COMPARE

Comparing CRMs? Here's what to ask.

Most "land CRMs" are really house-flipping CRMs the vendor also markets to land investors. Pick on category fit and stage fit, not on whichever sales page found you first.

THE LANDSCAPE

Three categories a land investor sees today.

Each one solves a real problem — for a real person. The trick is matching where you actually are right now, not where you wish you were.

Free tiers

Capped on purpose.

The free option works for trying things out. Record limits, feature locks, and "free for X months" deals that move you in before the real price arrives.

Best for: kicking the tires before you're committed.

Team plans

Paying for the future you don't have yet.

The paid tiers are priced for teams — "up to 4 seats," bundles of minutes, sales-floor capacity. Worth it when you've grown into a business with staff. Expensive overhead before that.

Best for: the business you'll have in three years.

LandDesk

For the investor on deals 1–10.

Built for the solo investor who's serious but still getting started. One plan, every feature unlocked, $99/month. Grows with you — you add seats when you actually need them.

Best for: where you are right now.

EVALUATION CHECKLIST

Six questions to ask any tool you're evaluating.

Run them through these. The right tool for where you are will pass most of them. The wrong tool will dodge them.

01 · DATA MODEL

Is the data model property-first, or contact-first?

Land deals revolve around the parcel — its APN, acreage, and owner mailing address. If the CRM starts with "lead" or "contact," you're going to fight it.

02 · DUAL TRACKS

Does it run acquisition and disposition in parallel?

Buying from a seller and selling to a buyer list are two parallel workflows. Some tools force you to fake one as the other.

03 · PRICING SHAPE

Does pricing scale with your stage, or charge you for capacity you don't need?

"Up to 4 seats" when you're solo is overhead. Watch for bundles of minutes or contacts you'll never burn through.

04 · AI POSTURE

Does it work with the AI you already pay for?

If you're already paying for ChatGPT or Claude, you shouldn't pay again to "unlock AI." Look for scoped key connections, not a vendor's add-on subscription.

05 · USAGE COSTS

Are SMS and direct mail pass-through, or marked up?

The carrier and printer have a real cost. Anything above that is the vendor padding the bill. Ask for transparency on per-message and per-piece rates.

06 · DATA OWNERSHIP

Can you export your data any time, no cooldown?

Your pipeline is yours. If a tool throttles exports, holds your data hostage during cancellation, or charges to leave — that's a tell about how the rest of the relationship works.

SIDE BY SIDE — BY CATEGORY

How the three categories tend to answer.

Patterns we see across each category. Specific vendors vary — verify with the tool you're actually looking at.

Capability
Free tier
Team plan
LandDesk
Property-first data model (built for land)
Rarely
Configured for land
Separate acquisition & disposition pipelines
Workaround
Direct mail · SMS · email · dialer (all-in-one)
Multi-add-on
Bring-your-own AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok)
Vendor's AI only
SMS & mail at carrier cost — no markup
N/A
Marked up
No record / contact limits
Capped
Tiered
Field Access & Buyer Intake (no seat required)
Per seat
Full data export · no cooldown
Limited
Throttled
Monthly price (solo investor, all-in)
Capped free
$149–$299
$99

Patterns vary vendor by vendor. The point of this table isn't to win an argument — it's to give you a checklist when you sit down with any tool's sales page.

TAKE A LOOK

Or — just try LandDesk for 14 days.

No card. Every feature unlocked. Run the questionnaire on us in production, not in a sales call.