Zillow Showcase is a paid, premium listing format that agents buy for individual listings on Zillow. A Showcase listing adds a Zillow 3D Home tour, an interactive floor plan, an AI-arranged room-by-room photo layout, priority placement in search and email alerts to shoppers. Zillow doesn't publish prices, but as of October 2026 brokerage documents put standard pricing at $300 to $750 per listing, with negotiated brokerage rates as low as $150. Whether it's worth it depends far more on winning listings than on the sale price bump.
VidListings makes a listing video tool, mentioned below. We've tried to keep this guide useful whether or not you use it.
What is Zillow Showcase?
Showcase started in June 2023 as "Listing Showcase," a subscription sold to a select number of listing agents in five launch markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle.
It has grown fast since then. In its Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Zillow says Showcase is on about 5% of all new listings nationally and on more than 10% of new listings in its top 10 markets.
A few things haven't changed:
- The agent buys it, not the seller. You pay Zillow per listing or through a subscription that gives you Showcase credits.
- The MLS is still the source. You build the Showcase listing in Zillow's Showcase workspace, and it goes live on Zillow automatically when the MLS listing goes live.
- It's limited per market. Zillow generally caps Showcase at about 10% of active listings in a market, according to HousingWire, though some brokerage deals guarantee their agents a spot.
What does a Zillow Showcase listing include?
Here's what you get, pulled from Zillow's own Showcase getting-started guide and the RE/MAX Showcase FAQ (March 2026):
- Zillow 3D Home tour. Required. Buyers walk through the home online.
- Interactive floor plan. Required. Buyers click a room on the plan and see that room's photos.
- At least 10 high-quality photos. Shot by a photographer with the equipment and training to capture Showcase media.
- AI photo layout. Zillow's AI picks the top 3 to 5 photos for the opening carousel and suggests "featured rooms," which you can edit (editing guide).
- More exposure. Priority placement in search and map results, dedicated email alerts to shoppers, and your brokerage branding on the listing.
- One listing video. Since late September 2025, a video of up to 120 seconds can sit second in the photo carousel and autoplay on mute. No extra cost.
- Buyer-side virtual staging. Shoppers can restage featured rooms themselves in eight styles, from Modern to Farmhouse.
- SkyTour, in some markets. An interactive 360-degree exterior view built from drone footage. Only available through a Zillow Media Experts premium package, and not everywhere.
- Performance reports. Page views, saves, shares and email counts, compared with similar non-Showcase listings, with downloadable reports you can send to sellers.
Those reports point to something easy to miss: Showcase is built as much for your listing presentation as for buyers. Zillow even pitches the video feature as a way to stand out in listing presentations.
How much does Zillow Showcase cost in 2026?
Zillow doesn't publish a public rate card. What we know comes from brokerage documents and trade press, and it's summarized below (as of October 2026).
| Route | Price per Showcase listing | Terms | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (retail) pricing | $300–$750 | 6 to 12 month contract, at least one listing a month | RE/MAX FAQ, March 2026 |
| RE/MAX affiliates | $150 | No contract, no minimum, from April 13, 2026 | RE/MAX FAQ |
| Baird & Warner agents | 40% off standard pricing | Pay per listing, no monthly contract | HousingWire, August 2026 |
| Other brokerages | Not public | Zillow says it has enterprise deals with "some of the country's largest brokers and franchisors" | Q1 2026 letter |
The media is a separate cost
The Showcase fee doesn't cover the photos, 3D tour and interactive floor plan. You can book them three ways inside Showcase: your own photographer (if they meet Zillow's technical requirements), a "Showcase Select" local company, or Zillow Media Experts.
RE/MAX agents pay a flat $249 (Essential) or $429 (Premium) for Zillow Media Experts packages. Zillow's non-discounted media prices aren't public, and independent photographers set their own.
What isn't public
- Zillow's own rate card, and how price changes by home price or market.
- Whether your account offers other payment routes. Zillow's listing setup guide shows options like "use an available Showcase listing," "use your own payment method" and a route that applies only to Zillow seller connections. Ask your rep which apply to you.
One rule worth knowing before you click: once a Showcase credit is used, it isn't refundable. Check the address twice.
What Zillow says Showcase does (and the fine print)
Zillow publishes its performance claims on its Showcase facts page, last updated July 8, 2026. Here they are with the comparison behind each one.
| Zillow's claim | Compared with | Data window |
|---|---|---|
| 84% more page views, 77% more saves, 93% more shares | Similar nearby non-Showcase listings, first 14 days on market | 12-month average to June 2026, top and bottom 5% removed |
| 10% more likely to go pending in the first 14 days | Same matched listings | 12-month average to June 2026 |
| Sells for 2% more, about $7,000 on average | Similar non-Showcase listings in the same metro at a similar list price | Homes sold on or before March 2026 |
| 85% more views, 72% more saves, 67% more shares after switching | The same listing, 7 days before vs. 7 days after | 6-month average to June 2026 |
| Agents using Showcase on most listings win 35% more listings | Matched agents without Showcase | June 2022 to June 2026 |
How to read these:
- They're Zillow's numbers. It's Zillow's own analysis of its own product, not an independent study.
- The matching is decent but partial. Zillow matches on home type, location, price, size and bedrooms. It can't match on photo quality, condition, staging or the agent's skill.
- Agents choose which listings get Showcase. They're likely to pick the homes that show best and the sellers who care most about marketing. That choice alone could lift results.
- The listing-win figure is a correlation. Agents who pay for premium marketing on most listings may already be the ones growing fastest.
- The numbers move. In April 2025, the same claims read 79% more views and 30% more listings won (older version).
None of this means Showcase doesn't work. More views and saves are plausible when a listing gets bigger media, better placement and its own email alerts. Just don't promise a seller 2% more.
Is Zillow Showcase worth it?
Start with the math most agents skip. Say your side is 2.5% (commissions are negotiable, so use your real number). A $7,000 higher sale price adds $175 to your gross commission before your brokerage split.
So the price lift alone rarely pays for a retail Showcase listing plus media. The real return is winning the next listing, keeping sellers happy and getting the home seen in its first two weeks.
When it's usually worth it
- Sellers in your market ask for it. If a competing agent will pitch Showcase at the listing appointment, you need an answer.
- Your brokerage has a deal. $150 per listing is a very different decision from $750 on a 12-month contract.
- The home is hard to understand from photos. Large homes, unusual layouts and multi-level properties benefit most from the floor plan and 3D tour.
- You already order a Zillow 3D Home tour and floor plan. Then the extra cost is just the Showcase fee.
- You use Zillow Preview. Zillow says agents who use both put Showcase on nearly half of their Preview listings when they go live.
When it usually isn't
- Entry-level homes in fast markets. If similar homes go pending in a weekend, extra exposure has little room to help.
- You list a few homes a year. A retail contract that expects one Showcase listing a month will cost you on quiet months.
- Your market is at the cap. If Showcase spots are full, you may not be able to buy one at all.
- The media is weak. Showcase makes your photos bigger. It doesn't make them better.
Zillow Showcase vs regular listing vs DIY listing video
Most agents aren't choosing between Showcase and nothing. They're choosing what to spend on each listing. Here's how the three options compare (prices as of October 2026).
| Zillow Showcase | Standard Zillow listing | DIY listing video from photos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Premium Zillow listing layout | Your MLS listing as Zillow shows it | A short video made from the listing photos |
| Zillow fee | Reported $150–$750 per listing, depending on your deal | None, it comes through the MLS feed | None |
| 3D tour and interactive floor plan | Required | Optional, if you order them | Not included |
| Photo layout | AI-grouped room by room, with hero photos | Standard photo carousel | You choose the order |
| Search placement and email alerts | Priority placement and dedicated alerts | Standard | No effect on Zillow |
| Video | One carousel video, up to 120 seconds, from your photographer | No Showcase video slot | The video file itself, in vertical, square and wide |
| Where buyers see it | Zillow | Zillow (your MLS also feeds other portals) | Reels, TikTok, Shorts, YouTube, your website, email |
| Best for | Competitive listing appointments and complex homes | Every listing | Every listing, especially on social |
One point most comparisons miss: a 3D tour and interactive floor plan aren't exclusive to Showcase. Zillow says its 3D tours and interactive floor plans are on 11% of new for-sale listings, while Showcase is on about 5%. You can buy the media for a standard listing and skip the Showcase fee.
For a deeper look at hiring a crew for the video side, see our guide to real estate videography costs and when to hire.
How to get a polished listing video without Showcase
Showcase lives on Zillow. Buyers also scroll Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and your sphere opens your emails. A short listing video covers those places, with or without Showcase.
Here's a simple process that works for most listings:
- Start with good photos. A video made from photos is only as good as the photos. Professional, bright, straight verticals.
- Pick 12 to 20 photos in walk-through order. Exterior, entry, living room, kitchen, dining, primary suite, best bath, backyard, then a closing exterior.
- Turn the photos into a video. In VidListings, you paste the Zillow link and it pulls in the photos, price, beds, baths and address. Each photo becomes a roughly 3-second scene with a smooth camera move, and you add music, your agent card and a "Just Listed" title card.
- Export the shapes you need. Vertical 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, square 1:1 for feeds, wide 16:9 for YouTube and your website.
- Post it where Zillow can't reach. Our listing video playbook for Reels, TikTok and YouTube has the platform-by-platform details.
Be clear with yourself about what this is. VidListings moves your real photos. It doesn't build a 3D tour or a floor plan, and it doesn't invent rooms, views or furniture. For how AI handles that line, read AI real estate videos without fake rooms.
If you do use AI to stage an empty room, disclose it. Our virtual staging guide covers the disclosure rules.
If you also buy Showcase
A photo-based video and Showcase can work together, with one catch. The Showcase carousel video must come from the photographer who shot the listing, uploaded through Zillow's Aryeo platform, with no persistent logos or watermarks.
So ask your photographer for an unbranded Zillow video walkthrough for the Showcase slot. Use your branded photo video, with your agent card, everywhere else.
The short version
- Zillow Showcase is a paid upgrade for active listings: 3D tour, interactive floor plan, AI room-by-room photos, priority placement, email alerts and a 120-second video slot.
- Zillow doesn't publish prices. Standard pricing reported by RE/MAX is $300 to $750 per listing on a contract, and some brokerages pay much less.
- Media is extra unless your brokerage package includes it.
- Zillow's performance numbers are its own, measured against matched listings. Useful, but not a promise.
- It's most worth it when sellers expect it, your brokerage has a discount or the home is hard to read from photos.
- With or without Showcase, give every listing a short video for social, your website and your sphere.
If you want that video made from the listing photos in a few minutes, that's what VidListings does. It's free to start.
