Productivity & Business · Finance, Billing & Accounting

Zillow Rental Manager

Zillow Rental Manager is Zillow's landlord tool to list rentals, screen applicants, sign leases and collect rent, free apart from optional Premium listings.

Our take: A landlord pays nothing to list, screen or collect rent, and Premium is a flat $39.99 per listing for up to 90 days.

Best forIndependent landlords

ReviewedOct 2026Freemium

7.25 criteria · see breakdown

Try ZillowFree; $39.99 per listing (Premium, 90 days)

Zillow Rental Manager is Zillow's landlord tool for listing a rental, screening applicants, signing leases and collecting rent online. Posting a listing is free and application and screening reports cost the landlord nothing; Premium is an optional one-time $39.99 per listing for up to 90 days. Renters pay the application fee, which Zillow's own pages put at $40 in some places and $35 in others. It is a listing, screening and rent tool, and the pages checked list no accounting tools; Zillow's help center sends communities of 25 or more units to its advertising products instead.

The bottom line

A free way to list on Zillow, Trulia and HotPads and run applications, leases and rent in one account; check the renter fees before you rely on it.

Our score

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team. Hover a facet to focus it; click to pin.Tap a facet to focus it.

What it is, and why we rate it

One line each. Open a row for detail.

What it really isZillow's landlord tools for listing a rental, screening applicants, signing leases and collecting rent, free for the landlord apart from an optional Premium listing.

Our takeA landlord pays nothing to list, screen or collect rent, and Premium is a flat $39.99 per listing for up to 90 days.

The costs sit with renters: an application fee that Zillow's live pages put at $40 and its help articles at $35, plus payment fees that help articles describe in two different ways. The pages checked show listings, applications, leases and rent collection, and no accounting tools.

Why we rate itZillow's pages show free listing, screening reports at no cost to the landlord, free leases and free rent collection for landlords, with a Premium upgrade that is a flat fee rather than a subscription.

The catchRenters pay the application fee, and Zillow states it as $40 in some places and $35 in others.

Help articles also describe renter payment fees in two ways. Premium is not refundable if you remove a listing early.

Best / not good for

Best for

Independent landlords with a few rentals
Landlords who want screening reports without paying for them
Owners who want one listing shown on Zillow, Trulia and HotPads

Not good for

Landlords who want bookkeeping or tax reports in the same tool
Owners of multifamily communities with 25 or more units, since Zillow's help center points them to its advertising products
Landlords who want to customize the application form

Trade-offs

Friction report

Trade-offs to know before signing up.

Time to value
Zillow says a listing takes minutes to create; screening needs the renter to apply and pay the fee.
Scale breakpoint
Premium is bought one listing at a time with no bulk pricing, and landlords who syndicate several rentals through a feed are sent to a separate Zillow inquiry route.
Walled garden
Listings are distributed to Zillow, Trulia and HotPads, and screening runs through Zillow's partners Experian and CIC; the application form cannot be customized.

Still a fit?

If none of these block you, start on the free plan.

Try Zillow

Zillow Rental Manager fees: who pays what

What	Landlord pays	Renter pays
Posting a listing	$0	-
Premium listing (optional)	$39.99 one time per listing, up to 90 days	-
Application and screening reports	$0	$40 application fee on Zillow's live product pages, $35 in its help-center articles
Leases (upload and e-sign)	$0	$0
Online rent collection	$0	Zillow's help articles disagree; see the table below
Rent reporting to Experian and Equifax	-	$0 (opt-in, for renters who pay through Zillow)

From Zillow's Rental Manager pages and help center, checked 28 October 2026; the help center articles and the Online Rental Applications FAQ were read again on 2 November 2026. Zillow's other Rental Manager product pages sit behind a bot check and could not be re-read. The Premium fee, lease and rent-payment figures come from help-center articles; Zillow's product pages call Premium a one-time fee without giving an amount. A landlord cannot pay an applicant's fee for them, and Premium is not refundable if you remove a listing early.

Free listing and Premium listing

Feature	Included in
Listing shown on Zillow, Trulia and HotPads	Every listing
Online tenant screening, digital lease signing and online rent payments	Every listing
Higher position in search results for renters in your area	Premium
Tracking phone number	Premium
Insights on pricing, listing performance and leads, plus listing recommendations	Premium
Priority support	Premium

From Zillow's help center articles on paying for listings and Premium, read again on 2 November 2026. Premium does not renew automatically, and Zillow does not offer bulk pricing for several Premium listings.

Where Zillow's own pages disagree

Item	Where on Zillow	What it says
Renter application fee	Tenant screening page and Online Rental Applications FAQ	$40, includes screening reports, valid at participating rentals for 30 days
Renter application fee	Help center, "How much does the application cost?"	$35, valid at participating rentals for 30 days
Renter fees on rent payments	Help center, "How much does it cost to use online rent payments?" (marked updated about five years ago)	Free for landlords; ACH is free for renters; 2.95% on credit cards; $9.95 on debit for rent charges, or $4.95 for other charges
Renter fees on rent payments	Help center, "Rent Reporting to Credit Bureaus" (marked updated about two years ago)	No cost to renters or landlords for using Zillow's payments product

Help center articles and the Online Rental Applications FAQ read on 2 November 2026; the other Zillow product pages were not readable. The conflicts remain: the help center marks these articles as updated between about five years ago and about six months ago, so some may be out of date. Confirm the fee in your own Rental Manager account before you rely on a figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Zillow Rental Manager free?How much does Zillow Rental Manager cost?What are the fees for Zillow Rental Manager?What is Zillow Rental Manager?Where does my Zillow Rental Manager listing appear?Can I use Zillow Rental Manager for an apartment building?Is the Zillow rental application legit?

Is Zillow Rental Manager free?

For landlords, mostly yes (checked 2 November 2026). Posting a listing is free, and Zillow says application and tenant screening reports cost the landlord nothing. Zillow's help center says all listings posted directly to Rental Manager have been free to publish since May 2022. The optional Premium upgrade is a one-time $39.99 per listing for up to 90 days. Renters pay the application fee.

How much does Zillow Rental Manager cost?

A free listing costs $0 and a Premium listing costs $39.99 once, per listing, for up to 90 days (checked 2 November 2026). Premium does not renew automatically, and Zillow's help center says it gives no refund, full or partial, if you remove the listing early. The help center describes leases as free for landlords and tenants and rent collection as free for landlords. Zillow offers no bulk price for several Premium listings.

What are the fees for Zillow Rental Manager?

The landlord pays $0 to list, screen or collect rent online, apart from the optional Premium fee (checked 2 November 2026). Renters pay the application fee, which Zillow's live pages put at $40 (the Online Rental Applications FAQ was re-read on 2 November 2026) and its help-center articles at $35; it includes the screening reports and lets them apply at participating rentals for 30 days, and a landlord cannot pay it for them. For rent payments, one help article lists no fee for ACH, 2.95% on credit cards and $9.95 on debit, while another says there is no cost to renters or landlords, so confirm the fee in your account.

What is Zillow Rental Manager?

Zillow Rental Manager is Zillow Group's landlord tool for creating a rental listing, accepting applications, signing leases and collecting rent online. Zillow's help center says one listing is distributed to Zillow, Trulia and HotPads, and that HotPads landlord tools moved into it. This page covers Rental Manager only, not Zillow's apartment advertising products or its Rental Protection lease insurance.

Where does my Zillow Rental Manager listing appear?

Zillow's help center says a listing posted in Rental Manager is shown on Zillow, Trulia and HotPads. Premium listings are placed higher in search results for renters in your area. Landlords who syndicate several rentals through a listing feed are sent to a separate Zillow inquiry route for pricing.

Can I use Zillow Rental Manager for an apartment building?

Zillow's help center says landlords listing a multifamily community with 25 or more units should look at Zillow's advertising products instead. The listing form also offers an Entire Apartment Community property type. The application form cannot be customized, and the pages checked list no accounting tools.

Is the Zillow rental application legit?

It is part of Zillow Rental Manager on zillow.com, not a separate service. Zillow's pages say the renter fee covers screening reports: a credit report from Experian and a background check by CIC with a nationwide eviction search, sex offender search and nationwide criminal search. Renters pay $40 on Zillow's live pages (help-center articles still say $35). The fee also lets them apply to an unlimited number of participating rentals for 30 days. Renters can upload up to five documents to verify income, and a landlord cannot pay the fee on an applicant's behalf (checked 2 November 2026).