Realtor.com vs Zillow leads is not a question of which logo has better buyers. It is a question of which contract fits how your desk answers the phone.
Both portals now sell two things: an upfront product where you pay whether or not you close, and a pay-at-closing product where they take a share of your commission. Both route buyers by phone. Both punish a slow first call. The differences are in who controls the volume, how hard the rules are, and how big the audience is.
This page is the side-by-side, sourced to each company’s own pages and filings. For the deep dives, see Realtor.com leads, Zillow leads cost, and Zillow Flex leads.
How big is each audience?
Start with the only numbers either company has to stand behind: what they tell investors.
| Metric (April-June 2026) | Zillow | Realtor.com |
|---|---|---|
| Average monthly unique users | 239 million (down 2%) | 68 million (down 6%) |
| Visits | 2.5 billion in the quarter | 297 million a month on average |
| Source | Zillow Q2 2026 shareholder letter | News Corp fiscal Q4 2026 release |
Zillow’s audience is roughly 3.5x larger by unique users. News Corp also says Realtor.com’s visits gave it a 33 percent share of visits to all US real estate portals, and that Realtor.com lead volume was up 1 percent year on year.
The two companies measure differently, so treat the ratio as direction, not precision. What it means for you: Zillow has more buyers. A bigger pond does not make your ZIP cheaper.
How does each portal sell leads?
Zillow: share of voice or a success fee
Zillow’s 2025 10-K describes two models:
- Premier Agent market-based pricing. A subscription where connections are “distributed to partners in proportion to their share of voice, or a share of total advertising purchased in a particular zip code.” Price varies by ZIP. Zillow’s help center lists a $50 minimum per ZIP code. Zillow does not promise any minimum number of connections.
- Zillow Preferred (formerly Flex). Invite-only, “pay-when-you-close.” The success fee is 15-40 percent of your GCI on buyer connections, and 40 percent on all seller-originated connections, per Zillow’s Preferred pricing page. Zillow can change the fee with 15 days’ notice.
The direction is clear. Zillow’s Q2 2026 letter says Preferred handled 44 percent of connections at the end of 2025, up from 21 percent at the end of 2024, and it expects “more than 75 percent of our connections in Preferred by the end of 2026.” It adds: “We expect that nearly all connections will be serviced by Preferred partners over time.”
If you are buying Premier Agent ZIPs today, read that line twice.
Realtor.com: subscription or a referral fee
- Connections Plus. Buyer leads from listings in your market, plus automated email and SMS “response tracks.” Realtor.com does not publish a price on its product page. You get a quote from sales. See our Connections Plus breakdown for how the one-minute auto-text works.
- ReadyConnect Concierge. “Zero upfront costs.” You “only pay a referral fee on closed transactions.” The referral percentage is not on the public page. It is in your agreement. Realtor.com says nearly 200,000 agents rely on Concierge.
- Market VIP / RealPRO Select. A premium buyer-lead program for team leads and their agents. News Corp credits higher RealPRO Select sales for Move’s 13 percent revenue growth in the quarter, as it shifts “to more premium offerings with higher revenues per lead.” Pricing is not public.
How does a lead actually reach you?
This is the biggest practical difference.
Zillow connections are live phone transfers. A missed connection call goes to the next Premier Agent until someone accepts, per Zillow’s Premier Agent FAQ. Broadcast routing can ring up to ten agents on a team at once. First to answer keeps it.
Concierge is a claim race. Realtor.com’s reps call the inquiry (they say “within 4 seconds” on average), screen for intent, timeframe, pre-approval, price point, and location, then send an SMS or push alert to matching agents. “The first agent to claim the lead alert will receive a phone call” and a live transfer. Realtor.com says assignment uses your past performance with the service.
Connections Plus is closer to a form. You get the contact, the listing, and an automated text and email. The first live call is still on you.
So: Zillow tests whether you pick up. Concierge tests whether you claim fast. Connections Plus tests whether you dial at all.
Realtor.com vs Zillow leads, side by side
| Zillow Premier Agent | Zillow Preferred | Realtor.com Connections Plus | Realtor.com ReadyConnect Concierge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay model | Monthly prepaid ad spend by ZIP | Success fee at close | Subscription, quote only | Referral fee at close |
| Published price | $50 minimum per ZIP; rest varies by ZIP | 15-40% of GCI buyer side; 40% seller side | Not published | Zero upfront; referral % not published |
| How you get it | Buy share of voice | Invite only | Sales quote | Sign up, then claim alerts |
| Delivery | Live phone transfer | Live phone transfer | Lead record plus auto SMS and email | Screened buyer, live transfer after you claim |
| Who controls volume | Your share of ZIP spend | Zillow, based on your performance | Your market and plan | Algorithm, based on your past performance |
| Hard published rules | Missed call goes to next agent | Answer rate, closing docs, pay on time | None published | First to claim wins |
| Contract | Month to month, or a contract with an early termination fee | Preferred agreement | Not published; ask | Referral agreement |
On Zillow contracts: its help center says month-to-month advertisers can cancel at any time, effective at the end of the billing period. Contracted Premier Agents can leave early but pay an early termination fee of twice the monthly minimum spend. Realtor.com does not publish its terms. Get them in writing before you sign.
What does each portal require from you?
Zillow writes its rules down. Its Flex partner guide (2024, the program Preferred grew out of) sets:
- Answer rate: program standard 60 percent or more over three months. Minimum 40 percent.
- Closing doc submission: standard 100 percent. Minimum 75 percent.
- Pay on time: standard 100 percent. Minimum 95 percent.
- Engaged transfer rate (buyers who engage Zillow Home Loans): 15 percent or more.
Below a minimum for one month is a warning. Two months in a row puts the team “at risk for disengagement” and “decreased connection volume.” The full table is on our Flex page.
Realtor.com publishes no equivalent scorecard for Concierge. It does say the algorithm weighs your past performance, and the race itself is the SLA: if you do not claim, someone else does.
Neither portal is passive. Zillow grades you on paper. Realtor.com grades you by giving the buyer to whoever is faster.
Which one should your team pick?
| Your team | Better first fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo agent, often in showings | Concierge or Connections Plus | No upfront Zillow spend, no answer-rate scorecard. But only if you can claim or dial fast |
| Team with 3+ agents and broadcast routing | Zillow | Bigger audience, and you can actually hit a 60 percent answer rate |
| Team that wants Preferred eventually | Zillow Premier Agent first | Zillow invites teams that perform. It is moving most connections to Preferred |
| Market where Zillow ZIPs are bid up | Realtor.com | Smaller audience, but you are not competing with the same ZIP budgets |
| Team that already struggles to answer | Neither, yet | Fix the first call. Any portal will route around you |
Some teams buy both. That works only if your CRM splits the source field by product. If Concierge, Connections Plus, Premier Agent, and Preferred land in one “portal” bucket, you cannot price any of them. Run each through the cost per booked viewing calculator on its own.
Why both die without a fast first call
Every product on this page has the same weak point. A buyer raised a hand on a phone, and something has to answer.
- Zillow sends the missed call to the next agent, and it counts against your answer rate.
- Concierge gives the transfer to whoever claims first.
- Connections Plus sends an auto-text, then waits for you.
The research says the same thing. The 2007 Oldroyd / InsideSales study found that calling a web lead within 5 minutes instead of 30 made contact about 100x more likely and qualifying about 21x more likely. That is contact and qualify odds, not closings. HBR’s The Short Life of Online Sales Leads found a 42-hour average first response among companies that replied. Speed to lead covers the rest.
Live transfers need a person on your team. The leads around them do not: missed connections, Connections Plus records, direct contacts, nights, and Sundays. That is where mergro fits. It calls every new lead within 60 seconds, qualifies, books the viewing, and writes the notes back to your CRM.
Before you pick a portal, pull 30 days of portal leads from your CRM.
- Median time to first live attempt, split by product.
- Answer or claim rate on live transfers.
- Held appointments per product, not sets.
- Cash out per product: invoice, success fees, or referral fees.
If item 1 is over 5 minutes, switching portals will not help. Fix the first call, then compare.
Common mistakes
Comparing on lead price alone. Two of the four products have no upfront price. Compare cash out per held appointment.
Assuming Realtor.com is gentler because it has no scorecard. The claim race is a scorecard you never see.
Buying Premier Agent ZIPs for the long term without reading Zillow’s plan. Zillow says nearly all connections will move to Preferred over time.
Mixing sources in the CRM. One “portal” tag hides which product works.
Treating vendor claims as forecasts. Realtor.com’s “3-5x” Concierge line is footnoted to its own 2019 data. Its “4x” Connections Plus line is its own customer analysis. Measure your own holds.
Frequently asked questions
Are Zillow leads better than Realtor.com leads?
No independent study answers that. Zillow has about 3.5x the monthly unique users. Better depends on your ZIPs, your price points, and how fast you answer.
Is Realtor.com cheaper than Zillow?
Neither publishes a full price list. Zillow lists a $50 minimum per ZIP and 15-40 percent success fees on Preferred. Realtor.com quotes Connections Plus and Concierge referral rates privately. Get quotes for the same ZIPs.
Are Realtor.com and Zillow leads exclusive?
Not by default. Zillow distributes connections by share of voice and sends missed calls to the next agent. Concierge alerts go to several matching agents and the first to claim wins.
Can I use both?
Yes, if each product has its own source tag and its own cost-per-hold number.
What is the Zillow equivalent of ReadyConnect Concierge?
Zillow Preferred. Both are pay-at-closing, both deliver live transfers. Preferred is invite-only and has published performance standards. Concierge is a claim race with an undisclosed referral rate.
Sources
- Zillow Group, Q2 2026 shareholder letter, August 5, 2026. 239 million average monthly unique users, 2.5 billion visits, Preferred share of connections 21%, 44%, over 75% target.
- Zillow Group, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. Share of voice definition, Preferred as pay-when-you-close, no minimum connections promised.
- Zillow, Preferred pricing and How to calculate success fees. 15-40% of GCI, 40% seller side, 15-day notice.
- Zillow Help Center, Premier Agent FAQ, minimum cost per ZIP, Can I cancel my contract?, and Routing leads to team members.
- Zillow, Flex Program Overview: Enhanced Markets, 2024.
- News Corp, fiscal Q4 2026 results, August 2026. 68 million average monthly unique users, 297 million monthly visits, 33% share of portal visits, leads up 1%, Move revenue up 13%.
- Realtor.com, ReadyConnect Concierge, Connections Plus, and RealPRO Select.
- James Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran, and David Elkington, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, Harvard Business Review, March 2011.
Want the first call covered on every portal lead? Get started.