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For the task “two-bedroom rentals in Denver under $2,500,” three of six third-party Zillow MCP servers returned rental listings in a September 2026 test. HasData returned the most rentals among the task-correct options in a single search call; one Apify actor returned fewer listings with more fields, while another returned more listings through a two-step workflow. These are bounded test results, not a guarantee of current performance.
What counted as working in the test?
Sergey Ermakovich tested six third-party services on September 9, 2026, using the same for-rent search in Denver, Colorado. The client was the official MCP TypeScript SDK, with a 240-second timeout. Each service was run three times, except the browser-bridge option, which had six attempted calls. A call counted as failed if it returned an error, an error disguised as a normal result, or an empty list. Reported latency is the median of successful calls. The benchmark article was published on DEV Community on September 15, 2026: Zillow MCP Server Comparison: 6 Tested, 3 Actually Work.
For this comparison, “working” should mean returning the requested property type and usable results—not simply producing a response. APIllow answered all three calls but returned sale listings instead of rentals, so it did not complete the task.
How the six options compared
| Service | Reported result for the Denver rental task | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| HasData Zillow MCP | 3/3 calls; 41 rentals, 21 fields; median 5.4 seconds | Hosted. One broad search call supports filtering; property details can be retrieved in a follow-up call. Some results represented buildings and had null listing fields, so inspect the records. |
| Apify, afanasenko actor | 3/3 calls; 15 rentals, 77 fields; median 7.2 seconds | Hosted. Had the richest per-listing records in this test, but the actor capped results at 15 per call. |
| Apify, maxcopell actor | 3/3 workflows; 40 rentals, 17 fields; median 13.0 seconds | Hosted. Requires a run followed by a dataset-fetch call; the first response is run metadata, not listings. |
| APIllow | 3/3 calls answered; five sale listings; median 16.5 seconds | Local package. It returned the wrong property type, and the tested package needed an MCP SDK pin to start. |
| @striderlabs/mcp-zillow | 3/3 calls returned zero results; median 4.2 seconds | Local/open source. The npm package did not run directly as packaged in the test; it had to be cloned and built. |
| chrischall/zillow-mcp | 0/6 calls succeeded | Local browser-extension bridge. It required an already logged-in Zillow browser session, which was unavailable in the test setup. |
All measurements in the table are Ermakovich’s September 2026 observations, not independently replicated performance rates. His own caveat: “All of it is one afternoon’s measurement from one machine, three calls per server, and vendors change.”
#1 Best Overall
Which option fits the rental-search agent?
Choose HasData for a direct search-and-detail flow
For the specific Denver rental task, the author preferred HasData: it returned 41 rentals in one search call and supported a separate property lookup for selected results. That makes it the clearest fit when an agent should search first and retrieve details only for listings the user wants to inspect. Check individual records because some rows were building-level results with null listing fields.
HasData’s current official Zillow MCP page describes a hosted server charging five credits per call and includes 1,000 free monthly credits. Those are current vendor-page terms as of October 7, 2026, not the same pricing description as the test article, and should be checked on the live page before budgeting.
Rank #2
Choose the afanasenko actor when field depth matters
The afanasenko actor returned 15 rentals with 77 fields per result in the benchmark, making it the tested option to consider when richer records matter more than the number of initial results. Its 15-result cap means an agent may need additional runs or another retrieval strategy for broader coverage. The tested actor runs through the Apify platform; confirm live actor limits and usage charges before relying on them.
Use maxcopell only if the two-step response is handled
The maxcopell actor returned 40 rentals, but it took a run call followed by a dataset-fetch call. An integration that treats the first response as the listings will instead see run metadata. Its test median was slower than the other two task-correct hosted options, but this small benchmark is not enough to establish a generally slower service.
Why the other three did not pass
APIllow returned the wrong property type
Its three calls answered, but all produced five homes for sale rather than rentals. This is a useful reminder to validate result semantics—property type and other requested filters—rather than treating a non-error response as success. The test also required pinning an MCP SDK version for the package to start.
The striderlabs package returned no results
@striderlabs/mcp-zillow returned empty lists across all three calls. The author also could not run the npm package as distributed and instead cloned and built it. The measured 4.2-second median does not make an empty result useful.
Rank #4
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The browser bridge depended on an unavailable session
chrischall/zillow-mcp connects through a browser extension and required a logged-in Zillow browser session. With no such session in the tested setup, none of six calls succeeded. This failure describes that setup; it does not establish whether the bridge works when the required browser state is present.
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- Task correctness: Verify that results are rentals, in the requested location, and within the intended price range. Do not count a normal-looking response as success by itself.
- Record usefulness: Inspect whether fields are populated and whether a result represents an individual listing or a building-level record.
- Coverage versus detail: Decide whether you need more initial listings or more fields per listing; the two tested Apify actors made different trade-offs.
- Call flow: Confirm whether one search returns records or whether the integration must run a job and fetch its dataset separately. For detail lookup, establish which follow-up call is needed.
- Setup and access: Hosted services require credentials and can incur usage charges. Local packages may bring SDK compatibility or build requirements; the browser bridge requires an authenticated browser session.
- Retest the exact workflow: The published test used one machine, one afternoon, and three calls per server (six for the browser bridge). Repeat the requested search and detail retrieval with your own client, credentials, and validation logic before committing to an integration.
How to interpret the recommendation
There is no universal winner in these measurements. HasData is the author’s preferred fit for the described Denver rental agent; the afanasenko actor is the more field-rich tested option, and maxcopell offers a larger result count with additional workflow handling. The three other options failed the task in the reported setup for distinct reasons. Since Zillow has no official API or first-party MCP server according to the benchmark article, these are third-party routes whose behavior and terms can change.
Quick Recap
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