Agents who search for an Alto alternative are rarely unhappy with the idea of a CRM. They are tired of being the one who does the typing. Formule is an estate agent CRM with agentic AI built in: Really, its AI agent, does the work a CRM usually only records. You talk to Really in the Formule app, on WhatsApp or by voice, and it drafts the listing, the follow-up and the reply. You approve what goes out.
This page sets out, fairly, where Alto is strong, where Formule works differently, and which agencies should stay where they are.
Alto is a serious estate agency CRM
Alto has been around for 15 years and describes itself as the UK's number one CRM for estate and letting agents. According to its own site, it is used by more than 6,000 agencies and 35,000 daily users. It covers sales, lettings, property management, client accounting and compliance renewals, with a consumer portal called Keyflo for vendors, landlords and tenants. Alto offers free migration and says agencies go live in 16 days on average.
Alto used to sit inside Houseful, the group behind Zoopla, which is why many agents still call it Zoopla's software. Since early 2025 it has traded as part of the standalone Alto Software Group, alongside Jupix, Expert Agent, CFP and Yourkeys.
Alto does not publish a price list. Its site promises "one transparent price" that includes AI tools, e-sign, legal documents and a client portal, and you get a quote by booking a demo. As of October 2026, pricing is on request.
Alto Intelligence is careful, approval-first AI
Alto has moved quickly on AI. Alto Intelligence is a set of six skills built into the CRM:
- Appraisal Builder writes the market appraisal from your comparables. It never suggests a valuation; the price stays yours.
- Listing Writer writes descriptions in your house style, learned from listings you have already published.
- Property Matcher finds applicants who fit a property and, once you have tuned it, emails matches on a schedule without a review each time.
- Progression Chaser ranks sales by risk and drafts the chase to the solicitor, the client or the other agent.
- Message Writer drafts vendor and landlord updates for you to approve.
- Alto IQ answers questions about your business in plain English.
Alto's own description of how a skill works is "drafts, then stops": it never writes a record or contacts a client until you approve. For applicant enquiries, Alto also sells Lead Flow, an add-on powered by BridgeAI that qualifies enquiries from portals, your website, email and WhatsApp and books viewings into the Alto diary.
That is a strong, well-governed set of tools. If you run a large lettings book, the approval model and the audit trail are exactly what you want.
Formule puts the AI where the agent already is
The difference is where the work happens. Alto presents its AI as skills inside the CRM, run from the desk. Formule starts from the agent's phone. Really is a colleague you message, not a set of buttons to find.
- Really works where you do. In the Formule app, on WhatsApp, and by voice in the app. It answers in your language: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian or Polish.
- Listings from a link. Paste a property link and Really turns it into a listing draft and a shareable listing page you can send to a buyer the same minute.
- Marketing without a studio. The Marketing section creates AI images and short videos of a property, paid for with credits.
- Follow-up you approve. Really helps you follow up leads and drafts the replies. You check them and decide what goes out. Nothing leaves without you.
- One pipeline. Leads from ads and portals land in one pipeline, and branch managers see every lead.
- Your own AI tools connected. Formule connects to Claude and ChatGPT through the Formule MCP server, so you can work on your Formule data from the assistant you already use.
Alto's site does not advertise an assistant that the agent talks to on WhatsApp or by voice to run the CRM. Its WhatsApp support, through Lead Flow, faces applicants. Really faces you.
Setting up Formule takes one chat
A switch to Alto is a sales process: a demo, a quote, a migration plan and a go-live date. Formule is built for agents who want to start today. You sign up, and Really sets up your account in one chat. You start free, with a 7-day Really trial.
For agencies, Formule can also run your Meta lead ads on the agency plan and feed the leads straight into the pipeline. The ads Formule runs have averaged a cost per click of €0.084 and a click-through rate of 6.13%.
What changes when you switch from Alto
- You stop writing from scratch. Listings, replies and follow-ups arrive as drafts from Really, ready for your edit and approval.
- Marketing comes with the listing. A pasted link becomes a listing page, and the Marketing section adds AI images and short videos.
- Your phone becomes the office. Voice and WhatsApp cover the hours between appointments, when a desktop CRM goes unopened.
- Managers keep the full picture. Every lead from ads and portals sits in one pipeline, visible to the branch manager.
Some agencies should stay with Alto
Formule is a sales-led CRM with an AI agent. It is not a client accounting system and it does not handle certificate renewals or block management. If your agency depends on rent collection, landlord statements and compliance tracking across hundreds of managed properties, Alto's property management and accounting side is the reason to stay. The same goes for groups already using Alto Intelligence across many branches, or agencies that rely on the Alto integrations marketplace and Keyflo.
Formule suits independent agents, sales teams and growing agencies who want an AI colleague doing the admin today, on the phone they already carry.
Formule has a track record
Formule has been live for 17 months and 14 agencies work on it. €4.2M+ in property has been sold through Formule. The catalogue holds 10,288 property listings, 3,569 WhatsApp messages have been sent through the platform, and 2,264 AI assistant calls have been logged.
Switching takes one conversation
You can see how Formule works for UK agents on the Formule UK page, or start free and let Really set you up in a single chat. Your 7-day Really trial starts the moment you sign up.