Placy Pro vs Internal Tools
How to select the best solution for your real estate team?
If your agency or team is weighing options for automation, picture two common setups: a turnkey, industry-focused platform (Placy Pro) where workflows, templates, and integrations are already built for real estate needs versus an internal DIY stack using tools like n8n, Make, or Zapier where you start from a blank slate, designing every workflow and owning implementation, upkeep, and troubleshooting.
In that context, Placy Pro costs more up front but delivers faster implementation, professional maintenance, real-estate expertise, dedicated support, built-in scalability, lower single‑person risk, and lets your team stay focused on clients; internal builds have lower direct software cost and greater flexibility but are slower to deploy, require deep process and technical skill, create ongoing maintenance burden and key‑person risk, often produce brittle or non‑scalable workflows, and distract staff from core business.
Fast Implementation
Implementation is typically quick as the core systems are already built. You're primarily configuring a proven system, not building from scratch.
Slow & Iterative
Requires significant time for planning, building, testing, and debugging. Timelines can be unpredictable, especially with non-specialist builders.
Professionally Managed
All maintenance, updates, bug fixes, and platform changes are handled by the Placy Pro team, ensuring high uptime and reliability.
Self-Managed
Your internal team is responsible for all maintenance. Workflows can break when connected apps update their APIs, creating an ongoing and urgent maintenance burden.
Expert-Led
You get the benefit of a team that specializes in real estate automation. They apply best practices learned from working with many other businesses.
Limited Expertise
Relies on the limited experience of your internal power user or developer. They may build functional, but inefficient or non-scalable, workflows ("vibe coding").
Dedicated Support
You have access to professional, expert support to resolve issues quickly.
Internal or Community Support
You rely on your internal person or public community forums for help. There's no one to call when something critical breaks.
Built to Scale
The platform is designed to handle complex, multi-step workflows and can scale as your business grows without needing a rebuild.
Often Brittle
Internally built automations by non-experts can be fragile. They may not scale well and often require complete rebuilds to handle increased complexity or volume.
Low Internal Risk
Your systems are managed by a vendor, not a single employee. If your internal tech person leaves, your operations continue uninterrupted.
High "Key Person" Risk
Your entire automation infrastructure depends on one or two people. If they leave, you're left with complex systems nobody else understands.
Frees Up Your Team
Allows your team to focus on their core competencies — selling real estate and serving clients — rather than building and maintaining software.
Distracts Your Team
Pulls your tech-savvy employees away from their primary roles and into the role of part-time, internal software developers and maintenance staff.
