation and client accounting.
5. Support and training
Alto’s support is consistently rated among the best in the industry. Its UK-based team offers live chat, email help, regular webinars and Alto Skills — a digital training platform designed for different roles within an agency.
In contrast to older systems that can feel clunky or slow, Alto is also one of the most reliable platforms on the market, with consistently stable uptime and a user experience designed to be fast, responsive and intuitive.
It also leads the market in product innovation, with over 200 updates rolled out in 2024. That’s around 50% more than the nearest competitor, giving users faster access to new features and improvements.
And when it comes to reputation, Alto is unmatched. It holds the highest trust rating of any major CRM provider, with 5 out of 5 on AllAgents and 4.3 on Trustpilot.
As one user put it: “Our only regret is not switching sooner.”
6. Return on investment
Alto reports that most customers see a return of 5-10 times their investment within the first year.
This comes from:
- Saving the equivalent of 1-3 hires’ worth of admin time
- Recovering over 40 hours per user per month
- Winning more instructions with better prospecting tools
Rather than just being a tool to manage operations, it’s clear that Alto is a platform that helps agencies grow.
Is Alto the best estate agent CRM for you?
Alto is ideal for growing independent agencies and multi-branch operations that want:
✔ Fast onboarding and time-to-value
✔ Smart automation and embedded AI
✔ A platform that keeps evolving and improving
Reapit: Powerful, but built for enterprise
Reapit is one of the most established CRMs in the UK property sector, with a strong presence among large corporate and franchise networks.
It offers deep functionality, mature reporting and broad configurability, particularly valuable for multi-branch and multi-brand organisations with complex operational needs.
For agencies with complex reporting needs, multi-brand structures or franchise models, Reapit’s depth and configurability remain a strong draw.
1. Onboarding and implementation
Reapit’s implementations are often longer and more structured, with timelines commonly extending over several months for larger or more complex organisations. Feedback from agencies suggests that setup can be lengthy and may require in-house resources to manage effectively. Full data migration is often an additional cost, and implementation can be slowed by technical complexity or dependencies on custom configuration.
This longer rollout means agencies may wait several months before they can begin using the system fully.
2. Complexity and configuration
Reapit is designed to be flexible, but this flexibility often comes with added complexity. Many users describe the system as heavy or hard to navigate without extensive training. Agencies without dedicated operations or IT support may find it harder to unlock the platform’s full potential.
While Reapit offers some AI features, they’re typically delivered through specific modules or configurations rather than being embedded across workflows. As a result, some agents find adoption slower, particularly where teams are already stretched operationally.
In June 2025, Reapit announced plans to launch its first AI-powered capabilities in early 2026. While this signals clear intent to invest in AI, details around how these tools will work in practise like how deeply they’ll be embedded into day-to-day workflows, and how quickly agencies will see value, are still to be confirmed.
This means the impact of AI is currently more limited, especially when compared to CRMs where intelligence is already embedded across listings, compliance, reporting and prospecting.
Innovation is also slower. Reapit releases fewer product updates than other providers. That means agents may wait longer for new features or fixes and can fall behind as the market moves forward.
Some functionality, such as mobile access, automation or AI, is limited or only available through additional modules or paid add-ons. This can increase both cost and setup time.
3. Reporting and analytics
Reapit performs strongly in enterprise-level reporting. Agencies that require deep performance tracking across multiple offices, teams or brands will find its reporting tools robust and well developed.
However, many of these features are not ready to use out of the box and may require setup or technical support.
4. Integrations and ecosystem
Reapit offers a large marketplace for third-party tools. Agencies have noted challenges connecting newer PropTech platforms or tailoring integrations without specialist help, so it’s worth bearing this in mind — especially if you expect to add or change tools frequently as your business evolves.
5. Pricing and support
Reapit uses a more rigid and higher pricing structure compared to other CRMs on the market. There is a five-user minimum, which can be limiting for smaller teams, and agencies often pay for features whether they use them or not.
Support is available through Reapit’s service desk and knowledge base. However, feedback suggests response times can vary, and some users feel they receive less attention than larger corporate clients.
6. Return on investment
Reapit can be a good fit for enterprise networks with structure and scale, though it’s important to note that the path to ROI is often slower. With a longer setup process, modular pricing and fewer automation tools included as standard, agencies may need more time and budget to see full productivity.
Is Reapit the best estate agent CRM for you?
Reapit could be right for you, if your agency fits the following profile:
✔ Corporate or franchise networks with complex reporting and workflows
✔ Agencies with internal IT or operations resource
✔ Organisations prepared for longer rollout and higher setup investment
Street: Modern UI, strong option for start ups
Street is a newer CRM on the UK scene that’s become known for its low entry price, which makes it appealing to smaller agencies looking to get started quickly.
For new or sales-led agencies prioritising speed, simplicity and modern design, Street can be an easy system to adopt early on.
However, it’s important to note that the pricing model is tied to stock volume. That means the more you list, the more you pay, which can make the platform significantly more expensive as your business grows.
For single-branch independents or startups, it can be an accessible entry point. But beyond its shiny UI, there are limits to how far the platform stretches as needs become more complex.
Let’s take a closer look at how it stacks up across some key areas…
1. User experience and design
Street’s main strength is its design. The interface is clean, modern and easy to navigate, making it popular with users who want a system that looks and feels up to date. Smaller teams often find it easy to pick up without much training.
However, design only goes so far. Agencies that manage high property volumes or more complex operations may find the system starts to feel limited.
2. Automation and AI
Street was one of the first CRMs in the UK to introduce AI features, and that early innovation helped it stand out in a crowded market. However, feedback suggests these tools are more narrowly focused and less embedded into broader operational workflows like compliance, reporting, or lead management.
In practice, many agents find the impact of Street’s AI is limited.
That’s largely because most features operate in isolation rather than being embedded into daily workflows. Many are bolt-ons, sometimes charged per use, and tend to focus more on property marketing than on driving broader agency performance. There’s also minimal automation for key tasks like lettings compliance, vendor updates or lead triaging.
The difference becomes clearer when compared with a CRM like Alto, where AI is built directly into the platform. From generating listings and tracking compliance to automating lead responses and forecasting performance, Alto’s tools are designed to support agents in the flow of work, without added costs.
So while both Street and Alto present themselves as AI-led CRMs, Alto is typically the preferred choice for agencies that want deeper automation, stronger ROI and tools that make a measurable difference day to day.
3. Pricing and growth penalties
Street’s pricing is based on your stock volume, which means the more you list, the more you pay. There are also charges for e-signatures, active listings and certain core features. As agencies grow, these added costs can begin to stack up quickly.
What feels affordable for a small team can become far less efficient as your business scales.
4. Data migration and onboarding
One of the biggest drawbacks is that Street doesn’t offer full data migration. Unlike providers who import full client histories, Street typically performs a limited data cleanse, which means starting fresh or manually rebuilding years of records.
It should be pointed out that, for many agents, this creates friction and raises concerns about long-term value and continuity.
5. Support and reputation
Some buyers say it’s harder to get an independent view about Street, simply because there are fewer third-party reviews available – and none on sites like Trustpilot or AllAgents compared to other platforms. There are also reports of patchy support, slow response times and unresolved issues, particularly around compliance data and lettings functionality.
6. Return on investment
Street can offer fast setup and ease of use for new or smaller teams. But as needs become more complex, many agencies find themselves paying more for less functionality, especially if their business depends on lettings or compliance-heavy workflows.
Is Street the best estate agent CRM for you?
If you’re early in your growth journey and value simplicity over scale, Street could be the right option for you. It suits:
✔ Single-branch or early-stage agencies
✔ Teams who prioritise a clean UI and quick adoption
✔ Sales-led agencies with limited lettings requirements
So which CRM is truly ‘best’ in 2026?
The truth is there’s no one-size-fits-all CRM. The right platform depends on your agency’s size, setup and appetite for change. But based on everything we’ve covered, there are some clear patterns to note.
Reapit is a powerful option for large corporate groups with complex reporting needs and the internal IT resource to manage a longer rollout. It’s a heavyweight system, but it’s definitely not the fastest or most flexible for smaller or growing teams.
Street offers a clean, modern interface that often suits single-branch or early-stage agencies. It’s quick to learn and easy to adopt, but lacks the depth, automation and ecosystem most ambitious agencies will eventually need.
Alto offers the strongest all-round value for the majority of estate and lettings agencies in 2026. It combines:
- Fast onboarding, with most agencies live in just 16 days
- Serious ROI, saving 40+ hours a month per user and boosting instructions by up to 22%
- Built-in AI tools across listings, compliance, reporting and more
- The UK’s largest and fastest-growing PropTech ecosystem
Perhaps more importantly, Alto is the only CRM on this list built as a true growth engine. It doesn’t just store data – it interprets it, predicts behaviour and uses intelligence to help you do more with less.
For many growing estate and lettings agencies in 2026, Alto stands out as the strongest all-round option. Particularly for teams that want fast onboarding, meaningful automation and a CRM that actively supports staying ahead of where the industry is going (and not just where it’s been).
Next steps
- Book a no-pressure demo to see Alto in action
