The real market leader, and the one that loses the argument in month six
6Degrees vs spreadsheets and WhatsApp
A spreadsheet and a WhatsApp thread beat most CRMs on the only two metrics that decide whether software gets used: it opens instantly and it needs no training. That is why it won. It loses in one place, and the place is expensive.
The short answer
Stay on the spreadsheet if you work with one builder who pays you on time. Move the day a deal you sourced closes under someone else’s dealer code, because that is the day the screenshot stops being a system and starts being an argument.
Eight points, side by side
Checked 13 August 2026 against the way almost every channel partner actually works. These are the eight things 6Degrees is built to win, which is the honest way to read any vendor’s table: it is our axis, and you are allowed to decide it is the wrong one.
| What it does | 6Degrees | spreadsheets and WhatsApp |
|---|---|---|
| Whose ledger it is | YesYours. It spans every developer you work with. | YesYours, completely. |
| Timestamped lead registration | YesYes. The server sets the date. The client cannot. | NoA WhatsApp timestamp shows when you sent a message, not who tagged the buyer first. |
| Claim validity window | YesYes. A booked site visit extends it 30 days. | NoNo. You remember, or you do not. |
| Published tie-break rule | YesYes. First verified tag, and the buyer’s own confirmation outranks it. | NoA phone call with the builder’s CRM head. |
| One ledger across many developers | YesYes. Seven builders, one ledger. | PartlyOne sheet, seven tabs, and the tabs disagree. |
| Server-dated interaction trail | YesYes. Create-only. Nobody can backdate or delete a call. | NoA column you typed. Nothing stops you or anyone else changing it. |
| Evidence pack you can attach to a claim | YesYes. One dated pack: terms, timestamp, confirmation, site visit, timeline. | NoScreenshots, in a folder, in date order, assembled the week you need them. |
| Self-serve export and cancel | YesYes. CSV and JSON, any day, no ticket. | YesIt is a file. Nobody can take it. |
What spreadsheets and WhatsApp does better
- 1/It is free and it is already open.
- 2/Nobody has to be trained, and no junior refuses to use it.
- 3/It bends to whatever you do this month, which no CRM does.
- 4/A screenshot has convinced plenty of developers to pay. When the relationship is good it is enough.
What 6Degrees does that spreadsheets and WhatsApp does not
- 1/The date on a registration is set by the server. Yours is not, and a date you can type is a date the other side can dispute.
- 2/A buyer taps one link and confirms the introduction. That single tap converts your assertion into the counterparty’s own acknowledgment, which is the thing a screenshot can never be.
- 3/One ledger across seven builders, with what is accrued, eligible, invoiced, paid and disputed, each ageing.
- 4/The evidence pack is one click, not a week of scrolling back through a chat.
- 5/You keep the spreadsheet. Export runs any day, in CSV and JSON.
The thing both products are arguing about
A referral in Indian real estate has a rupee value, a counterparty, a deadline and a rival. That makes it an object with a state machine, not a note on a contact. Once you accept that, the only remaining question is whose database the object lives in, and the answer decides who can still read it after you stop working with that builder.
