# Free AI tools for estate agents: what is really free in 2026 > Which AI tools are really free for estate agents in 2026, by task: listings, photos, staging, video, replies, notes, CRM, and the limits of each free tier. URL: https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/free-ai-tools-for-estate-agents Language: en Publisher: Formule (Formule Labs Limited) Updated: 2026-10-22 Sources checked: 2026-10-22 **Free AI tools for estate agents exist for every part of the job, but "free" almost always means a capped allowance, not unlimited use. As of October 2026 you can draft listing text with Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, tidy photos in Adobe Express or Canva, try virtual staging with REimagineHome, cut video in Clipchamp, answer enquiries with the WhatsApp Business app, transcribe calls with Otter or tl;dv and keep contacts in HubSpot or Zoho. Each has a limit you should know before you build a routine on it.** This guide goes task by task, says exactly what each free tier includes, and flags what to watch: credits that run out, watermarks, resolution, commercial use and what happens to the data you paste in. Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing or help page, read on 22 October 2026, and plans change often, so check the page before you commit. For paid tools and a wider comparison, read our [roundup of the best AI tools for estate agents](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/best-ai-tools-for-estate-agents). For the bigger picture, see [AI for estate agents](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-for-estate-agents). ## The short version, by task | Task | Free options | What the free tier gives you | Main limit | | Listing descriptions | Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini | Drafting, rewriting, translating, captions | Usage caps that reset over time; nothing is saved against a listing | | Photo enhancement | Adobe Express, Canva | Basic editing, resizing, some AI tools | Limited AI uses; some tools are paid only | | Virtual staging | REimagineHome | 5 free designs | Only 5; watermark and resolution terms not stated | | Video | Clipchamp, Canva, Adobe Express | 1080p exports without a watermark (Clipchamp) | AI video is capped or paid only | | Replies and follow-up | WhatsApp Business app, an AI assistant for drafts | Quick replies, labels, greeting and away messages | Manual; the page describes no AI drafting | | Transcription and notes | Otter, tl;dv | Transcripts of calls and meetings | Minutes or AI notes capped; consent needed | | CRM | HubSpot, Zoho CRM | Contacts, tasks, email templates | Few users, branding, no property features advertised | ## What free really means Free tiers are built to let you try a product, so they are limited on purpose. Four limits come up again and again. - **Allowances.** A number of designs, minutes, credits or uses, sometimes once for the life of the account and sometimes every month. - **Output quality.** Watermarks, lower resolution or fewer export options, which matter when an image goes on a portal or a brochure. - **Commercial use.** Some vendors state whether you may use free output in your business, and some do not. If a page does not say, treat it as unknown and read the terms. - **Data.** A free account may be handled differently from a paid one. Never paste a seller's or buyer's personal details into a tool until you know how it uses them. Where a vendor's page does not state a limit, this guide says so rather than guessing. ## Listing descriptions and marketing copy General assistants do this job well, and all three below have a free tier. Give them the facts of the property, ask for a first draft, and check every line against your file. The method is in our guide to [turning a property link into a listing](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-property-listing-from-a-link). ### Claude The Free plan includes the Sonnet and Haiku models, chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, memory across conversations and up to 5 projects. There is no fixed message count: usage resets on a rolling five-hour window and depends on conversation length and the features you use. The pricing page lists model training as "Opt-out" on Free, so look at your privacy settings. Claude Code and Research are not included on Free. ### ChatGPT OpenAI's Free tier FAQ says Free users get unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards, with a default model that changes over time. They can search the web, upload files and images, analyse data and create images. File uploads, image creation and data analysis have separate usage limits and can be stricter than on paid plans, and ads may appear on Free in some countries. ### Gemini Google's free plan comes with a Google account and gives access to a lighter Flash-Lite model, plus image generation and editing. The page states no image quota. Limits are compute based, depend on prompt complexity, chat length and the features you use, and reset every five hours until a weekly cap is reached. Video generation is listed for paid plans only. **What to watch:** a free assistant knows nothing about your property until you paste it in, and it will happily invent a south-facing garden or a recent refit. It also keeps nothing in your listing system. Remove names and contact details before pasting enquiries. ## Photo enhancement Straightening, cropping, resizing for portals and removing a distracting object are all ordinary editing. Changing what the property looks like is not, and the rules are in our guide to [AI virtual staging and property video](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-virtual-staging-property-video-rules). ### Adobe Express The Free plan costs nothing and needs no card. It includes basic photo, video and document editing, quick actions such as Remove Image Background, Resize Image and Crop Image, and 5 GB of cloud storage. Generative AI is limited: the page lists free daily generations for images and for inserting or removing objects, 5 free lifetime uses for presentations and 2 free lifetime uses for 5-second videos. Adobe's FAQ says you may in general use generative AI outputs commercially, with exceptions for beta features marked non-commercial. The pricing page does not mention watermarks on free exports, so test one export before you rely on it. ### Canva Canva Free includes a stock library of more than 4.7 million items and over 1.6 million templates. On the AI side the page estimates up to 20 uses of Standard AI tools and up to 20 uses of Premium AI tools, drawn from a shared monthly allowance. The image upscaler and Magic Layers are included. Removing backgrounds and generating backgrounds for images are listed as unavailable on Free, so for cut-outs you need a paid plan or another tool. **What to watch:** a text-to-image tool makes a picture, not a photograph of your property. Use it for social graphics, never to show the home itself. ## Virtual staging Free allowances for staging are small, as the figures below show. ### REimagineHome REimagineHome says the first 5 designs are free, on the same AI as the paid plans, with no credit card. That is enough to test a vacant room or two. The pages we read do not state the free resolution, whether free images carry a watermark, or whether you may use them commercially, and the pricing page lists "watermark-free" images under the paid Essential plan. Treat the free designs as a trial, and ask the vendor before you publish one. ### A general image editor Gemini lists image editing on its free tier, within the limits above, and you can ask for furniture in an empty room. ChatGPT's free page lists image creation, so check whether it edits a photo you upload. Neither is built to lock walls, windows and proportions, so look hard at the result for changed room size, extra windows or warped lines. If the layout has shifted, the image is misleading and should not be used. **What to watch:** any staged photo needs a plain label such as "virtually staged" next to the image, and the unstaged photo should appear too. The disclosure rules are in [our staging guide](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-virtual-staging-property-video-rules). ## Video A short walkthrough of your own photos, with captions and a voiceover, is a practical property video for most agents. ### Clipchamp Microsoft's Clipchamp states its free limits plainly. The free plan exports up to 1080p with no watermark, includes AI subtitles, AI voiceovers and silence removal, and offers free stock assets, filters and effects. The page gives no cap on the number of videos. The brand kit is not included, and 4K export and premium stock need a paid plan. ### Canva On Canva Free, turning images into videos is listed as included and draws on the same limited AI allowance as above. Creating a video with Canva AI is unavailable on Free. ### Adobe Express Free video editing allows videos up to 30 minutes long, but AI video is tightly limited: 2 free lifetime uses for 5-second videos. **What to watch:** label AI footage at the start of the video and in the description, and never animate a photo in a way that changes the property. ## Replies and follow-up ### WhatsApp Business app WhatsApp describes the Business app as free to download. Its built-in tools include quick replies for common questions, labels to organise chats for follow-up, a greeting message, an away message and a catalogue. The page lists no usage caps. **Limits:** the page describes quick replies and automated greeting and away messages, but no AI drafting, so you write and send other replies yourself. ### An AI assistant for drafts Pair the app with Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini from the section above. Paste an enquiry with the name removed, ask for a short reply in the buyer's language, then edit it and send it yourself. Keep the rule that nothing reaches a client until a person has read it. The full method is in our guide to [AI lead follow-up on WhatsApp](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-lead-follow-up-whatsapp). ## Transcription and notes Call and meeting notes save time on valuations and viewings feedback. Tell everyone you are recording and why, and check the rules for your market first; our [GDPR and EU AI Act guide](https://www.formule.io/uk/blog/ai-gdpr-eu-ai-act-estate-agents) covers the basics. ### Otter Otter's Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes per user a month, shared across all transcription types, with a limit of 30 minutes per conversation. You can import 3 pre-recorded audio or video files for the life of the account, and use AI chat 20 times a month, with at most 3 queries per conversation. ### tl;dv tl;dv's help centre says the Free plan has unlimited recordings, transcripts and manually timestamped notes. The first 10 meetings get full automatic AI notes, and after that only the first 10 minutes of each meeting. You also get 10 AI prompts, 10 scheduled AI reports and 4 clips, and can upload 5 files for transcription. These limits last for the life of the account and do not renew monthly. Recordings are stored for 3 months, you cannot record overlapping meetings, and under heavy load a free meeting may not be recorded. ## CRM A free CRM is fine for a solo agent who needs a contact list and reminders. Neither pricing page advertises property listings, portal links or local-language support, so check that before you move data in. ### HubSpot The free CRM is $0 for up to 2 users, with no time limit. HubSpot states a limit of 1,000 contacts and 1,000 records across all other standard object types. The pricing page does not state free email send limits, template counts or automation allowances, and HubSpot's CRM page lists "No HubSpot branding" as a Starter feature, so expect branding on the free tools. Check the plan comparison before you rely on any of them. ### Zoho CRM Zoho's free edition is for up to 3 users and is described as free forever. It covers contact management, follow-up reminders, workflow automation, tasks, meetings and calls, import from spreadsheets and standard reports. Limits include 10 custom email templates, data export up to 10 times and 5,000 API calls a day. The page lists AI features only under paid editions. ## Where Formule fits Formule is an estate agent CRM with agentic AI. Really, its AI agent, does the work a CRM usually only records, so you do not stitch together the tools above yourself. Really works in the Formule app, on WhatsApp and by voice, in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian or Polish. New agents are set up by Really in one chat. Paste a property link and Really turns it into a listing draft and a shareable listing page. The Marketing section makes AI images and short videos of a property, paid for with credits. Really also helps follow up leads and drafts replies, and you approve what goes out. Formule is not a free product. You can [start free](https://app.formule.io/signup?lang=en&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=free-ai-tools&utm_content=en) with a 7-day Really trial, and it is not free for ever. We do not state a price here, so compare it against the free tiers above on what you actually need done. Where the free tools work for you, use them. ## How to use free tools without trouble - Pick the one task that costs you most time and test one free tool on it this week. - Read the vendor's limits and terms before the first real use, especially watermarks, commercial use and data handling. - Keep personal data out of free tools unless the terms say how it is used. - Label staged and AI edited images clearly, and keep the originals. - Move to a paid plan, or a tool that does the whole job, when you hit a cap more than once a week. ## Sources - https://claude.com/pricing - https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9275245-chatgpt-free-tier-faq - https://gemini.google/subscriptions/ - https://www.adobe.com/express/pricing - https://www.canva.com/en_gb/pricing/ - https://www.reimaginehome.ai/ - https://www.reimaginehome.ai/pricing - https://clipchamp.com/en/pricing/ - https://whatsappbusiness.com/resources/resource-library/small-business-use-whatsapp-business-app/ - https://otter.ai/pricing - https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/8919450-what-are-the-limits-of-the-free-plan - https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm - https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm - https://www.zoho.com/crm/zohocrm-pricing.html