9 Alternatives to Zillow When Buying or Selling a Home
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Steph Mickelson, Contributing AuthorClose
Steph Mickelson Contributing AuthorSteph Mickelson is a freelance writer based in Northwest Wisconsin who specializes in real estate, building materials, and design. She has a Master's degree in Secondary Education and uses her teaching experience to educate and guide readers. When she's not writing, she can be found juggling kids and coffee.
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Richard Haddad, Executive EditorClose
Richard Haddad Executive EditorRichard Haddad is the executive editor of HomeLight.com. He works with an experienced content team that oversees the company’s blog featuring in-depth articles about the home buying and selling process, homeownership news, home care and design tips, and related real estate trends. Previously, he served as an editor and content producer for World Company, Gannett, and Western News & Info, where he also served as news director and director of internet operations.
If you’ve ever been involved in a conversation about home prices and real estate, chances are you’ve heard of Zillow. But you may have also come across Zillow similar companies that offer more flexibility and better value.
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Like other online platforms created in the late 1990s and early 2000s — think Amazon, which primarily sold books, and Facebook which was only available to college students — what began as a specialized site has grown into something much larger. Now, it includes home loans, closing services, and Zillow Premier Agents. The real estate company also owns other firms, including Trulia, Out East, StreetEasy, HotPads, and Showing Time. Despite its range of services, Zillow isn’t the only option available.
When you start your home search or decide to list your home, chances are, you’ve checked out what Zillow or Trulia has to offer. But several Zillow similar companies offer competitive features and greater flexibility for buyers and sellers. Exploring these alternatives can help you find a platform that better facilitates the buying and selling process — some may be an even better fit.
What is Zillow?
Zillow was founded in 2004 as a response to the difficulties co-founder and CEO Rich Barton faced as he tried to find information on houses when he was looking to buy a bigger home for his growing family. Its website launched in 2006 with “Zestimates” or home value estimates, and data on more than 40 million homes in the US.
Since its inception, Zillow has become a massive player in the online real estate industry. According to Statista, Zillow is the leading real estate and rental website in the US based on monthly website visits, receiving 365.8 million monthly visits in 2024.
These are a few of the services that Zillow offers:
- Real estate search engine: Zillow’s search engine allows you to narrow property listings to a specific area. You can choose to view homes in the list feature or map feature. You can also search for rental homes and apartments on their app and website.
- Zestimate: The Zillow Zestimate is a home value estimate based on Zillow’s proprietary algorithm.
- Home listings: Zillow’s listings include the Zestimate, photos, listing description, school information, comparable home sales, maps, and more.
- Agent finder: Zillow’s agent finder allows you to search for agents by location, name, specialty, and language.
- Zillow Premier Agent: This service allows real estate agents to advertise with Zillow Group and gain additional exposure to users.
Previously, Zillow offered an instant buyer or iBuyer, a service called Zillow Offers that bought homes based on the Zestimate. This service allowed the company to make a cash offer to sellers, fix up the property, and then sell it. But Zillow eventually lost $881 million from the venture and shut down Zillow Offers in late 2021.
What is Zillow’s claim to fame?
While Zillow offers many real estate services, the company is perhaps most known for its popular Zestimate home value estimating tool. Co-founders Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink said that when they were searching for homes to buy, they had to compile their own public data and do the math to figure out what a property should cost. They decided to create an algorithm that would do the work for them.
The Zestimate is just one example of an automated valuation model (AVM) — an algorithm that pulls together a variety of publicly available data along with user-submitted data to calculate an immediate home value estimate. This technology is now widely available, with other real estate tech companies offering home value estimators.
HomeLight’s free Home Value Estimator gives you a real-world ballpark estimate in less than two minutes, so you can find out what your home might be worth. Our platform asks seven simple questions about your home to increase the accuracy of our estimate.
How does Zillow make money?
It’s free to search for homes on Zillow and list homes for sale, so you may be wondering, “How does Zillow make money?” The company makes money through high-volume ad sales on its platform, with property managers, Premier Agents, mortgage lenders, and other businesses paying to advertise properties and services.
Additionally, it profits from its home loan program. Rental managers also pay weekly to list their properties through Zillow, with the cost varying depending on the state.
Does Zillow own Trulia?
Zillow purchased Trulia, a former competitor, in 2015 for $2.5 billion. The Zillow Group maintains both sites separately.
Where Zillow is known for its detailed house information and Zestimates, Trulia offers in-depth information about the area and neighborhoods. The listings feature a map that filters for places to shop and eat. The “What Locals Say about … ” section features real Trulia user comments about the area, including filters for Community, Dog Owners, Parents, and Commute.
Do Zillow and Trulia cost money?
For the majority of people who use Zillow and Trulia, it doesn’t cost any money. For Premier Agents who pay for advertising and landlords listing a property, there is a cost associated with the platform.
With each property transaction completed through a Premier Agent Flex connection, the agent will pay Zillow a percentage of the total commission they expect to earn from their side of the deal. Meanwhile, landlords must pay a flat fee of $29.99 if they want to upgrade their rental listing to premium. The premium service boosts the listing’s visibility and provides access to personalized insights on pricing, listing performance, and leads.
9 of the top alternatives to Zillow and Trulia
Since Zillow’s inception, many other companies have built on and improved the model that they pioneered. Many real estate websites use algorithms and data from public and private records to make home-buying and home-selling much easier.
We’ve compiled a list of nine top alternatives to Zillow and Trulia that allow you to tailor your home search to your specific situation.
HomeLight
HomeLight is a technology platform that allows hundreds of thousands of homebuyers and sellers to partner with top real estate agents. Its Agent Match platform is free to use and generates the names of top-performing agents in your area who can help you buy a home that fits your needs and sell your home faster and for more money.
Rather than listing all of the agents, HomeLight analyzes more than 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to make sure we’re recommending the most experienced and qualified agents based on your needs. Agents don’t pay to be listed, so you can be sure that you’re getting the best match for your individual situation.
Aside from the Agent Match tool, here are some more tools and services HomeLight offers:
- Simple Sale: This platform allows you to sell your home fast. With Simple Sale, you can receive a no-obligation, all-cash offer on your home in as few as 24 hours and close in as little as 10 days.
- Home Value Estimator: Get a real-world home value estimate in less than two minutes. After answering a few simple questions, our algorithm goes to work and uses housing market data to give you a ballpark idea of your home’s value.
- Buy Before You Sell: HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program lets you unlock the equity in your current home so you can use it for a down payment, moving costs, closing fees, or repairs. This helps you make a strong, competitive offer on your next home without waiting to sell your current one. You also avoid the hassle of double moves and paying two mortgages at once.
- Buyer’s Resource Center and Seller’s Resource Center: Learn more about the buying and selling process. If you have a real estate-related question, chances are, we’ve found an answer through extensive research and in-depth agent interviews.
Redfin
While Zillow is known as a real estate marketplace, Redfin is considered a discount brokerage, offering sellers a 1% listing fee (with some fine print, of course). Founded in 2004, the Seattle-based company has a large database of home listings that it updates every five minutes.
Redfin’s website offers various resources, such as an affordability calculator, home buying and selling guides, and information on market trends. For high-end homes, Redfin Premier provides exclusive services that offer the convenience of a concierge.
Realtor.com
Realtor.com is the listing site trusted by Realtors®, real estate agents who are members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Operated by Move, Inc., realtor.com offers several home-buying resources, like a Mortgage Calculator, Refinance Calculator, Affordability Calculator, Rent or Buy Calculator, and Mortgage Pre-approval Tool.
While it doesn’t offer the detailed neighborhood information that Trulia does, it has a “Neighborhood & schools” section where you can find ratings for nearby establishments, lifestyle quality, and transportation options.
Foreclosure.com
If you’re looking for a deal on your next home, foreclosure.com might be the place for you. Their nationwide database is updated twice a day (as opposed to other sites that update weekly or monthly).
This site does require a subscription and a monthly payment of $39.80 after the seven-day free trial. But members can see auction information, like the minimum bid and the auction date among other information. This site also lists whether a property is in bankruptcy, preforeclosure, or foreclosure.
RealtyTrac
RealtyTrac is another subscription service that offers access to preforeclosure, foreclosure, auction, and bank-owned properties — you can even filter by these options depending on your goals or investment strategy.
With a subscription or free trial, you can unlock their Deal-O-Meter, which provides a rating of Poor, Good, or Great, depending on the property’s potential profit. You’ll also be able to see property debt info, equity and profit potential, and ownership information. After the free trial, RealtyTrac is $49.95 per month.
NeighborhoodScout
While Trulia prominently features neighborhood information, if you’re looking to get into the details, NeighborhoodScout is the place for you. The platform offers detailed demographic data, appreciation and housing market trends, crime rates (including your chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime or property crime), and public school ratings.
You can also use find your neighborhood’s best match with their Match Any Neighborhood feature. Click the puzzle piece icon to see similar neighborhoods throughout the country.
When you find a neighborhood you love, you can do a home search that directs you to Homes.com to continue your search. If you’re not sure where you want to live, you can use their CREATE feature to select criteria and get matched with a neighborhood. More robust features are available with a paid subscription, which starts at $125 monthly. You get a 10% discount when you choose annual billing.
Homes.com
Homes.com boasts: “Never settling for less, always striving to be the best.” Its listings include all of the standard information but also include school ratings powered by GreatSchools as well as Points of Interest in the home’s city and neighborhood. Its menu offers how-to guides for buying, selling, financing, and more. Homes.com also offers a home value estimate to help you begin the process of buying, selling, or refinancing.
Additionally, Homes Pro — formerly Homesnap — is now a part of homes.com and lets you snap a picture of a home, whether it’s on the market or not, and see important property details, including estimated home value, photos, and school and neighborhood information.
FSBO.com
This site gives people who are selling their house themselves the chance to list it on the multiple listing service (MLS) for a fee that varies depending on the package. For house hunters, this is a great place to find “For Sale by Owner” homes in your area.
It should be noted that Zillow allows homeowners to post FSBO listings on its website while many similar sites do not.
Eppraisal.com
Eppraisal.com offers comprehensive home valuations, detailed neighborhood insights, and in-depth real estate market analyses for consumers aiming to buy, sell, or refinance their properties. Its services extend to the real estate and mortgage industries, providing them with critical data, market trends, and an AVM.
While Eppraisal is ideal for users seeking accurate property valuations and market data, Zillow’s extensive listings and rich feature set provide a more versatile platform for a holistic real estate experience.
Step one: Talk to an expert!
Selling your house soon? Connect with a top agent near you to get an expert opinion on how much your house will sell for, what to fix before listing, and the latest local housing market trends.
You have lots of great options when buying or selling a home
No matter what you’re looking for in a real estate search engine — whether it’s robust neighborhood data, FSBO home listings, or home information with the snap of a picture — chances are you’ll find it on the internet given the range of modern tools we now have. While Zillow is a great option for many, there are similar companies that have refined the home search or sale process, so there’s something for everyone.
But no matter how much research you do on your own, one of the best ways to successfully navigate the ever-changing real estate landscape is to partner with a top-rated agent in your area. HomeLight analyzes millions of home sales to match you with a high-performing real estate agent who can help you sell your home faster and for more money, or find your dream home.
Good luck with your home searching or selling!
Header Image Source: (Drew Dau / Unsplash)
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