Zillow Files Reveal Concerns Over Compass’ Technology as a Growing Threat
February 2, 2026 — Newly uncovered court documents from the ongoing legal dispute between real estate giants Zillow and Compass provide an in-depth look at how Zillow perceives Compass’ expanding technology offerings as a significant challenge to its market dominance.
Insights from Court Documents
The documents, part of a substantial trove released amidst litigation, reveal Zillow’s internal evaluation of potential threats to its growth — with a particular focus on tech innovations being developed by Compass for both agents and consumers. These documents shed light on the strategic considerations made by Zillow during a period marked by rapid expansion and increasing competition within the real estate portal space.
While much of the documentation centers around the rise of private listings, it also highlights a specific set of emails and analyses where Zillow identifies Compass’ growing suite of software services as a direct competitive threat.
Zillow’s Technology Ecosystem and Market Position
Zillow currently offers a wide array of tools widely utilized in the real estate industry, including home search, lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM), transaction management, and, notably, tour scheduling software — an area where Zillow is particularly strong after acquiring ShowingTime in 2021. According to Mike DelPrete, a leading real estate tech strategist, Zillow’s software functions as “the operating system for the real estate industry,” underscoring the portal’s powerful role in facilitating the majority of real estate transactions nationwide.
However, Compass’ ascendancy as the largest brokerage by agent count, sales volume, and transaction sides has coincided with its aggressive investment in proprietary technology. The brokerage’s ambitious development of integrated platforms poses a growing competitive threat to Zillow’s comprehensive offerings.
Compass One: A Key Competitive Focus
A pivotal moment highlighted in the documents is the unveiling of Compass One, a client-facing platform launched on February 3, 2025. Less than two weeks after this launch, Zillow’s senior leadership commissioned a “competitive teardown” of Compass One to assess its impact.
The analysis characterized Compass One as an extension of Compass’ broad agent-centric platform, designed to deepen client engagement beyond the transaction close by integrating CRM, marketing, and transaction management tools — a product resulting from over $1.7 billion in technology investment by Compass.
Zillow’s assessment found overlap between Compass One and its own products. For instance, Compass One includes market analysis features that rival Zillow’s Zestimate tool. It also allows home tour scheduling directly through client profiles, potentially bypassing Zillow’s ShowingTime service.
Interestingly, Zillow acknowledged certain advantages in Compass’ platform — such as providing clients with enhanced real-time insights into transaction steps via an easy-to-understand timeline. Yet, Zillow also pointed out its own strengths, noting that Compass lacks a tour scheduling technology comparable to Zillow’s and that Zillow’s CRM platform, Follow Up Boss, is highly regarded in the industry.
Compass confirmed it has no current plans to develop a nationwide tour scheduling product.
Potential Impact on Ancillary Services
Zillow’s analysis further identified that Compass One’s tighter integration of transaction processes and agent-client communications could yield higher attachment rates for ancillary services such as home loans—a key growth area for Zillow.
This raised concerns about increasing competition in sectors beyond just real estate listings and transactions.
Internal Strategic Considerations
The documents also reveal Zillow’s contemplation of enhancing its own client-facing dashboard to bolster its value proposition and increase the “switching costs” for agents who might otherwise migrate to Compass’ technology. Zillow noted agents’ inherent mobility between brokerages and suggested that a more integrated platform might encourage loyalty.
Moreover, Zillow expressed apprehension about a potential “flywheel effect” tied to Compass’ private listing network (PLN). If Compass agents were required to use Compass One exclusively — thereby reducing the use of Zillow’s complementary tools — this could diminish Zillow’s total addressable market. It might also incentivize other brokerages to develop proprietary tools and restrict Zillow’s role in private listing ecosystems.
Compass currently allows agents the flexibility to use a variety of third-party tools and does not mandate exclusive use of its own software.
Zillow’s Response and Position
Due to ongoing litigation, Zillow declined detailed comment on the documents but stressed that monitoring new industry developments is “a standard part of delivering technology at scale.”
A Zillow spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to creating tools that empower real estate professionals and highlighted that their platform serves agents across the industry, not just within a single brokerage. The statement emphasized Zillow’s focus on open solutions designed to support the broader real estate ecosystem, alongside ongoing innovation.
As the rivalry between Zillow and Compass continues to unfold, these court documents provide a rare glimpse into the strategic considerations shaping the future landscape of real estate technology. Zillow’s recognition of Compass’ technological advancements underscores the growing importance of integrated digital platforms in driving agent and consumer engagement in a rapidly evolving market.
