A new registered agent, or one who has just left a firm, has the same question: do I need to pay for software before I have clients to pay for it? Often the honest answer is no. This post is about what free actually gets you, and the three places where it usually stops.
We build Centrio and it has a free plan, so weigh this accordingly. We have tried to describe the other options the way their own pages do.
Three kinds of free
A free plan. The product is usable indefinitely, with limits. Centrio’s Solo plan is free for one agent and up to 10 clients. Agentcis offers a free plan by application to businesses under a year old and to non-profits, per its own site at the time we checked on 18 October 2026.
A free trial. Full product, limited time. Several of the established migration products work this way, or offer a satisfaction guarantee. It is a good way to test on real matters, but the clock starts when you sign up, not when your first client arrives.
A spreadsheet and a general CRM. Free, flexible, and entirely yours to maintain. It works at the start, because at the start you have few clients.
Our comparison of nine products lists published prices and what each plan includes, with sources.
Where free usually stops
1. Client money
If you hold money for clients, the Code of Conduct sets rules for how it is recorded and when. A spreadsheet can hold the numbers. What it cannot do is stop you recording a fee before the service agreement is signed, or tell you that the total you hold no longer matches what each client is owed. We go through the rules in client money for migration agents.
2. Deadlines
Every matter has dates that carry consequences: the response date on a request for further information, a bridging visa expiry, a nomination window. In a spreadsheet they depend on you looking. The OMARA sanctions we reviewed were largely admin failures of this kind, and the deadlines that matter is a useful list to check your own system against.
3. Typing the same thing again
The cost of free that nobody counts is time. Each client’s name, passport, address and history typed into the CRM, then the questionnaire, then the ImmiAccount form. For a solo agent this is the largest hidden cost, because it is your own hours. In Centrio, the extension fills ImmiAccount questions from the client record inside your own session and never submits; you review and lodge. We looked at what that does to the economics in offshore admin versus software.
A fair test for any free plan
Before you commit your first ten clients, ask five questions:
- Can I export everything? Clients, matters, notes and documents, in a form I can use elsewhere.
- What is the limit, and what happens at it? Ten clients means the eleventh needs a plan. What does that plan cost?
- Does client money sit on the client’s file? Or will I bolt a spreadsheet on beside it?
- Where is my clients’ data stored? You carry the Privacy Act duties for it.
- Does it cover my other work? If you also place students, can the same record carry both?
When paying starts to make sense
There is no magic client number. Most agents start paying when the cost of an hour stops being hypothetical: when you are turning down new enquiries because the admin is full, when a deadline nearly slips, or when you want to add a second person without sharing a login. Centrio’s Practice plan is A$99 a month flat for unlimited users and clients, which makes the hiring decision independent of the software bill.
If you are comparing products, start with the ten checks, and try the Solo plan on two or three real matters before deciding.
This is general information, not legal or migration advice. Prices and plan terms were checked on 18 October 2026 and change; confirm with each vendor.
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