--- title: "LionDesk Alternatives After the Shutdown: Where Agents Went, and How to Choose" description: "LionDesk shut down in September 2025. How to find your data, choose a replacement by the job you used it for, and import your export." canonical: https://getdex.com/blog/liondesk-alternatives/ updated: 2026-10-06T04:00:00.000Z source: https://getdex.com/llms.txt --- # LionDesk Alternatives After the Shutdown: Where Agents Went, and How to Choose _By Kevin Sun_ **Tags:** Personal CRM, CRM, Recommendations LionDesk is gone. Lone Wolf Technologies, which bought it in 2021, confirmed in May 2025 that it was discontinuing the product, and the platform stopped operating at the end of September 2025 ([HousingWire](https://www.housingwire.com/articles/lone-wolf-liondesk-crm-platform-to-be-discontinued/), [Inman](https://www.inman.com/2025/05/16/lone-wolf-technologies-to-wind-down-popular-liondesk-crm/)). If you are reading this a year later, you are probably in one of three places. You moved to whatever was offered and it never quite fit. You exported a CSV and have been running your business out of a spreadsheet since. Or you never moved at all, and your past clients are sitting in a file you have not opened. This post is for all three. It covers what happened, what to do with your export, and how to pick a replacement based on what you actually used LionDesk for. ## What happened to LionDesk The short version, as Lone Wolf told it: LionDesk was the company's first CRM acquisition, and its underlying technology could not scale to what Lone Wolf wanted to build. CEO Jimmy Kelly told Inman the decision was not taken lightly. Customers were pointed to a new Lone Wolf CRM called Relationships, with contact transfer and migration support, at pricing described as comparable to LionDesk, which had started at around $25 a month for some accounts. For a lot of solo agents, LionDesk was the affordable option: contacts, texting, drip campaigns and a transaction pipeline for less than a dinner out. That is the gap its shutdown left. ## First, find your data Before you compare anything, make sure you have your contacts. - **If you exported before the shutdown,** find that CSV and make a backup copy. It is the master record of your database. - **If you did not,** contact Lone Wolf support and ask whether your LionDesk records can still be exported. Ask for the complete record, not just a contact list. - **If you moved to Relationships,** your contacts should be there. Export a copy anyway. Your database should live somewhere you control. Then spend an hour cleaning it. Delete the dead leads that never replied, merge duplicates, and mark who is a past client, who is sphere, and who is a referral partner. Whatever you move to will work better with 300 people who know you than with 3,000 rows of old portal leads. ## Pick by what you used LionDesk for LionDesk did several jobs. Almost nobody used all of them. The right replacement depends on which one was yours. ### If you used it for internet leads, texting and drips You need a lead CRM. That means lead routing from portals, automated text and email sequences, and a pipeline. The usual shortlist, with prices as listed in October 2026: | Tool | Best for | Starting price | | --- | --- | --- | | Lone Wolf Relationships | Agents who want the official migration path and already use other Lone Wolf products | $33.25/mo, or $399/yr (as listed on Capterra) | | Follow Up Boss | Agents and teams who buy leads and need speed-to-lead | $69/user/mo, or $58 billed yearly | | Wise Agent | Solo agents who want an all-in-one with transaction checklists and live support | $49/mo, or $499/yr | | RealtyJuggler | Budget-minded agents who want a simple, long-running tool | $179/yr | | Your brokerage's CRM (BoldTrail, Lofty, Command) | Agents whose brokerage already pays for one | Usually included | One note on Follow Up Boss: it is owned by Zillow, and its terms changed in November 2025 ([HousingWire](https://www.housingwire.com/articles/zillow-follow-up-boss-privacy-changes/)). We compared the two tools in [Dex vs Follow Up Boss](https://getdex.com/blog/dex-vs-follow-up-boss/). Dex is not on this list. It does not route leads, run drip campaigns or send bulk texts, and you should not buy it for that. ### If you used it to stay in touch with past clients and your sphere This is where most solo, referral-based agents actually lived in LionDesk: a list of people, some notes, and reminders to follow up. A lead CRM is a poor fit for that job. It organizes people by pipeline stage, and someone who closed with you four years ago is not at any stage. They end up in a monthly newsletter and you lose them to whoever texted last. This is the gap Dex fills. Dex is a [real estate CRM](https://getdex.com/realestate/) built around the relationship instead of the deal: - **Keep-in-touch frequencies per person or group.** A-list every 30 days, past clients every 90. Dex shows you who is due. - **History without logging.** Gmail and Google Calendar sync, plus iMessage and call history through the Mac desktop app and WhatsApp for 1:1 chats, update each person's last-contact date on their own. - **Notes and dates on every contact.** Close date, the renovation they were planning, the dog's name. Set a yearly reminder for the home anniversary. - **An account you own.** It is not tied to a brokerage, and you can export your contacts at any time. ![kanbanboard](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/2zv6xORcpqAadYEjTjmZoH/13361f15f45e6f9c852f56372cfc4ce0/CleanShot_2026-08-26_at_22.00.44.png) _Image: Setting keep-in-touch frequencies on a kanban-style board in Dex_ Dex starts at $12 a month, with a 7-day free trial ([pricing](https://getdex.com/pricing/)). ### If you used it for both Use two tools and give each one job. Keep a lead CRM for new inquiries and active deals. Let a relationship CRM own the person after closing. The rule that makes it work: closing hands the contact over, so you do not end up with two stale copies of the same client. ## How to import your LionDesk export into Dex 1. **Open your LionDesk CSV** in Google Sheets or Excel. Remove dead leads and obvious duplicates. 2. **Add a column for group** if you do not have one: Past Clients, Sphere, Referral Partners, Agent Network. 3. **In Dex, open the Import page** and choose Import contacts next to "CSV file for contacts" ([CSV import guide](https://getdex.com/docs/integrationsandfeatures/import/csv)). 4. **Map your columns** to Dex fields: name, email, phone, company, location, birthday, tags, group and last interaction. Columns that have no match, such as a close date, can go into custom fields. 5. **Run Merge & Fix** after the import to clean up any duplicates. 6. **Set a keep-in-touch frequency per group.** 30 days for your top referral sources, 90 for past clients, twice a year for the wider sphere. 7. **Connect Gmail and Google Calendar** so history fills in from here on. 8. **Send five messages this week** to people who are due, with no ask in them. ![Dex Import page showing the CSV file for contacts option](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/7Dsz5aDvDOPDZ8y3lTsTrP/32aedd1da76ed0e6542ab3553f7ed509/dex-csv-import-page.png) _Image: The Import page in Dex, with the CSV file for contacts option_ ![Mapping CSV columns to Dex fields during a contact import](https://images.ctfassets.net/u17em9tc1vdb/3HWj1UCE03B8ACMDghpkWw/666c16e4a81817af6aa55a58b402d9be/dex-csv-import-map-fields.png) _Image: Mapping CSV columns to Dex fields_ If your export includes notes, Dex has a separate CSV import for notes on the same page. ## How not to get caught by the next shutdown LionDesk is not the first agent CRM to disappear or change hands. Contactually shut down in 2022, and Follow Up Boss is now part of Zillow. Whatever you pick: - **Export your contacts on a schedule.** Twice a year, to a file you keep. - **Read the data terms.** Know who can see your client list and what they can do with it. - **Keep your sphere in an account that is yours,** not your brokerage's or a platform's. - **Favor tools that pull history from your own email and phone.** If the tool goes away, the conversations are still in your inbox. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is LionDesk still available? No. Lone Wolf Technologies discontinued LionDesk, and it stopped operating at the end of September 2025. ### What replaced LionDesk? Lone Wolf's official replacement is its Relationships CRM. Many agents moved to other lead CRMs such as Follow Up Boss or Wise Agent, and referral-based agents moved their sphere to relationship tools like Dex. ### Can I still get my LionDesk contacts? If you exported before the shutdown, use that file. If you did not, contact Lone Wolf support and ask whether your records can still be exported. ### What is the cheapest LionDesk alternative? It depends on the job. For lead texting and drips, compare the entry plans of the lead CRMs above. For staying in touch with past clients and your sphere, Dex starts at $12 a month. ### Does Dex replace LionDesk's texting and drip campaigns? No. Dex does not send bulk texts or drip campaigns. On the Professional plan, Mail Merge sends a personalized email to up to 200 contacts from your own Gmail or Outlook. For lead follow-up automation, keep a lead CRM.