Zillow doesn’t publish a price list for Premier Agent. Its site says the price of leads “varies by market, home values, expected connections, and more”, and reports an average cost per lead of $223 in major metro areas and $139 in others. Its pay-at-closing program, long called Flex and now marketed as Zillow Preferred, charges nothing upfront and takes a share of your commission at closing.
OfferBacked is not affiliated with Zillow. The per-lead averages and the pricing terms quoted here are from Zillow’s public pages as of October 2026 and can change. Ask Zillow for current pricing in your ZIP codes.
How the pricing works
Premier Agent is sold by ZIP code. You don’t buy a set number of leads at a posted price. Agents and the trade press usually describe it as buying a “share of voice”: a share of the buyer contacts Zillow passes to agents in that ZIP code.
Zillow’s own explanation is short. The price “varies by market, home values, expected connections, and more”. In practice that means the same spend buys very different results in two ZIP codes, and the only price that counts is the quote for yours. Before you talk to a rep, look up prices and sales for each ZIP code in the ZIP market profile.
What a lead costs on average
Zillow reports an average cost per lead of $223 in major metro areas and $139 in non-major metros. Those are averages across many markets. Your quote may be higher or lower.
A lead, or a “connection” as Zillow calls a buyer it puts in touch with you, is not a closing. To judge the price you need two more numbers: how many connections it takes you to get one closing, and how long that takes.
The pay-at-closing program
Zillow also runs a program with no upfront cost, where you pay a referral fee when a deal closes. It was called Flex for years and is reported to have been renamed Zillow Preferred in October 2025. As of October 2026, Zillow’s pricing page for the program says:
- The fee is a percentage of the full commission you expect to receive for your side of the sale.
- Fees vary by market, transaction price and the date of the connection.
- Seller connections carry a 40% referral fee in all markets.
- Zillow can change the fee with 15 days’ notice.
Reports from agents and trade coverage put the range for buyer connections at about 15% to 40%, and say the program is offered by invitation. We could not confirm those two points on Zillow’s own pages, so ask. In dollars, on a $10,500 commission, 15% is $1,575 and 40% is $4,200.
Other companies run similar programs. See pay-at-closing lead programs, explained.
How to judge a quote
Turn the monthly price into three numbers.
- Cost per connection: the monthly price divided by the connections you’re told to expect. A quote of $1,115 a month for about 5 connections works out to $223 each.
- Cost per closing: cost per connection divided by your close rate. If you close 1 connection in 50, that’s $11,150. At 1 in 33, it’s about $7,433. At 1 in 20, it’s $4,460.
- Months of spend before a first closing: at 5 connections a month and 1 closing in 33, the first closing comes out of about seven months of connections. Buyers found online often take months to transact. If that buyer needs three more months to find a home and close, you’ve paid for ten months, or $11,150, before the first commission arrives.
We know of no published close rate for Zillow leads. Industry estimates for online leads in general run roughly 0.4% to 3% (estimates, not a single study), and a buyer who asked to speak with an agent may do better than a form lead. If you don’t know your own rate yet, run a low case and a high case.
Then compare with what a closing pays you. Take a $420,000 sale at a 2.5% fee (an example; commissions are negotiable). The gross commission is $10,500, and on a 70/30 split you keep $7,350. At $223 a connection, you need about 1 closing in every 33 connections, roughly 3%, to cover the ad cost out of what you keep. Below that rate, the spend costs more than it brings in.
Try it: Zillow Premier Agent break-evenEnter your spend and connections to see cost per closing and your break-even close rate.Questions to ask the rep
- How many connections should I expect each month at this price, and is that an estimate or a commitment?
- What share of the connections in each ZIP code does this buy?
- How long is the term, and how do I cancel or change ZIP codes?
- Can the price change during the term or at renewal?
- What counts as a connection, and what happens with a wrong number or a duplicate?
- How will connections reach me, and how fast do I have to answer?
- Is the pay-at-closing program offered in my market, and what is the referral fee here for buyers and for sellers?
Get the answers in writing before you sign.
Other options to price
Whatever you decide, price the quote against other ways to reach buyers.
- Pay-at-closing programs: no upfront cost, and a referral fee when a deal closes. Reported fees run from about 15% to 40% of your commission.
- Your own ads: WordStream’s 2026 benchmarks put the median Facebook lead for real estate at $13.74, and LocaliQ’s 2026 search benchmarks put the median search-ad lead at $102.51. You do all the follow-up. See what real estate leads cost in 2026.
- Farming: mailing the same area all year. By practitioner convention, expect 6 to 12 months or more before results. See how farming works and what it costs.
- Local visibility: sponsorships, signs and ZIP-level advertising. OfferBacked sells a Spotlight ad in the ZIP codes you choose, from $10 a month per ZIP code. It buys visibility, not leads, and as a new site it has no track record to show yet.
For more ways to find buyers, read how to get buyer leads as a real estate agent.
Common questions
How much does Zillow Premier Agent cost per month?
There’s no public rate card. Zillow says the price varies by market, home values, expected connections and more, and reports an average cost per lead of $223 in major metro areas and $139 elsewhere.
What is Zillow Preferred?
Zillow Preferred is the current name for Zillow’s pay-at-closing program, long known as Flex. There is no upfront cost, and Zillow takes a share of the agent’s commission at closing: 40% on seller connections per its pricing page, and a reported 15% to 40% on buyers depending on the market and price.
How do I work out whether a Zillow Premier Agent quote makes sense for me?
Divide the monthly price by the connections you expect, to get the cost per connection. Then divide that by your close rate to get the cost per closing. Compare it with what you keep from a closing, and count the months of spend before a first commission.
Updated October 2026. General information for real estate professionals, not legal, tax or financial advice. Prices, platform rules and program terms change, so confirm them at the source.