CRE Daily
Independent Review Coverage
See how CRE Daily reviewed Solsten's workflow, positioning, and fit for underwriting teams. This is a useful first stop for prospects who want an external take before starting a trial.
ARGUS Alternative
Best ARGUS Alternative Software for Commercial Real Estate Teams
Underwrite with an AI assistant that shows its work — formulas, source data, and what to check next. Imports your ARGUS exports natively, at a fraction of ARGUS Enterprise seat pricing.
Free to start. Paid plans from $99/mo. Per-user, not per-asset.
✓ No credit card ✓ Reads ARGUS Excel exports natively ✓ Built by a CRE acquisitions analyst
Best fit for solo investors, acquisition teams, and sponsors priced out of legacy enterprise software.
For Teams Mid-Migration
Already Being Migrated to ARGUS Intelligence?
Altus is actively migrating ARGUS Enterprise customers onto ARGUS Intelligence — and the company's CFO disclosed on the Q3 2025 earnings call that those migrations land with a roughly 16% blended price increase, with Altus actively steering customers toward a new asset-based pricing model that scales with the size of the portfolio you run through it. For lean acquisitions teams, syndicators, and growing sponsors, that combination lands harder than the old per-seat structure.
In Altus's Own Words — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
"On a blended basis, we're seeing about a 16% price increase."
"Our net revenue retention... is well north of 100%."
— Altus Group CFO, Q3 2025 earnings call (November 2025).
The translation: customers are absorbing the increase because rebuilding their models elsewhere is painful. That switching cost — not price, not feature parity — is the moat. The migration moment is the one window in your contract cycle where you are already paying it.
Here is the underrated part: re-modeling your portfolio in ARGUS Intelligence is not free either. You are already redoing the work and signing a new contract. That is the one moment where the switching cost of evaluating an alternative is already on the table — and the natural time to put Solsten side-by-side with ARGUS Intelligence on the same deal before you lock in the next contract cycle.
Asset-Based Pricing Math
Your cost grows with portfolio size, not just seats. Solsten pricing stays predictable as you scale.
Re-Modeling Anyway
If you have to rebuild your rent rolls and assumptions in ARGUS Intelligence, you can rebuild them in Solsten in the same import wizard step.
Founder-Level Support
You get the founder on the phone for onboarding. As Altus moves more support offshore, that contrast matters more.
Proof
External Validation for ARGUS-Shopping Buyers
If someone is comparing Solsten to ARGUS, give them an external review and an easy path to user feedback before they bounce back to search results.
G2
User Reviews and Buyer Validation
Browse early user feedback on G2 to see how real users describe Solsten in their own words. We link to the full review profile rather than over-curating individual quotes.
Why Professionals Are Switching from ARGUS
$3K–$10K Per Seat
ARGUS Enterprise pricing shuts out individual investors, small firms, and emerging operators — even those who need institutional-grade analysis.
Desktop-Only
No cloud access. No real-time collaboration. Sharing analysis means exporting files and emailing them back and forth.
Steep Learning Curve
ARGUS requires specialized training. Many firms pay for certification courses on top of software fees.
No AI Assistant Layer
No conversational assistant grounded in your property model. Teams still rely on manual review to explain assumptions, timelines, and output changes to stakeholders.
What Solsten Does That ARGUS Can't
🤖
ML-Powered Forecasting
Solsten learns from your actual payment history. Expense forecasts blend observed data with assumptions based on statistical confidence.
🧠
Saga AI Assistant
Ask questions about your underwriting directly in-app. Saga uses your property context to explain assumptions, outputs, and what changed across scenarios.
⏰
Fluid Timeline Engine
Calculations auto-adjust as time passes. Vacancies extend, leases expire, projections update — without manual intervention.
📊
Import from ARGUS
Export your rent roll or expense report from ARGUS Enterprise and import it directly into Solsten. Our wizard auto-detects ARGUS columns, maps lease statuses, escalation types, and recovery structures — no manual reformatting needed.
☁️
Cloud Collaboration
Share properties with teammates, manage investors, control access with granular permissions — all from any browser.
💰
90%+ Cost Savings
Professional-grade CRE analysis at a fraction of what ARGUS charges, with modern AI-assisted workflow support included.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
An honest, transparent look at both platforms.
| Feature | Solsten | ARGUS |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Proforma Engine | ✅ | ✅ |
| Monthly Proforma Engine | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rent Roll Timeline | ✅ | ✅ |
| NNN / Base Year / Mod Gross Recoveries | ✅ | ✅ |
| GP/LP Waterfall Modeling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multi-Loan Debt Modeling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Exit Scenario Analysis | ✅ | ✅ |
| ML-Powered Expense Forecasting | ✅ | — |
| Cloud-Based (Access Anywhere) | ✅ | — |
| Real-Time Team Collaboration | ✅ | — |
| Automatic Time-Passage Intelligence | ✅ | — |
| Property-Specific ML Learning | ✅ | — |
| AI Assistant Grounded in Your Property Data | ✅ | — |
| Excel Bulk Import Wizard | ✅ | — |
| Import Directly from ARGUS Exports | ✅ | — |
| 15-Factor Risk Scoring | ✅ | — |
| Tenant Lifecycle Tracking | ✅ | — |
| Organization & Sharing Controls | ✅ | — |
| Activity Audit Trail | ✅ | — |
| IFRS 16 / ASC 842 Compliance | — | ✅ |
| 35+ Year Industry Track Record | — | ✅ |
| On-Premise Deployment Option | — | ✅ |
| Starting Price | Free | $3,000+/yr |
Where ARGUS Still Wins
We believe in transparency. Here's where ARGUS currently has an edge:
- • IFRS 16 / ASC 842 lease accounting compliance — important for public REITs and institutional mandates.
- • 35+ year industry track record — ARGUS is deeply embedded in institutional workflows and training programs.
- • On-premise deployment — some institutions require local installations for compliance reasons.
For most investors, analysts, and firms — Solsten delivers everything you need at a fraction of the cost. If you require IFRS compliance or institutional mandates, ARGUS may still be the right fit.
Easy Migration
Import Your ARGUS Data in 4 Steps
Solsten reads ARGUS Enterprise exports natively. No reformatting, no copy-paste, no lost data.
1
Export from ARGUS
Export your rent roll or expense report to Excel (.xlsx) from ARGUS Enterprise.
2
Upload to Solsten
Click "Import from Excel" in Solsten. Our wizard auto-detects your ARGUS columns — Leased Area, Base Rent PSF, Lease Expiration, and more.
3
Review & Edit
Preview mapped data, apply bulk defaults, and fix any edge cases before importing.
4
Analyze Instantly
Your tenant and expense data flows into the proforma engine. Get IRR, NOI, and risk scores immediately.
ARGUS Fields We Auto-Detect
✅ Suite / Space / Unit ✅ Tenant Name ✅ Leased Area / Rentable SF ✅ Lease Commencement / Expiration ✅ Base Rent PSF / In-Place Rent ✅ Annual Escalation / CPI ✅ Renewal Probability ✅ NNN / Base Year Stop / Mod Gross ✅ Speculative / Month-to-Month ✅ Expense Name / GL Account ✅ Annual Amount / Budget ✅ Above/Below the Line ✅ Reimbursable % / Pro Rata Share ✅ Fixed % / Variable Split ✅ Payment Frequency
Best Next Step by Team Type
Pick the path that matches your workflow and get a proof artifact fast.
Acquisitions Analysts
Run a side-by-side deal comparison to show where ARGUS and Solsten differ on assumptions and outputs.
Start a live deal comparison → See a modeled walk-through first →Syndicators and Sponsors
Stress-test waterfall outcomes and scenario sensitivity before sending LP materials.
Review waterfall modeling path →Broker/Advisory Teams
Get investor-ready outputs without passing spreadsheets back and forth for model cleanup.
Book a 20-min walkthrough →ARGUS Alternative FAQ
Straight answers on pricing, AI features, and migration.
Does Solsten include an AI assistant for underwriting questions?
Yes. Solsten includes Saga AI assistant. Saga can explain assumptions, timelines, and outputs based on your property model context.
How is Solsten different from ARGUS for modern teams?
Solsten combines institutional-grade proforma modeling with cloud collaboration, ML-powered forecasting, and an AI assistant layer. ARGUS still has strengths in some institutional compliance workflows.
Can I migrate ARGUS exports into Solsten?
Yes. Solsten supports direct import of ARGUS rent roll and expense export files through a guided Excel import flow with field auto-detection.
How does Solsten pricing compare to ARGUS Enterprise?
Solsten starts free and paid plans stay accessible for lean teams, while ARGUS is typically institutional seat pricing. Many teams run a live-deal proof in Solsten first, then compare outputs and cost before making a platform decision.
I'm being migrated to ARGUS Intelligence — should I evaluate Solsten now?
If you're in the middle of an ARGUS Enterprise → ARGUS Intelligence migration, you're already re-modeling your portfolio and absorbing a pricing change at the same time. That's the natural moment to import the same rent rolls into Solsten side-by-side, run a live-deal proof, and decide which platform you want to lock into for the next contract cycle. Solsten's Excel import wizard reads ARGUS Enterprise exports directly, so you can stand up a parallel model in minutes.
Ready to Switch from ARGUS?
Start a free Solsten analysis today. Import your ARGUS rent rolls and expense reports directly, run a side-by-side comparison, and use Saga AI assistant to speed up model review.