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Your real estate website can be greatly improved with real estate plugins.

This is especially true if it’s powered by popular content management systems like WordPress or Joomla.

This article aims to help you with your decision-making which plugins are worthwhile using.

This article aims to help you decide which plugins are worth using. 

But here’s a little spoiler for you: using too many plugins might harm your Google rankings. 

I’ll explain more about that later in the article.

Editor’s Note: This blog post was updated on 07/03/2024 to include the latest information about [topic] and to address any errors or inaccuracies found in the original version.

 

 

What Is a Real Estate Plugin?

People use plugins to add extra features to their website. Usually, this website is run by a content management system (CMS).

The term “plugin” is mostly used in the context of WordPress CMS. Other platforms may use the term “extension (e.g. Joomla).”

The important thing is that a real estate plugin or extension expands the capabilities of an existing real estate website or web application.

 

13 Types of Real Estate Plugins

In my research I discovered 70 real estate plugins on WordPresse’s plugin page and 12 extensions on Joomla’s extension page.

Only from the number of available real estate plugins can one tell that WordPress is larger and more often used.

By the way, I already discussed other advantages of WordPress in this article.

So, in my research, I went through all of them and manually filtered the plugins that are relevant for real estate.

Real estate plugins I didn’t count were the following:

  • The ones that haven’t had an update for some time.
  • The ones that weren’t designed or developed for the U.S. market.

The table below will give you an overview.

Real Estate Plugin TypeShare
Add-ons for real estate plugins or themes30%
Calculators20%
Real estate pages and property listings15.71%
IDX15.71%
Virtual tours4.29%
Real estate news2.86%
Property management2.86%
Property and contact management1.43%
Property listings1.43%
CRMs1.43%
Lead generation1.43%
Reviews1.43%
Services1.43%

Besides me doing some filtering, the offer of real estate plugins available for WordPress is still more extensive than the extensions from Joomla. You can find the latter here.

Based on the above data, WordPress plugins offer more representative information for different categories.

The main plugin category on Joomla is “real estate pages and property listings,” which is also part of the major five I identified below.

I analyzed and categorized all of the real estate plugins.

Here are the fourteen categories ordered from most common to less common:

Real Estate Plugin NameCategoryNumber of Active InstallationsNumber of ReviewsReview Score (out of 5)
RealHomes Currency SwitcherAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme2,00024.5
Contempo Real Estate Custom PostsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme4,00044
RealHomes PayPal PaymentsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1,00015
Import into Easy Property ListingsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1,00015
WPCasa Advanced SearchAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1,00011
Inspiry Memberships for RealHomesAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1,00000
WPCasa Contact Form 7Add-on for real estate plugin or theme90000
Import Properties into RealHomes ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme80024
Import Property Listings into WP ResidenceAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme80000
Realtyna CoreAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme60000
Import Listings into WP Pro Real Estate 7Add-on for real estate plugin or theme40015
WPCasa PolylangAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme30000
Import Properties into Real Places ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme10000
Import Property Listings into RealiaAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme10000
Easy MLS Listings ImportAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme10000
Import Properties into the Reales WP ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme9015
WP Property Feed Connector for Houzez ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme8025
WPCasa Gravity FormsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme8000
Respacio Houzez ImportAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme3000
WP Property Feed Connector for RealHomes ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme2000
WP Property Feed Connector for Residence ThemeAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1000
Responsive Mortgage CalculatorCalculator10,000204.5
Mortgage Calculator / Loan CalculatorCalculator3,000134
Simple Mortgage CalculatorCalculator3,00045
WordPress Mortgage Calculator EstatikCalculator3,00044.5
Mortgage Calculators WPCalculator1,00094.5
Property Hive Stamp Duty CalculatorCalculator70054
Mortgage RatesCalculator70024
Property Hive Mortgage CalculatorCalculator60000
Property Hive Rental Yield CalculatorCalculator30000
Loan Calculator ProCalculator20024.5
Loan Calculator WPCalculator20000
Property Hive Rental Affordability CalculatorCalculator10000
Real Estate Fix & Flip CalculatorCalculator3015
Valuation CalculatorCalculator3000
Estatebud – Properties & ListingsCRM6015
Optima Express + MarketBoost IDX PluginIDX10,000413
IMPress for IDX BrokerIDX10,000323
Realtyna Organic IDX pluginIDX5,0002004.5
dsIDXpressIDX3,000643
Showcase IDX Real Estate SearchIDX2,000294
Flexmls® IDX PluginIDX2,000183
kvCORE IDXIDX40023
Rover IDXIDX100205
Wovax IDXIDX10085
My IDX Home SearchIDX10015
Apex IDXIDX9015
Home ValueLead generation1,00094
PropertyHiveProperty and contact management2,000675
WP Real EstateProperty listings80052
Property DriveProperty management1015
Property Management Software | UnitConnectProperty management1000
World Property Journal Real Estate News FreeReal estate news1000
Fourth Estate Newswire PublisherReal estate news1000
Essential Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings10,000444.5
Real estate pages and property listings7,0001024.5
Estatik Real Estate PluginReal estate pages and property listings6,0001455
Opal Estate Pro – Property Management and SubmissionReal estate pages and property listings70065
SimplyRETSReal estate pages and property listings50065
Crucial Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings30034.5
Realty PortalReal estate pages and property listings20011
WP Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings80144
Realty by BestWebSoftReal estate pages and property listings4053.5
OpenBrokerReal estate pages and property listings1000
SpacentoReal estate pages and property listings1000
Easy Zillow ReviewsReviews100v0
Automated Content for Real EstateService2015
iPanorama 360 WordPress Virtual Tour BuilderVirtual tours7,000194
Ogulo – 360° TourVirtual tours3015
wec360° | The real estate presentation platformVirtual tours1000

I included a cake diagram below.

This gives you a better impression of how the categories distribute.

When you look at the diagram, you will quickly see that half belong to the categories of add-ons or themes and calculators (mostly for mortgages).

Why is there such a high percentage of add-ons for existing real estate plugins or WordPress themes?

When you develop a WordPress theme, you don’t always get all the functionality right from the get-go.

The same is true when you develop WordPress plugins. 

Developing an additional plugin to fix or extend the limited functionality of a theme is often an easier workaround than making the necessary changes within the theme or the already existing plugin.

But there’s a problem with that.

When you have a theme that needs different plugins to work to its full extent, it will cost you page speed performance.

And a decreased page speed will reduce your chances of Google liking your website. enough to rank you on the first page (see my article about ranking factors here).

Now you know why offering a real estate WordPress plugin that works as a customer relationship management system isn’t a good idea. 

It may also increase the chances of getting hacked.

Why?

Each plugin needs to be updated regularly. 

Adding plugins is a bit like adding a surface to a target. 

It’s like eating more calories than you should.

 

Three Criteria for a Good Real Estate Plugin

  • A plugin should be updated regularly with the latest WordPress version (as I’ve already suggested above).
  • It should have at least 500 active installations (users already using it). The latter shows the overall acceptance of the plugin in the market.
  • At least one user review scoring at least 4 out of 5 stars.

Generally, the review part is less important. 

Why? 

We have the more important metric of active installations. 

For example, I have used many different plugins for WordPress and never left a positive or negative review. 

Many users will do the same. 

It’s faster to deactivate and delete a plugin that sucks than to write a review. 

So the active installations indirectly communicate how well accepted and established a (real estate) WordPress plugin is. 

That’s why it’s a better metric.

 

16 Best WordPress Real Estate Plugins for Agents and Agencies

Based on the earlier criteria, here is a table with the best WordPress real estate plugins for agents and agencies. 

Real Estate Plugin NameCategoryNumber of Active InstallationsNumber of ReviewsReview Score (out of 5)Pricing
Contempo Real Estate Custom PostsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme4,00044$99 per year (needs to be used with corresponding theme)
RealHomes Currency SwitcherAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme2,00024.5$59 one-time (needs to be used with RealHomes WordPress theme)
RealHomes PayPal PaymentsAdd-on for real estate plugin or theme1,00015$59 one-time (needs to be used with RealHomes WordPress theme)
Responsive Mortgage CalculatorCalculator10,000204.5free
Mortgage Calculator / Loan CalculatorCalculator3,000 134free
Simple Mortgage CalculatorCalculator3,000
45free
Optima Express + MarketBoost IDX PluginIDX10,000413from $49.95 per month
IMPress for IDX BrokerIDX10,000323from $55 per month
Realtyna Organic IDX pluginIDX5,0002004.5from $19 per month
Home ValueLead generation1,00094free for up to 10 valuations per month
PropertyHiveProperty and contact management2,000675free
WP Real EstateProperty listings80052free
Essential Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings10,000444.5free
Easy Property ListingsReal estate pages and property listings7,0001024.5free (freemium)
Estatik Real Estate PluginReal estate pages and property listings6,0001455free(freemium)
iPanorama 360 WordPress Virtual Tour BuilderVirtual tours7,000194free(freemium)

As you can see, many of the smaller real estate plugins that had their own category didn’t make it into the best category. 

Only the “iPanorama 360 WordPress Virtual Tour Builder,” “Home Value,” and “WP Real Estate” plugins made it. 

This is because most of these smaller plugins lacked the 500 active installations. 

Many had a single 5-star review but not enough active installations. 

As the overall best in terms of most active installations (10,000 each), I identified these: 

 

10 Best Free WordPress Real Estate Plugins for Agents and Agencies

You may also wonder which plugins mentioned above are free to use. 

As you may notice in the above table, free plugins can be divided into two categories.

On one end of the spectrum, there are the genuinely free ones with full functionality. 

On the other end are the free ones with limited functionality (the freemium model). 

Freemium means you need to get a paid plan if you want more functionality.

I applied the same criteria to the free plugins, and the result you can see in the list below. Here are the 10 best free WordPress real estate plugins:

 

12 Joomla Real Estate Plugins – Extensions

And what about Joomla real estate plugins that are actually called extensions?

For the sake of a complete article, I will list the 12 Joomla plugins/extensions for you below. 

But again, there is not much variety, and most, if not all, fit into the “real estate pages and property listings” category.

Name of Joomla Real Estate Plugin/ ExtensionCategory
OS Property Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings
IProperty Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings
RealEstateManagerReal estate pages and property listings
JomEstate PROReal estate pages and property listings
Domus OrganizerReal estate pages and property listings
FW Real EstateReal estate pages and property listings
Domus Organizer ProfessionalReal estate pages and property listings
JEAReal estate pages and property listings
BSDimmo OpenImmo RealEstate ToolReal estate pages and property listings
Caps for EZ RealtyReal estate pages and property listings
Real Estate NowReal estate pages and property listings
DleJPropertyReal estate pages and property listings

 

 


This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.


Tobias Schnellbacher