Feature grids almost never include contract length, which is strange, because it is the term most likely to hurt you if the product turns out to be wrong.
Genuinely month to month
- IXACT Contact — “no contract, cancel anytime,” stated plainly on the vendor site.
- Wise Agent — month to month, no contracts.
- Follow Up Boss — month to month, no setup fee, cancel any time.
All three also publish their prices. That is not a coincidence: vendors confident enough to show a price are usually confident enough to let you leave.
Fixed terms
- Sierra Interactive — a 12-month agreement on every plan. Annual versus monthly is a payment choice, not a term choice. To its credit, it says so publicly.
- Real Geeks — 6 or 12-month commitment, plus a $500 setup fee.
Undisclosed
BoldTrail, BoomTown, Lofty, CINC and Realvolve publish nothing about contract length. In several cases they publish no price either, so both of the numbers that determine your risk are only available in a sales conversation.
Top Producer deserves a specific mention. It publishes prices but not terms, and its most common review complaint is commercial rather than technical: users describe long terms, being billed after attempting to cancel, and struggling to reach someone able to stop it. If you are considering it, get the cancellation terms in writing before signing.
The setup fee, separately
Setup fees are the other cost that arrives after the comparison is over:
- Real Geeks: $500, always.
- Sierra Interactive: $0 if you prepay annually, $500 if you pay monthly.
- IXACT Contact: none on the CRM, $69 on the IDX add-on.
- Wise Agent, Follow Up Boss, Top Producer: none stated.
- BoldTrail: charged historically, amount never disclosed.
- Realvolve: a sign-up fee exists; the amount is not published.
How to think about it
A 12-month term is not automatically bad. Sierra’s is paired with published pricing and no setup fee on annual prepay, which is a reasonable trade. What is worth avoiding is the combination that shows up repeatedly here: no published price, no published term, no free trial, and a demo as the only way to find out any of it.
If you are early and unsure, there is a strong case for starting on something month to month at $49 and moving later, rather than committing for a year to a platform you have only seen in a sales presentation.
Contract terms and setup fees are both rows in our comparison tool, on every comparison.