--- title: "Dex vs Follow Up Boss: Choosing the Right CRM for Real Estate Agents in 2026" description: "Follow Up Boss is a lead-conversion CRM from $58 per user per month on annual billing. Dex is $12 a month and built for the people you already know. For a real estate agent, the split is whether the contact is a new lead or a past client." canonical: https://getdex.com/blog/dex-vs-follow-up-boss/ updated: 2026-09-29T16:00:00.000Z source: https://getdex.com/llms.txt --- # Dex vs Follow Up Boss: Choosing the Right CRM for Real Estate Agents in 2026 _By Kevin Sun_ **Tags:** CRM, Product Reviews, Personal CRM If you're a real estate agent, there's a good chance you already pay for Follow Up Boss, or your team lead does. It's the CRM most agents hear about first, and for catching and converting new leads it's hard to beat. Then a deal closes. The buyer who texted you six times a day goes quiet, the contact drops out of the active pipeline, and three years later they list with the agent who sent a birthday text. [Dex](https://getdex.com/) and [Follow Up Boss](https://www.followupboss.com/) both belong in the sphere of CRMs (the former being [a personal CRM](https://getdex.com/guides/finding-the-right-personal-crm)), but they're built for opposite ends of that story. Follow Up Boss is built around the lead. Dex is built around the person, and how long it's been since you talked. This comparison is for agents deciding where their past clients, sphere, and referral partners should live. If you only buy leads and never look back, you can skip to the pricing section. > **A note before we start:**We are building Dex, so read this with that in mind. We've tried to be straight about where Follow Up Boss is the better tool, and there are real cases where it is. ## Fast facts - [Follow Up Boss](https://www.followupboss.com/pricing) is a lead-conversion CRM for real estate agents and teams. Grow is $69 per user per month, or $58 on annual billing, with calling as a $39 add-on ($33 annual). Pro is $499 a month for 10 users. There's a 14-day free trial. - [Dex](https://getdex.com/pricing/) is a personal CRM at $12/month for Premium and $20/month for Professional on annual billing, with a 7-day free trial. - Follow Up Boss routes leads from more than 200 sources and automates follow-up with Action Plans. Dex has no lead routing, drip campaigns, or dialer. - Dex puts each past client on a keep-in-touch cadence and pulls conversations from email, calendar, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp. That's the job that starts after closing. - They work together: keep Follow Up Boss for leads and let Dex own the person once the deal closes.\\ ## Dex and Follow Up Boss for real estate agents ### [Follow Up Boss](https://www.followupboss.com/) - from $58 per user/month, paid annually ![follow-up-boss-homepage](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/74tharlscsdTfXbx8HtMCw/2371de8f5fac265213c844bb8efded0b/follow-up-boss-homepage.jpg) _Follow Up Boss's homepage. Photo taken from: followupboss.com_ Follow Up Boss calls itself "the real estate operating system," and the homepage says 36 of the 50 highest-volume teams in the US use it. Zillow Group bought the company in December 2023 ([Zillow Group 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1617640/000161764025000016/z-20241231.htm)), and the logo now reads "fub by Zillow." Zillow said at the time that Follow Up Boss would stay a standalone brand and that subscriber data stays in Follow Up Boss ([Zillow](https://www.zillow.com/news/zillow-group-to-acquire-follow-up-boss/)). Everything in the product points at speed to lead. It pulls in leads from more than 200 sources, including Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, and Facebook Lead Ads, then distributes them by round robin, first to claim, or price and ZIP code. Smart Lists sort who to call today. Action Plans send the automated emails and texts, and agents can call, text, and email from inside the app. Team leads get reporting on agents and lead sources. _Follow Up Boss's lead routing page. Photo taken from: followupboss.com_ ### [Dex](https://getdex.com/) - $12 per month, paid annually ![dexv5](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/9riwcqpcb8lciyGL2F11N/f7e2924eba9e9d72b0e444c6483b3a55/CleanShot_2026-07-14_at_03.07.42_2x.png) _Dex's landing page. Photo taken from: getdex.com_ Dex is a personal CRM. It pulls contacts and conversations from Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, iMessage, and more (see: [integrations](https://getdex.com/integrations/)), merges them into one timeline per person, then puts a keep-in-touch cadence on the people who matter. For an agent, that means past clients on a 90-day cadence, top referral partners on 30, and the wider sphere twice a year. You set the rhythm once on a drag-and-drop board and Dex tells you who's due. Reminders can repeat every year, so every closing anniversary comes back on its own. The newer features cover most of an agent's week. At an open house, the rebuilt card scanner turns a business card into a contact almost instantly. ![card=scanner](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/4C5zRHMHYV1wDozbWuNJGc/e5809461b5fb6697f06fe054a500948b/card_scanner.gif) After a showing, you can [dictate a voice note](https://youtube.com/shorts/uMtpYFZlpMo?si=kAPOyDWEHoWxWKnW) in the car, and one-click AI Cleanup turns it into a proper note before you forget what the buyer said about the kitchen. ![Note creation + AI Cleanup](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/79jLlAAfb1Ddy5gHbFf9OW/e71cc64dd1c75bda44a18a336cccca5f/CleanShot_2026-02-07_at_02.31.55.png) When someone new turns up on LinkedIn or Instagram, you can [share their profile straight into Dex](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dcIxmi4VAPA) instead of copying details across. When you take a listing, filter the map view by group to see only your farm or your past clients nearby before the just-listed note goes out. ![map view filter by group](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/1Z4NoHJjhvoScSgC3ZFHsJ/227470e09703ad39ad64e426f8b4bc13/filter_map_view.gif) On Professional, mail merge now supports custom-field variables, so a single send can drop each client's close date or address into their house-iversary email. On a slow afternoon, Dex Shuffle (the dice icon) picks someone worth reaching out to and drafts a few short messages you can edit. ## Dex vs Follow Up Boss: key differences and best use cases The two tools overlap less than their category names suggest. Both store contacts, sync email and calendar, set reminders, and run on your phone. After that they split. | | **Follow Up Boss** | **Dex** | | --- | --- | --- | | Built around | The lead | The person | | Entry price | $58/user/mo annual, $69 monthly | $12/mo annual (Premium) | | Free trial | 14 days | 7 days | | Lead routing from portals | Yes, 200+ sources | No | | Drip emails and automated texts | Yes, Action Plans | No | | Built-in calling and texting | Yes (calling is an add-on on Grow) | No | | Keep-in-touch cadence per contact | Via Smart Lists and Action Plans | Yes, core feature | | Yearly reminders for closing anniversaries | Via tasks and Action Plans | Yes, repeating reminders | | LinkedIn sync and job change alerts | Not listed | Yes, up to 2,500 connections on Premium | | WhatsApp and iMessage sync | Not listed | Yes | | Contacts on a map | Not listed | Yes, map view | | Deal tracking | Yes | No | | Team reporting and lead source ROI | Yes | No | **Follow Up Boss is a better fit if you:** - Buy leads from Zillow, Realtor.com, or other portals every month - Run a team and need leads routed to the right agent fast - Want calling, texting, and automated drips in one app - Need reporting on agent activity and lead source performance **Dex is a better fit if you:** - Get most of your business from past clients and referrals - Want a cadence per person instead of a campaign per list - Talk to clients over WhatsApp, iMessage, and LinkedIn as much as email - Want your sphere in a system you own, separate from your team or brokerage account ### Which offers more value? This depends almost entirely on whether you buy leads. ![follow-up-boss-pricing](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/3iiVFUzPf5tt80ZQ62KCOr/5dfcb22eca8b180a07b19a73d7958448/follow-up-boss-pricing.jpg) _Follow Up Boss's pricing page with annual billing selected. Photo taken from: followupboss.com/pricing_ | **Plan** | **Monthly billing** | **Annual billing** | **Includes** | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Follow Up Boss Grow | $69/user/mo | $58/user/mo | Calling add-on $39 ($33 annual) | | Follow Up Boss Pro | $499/mo | $416/mo | 10 users, then $49 each ($41 annual) | | Follow Up Boss Platform | $1,000/mo | $833/mo | 30 users, then $20 each ($17 annual) | | Dex Premium | {{PLACEHOLDER: Dex monthly price}} | $12/mo | 1 user | | Dex Professional | {{PLACEHOLDER: Dex monthly price}} | $20/mo | 1 user, adds mail merge and Outlook | A solo agent on Follow Up Boss Grow with calling pays $1,092 a year on annual billing. Dex Premium is $144 a year. Running Grow and Dex Premium side by side comes to $840 a year before calling. If you spend a few hundred dollars a month on portal leads, Follow Up Boss earns its price on one converted lead. If your business comes from people who already know you, you're paying for machinery built to work strangers. ### Choosing between Dex and Follow Up Boss Choose Follow Up Boss if your problem is getting to a new lead before the next agent does. Choose Dex if your problem is that clients you served well three years ago have stopped hearing from you. That second problem is bigger than it looks. In NAR's 2026 Member Profile, the typical Realtor earned 28% of their 2025 business from repeat clients and another 22% from referrals by past clients ([NAR](https://www.nar.realtor/news/economists-outlook/the-feature-sheet-2026-member-profile)). Half the book traces back to past clients, and Follow Up Boss was designed around the other half. --- ## How Dex and Follow Up Boss handle an agent's week ### After a new lead comes in **Follow Up Boss** 1. The lead arrives from a portal or your website. 2. It's routed to an agent by round robin, first to claim, or price and ZIP. 3. An Action Plan starts sending emails and texts. 4. The agent calls from the app, and the call is logged. **Dex** Nothing happens here. Dex doesn't catch portal leads, and this step belongs in your lead CRM. ### After closing **Follow Up Boss** - The deal moves to closed and the contact usually drops into a nurture Action Plan or Smart List - Staying in touch depends on how carefully you or your team lead built those automations **Dex** - Add the client to a Past Clients group on a 90-day cadence - Save the close date in a custom field and set a yearly reminder for the house-iversary - Write a note about what they cared about: the yard, the school district, the dog's name ### Checking in with a past client **Follow Up Boss** - Shows the timeline of emails, texts, and calls sent through Follow Up Boss - WhatsApp, iMessage, and LinkedIn aren't listed among its built-in channels **Dex** - Shows email, calendar, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and iMessage history in one timeline - A synced message resets the keep-in-touch clock, so you don't log touches by hand ![kanbanboard](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/2zv6xORcpqAadYEjTjmZoH/13361f15f45e6f9c852f56372cfc4ce0/CleanShot_2026-08-26_at_22.00.44.png) _Dex's Keep-In-Touch Kanban Board_ ### Working your referral partners and farm **Follow Up Boss** - Lenders can be added as collaborators on leads and clients - Tags and Smart Lists group contacts by area **Dex** - Related Contacts links a lender or inspector to every client they worked with - Map view shows which past clients live near a new listing before you send the just-listed note ![map view](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/78Z7s2XpfZllddfQ2136GC/b5a289559628a314e403972c4d5be917/mapview2026.png) _Dex's Map View_ --- ## Whose sphere is it? This is the part feature grids skip. On a team, the Follow Up Boss account often belongs to the team or brokerage, and Follow Up Boss's own help center says that when you move data between accounts, "you may need to obtain export permissions from your account owner" ([Follow Up Boss help](https://help.followupboss.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017036653-How-to-Migrate-from-One-Account-to-Another)). That's reasonable for leads the team paid for. It's a problem for the past clients and friends you brought with you. Our [real estate networking guide](https://getdex.com/guides/real-estate-networking) makes the same point: your sphere belongs to you, not your brokerage, so keep your own copy from day one. A personal CRM is where that copy lives. ## Where Follow Up Boss is the better buy If you buy online leads every month, buy Follow Up Boss. Speed to lead, routing, and automated first-touch sequences are the product, and Dex has none of them. If you lead a team, Follow Up Boss gives you agent accountability, lead source reporting, shared inboxes on Pro, and a way to see who followed up with whom. Dex is a tool for one person's network. If you want calling and texting inside your CRM, Follow Up Boss includes it (calling is an add-on on Grow and included on Pro). Dex doesn't place calls. ## Who this isn't for - If you're a real estate investor tracking brokers, lenders, and sellers, read our [Dex vs Affinity comparison](https://getdex.com/blog/dex-vs-affinity-crm-real-estate-investors/) instead. - If your brokerage requires every contact to live in the company CRM, a second system just creates a second copy to go stale. - If you're a newer agent with a few dozen contacts you know by first name, your phone's contacts app is fine for now. - If you manage tenants and leases, that's property management software. Neither tool does it. ## Choosing a CRM as a real estate agent Follow Up Boss is a strong lead-conversion CRM, starting at $58 per user per month, and it's the right tool for agents and teams that buy leads. Dex is $12 a month and handles what happens after closing: a cadence per past client, yearly house-iversary reminders, and one timeline across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and iMessage. You don't have to pick one. Keep Follow Up Boss for new inquiries and active deals, and let Dex own the person once the deal closes. The rule that makes it work is simple: closing hands the contact over. If the same client lives in both systems with no owner, both copies go stale. Sellers in NAR's 2025 Profile had owned their homes for a median of 11 years before selling ([NAR](https://www.nar.realtor/news/economists-outlook/top-10-takeaways-from-nars-2025-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers)). Staying in touch for that long takes a system built for it. [**Start your free 7-day Dex trial.**](https://getdex.com/pricing/) --- ## Frequently asked questions #### How much does Follow Up Boss cost? Follow Up Boss Grow is $69 per user per month, or $58 on annual billing, and calling is a $39 add-on ($33 annual). Pro is $499 a month for 10 users and Platform is $1,000 a month for 30 users, with lower prices on annual billing. Every plan has a 14-day free trial and no contract. #### Is Follow Up Boss a personal CRM? No. Follow Up Boss is a real estate lead CRM built around lead routing, automated follow-up, and team reporting. A personal CRM like Dex is built around people and how long it's been since you talked, with keep-in-touch cadences and dated reminders. #### Can I use Dex alongside Follow Up Boss? Yes. Follow Up Boss handles new inquiries and active deals, and Dex holds past clients, your sphere, and referral partners after closing. Decide that closing hands the contact over so you don't end up with two copies. #### What is the best Follow Up Boss alternative for past clients? For agents whose business comes mostly from repeat clients and referrals, Dex covers the part Follow Up Boss isn't built for: a keep-in-touch cadence per person, yearly reminders for closing anniversaries, and conversation history from email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It costs $12 a month on annual billing. Our [roundup of personal CRMs for real estate agents](https://getdex.com/blog/best-personal-crm-for-real-estate-agents/) compares the other options. #### Who owns Follow Up Boss? Zillow Group acquired Follow Up Boss in December 2023. Zillow said Follow Up Boss would continue as a standalone brand and that the data subscribers enter stays in Follow Up Boss and belongs to them. #### How often should real estate agents contact past clients? A personal touch every quarter plus the closing anniversary and birthday works for most agents. Our guide on [how to follow up with past clients](https://getdex.com/blog/how-to-follow-up-with-past-clients/) has a year-one schedule and templates. --- **Related reading:** [The Real Estate Agent's Guide to Sphere, Past Clients & Referral Partners](https://getdex.com/guides/real-estate-networking) · [Real estate sphere of influence](https://getdex.com/blog/real-estate-sphere-of-influence/) · [Referral partners for real estate agents](https://getdex.com/blog/referral-partners-for-real-estate-agents/) · [Dex vs Cloze](https://getdex.com/blog/dex-vs-cloze/)