“How much per user?” is the first question most buyers ask a CRM vendor, and it is a misleading one. In real estate, the number of people who need access is large and changes constantly: telecallers, sales executives, accounts, legal, site engineers, partners and agents. The model you choose affects behaviour as much as budget.
How per-user pricing shapes your team
Per-user pricing is simple to understand and cheap to start. A common pattern is a published price per user per month for each edition, with higher editions unlocking features such as automation. Salesforce and Zoho, for example, publish their Sales Cloud and CRM editions on a per-user, per-month basis.
The side effect is behavioural. When every login costs money, teams share accounts, leave out partners and avoid adding site staff. Accountability falls, because the audit log shows one name for five people. The model can quietly discourage the adoption that makes a CRM valuable.
What a one-time investment model changes
A one-time investment model, combined with no per-user charges, removes the cost of adding people. Propto CRM offers this as an option, but it does not mean everything is free. What the investment includes is set out in a written proposal.
Be careful with the phrase “one-time”. Ask what continues: hosting, maintenance, support, upgrades, AI usage, telephony and messaging providers all have running costs somewhere. A fair proposal separates what you pay once from what you pay regularly.
Build a twelve and twenty-four month comparison
Create a simple table. List your realistic user count today and in two years, including partners and site staff. For each vendor, list licence or subscription, implementation, migration, customisation, hosting, support, and add-ons such as telephony, WhatsApp, email, SMS and AI.
Use the same scenario for every vendor and show the total for twelve and twenty-four months. You may find that a cheaper per-user plan becomes the more expensive option once you add everyone who needs access, or that a one-time model needs a careful look at annual running costs.
Count the costs that never appear on the pricing page
Several costs sit outside the licence. Telephony minutes, WhatsApp conversations, SMS and email sends are billed by the providers. AI features depend on an AI provider and consume usage. Hosting and backups cost money wherever they happen.
Also count internal cost: time to configure, train and migrate. A tool that costs less and needs three months of workarounds is not cheaper. Ask each vendor who does the configuration and how long it typically takes.
Check what you own and what you can change
A white-label deployment under your own brand changes the relationship. Your buyers and partners see your identity, and your process shapes the product. Ask whether you can customise pipelines, roles, forms, rules and templates yourself or only through the vendor.
Ask what happens if you leave. Can you export your data? Who owns the configuration? Clear answers now are cheaper than discovering gaps later.
Put everything in writing
Whatever model you choose, insist on a written proposal that states scope, included modules, number of projects and users if any limits apply, what is billed to third parties, support terms and timelines. Treat verbal promises as unwritten.
Finally, do not choose on price alone. The right model is the one that lets your whole team, partners included, work in the system without friction, at a cost you can predict for the next two years.
A worked example: a growing sales floor
Imagine a developer who starts with twenty users: ten telecallers, five sales executives, three accountants and two managers. Over two years the business adds a second project, forty channel partners who need access, a site team of fifteen and ten more telecallers. The user count moves from twenty to roughly ninety-five.
Under a per-user model every one of those additions changes the bill, and people begin sharing logins to hold costs down. Under a model without per-user charges, the cost conversation concerns scope, support and running services instead. The numbers above are an illustration of how to think, not a quote. Build your own table with your own counts before deciding.
Mistakes in comparing models
The first mistake is comparing a monthly subscription with a one-time figure as if they were the same kind of number. Convert both into a twelve and twenty-four month total including implementation, migration and running costs. The second is ignoring third-party usage. Telephony, WhatsApp, SMS, email and AI providers will bill you whichever CRM you choose.
The third is accepting vague scope. “Customisation included” can mean a logo change or a month of development. Ask for specifics. The fourth is forgetting exit terms. Make sure you can export your data in a usable form if you ever change systems.
A short checklist for your comparison table
For each vendor, record the user count you assumed, the licence or subscription, implementation and migration fees, customisation, hosting and support, and every third-party service you will pay for separately. Write down what is included in the word customisation and who performs it. Add the cost of internal time for configuration and training. Finally, ask what happens to your data and configuration if you leave. A table with these rows, filled in honestly for each vendor, is more useful than any pricing page.
One more practical tip: ask each vendor for a reference conversation with a customer of similar size, and ask that customer what surprised them on the invoice in the second year. First-year pricing is easy to compare. The second year is where assumptions meet reality, and a candid answer from a peer is worth more than any calculator on a website.
Is a one-time investment CRM really free after purchase?
No. Hosting, maintenance, AI usage, telephony and messaging providers have ongoing costs, which a written proposal should state.