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Education programs compared

CRE AI Institute vs CRE AI Studio

Two AI programs for commercial real estate professionals, compared on format, who teaches, price, certificates and what you practice on. The Studio has the lower entry price, teaches several AI tools and has run scheduled live cohorts; the Institute is built around hands-on Claude workflows practiced on a deal with answer keys.

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Short answer

Both programs teach AI to commercial real estate professionals, and they suit different buyers. CRE AI Studio is a monthly membership taught by its three co-founders, CRE practitioners who include a longtime CRE attorney. Its curriculum covers ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini alongside no-code automation, and its Level 1 plan is $50 a month with a 7-day free trial. It has also offered scheduled live cohorts, such as a 6-week Claude Cohort in August and September 2026. The CRE AI Institute, run by Pacific Software Ventures and led by Zed Truong, is built on Claude: it teaches agent workflows on a practice deal with answer keys, awards two certificates, and holds weekly live office hours on Premium. Standard is $69 a month after a 7-day free trial. Pick the Studio for a lower entry price, several AI tools and live cohorts when it runs them. Pick the Institute for Claude-native workflows practiced on a deal with answer keys, and two certificates.

Verified September 24, 2026

The two programs, side by side

Every Studio cell links the page it was read from. Where our sources say nothing, the table says so rather than guessing.

CRE AI Studio and CRE AI Institute compared on format, instructors, operator, launch date, community size, price, free trial, AI tools taught, certificates, practice material, live sessions, team training and guarantee, as verified September 24, 2026.
Compared onCRE AI StudioCRE AI Institute
FormatMonthly membership. Level 1: weekly video lessons or pre-packaged AI skills built for CRE, live lessons and AI updates, monthly office hours, the CRE Prompt Library and the community Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plansMembership: a self-paced curriculum (3 courses, 38 lessons) inside a private community of CRE professionals
Who teachesThe three co-founders: Jonathan Buckelew (10+ years in real estate private equity), Nadine Ezzie (a 20-year CRE attorney and former tech executive) and Topher Stephenson (11+ years in CRE tech and brokerage) Source: CRE AI Studio, Meet Your TeachersLed by Zed Truong, founder of the CRE AI Institute, with the PSV team.
Who runs itBES.AI, LLC, doing business as CRE AI Studio Source: CRE AI Studio, Terms of Use; 2-10 employees, headquartered in New York, per LinkedIn Source: CRE AI Studio, company pagePacific Software Ventures, which builds AI systems for CRE firms.
LaunchedAugust 2025, per the Studio's newsletter Source: The CRE AI Studio Newsletter (launch issue)July 2026
Community size“Hundreds” of CRE professionals in its Circle community, by the Studio's own count Source: CRE AI Studio, home page; 5,000+ subscribers to its weekly newsletter, the Studio's figure Source: CRE AI Studio NewsletterWe do not publish a member count.
PriceLevel 1 $50/mo, Level 2 $75/mo, Level 3 $100/mo (listed September 24, 2026) Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans. Annual billing 20% off: $480, $720 or $960 a year, with a 12-month commitment Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans.Standard $69/mo; Premium $99/mo (against a $199/mo list price); Advisory $499/mo, which adds a monthly one-to-one hour with a PSV founder.
Free trialA 7-day free trial on Levels 1 and 3, through the free-trial checkout Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans. Level 2 is marked FULL on that checkout Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans.A 7-day free trial, and one full lesson free with no account.
AI tools taughtSeveral AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, plus no-code automation (Zapier, Make.com, n8n) and content tools (Genspark, Gamma) Source: CRE AI Studio, home pageBuilt on Claude: Claude and AI agent workflows, taught end to end
CertificatesThrough NAIOP/CREDA's “AI in Commercial Real Estate” course, taught by the co-founders and sold by CREDA ($499 members, $724 non-members): a certificate and 8.00 PDH/AIA Learning Units Source: AI in Commercial Real Estate (on-demand course)Two: AI Fluency on every tier, and AI Operator on Premium ($99/mo)
Practice deal and answer keysNot covered by the sources we checked; ask the Studio.The Desert Grove practice deal, with answer keys, on every tier
Live sessions and cohortsLevel 1 includes live lessons and AI updates, and monthly office hours Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans. Level 2 adds live monthly VIP training with Q&A; Level 3 adds founder Q&A in a dedicated channel, answered within 24 hours Source: CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans. Announced monthly “Anthropic Claude Update Calls” inside the membership Source: CRE AI Studio, company page. The Claude Cohort: 6 weekly live 1-hour lessons from August 13, 2026, at $480 early bird or $599 regular Source: CRE AI Studio, Claude Cohort for CRE Professionals; The first cohort is closed to new enrollments Source: CRE Claude Cohort. An AI for CRE Attorneys workshop, advertised as a 6-week live cohort from March 25, 2026, capped at 35 and taught by Nadine Ezzie Source: CRE AI Studio, AI for CRE Attorneys workshop registration.Weekly live office hours and workshops, plus live deal clinics, on Premium ($99/mo)
Team trainingConsulting, including team training and workshops (onsite too) and CRE-specific AI buildouts; no prices published Source: CRE AI Studio, ConsultingPSV-led training inside your firm, on your own deals, through PSV's AI training.
Money-back guaranteeThe AI for CRE Attorneys workshop page shows a “30-Day Money-Back Guarantee” badge Source: CRE AI Studio, AI for CRE Attorneys workshop registration. Membership terms are in the Studio's Terms of Use; read them there Source: CRE AI Studio, Terms of Use.The certificate is self-paced, so the timeline is yours. If you finish the AI Fluency Certificate within your first month and you haven't gotten your first win, we refund that month in full. If it isn't valuable, we don't want your money.

The honest fit

Which one should you pick

Choose CRE AI Studio if

  • You want the lower entry price: Level 1 is $50 a month, or $40 a month billed annually ($480 a year, with a 12-month commitment), against $69 a month for the Institute's Standard tier.
  • You want live sessions at the entry price: Level 1 ($50 a month) includes live lessons and monthly office hours, while the Institute's live office hours and workshops are on Premium ($99 a month).
  • You want to learn from three named CRE practitioners, one of them a 20-year CRE attorney. For legal teams, the Studio advertised an AI for CRE Attorneys cohort in spring 2026, capped at 35; ask whether another is scheduled.
  • Your firm uses ChatGPT or Gemini as well as Claude, or no-code automation such as Zapier, Make.com and n8n: the Studio's homepage curriculum names all of them, and a CBRE Canada testimonial describes a Microsoft Copilot session for over 50 brokers.
  • You want a scheduled live class with fixed dates: the Claude Cohort was listed at 6 weekly 1-hour lessons, live and recorded. The first cohort is closed and no next date is published.
  • You want a direct line to the instructors: Level 3, at $100 a month, adds founder Q&A in a dedicated channel, with questions answered within 24 hours.
  • You or your employer value a trade-association credential: the co-founders teach NAIOP/CREDA's “AI in Commercial Real Estate”, sold by CREDA at $499 for members or $724 for non-members, with a certificate and 8.00 PDH/AIA Learning Units.
  • You need in-person team training or a conference keynote: the Studio's consulting includes onsite training, and Topher Stephenson offers 60-minute keynotes and 2-4 hour hands-on workshops.
  • You want to sample the teaching for free first: its weekly newsletter says it reaches 5,000+ CRE professionals, and Buckelew's CRE Daily articles and the Studio's co-branded videos are public.

Choose the CRE AI Institute if

  • You want Claude-native agent workflows, practiced on the Desert Grove deal with answer keys before you touch live data.
  • You want two certificates inside the membership: AI Fluency, and the advanced AI Operator on Premium.
  • You want weekly live office hours and workshops with the PSV team, plus live deal clinics where you bring your own deal (Premium).
  • You want the training and the build from the same firm: PSV builds AI systems for CRE clients and trains your team on them (the Studio also offers custom builds through its consulting).
  • You want to try it first: a 7-day free trial, and one full lesson free with no account.

What we checked

CRE AI Studio, in its own figures

Figures the Studio reports about itself are its claims, not our measurements. Programs it announced are described as advertised or scheduled.

Who runs it

Price and plans

Live programs and cohorts

Curriculum and credentials

  • The homepage curriculum covers ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini for daily CRE tasks, no-code automation (Zapier, Make.com and n8n among others), content tools such as Genspark and Gamma, and enterprise-level AI. Source: CRE AI Studio, home page
  • The co-founders teach NAIOP/CREDA's on-demand course “AI in Commercial Real Estate” (8 hours, 8 modules), sold by CREDA rather than the Studio, at $499 for members and $724 for non-members. It offers a certificate and 8.00 PDH/AIA Learning Units, and passing its exam with 80% or more earns a code for 3 months of Studio access. Source: AI in Commercial Real Estate (on-demand course)

Team training and speaking

  • The Studio's consulting covers Claude skills and AI agents, document intelligence, workflow automation (CoStar, Yardi, Salesforce, Excel), AI strategy and roadmapping, team training and workshops including onsite training, and CRE-specific AI buildouts. Firms apply, and if they are a fit the Studio schedules a free 30-minute strategy call. No prices are published. Source: CRE AI Studio, Consulting
  • Its consulting page claims 200+ CRE professionals trained and 6+ custom AI tools deployed, and lists CBRE, Newmark and MetLife as organizations represented. Source: CRE AI Studio, Consulting
  • A homepage testimonial from a CBRE Canada vice president says the Studio team trained over 50 of their brokers on Microsoft Copilot in a single session. Source: CRE AI Studio, home page
  • Topher Stephenson offers 60-minute conference keynotes, 2-4 hour hands-on workshops and webinars. He lists SVN, CBRE, CCIM, the National Association of REALTORS, the Texas Association of REALTORS and SIOR among recent engagements, and says he takes at most 5 engagements a quarter. No fees are published. Source: CRE AI Studio, Speaking

Community and reach

What we could not verify

Not published, or not verified

Where the Studio's pages are silent or disagree with each other, we say so. Ask the Studio for these directly.

  • Paid membership numbers. The Studio's own figures are “hundreds” in its community, 200+ professionals trained and more than 60 Claude Cohort sign-ups; none is independently verified.
  • The price of the AI for CRE Attorneys workshop, which its registration page does not show.
  • Whether Level 2 (Achiever) is open: the free-trial checkout marks it FULL, while the /Payment page lists it.
  • Whether the 7-day trial also applies on the direct /Payment checkout.
  • A date for a second Claude Cohort. The first is closed; the Studio says more workshops are coming in 2026.
  • Team-seat or enterprise membership pricing, and consulting, speaking and team-training fees; none is shown on the pages we checked.
  • Whether a Studio membership includes a certificate of its own; ask the Studio.
  • How the live sessions on each level fit together, and which still run: live lessons, monthly office hours, monthly VIP training, the Claude update calls it announced and founder Q&A.
  • Outcome or retention data. The site shows testimonials.

Before you buy

Questions to ask any program, including ours

Terms change and we do not summarise another program's. Ask each one these, and read the answers in writing.

  1. Is there a refund or money-back guarantee, and exactly what triggers it?
  2. Can I cancel at any time, and what happens to my access and any certificate when I do?
  3. If I pay annually, what am I committing to, and can I get out of it?
  4. Which plan includes the live sessions, how often do they run, and who runs them?
  5. What do I practice on, and are there answer keys to check my work against?
  6. Which AI tools does the curriculum teach in depth, and which does it only mention?
  7. For a team: who delivers the training, on whose documents, and what does it cost per person?

The Studio's own terms are in its Terms of Use. Our answers are in the table above and on the Institute page.

Frequently asked

Institute vs Studio, answered

What is the difference between the CRE AI Institute and CRE AI Studio?
Both teach AI to commercial real estate professionals. CRE AI Studio is a monthly membership taught by its three co-founders, covering ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini alongside no-code automation. At the Studio, level 1 includes weekly step-by-step video lessons or pre-packaged AI skills built for CRE, live lessons and AI updates, monthly office hours for basic questions, the CRE Prompt Library, prompting tips and the community. The CRE AI Institute, run by Pacific Software Ventures and led by Zed Truong, is a self-paced curriculum of 3 courses and 38 lessons built on Claude and practiced on the Desert Grove deal, with weekly live office hours on Premium.
How much does CRE AI Studio cost compared with the CRE AI Institute?
CRE AI Studio's monthly membership: Level 1 (The Basics Plan) $50/mo, Level 2 (The Achiever Plan) $75/mo and Level 3 (The Super Growth Plan) $100/mo, as listed September 24, 2026. Annual billing is 20% off: $480, $720 or $960 a year ($40, $60 or $80 a month), with a 12-month commitment. The CRE AI Institute: Standard $69/mo; Premium $99/mo (against a $199/mo list price); Advisory $499/mo, which adds a monthly one-to-one hour with a PSV founder.
Is there a free trial?
Both have one. At CRE AI Studio, the free-trial checkout offers “7 days free”, then the monthly price, on Levels 1 and 3. The free-trial checkout marks Level 2 (Achiever) FULL, on monthly and annual billing, so it cannot be selected there. The CRE AI Institute starts with a 7-day free trial on every tier, and one full lesson is free to read with no account.
Who teaches at CRE AI Studio?
Its three co-founders teach: Jonathan Buckelew (10+ years in real estate private equity), Nadine Ezzie (a 20-year CRE attorney, former tech executive and national AI speaker) and Topher Stephenson (11+ years in CRE tech and brokerage). The CRE AI Institute is led by Zed Truong, founder of the CRE AI Institute, with the Pacific Software Ventures team.
Do CRE AI Studio or the CRE AI Institute offer a certificate?
The co-founders teach NAIOP/CREDA's on-demand course “AI in Commercial Real Estate” (8 hours, 8 modules), sold by CREDA rather than the Studio, at $499 for members and $724 for non-members. It offers a certificate and 8.00 PDH/AIA Learning Units, and passing its exam with 80% or more earns a code for 3 months of Studio access. The CRE AI Institute awards two inside the membership: the AI Fluency Certificate on every tier and the AI Operator Certificate on Premium.
Do both programs teach Claude?
Yes, with different weight. At CRE AI Studio, the homepage curriculum covers ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini for daily CRE tasks, no-code automation (Zapier, Make.com and n8n among others), content tools such as Genspark and Gamma, and enterprise-level AI. The Claude Cohort for CRE Professionals was listed at 6 weekly live 1-hour lessons starting August 13, 2026, priced at $480 early bird and $599 regular, with live and recorded sessions and 3 months of free Studio access. The CRE AI Institute is built on Claude and teaches Claude and AI agent workflows end to end on every tier.
Can a whole team train with either one?
Yes. The Studio's consulting covers Claude skills and AI agents, document intelligence, workflow automation (CoStar, Yardi, Salesforce, Excel), AI strategy and roadmapping, team training and workshops including onsite training, and CRE-specific AI buildouts. Firms apply, and if they are a fit the Studio schedules a free 30-minute strategy call. No prices are published. Pacific Software Ventures, which runs the Institute, offers PSV-led training inside your firm, on your own deals.
Does CRE AI Studio offer a money-back guarantee?
The AI for CRE Attorneys workshop registration page shows a “30-Day Money-Back Guarantee” badge. For the membership, read the Studio's Terms of Use; this page does not summarise another company's terms. The CRE AI Institute's guarantee: The certificate is self-paced, so the timeline is yours. If you finish the AI Fluency Certificate within your first month and you haven't gotten your first win, we refund that month in full. If it isn't valuable, we don't want your money.

Keep comparing

Other options compared

Sources

  1. CRE AI Studio, Terms of Use. creaistudio.com.
  2. The CRE AI Studio Newsletter (launch issue). CRE AI Studio Newsletter, .
  3. Mastering AI for CRE: the CRE AI learning platform (launch announcement). ChatCRE, .
  4. CRE AI Studio, company page. LinkedIn.
  5. CRE AI Studio, Meet Your Teachers. creaistudio.com.
  6. CRE AI Studio, free-trial checkout and membership plans. creaistudio.com.
  7. Voice.md: make AI actually sound like you. CRE AI Studio Newsletter, .
  8. Last call: Claude CRE Cohort enrollment closes tonight. CRE AI Studio Newsletter, .
  9. CRE AI Studio, Claude Cohort for CRE Professionals. creaistudio.com.
  10. CRE Claude Cohort. creclaudecohort.com.
  11. CRE AI Studio, AI for CRE Attorneys workshop registration. creaistudio.com.
  12. CRE AI Studio, home page. creaistudio.com.
  13. AI in Commercial Real Estate (on-demand course). NAIOP/CREDA.
  14. CRE AI Studio, Consulting. creaistudio.com.
  15. CRE AI Studio, Speaking. creaistudio.com.
  16. CRE AI Studio Newsletter. beehiiv.
  17. CRE AI Studio, Articles. creaistudio.com.
  18. Structure Before Speed: A Framework for Meaningful AI Adoption in CRE. Development magazine, NAIOP/CREDA, Summer 2026.
  19. Multifamily Media Network announces strategic partnership with CRE AI Studio. Multifamily Media Network, .
CRE AI Instituteby PSVLive

Try the Claude-native workflow on a practice deal

The CRE AI Institute teaches Claude and AI agent workflows on the Desert Grove practice deal, with answer keys. A 7-day free trial, and one full lesson free with no account.

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Our members come from teams at

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JLL
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Newmark
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Morgan Group
Greysteel
KLNB
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