Apto was, for a long time, the best answer to "what CRM should a commercial real estate broker use?" It was built specifically for CRE — not adapted from a generic sales CRM — with deal stages, space tracking, and comp management built into the core product.
Buildout acquired Apto and has stopped accepting new Apto customers. Existing users are being migrated to Buildout's product suite. For brokers evaluating their options now, Apto is no longer available.
What Apto Did Well
Understanding what Apto got right helps evaluate what to look for in alternatives.
CRE-native data model. Apto was built around the objects that matter in commercial real estate: properties, spaces, tenants, landlords, comps. It didn't require you to shoehorn a deal into a generic "opportunity" or a space into a "contact record." The data model matched the workflow.
Deal pipeline that matched actual CRE stages. Prospect, touring, LOI, lease negotiation, executed — not "Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3." For commercial brokers, having stages that match real deal vocabulary was meaningful.
Space and lease tracking. Apto tracked not just deals but the physical spaces involved — square footage, asking rent, TI allowance, lease expiration. Most generic CRMs have no concept of a space as a distinct record type.
Property-to-contact relationships. Connecting a property to its owner, listing broker, tenant, and associated deals in a coherent graph. This relational structure is specific to CRE and generic CRMs handle it poorly.
What Apto Didn't Have
By modern standards, what Apto lacked was the intelligence layer. It was fundamentally a database — an excellent one, purpose-built for CRE — but it didn't surface market signals, generate leads, or have any AI functionality.
Brokers using Apto still needed separate data sources for market intelligence. The CRM stored information about deals they already knew about. It didn't help originate new ones.
Your Options Now
Buildout (The Natural Migration)
If you're already in the Buildout ecosystem, continuing makes sense. Buildout's acquisition of Apto was specifically to add CRE-native CRM capability to its existing listing marketing and back-office platform.
Buildout is the strongest option if your primary need is listing marketing, commission management, and back-office deal coordination for a team. It's less suited for individual brokers or small teams focused on prospecting and outreach rather than listing management.
AscendixRE
AscendixRE is a Salesforce-based CRE CRM that's been in the market for over 20 years. It offers deep property and lease tracking, comp management, and a mature feature set. It's the closest functional analog to Apto in terms of CRE data model sophistication.
The tradeoffs: it's Salesforce underneath, which means you're paying Salesforce licensing fees on top of AscendixRE fees, and the configuration complexity is significant. It's better suited to larger teams with dedicated admin capacity.
ClientLook
ClientLook is a simpler, more affordable CRE CRM. Easier to set up than most alternatives. Good for brokers who need organized contact and deal management and don't require a sophisticated platform.
No market intelligence, no AI, no built-in data feeds. But if simplicity and price are the priority, it's a legitimate option.
Station CRM
Station CRM was built for retail real estate brokers specifically — a narrower focus than Apto, which covered all CRE. The tradeoff for narrower focus is deeper capability within that vertical: NYC retail intelligence built in, daily closings and openings, 1031 exchange candidates, an AI Chief of Staff that reads your pipeline and the market daily.
If you brokered retail deals on Apto and found yourself going to CoStar or building manual processes to get market intelligence, Station CRM addresses that gap directly. The CRE-native data model is there — spaces, tenants, deals, pursuits — but the intelligence layer that Apto didn't have is native, not bolted on.
Pricing starts at $199/seat/month for the Pro plan. Intelligence plan at $349/seat includes the full data stack.
What to Consider When Evaluating
What percentage of your work is prospecting vs. deal execution?
If most of your time is prospecting — identifying opportunities, researching owners, running outreach — you need a platform where the intelligence layer is strong. Apto wasn't built for this; it stored information about deals you already had.
What CRE asset types do you work?
Apto was multi-asset. If you work office, industrial, and retail, you need a platform with comparable breadth. Station CRM is retail-specific. AscendixRE and Buildout cover the full CRE spectrum.
Team size and technical appetite.
Salesforce-based platforms (AscendixRE) require configuration investment that pays off at scale. Simpler platforms (ClientLook, Station CRM) are faster to set up for small teams.
The short version: if you're a retail broker looking for what Apto should have become — CRE-native data model plus a real intelligence layer — that's Station CRM. If you need multi-asset CRE coverage with an established platform, AscendixRE or Buildout.