You might have heard about the benefits of integrating MLS property listing data via IDX on your real estate website or using a ready-made real estate website with IDX integration.
If you are currently on the fence about implementing this, you might ask yourself how much IDX costs.
Regarding IDX WordPress Plugins, you pay between $50 to $200 per month and $100 to $200 as one-time setup fees.
Regarding ready-made real estate websites integrating IDX, you have similar monthly costs of between $60 and $200 and one-time setup fees between $0 and $200.
This resumed information I gathered from the 12 providers I researched and analyzed for this article.
And when you read this article to the end, you will also learn how to get IDX and find out more about the different providers on the market with their respective costs.
At the end of the article, I also cover whether you can get IDX for free.
How to Get IDX for Real Estate?
As you may know, IDX (Internet Data Exchange) helps your real estate websites automatically get property listing data from multiple listing service databases and then display this data on your individual real estate website.
By the way, I also covered this topic already in this, this, and this article.
In web development terms, the IDX application parses data from the respective application programming interface of the property listing site into your real estate website.
Implementing this functionality on your real estate website will save you a lot of time since you won’t have to manually update any property changes that happen on multiple listing service databases.
You have two options to get IDX functionality on your real estate website.
You have it developed from scratch for your website, which is likely the most expensive and, at the same time, not the brightest and most recommended option.
Why is it not the brightest and most recommended option?
Because there are already many different providers on the market that offer software solutions that you can implement on your real estate website.
Having it developed from scratch only makes sense if no provider supports the specific MLS you need to use for your real estate listings.
But very often, even then, a development from scratch won’t be the best idea because some already existing software might be able to get adapted to your individual needs via the respective application programming interface.
The second option is using web-based software solutions from already existing providers.
How Much Does Real Estate IDX Cost? An Overview of 12 Providers
While researching this article, I quickly realized that there are two routes to most IDX software providers for your real estate website and, thus, the potential costs involved.
The first one I covered in my article is how to easily integrate MLS into a WordPress-based real estate website.
This can be done using plugins, basically code snippets extending the basic functionality of a WordPress-based (real estate) website.
The second route involves IDX software providers that offer out-of-the-box or ready-made real estate websites, including IDX functionality.
For both routes, I recommend being weary of solutions that use Iframes to integrate IDX.
Why?
Until recently, integrating external data of a foreign website via Iframes on your website negatively impacted search engine optimization since Google couldn’t crawl this area of your website.
This has changed, and this practice doesn’t have any bad impact anymore.
But you should remember that the content loaded in an Iframe on your website is still considered content belonging to another.
So, it won’t have a positive SEO effect either.
As a side note, I wanted to mention this, so you will not prioritize IDX solutions with Iframes.
But as I can observe more and more, many providers are picking up on that and improving the internal working of their software, and more and more refrain from using Iframes.
How Much Does Real Estate IDX Cost via WordPress Plugins
Below, you will find a short table where you will find the prices of the IDX solutions via Plugins should you have a WordPress-powered real estate website.
| Plugin Name | Monthly Cost | One-Time Cost/ Setup Fee |
|---|---|---|
| DSIDXPress (Diverse Solutions) | $49.95 - $74.95 | $99.95 |
| iHomeFinder | $49.95 - $129.95 | $99 |
| Ultimate IDX | $49 | $0 |
| IMPress for IDX Broker | $50-$100 | $100 |
| WPL Pro by Realtyna | $0 | $199 |
| Showcase IDX Real Estate Search | $59.95 - $99.95 | $0 |
| MLSImport | $49 | $99 |
| SimplyRETS | $49-$199 | $199 |
| Wovax IDX | $42 | $0 |
As a whole, you pay a one-time setup fee of between $100 and $200 and monthly costs of between $50 to $200 depending on how many agents and/or websites you will use the respective IDX WordPress plugin.
How Much Does Real Estate IDX Cost with Out-of-the-Box Real Estate Website Solutions?
The out-of-the-box real estate website solutions, including MLS integration via IDX, usually have many other features.
You usually pay more monthly than with an existing WordPress-based website and an additional IDX plugin.
Some providers, such as iHomeFinder and MLSImport, offer both solutions: out-of-the-box real estate websites with IDX integrations and WordPress plugins.
The more I think about providers offering both routes, the more I think it’s likely to be beneficial to prefer these.
Why?
You could first try it with one of their IDX real estate website packages, and later down the road, you could change to your own WordPress-based real estate website and keep using their software to integrate your MLS via their IDX WordPress plugins.
This might be more beneficial since the change would be smoother, and you would already know how things are working with the respective provider.
Below is a table with the three providers I identified that offer real estate websites with IDX integration.
| Provider Name | Monthly Cost | One-Time Cost/ Setup Fee |
|---|---|---|
| iHomeFinder | $59.95-$199.95 | $99 |
| IdxBroker | $150-$200 | $500 |
| MLSImport | $59 | $0 |
As you can see in the table, you will have a monthly cost of between $60 and $200, depending on your needs. Setup fees can range between $0 and $200.
Can You Get Real Estate IDX for Free?
After discussing the pricing of the different IDX plugins and real estate website providers, you might wonder if you could get the IDX functionality for free.
The answer is, unfortunately, “no” regarding ready-made or out-of-the-box IDX real estate websites.
And in the case of WordPress plugins, the answer is a conditional “yes” or a “yes, but.”
Why a conditional “yes”?
During my research, I found outdated lists of supposedly free IDX plugins for WordPress or free IDX websites.
I estimate that about 99% of today’s providers will offer these products for free with quite a limited functionality.
In other words, when this happens, it’s a freemium model in most cases.
The only “free” one I found (also freemium) offers IDX integration for up to 5 listings that shouldn’t have more than five photos, each called ClickSold.
The WordPress Plugins that I found that truly were free in the past are now either outdated or discontinued.
Unless you know how to code and have some time to develop your own IDX integration, you will not find a truly free solution to integrate IDX on your website or get an IDX website for free.
In other words, you will always somehow pay something in monetary form or time for implementing IDX on your real estate website.
This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.
