Best Text Sign Rider Services Compared: Agent Text vs DriveBuy vs Digital Flyer vs DIY
August 1, 2026
If you are evaluating text sign rider services, you have probably noticed there is no neutral comparison of the options anywhere. So we wrote one. Full disclosure up front: we run Agent Text, one of the services compared here. To keep this useful, every fact about the other services comes from their own websites as of publication, we say plainly where each competitor wins, and we tell you which agents each option fits best, including the agents who should not pick us.
All of these services do the same core job. A code goes on a rider attached to your yard sign. A drive-by buyer texts the code or scans a QR code, gets the listing details on their phone, and you get their mobile number as a lead. The differences are in pricing, phone numbers, CRM handling, and how much of the work falls on you.
The four options at a glance
| Agent Text | DriveBuy Tech | Digital Flyer (Pro Agent Solutions) | DIY (iPhone + free QR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $9 per code per month, 30 day free trial | Up to 5 codes for $19 per month, $2 per additional code | Not published, quote based, free trial offered | Free, plus your time |
| Phone number | Dedicated local number in your area code | Shared national short code | Local number, any area code | Your personal cell |
| QR code included | Yes | Yes | Yes | You generate it |
| Reusable codes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Rebuild per listing |
| Lead delivery | Text + email, synced to Follow Up Boss, Pipedrive, Lofty, and other CRMs | Text and/or email notification | Text + email, feeds their own CRM Pro, forwards to up to six team members | A thread in your Messages app |
| First rider | Free with signup | Signs $12 each | Via their sign vendor, quote based | You print it |
| In business since | 2009 | 2007 | Part of a broader CRM suite | n/a |
DriveBuy Tech
DriveBuy is the longest-running service in the category, operating since 2007, and its pricing is genuinely competitive: up to five reusable ad codes for $19 a month with additional codes at $2 each, no contracts and no per-lead fees. If you carry a large listing inventory and want the lowest sticker price per code, DriveBuy wins on that math, and we would rather tell you that than have you find out later. QR codes are included with every text code, signs run $12, and codes are reusable across listings.
The main structural difference is the phone number. DriveBuy runs on a shared national short code, which it markets as an advantage. We think the tradeoff runs the other way: buyers associate short codes with marketing blasts and spam, while a local number in your own area code looks like a number worth texting and worth answering when you call the lead back. That is a judgment call, but it is the biggest practical difference between the two services. DriveBuy also lists notifications by text and email rather than the direct real estate CRM integrations agents increasingly build their follow-up around.
Digital Flyer (Pro Agent Solutions)
Digital Flyer is the text rider component of Pro Agent Solutions, a broader suite that also includes showing feedback tools and their own CRM. Leads route into their CRM Pro automatically, can be forwarded by text to up to six team members, and listings can be imported straight from the MLS, which is a genuinely nice touch. It uses local numbers and offers a free trial.
The fit question is whether you want the suite. If you are already a Pro Agent Solutions customer for showing feedback or their CRM, adding Digital Flyer is the natural move and probably the right one. If you only want sign lead capture, the tradeoffs are that pricing is not published, sign riders are quote based through their vendor, and the lead flow is designed around their CRM rather than the one you may already use.
The DIY route
You can build a basic version of this yourself with a free SMS QR code and an iPhone Shortcuts automation that auto-replies when a buyer texts a keyword. It genuinely works, and we published a full walkthrough of the DIY setup if you want to try it. The short version of its limits: one automation per listing to build and maintain, no way to route leads across a team, silent breakage after iOS updates, and no captured lead at the end, just a message thread. Fine for one listing and a free weekend. Not something to run a pipeline on.
Agent Text
Here is our honest pitch for our own service. Agent Text has done exactly one thing since 2009: capture buyer leads from yard signs, over 28,000 of them so far. Plans start at $9 per code per month with a 30 day free trial, and your first sign rider is free, so a new listing can be capturing leads within days at zero upfront cost.
Three things define the product. First, every code runs on a dedicated local number in your area code, because a familiar local number is one buyers trust enough to text and answer. Second, leads land where you already work: delivered by text and email the moment they happen, and synced to Follow Up Boss, BoomTown, Top Producer, Wise Agent, Lofty, and Pipedrive, rather than into a CRM you have to adopt. Third, the plan flexes with your business. You can pause, downgrade, or upgrade between listings, so you are never paying for capacity you are not using during a slow stretch.
Which should you pick?
Pick DriveBuy if you carry a big inventory and the lowest per-code sticker price is your deciding factor, and you are comfortable with a shared short code. Pick Digital Flyer if you already use, or want, the Pro Agent Solutions suite and their CRM. Try the DIY route if you have one listing and enjoy tinkering. Pick Agent Text if you want local numbers your buyers will trust, leads flowing into the CRM you already use, and a plan that pauses when your inventory does.
The one wrong answer is a plain sign. Whichever option you choose, buyers are slowing down at your listings every day, and a sign without a code lets every one of them drive away uncaptured.
If Agent Text sounds like your fit, start a free 30 day trial and we will send your first sign rider on us. Setup takes about five minutes.
Competitor pricing and features are drawn from drivebuytech.com and proagentsolutions.com as of July 2026 and may change. If you spot something out of date, let us know and we will correct it.
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