This article is part of our Real Estate & Property Management Marketing Guide: how buyers, sellers, owners and tenants find you online, what the housing ad rules allow, and how to choose the right help. Want to know where your site stands? Get a free 20–30 page website audit within 24 hours.
Zillow and other portals give you leads now. Your own website gives you leads you keep. Most agents who do well online use both, but they treat them very differently.
Portal leads are rented. You pay for access to buyers and sellers who started on someone else's platform. Website leads are owned. They come to your brand, your name and your contact list, and they stay there after a program changes.
This guide sits in the agent track of our Real Estate & Property Management Marketing Guide. It explains what Zillow sells agents as of October 2026, how rented and owned leads compare, and how to run the two together without losing track of either.
Key Takeaways
- Zillow's agent programs as of October 2026 include Premier Agent market-based pricing, Zillow Preferred (formerly Flex), Zillow Showcase and the Zillow Pro membership.
- Portal leads arrive fast but stay tied to the portal's rules, pricing and routing, which can change.
- Your own website builds an asset you control: your domain, your content, your contact list and your search visibility.
- Check RESPA Section 8, the NAR written buyer agreement rules and your state's advertising rules before you sign up for any lead program.
- Judge every source by cost per closing, not cost per lead, and track all sources in one CRM.
What Zillow sells agents, as of October 2026
The details below come from Zillow Group's own annual report and newsroom, checked 29 October 2026. Program names and terms change, so confirm with Zillow before you commit.
According to Zillow Group's annual report for 2025, its agent offerings include Premier Agent market-based pricing, Zillow Preferred (formerly Flex) and Zillow Showcase. The same filing lists Follow Up Boss, dotloop and ShowingTime as Zillow software products.
| Program | How it works, per Zillow Group | What you control |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Agent market-based pricing | A subscription. Connections are shared out by your "share of voice," your share of total advertising bought in a ZIP code. | Your budget and ZIP codes. Not lead volume. |
| Zillow Preferred (formerly Flex) | Invite-only and pay-when-you-close. You get leads and pay a performance advertising fee when a deal closes with one, generally within two years. | Your service level. Not whether you are invited. |
| Zillow Showcase | An advertising product that lets agents show an enhanced listing on Zillow's apps and websites. | How your listings look on Zillow. |
| Zillow Pro | A membership that brings together Follow Up Boss, My Agent and Agent Profiles. | Your own contacts, invited into Zillow. |
Two details in the filing matter for planning. First, Zillow says it does "not promise any minimum or maximum share of connections" under market-based pricing or Zillow Preferred. Second, a Preferred fee can come due on a closing up to about two years after the lead.
Zillow describes Zillow Pro in its July 2026 launch announcement as a premium membership open to any agent, whether or not they advertise on Zillow. My Agent lets you invite buyers and sellers you know, then see their Zillow activity once they accept. The announcement does not state a price.
Zillow's October 2025 announcement said Zillow Pro would become the main way agents qualify for Zillow Preferred. It also said Preferred partner agents get Zillow Pro at no extra cost through 2026.
Zillow does not publish a rate card for these programs on the pages we could open. Ask your Zillow representative for the current terms in writing.
Rented leads vs owned leads
A portal lead starts on the portal. The shopper picked a home, not you. A website lead found your name, your neighborhood pages or your listings and chose to contact you.
| Factor | Portal leads (Zillow and others) | Your own website |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to first lead | Fast, once you pay or are accepted | Slower, builds over months |
| Who sets the price | The portal | You, through your time and budget |
| Who controls routing | The portal's rules, then your team | You and your CRM |
| Brand recognition | Shopper remembers the portal | Shopper remembers you |
| What you keep if you stop | Contacts already in your CRM | Domain, content, rankings and contacts |
| Competition on the page | Other agents and listings nearby | Your own pages and listings |
| Best for | Filling a pipeline now | Building a lasting source |
Neither column wins on its own. Portal leads can carry a new agent or a growing team through the months it takes for a site to rank. A website keeps working when a portal program, price or invitation changes.
What makes your own website a lead source
A site that only shows a photo and a phone number will not compete with a portal. A site that earns leads usually has:
- MLS listings on your own domain through IDX. Our IDX explainer covers how that works.
- Neighborhood and community pages written from local knowledge.
- Clear seller pages with a home valuation or consult request.
- Reviews and a full About page with your license and brokerage.
- A Google Business Profile and local search work. See our local SEO services.
- Fast forms that send every lead straight into your CRM.
Rules to check before you pay for portal leads
These are marketing notes, not legal advice. Rules vary by state, so confirm the details with your broker of record.
RESPA Section 8 and referral-style fees
Some lead programs charge a fee only when a deal closes. Before you join one, know the federal rule on referral fees. The CFPB's text of Regulation X, Section 1024.14 bars giving or accepting "any fee, kickback or other thing of value" for referring settlement service business.
The same rule has exceptions. One permits payments under cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements between real estate agents and brokers. It does not cover fee splits between real estate brokers and mortgage brokers. Ask your broker how your brokerage treats any pay-at-closing program before you sign.
Written buyer agreements before touring
Many portal leads are buyers who want to see a home today. Under the NAR practice changes, NAR's consumer guide to written buyer agreements says buyers are asked to sign one before touring a home with an agent, in person or virtually. That change took effect on 17 August 2024.
The guide says the compensation in that agreement must be clearly defined, not open-ended or a range. Build that step into your follow-up for portal buyers, and put a plain explanation of it on your own site.
State advertising rules on your own site
Your own website often has its own disclosure duties. For example, in California, the Department of Real Estate's license disclosure chart, form RE 559, lists Regulation 2773. It names "websites owned, controlled, and/or maintained by the soliciting real estate licensee" as first point of contact materials.
On those materials, a California licensee must show their eight-digit license number and their responsible broker's name. The license number type can be no smaller than the smallest type used. The same regulation excludes electronic ads where another party controls the content and presentation, unless you forward or adopt them. Other states set their own rules.
How to run portals and your website together
The goal is one system. Every lead, from any source, lands in one place, gets the same follow-up and is tagged with where it came from.
- Use one CRM for every source. Connect your portal accounts, your website forms and your IDX search to the same CRM. Our guide to real estate CRMs and lead follow-up walks through the setup.
- Tag the source on every lead. Follow Up Boss's lead provider integration guide tells website developers to send leads through its events endpoint so automations run, and to use the website's domain as the source.
- Track website leads as key events. In Google Analytics 4, Google's help page on key events explains how to mark an action, such as a form submission, as important. Then you can see which pages and channels produce leads.
- Move portal contacts into your own sphere. Once a portal lead is a client, keep in touch through your email list, your market updates and your website. That relationship is yours.
- Point your portal profile to your site. Where the portal allows it, link your website from your profile so shoppers who look you up land on pages you control.
- Review results every quarter. Compare each source on leads, appointments, signed agreements and closings.
If you run a team, routing gets more complex. Our guide to building a real estate team website covers roster pages and lead routing.
How to compare cost per closing
Cost per lead is easy to see and easy to misread. A cheap lead that never answers costs more than a pricier lead that closes. Use cost per closing instead.
For each source, add up a full quarter:
- Money out: subscription or advertising spend, any fees owed at closing, and software tied to that source.
- Time out: hours spent calling, texting and showing homes to those leads.
- Results: appointments, signed buyer or listing agreements, and closings.
Then divide money out by closings. Run the same math for your website: hosting, content, SEO and ads, divided by website-sourced closings. Our guide to real estate marketing KPIs explains which numbers to track.
Remember the timing. A website's cost per closing often falls over time as pages rank and content builds. A pay-at-closing fee can arrive long after the lead, so keep a list of open portal leads and their dates.
What drives website cost
You can build your own lead source on almost any budget, but cost depends on scope. The main drivers are IDX setup, the number of neighborhood pages, custom design versus a template, and ongoing SEO and content. For eSEOspace work, see our pricing page, where work is quoted per scope.
Next step
Once you know what each source costs and returns, put it into a plan. Our 90-day marketing plan for a real estate agent shows how to balance portal spend with building your own site. When you want help building that site, see our real estate agent website design and SEO services.
Frequently asked questions
Are Zillow leads worth it for a new agent?
They can fill a pipeline while you build other sources. Weigh the full cost per closing, including time and any fee due at closing. Zillow Group's filing says Zillow Preferred is invite-only, so not every agent can choose that model.
Do I own the leads Zillow sends me?
You hold the contact details once they reach your CRM. The portal still controls how new leads are routed and priced. Read your program agreement for any terms on how you may use those contacts.
Is Zillow Preferred the same as Flex?
Zillow Group describes Zillow Preferred as the next chapter of its Flex program, introduced in the fourth quarter of 2025. It is a pay-when-you-close model in which a performance advertising fee is due on a closing, generally within two years.
Can my own website really compete with Zillow?
Not on national searches for listings. It can compete on searches for you by name, for local neighborhoods you know well and for seller questions in your area. Those leads already know who you are.
What must my website show to meet advertising rules?
It depends on your state and your brokerage. For example, California's Regulation 2773 requires your license number and your responsible broker's name on websites you own or control. Confirm your state's rules with your broker of record.
