Zillow Rentals Launches Listing Spotlight Feature

While much of Zillow’s product development over the past few years, including its Listing Showcase feature, has been geared to for-sale properties, the listing portal giant is now turning the spotlight on rental properties. On Friday, Zillow Rentals announced a new feature called Listing Spotlight, which it says is geared toward single-family and small-building rental providers.

By using Listing Spotlight, property managers gain access to the highest available exposure for their properties across the Zillow Rentals ecosystem, which includes Trulia and Hot Pads. Property managers can choose the number of Listing Spotlight placements they want via a monthly subscription with Zillow. They can then assign the placements to specific properties, which they can change as business priorities shift.

“Managers of single-family rentals and smaller buildings have told us they want more exposure and flexibility in how they promote their most important listings,” Michael Sherman, the senior vice president, Zillow Rentals, said in a statement. “Listing Spotlight puts that power in their hands — helping the right homes stand out at the right time, while staying flexible as leasing needs shift.”

Listing Spotlight is available to AppFolio users starting Monday before it is more widely rolled out in 2026. Zillow announced its partnership with AppFolio in April 2025. The company sees this as a deepening of its partnership with AppFolio.

“This new offering with Zillow gives AppFolio customers the premium visibility tools they need to stay competitive in a shifting market — seamlessly integrated into their existing workflows,” Kyle Triplett, the senior vice president of product at AppFolio, said in a statement. “It’s about enabling smarter marketing decisions with less effort and giving our customers greater control over their leasing funnel.”

Zillow’s rental property operation has faced scrutiny in recent months due to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by CoStar, who is claiming that Zillow allegedly used photos, owned by CoStar, of rental properties without obtaining the proper permissions. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin over their rentals syndication deal.