SIERRA VS LOFTY
Sierra Wins Where It Counts
Performance, customization and growth-focused design.
“We lost a year trying to make Lofty work. It was glitchy, had way too much downtime and our agents just didn’t buy in. Coming back to Sierra was a no-brainer. The support has been great, everything runs smoothly and the PPC actually delivers without breaking the bank.”
Chris Fetrow
Fetrow Realty Team at Real Broker, LLC
Free isn’t free when it costs you your database
Many brokerages provide Lofty deeply discounted or at no direct cost to agents. It looks like a great deal – but there’s a critical catch most agents don’t realize until it’s too late.
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When you get Lofty through your brokerage, you don’t own your database. If you leave, your leads stay behind — or you pay to take them.
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Brokerage-level Lofty typically has limited to no team functionality. If you lead a team of any size, you’re paying $399+/mo out of pocket for team features anyway — the same cost as Sierra’s full platform.
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You’re locked into one brokerage’s tech stack, not building a portable business asset that moves with you.
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The platform is designed for agent adoption across an entire brokerage — not optimized for high-producing teams who want to compound growth.
Why Teams Switch
Six reasons Sierra wins for high-performing teams
Not opinions — specific capabilities where Sierra outperforms Lofty in the day-to-day operation of a real estate team.
Websites built to rank — and convert
Sierra’s IDX platform is built from the ground up for organic search. Lofty’s sites are not optimized for SEO and slow page speeds are widely reported. With Sierra, your site is a lead generation asset — not a cost center.
Half the ad management fee
Sierra charges 10% to manage PPC campaigns. Lofty charges 20%. On a $3,000/mo ad budget, that’s $300/mo vs. $600/mo — $3,600/year that stays in your pocket without changing a single campaign.
IntelliSearch — IDX that rivals national portals
Sierra’s IntelliSearch lets buyers search using natural language and listing descriptions — the same experience Zillow offers. Lofty uses standard MLS field filtering. Keep buyers on your site, not bouncing to portals.
Lead routing that actually matches how your team works
Sierra routes leads by source, location, price range, lead type, property type, tag, or site — with 5 distribution methods including auto-assign, first-to-claim, and instant call. Rules fire on a schedule, trigger follow-up automations on assignment, and a catch-all rule ensures no lead ever falls through the cracks. Lofty’s routing is basic by comparison.
The most configurable automation engine in the industry
Sierra’s automation suite runs on 8 trigger types, 30+ criteria, and 25 actions. Lofty’s AI-powered smart plans are capable but far less configurable. Sierra lets you engineer the entire pipeline exactly the way your team works.
US-based support, every time zone
Lofty’s enterprise support is offshore — a pain point flagged consistently in user reviews. Sierra’s support team is US-based, reachable by phone and email, and built to actually solve your problem the first time.
Real Estate Teams Outgrow Lofty. Fast.
Sierra was built for you now, and as you grow we don’t just give you tools – we give you leverage. But with Lofty, once you start growing you’ll hit a wall:
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You need a site that actually ranks on Google. Lofty’s sites aren’t built for SEO — slow page speeds and poor organic performance are widely reported by users. Sierra’s IDX platform is built for organic ranking from the ground up, so your site generates leads you don’t have to pay for.
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You need automations that don’t break or bottleneck. Sierra’s automation engine runs on 8 trigger types, 30+ criteria and 25 actions. Sierra client Patrick Keller’s most-used action plan runs a 50%+ response rate. Lofty’s AI smart plans are capable but far less configurable — you end up working around the system instead of with it.
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You need a support team that actually understands real estate. Lofty’s enterprise support is handled offshore by generalists. Sierra’s support team includes real estate experts who understand how agents, ISAs and brokers actually work — so when you have a question about lead routing, automation strategy or PPC performance, you’re talking to someone who gets it, not someone reading from a script.
Frequently Asked Questions
My brokerage gives me Lofty for free. Why would I pay for Sierra?
Because free platform ≠ free business. Brokerage-provided Lofty means you don’t own your database — it belongs to the brokerage. When you leave or grow your team, you’re paying for team functionality anyway ($700+/mo), plus a 20% ad management fee on top. At that point, Sierra’s all-in package is the same price or less — and your data is yours, permanently.
What makes Sierra Interactive better than Lofty for growing real estate teams?
Sierra Interactive outperforms Lofty for growing real estate teams in four key areas. First, Sierra’s IDX websites are built from the ground up for organic search — Lofty’s sites are not optimized for SEO and slow page speeds are widely reported. Second, Sierra’s lead routing engine routes by source, location, price range, lead type, property type, tag, or site, with five distribution methods including auto-assign, first-to-claim, and instant call — Lofty’s routing is basic by comparison. Third, Sierra’s automation suite runs on 8 trigger types, 30+ criteria, and 25 actions, giving teams far more control over their follow-up pipeline. Fourth, Sierra charges 10% for PPC management vs. Lofty’s 20% — on a $3,000/mo budget that’s $3,600/year back in your pocket.
I already have a Lofty website—how hard is it to switch to Sierra?
Switching from Lofty to Sierra is straightforward. Sierra’s onboarding team handles site setup, lead migration and CRM configuration — you don’t need to build anything yourself. Most teams are live with a fully configured Sierra website and CRM within a few weeks. Unlike Lofty, which requires you to build your own site using drag-and-drop templates, Sierra builds your site for you as part of onboarding. US-based support is available by phone and email throughout the process.
Does Sierra offer marketing tools like Lofty does?
Yes — and in most cases for less cost. Sierra offers optional Google PPC and Facebook ad management, and includes SEO-optimized IDX websites, hyper-local community pages, customizable drip campaigns, listing alerts, and integration with your existing marketing tools. The key difference from Lofty is transparency and cost: Sierra charges a 10% ad management fee with full reporting on where every dollar goes. Lofty charges 20% with limited spend visibility. Sierra also does not lock you into a closed marketing system — you keep full control of your campaigns and data.
Lofty includes transaction management. Does Sierra?
Most teams we talk to already have a preferred transaction tool (Dotloop, Skyslope, etc.). Sierra + your existing transaction tool is almost always less expensive than a full Lofty subscription, especially once you factor in the ad fee differences.
How is Sierra’s support different from Lofty’s?
Sierra’s customer support is US-based and available by phone and email. Lofty’s enterprise support is handled offshore — a pain point flagged consistently in user reviews. Sierra customers regularly cite support quality as a primary reason for switching and staying. When you contact Sierra, you reach a real estate technology expert who understands your business — not a generalist call center. Onboarding includes dedicated setup assistance, and ongoing support is available through phone, email, and Sierra Academy, an on-demand training library.
Is Sierra more expensive than Lofty?
For most teams, Sierra is less expensive all-in. Lofty’s team plan starts at $700/mo for 15 users, plus a 20% ad management fee on every dollar you spend. On a $3,000/mo ad budget, that’s $600/mo in fees alone. Sierra charges 10% — so that same budget costs you $300/mo in fees, saving $3,600/year before you factor in any platform cost difference. And unlike Lofty, Sierra’s automations and US-based support are included — not add-ons.
Can I talk to a real team that switched from Lofty to Sierra?
Yes — and the results speak for themselves. Sierra can connect you with customers who made the switch during your demo. Teams who have moved to Sierra report outcomes including a 37% decrease in cost per conversion and 50% increase in connection rate within 90 days, tripled closings from PPC campaigns and a 50% reduction in cost per close. Chris Fetrow of Fetrow Realty Team said: “We lost a year trying to make Lofty work. Coming back to Sierra was a no-brainer.” Ask for a reference call when you book your demo.
Everything Lofty promised. Actually delivered.
The All-in-One Platform Built for Real Estate Teams
CRM, IDX websites and ad management — designed to work together so you don’t have to manage three vendors to run your business.
