Agents looking for an onOffice alternative are rarely missing a feature. onOffice enterprise, the German estate agency software, is one of the most comprehensive packages in the German-speaking market. The reason for the search is usually something else: the software records what has happened, but the work stays with the agent. Creating the property, following up applicants, sorting enquiries, booking appointments. That is exactly where Formule comes in.
Formule is an estate agent CRM with agentic AI. Really, the AI agent inside Formule, does the work a CRM usually only records. This article compares the two approaches fairly, with onOffice's strengths and a section of its own on who should stay with onOffice. Everything said here about onOffice comes from onoffice.com, as of October 2026.
Formule is the estate agent CRM where an AI agent works alongside you
In most property CRMs, AI is one tool among many: a text generator in the brochure, an image optimiser in the gallery. In Formule, Really is the colleague you hand tasks to. You write or speak to Really in your own language, and Really works inside the system.
- In the app, on WhatsApp and by voice. Really is available in the Formule app, on WhatsApp and by voice input in the app. Really works in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish.
- From a link to a listing draft. You paste the link to a property. Really turns it into a listing draft and a shareable property page.
- Follow-ups you approve. Really helps you follow up applicants and drafts replies. You approve whatever goes out to your clients first.
- Every enquiry in one pipeline. Leads from ads and portals arrive in one shared pipeline. Branch managers see every enquiry across the team.
- Images and short videos. In the Marketing section, Formule creates AI images and short videos of a property, paid for with credits.
- Claude and ChatGPT. Through the Formule MCP server you connect your account to Claude and ChatGPT.
Where onOffice is strong
onOffice has been on the market since 2001 and cites more than 40,000 users. The company is active in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Croatia and the United Kingdom. With onOffice you get a lot of software for your money:
- A broad feature set. onOffice enterprise covers property and contact management, marketing, tasks and portal publishing. The all-in edition adds an enquiry manager, a process manager, a telephony module and an API.
- More than 150 portals from one system. A property can be sent to many portals at once in a few clicks.
- AI in every plan. According to onOffice, AI Writer for property descriptions, the AI Assistant for questions about the software and the AI tools in the Mail Composer are included in all subscriptions.
- AI Studio. The Property Manager creates properties from text, voice messages, documents and photos. You check the extracted data before it is saved. Image optimisation and virtual home staging cost €0.30 per image variant, and administrators set monthly budgets for them.
- A mobile app for iOS and Android, for answering emails on the move, uploading photos and getting handover reports signed.
The onOffice AI Connector deserves credit
onOffice was early on a subject many vendors are only now discovering. The onOffice AI Connector is built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and connects onOffice enterprise with ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral, Langdock and other MCP-capable systems. From the chat you can search for, create and edit properties and contacts, log appointments and create activities and tasks. The connector works only with the permissions of the signed-in user. It is included in the all-in and expert editions.
Formule takes the same route with its MCP server, for the same reason: agents already work with Claude and ChatGPT today, and their data should be available there.
Really organises the work itself
The difference lies in who organises the work. With the AI Connector, the intelligence comes from the chat tool of your choice. You write the instructions, you decide which AI provider sees which data, and you keep track of the process. onOffice itself recommends a legal review when personal data goes to external AI providers, especially with servers outside the EU.
With Formule, the agent is part of the product and built for estate agency work. Day to day, three differences stand out:
- WhatsApp is a working channel. On its product pages, onOffice does not describe a WhatsApp feature of its own; WhatsApp appears there as a partner logo. With Formule you message Really directly on WhatsApp, between two viewings for example, and Really gets started.
- Really drafts, you decide. Really prepares follow-up messages and replies to enquiries. You read them, adjust them if needed and approve them. Control over every client message stays with you.
- Getting started takes one conversation. Really sets up new agents in a single chat. No training session, no set-up week. The start is free, and you can try Really for 7 days.
What changes when you switch
According to its website, onOffice enterprise is sold on a 24-month contract with a five-year price guarantee. The pro edition costs €79 per user per month and all-in €99 per user per month, while expert is priced on request, all plus VAT. On top of that come a monthly service fee of €50 per company, which falls away from 10 users, and a one-off set-up fee whose amount is not given on the page. For agencies switching over, onOffice credits the cost of their previous software for the remaining term, up to a maximum of twelve months. You can try onOffice free for 7 days.
We are deliberately not quoting Formule prices here, because we are changing our pricing model. What is settled: the start is free, with 7 days of Really to try. Before you switch, check the minimum term left on your onOffice contract, because it does not end when you move. That is why you can start Formule alongside it and hand Really your new properties and enquiries first.
Who should stay with onOffice
An honest recommendation belongs in every comparison. onOffice remains the better choice if:
- your office depends on the process manager, the API and many custom workflows that have grown inside onOffice over the years,
- you run a larger company or network and use the consulting, training and personal support in the expert edition,
- you already have the all-in edition, use the AI Connector with your preferred language model and are happy with it,
- your team knows the software and there is no need to change the way you work.
Who Formule suits better
- Agents who spend their day on their phone and would rather send a message than fill in a form.
- Sole agents and small teams with no time for training who want to get going straight away.
- Offices that look after applicants on WhatsApp and want to approve every message themselves.
- Agencies running Meta lead ads. On the agency plan, Formule can take over the Meta lead ads for the office. On the campaigns Formule runs, the cost per click averaged €0.084 and the click-through rate was 6.13%.
Formule in numbers
Formule has been live for 17 months. More than €4.2 million worth of property has been sold through Formule. 14 agencies work with Formule, and the catalogue holds 10,288 property listings. 3,569 WhatsApp messages have been sent through Formule, and the AI assistant has been called 2,264 times.
Formule is an EU company
Formule is run by Formule Labs Limited, based in Ireland. As an EU company, Formule is directly subject to the GDPR. If you connect Formule to Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP server, those services' own terms also apply. The same is true of the onOffice AI Connector.
Try Really with your next property
The quickest comparison is a real property. Sign up, let Really set up your account in one chat and paste the link to your next property. With that first listing you will see whether this way of working suits you.
Start free with Formule or first read more about Really for estate agents.