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What Do You Get at Different Brokerages? Real Beside Eleven Others
Updated
Bottom line: Real publishes one split, cap and fee schedule for every agent in a country. Of the eleven brokerages compared here, only eXp Realty also publishes a national split, cap and fees; the others leave them to each office or do not state them.
Alexis Ruiz-Ney, Partner, Jumpstart Partners · Concierge Director, Houston Properties TeamOr call (713) 425-4194.
What does each brokerage publish about what an agent pays?
The table puts Real beside the eleven brokerages its comparison pages cover, one row each, from each brokerage's own pages and filings as they read between 2025 and September 2026. Each has its own page in this section, with the full table and every source.
Only two publish a national split and cap: Real, whose split is 85/15 for every agent, and eXp Realty, whose income page gives 80/20 to a $16,000 cap. Everywhere else the figure an agent would compare is set by the office the agent joins, or is not published at all.
| Brokerage | How it is run | Split, cap and monthly fee | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real | One brokerage, in all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and six Canadian provinces. | 85/15 for every agent, to a $12,000 cap in the US and $15,000 in Canada, with no monthly fee. | Real REMAX Group Inc., since August 2026. |
| eXp Realty | One brokerage, not a franchise, in every US state and Canadian province. | 80/20 to a $16,000 cap, with an $85 monthly fee in the US. | AGNT, Inc., formerly eXp World Holdings. |
| Keller Williams | Franchised market centers, each independently owned and operated. | Set by each market center's owner. No national split, cap amount or fee published. | Keller Williams Realty, LLC, the franchisor. |
| Compass | Its own offices, in 39 states and Washington D.C. before the Anywhere merger. | None published. It keeps a share of each commission plus fees such as flat transaction commission fees. | Compass, Inc. |
| Coldwell Banker | Company-owned offices plus independently owned franchises. | Set in each agent's contract at an owned office, and by the franchisee at a franchised one. None published. | Compass, since January 2026. |
| RE/MAX | Franchises only: RE/MAX owns no brokerage offices. | Set by each office. RE/MAX recommends 95/5 with fixed fees, and agents pay RE/MAX annual dues and a broker fee of generally 1%. | Real REMAX Group Inc., since August 2026. |
| Century 21 | Franchises only, every one independently owned. | Set by each franchise. None published. | Compass, since January 2026. |
| Sotheby's International Realty | Company-owned offices plus franchises, admitted by qualification. | Set in each agent's contract at an owned office, and by the franchisee at a franchised one. None published. | Run by Compass under license from Sotheby's. |
| Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Franchises only, each one independently owned. | Set by each franchise. None published. | Run by Compass under license from Meredith. |
| Douglas Elliman | Its own offices, 114 at the end of 2025. | None published. It collects agents' commissions and pays them net commissions. | Douglas Elliman Inc. |
| The Keyes Company | One independently owned, family-operated brokerage, in Florida. | None published. Keyes says most of its agents' tools are covered, with no extra monthly fees for them. | Family-operated since 1926, with a sister company, Illustrated Properties. |
| Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | A franchise network, most offices independently owned and operated. | Set by each franchisee. None published. | HomeServices of America, owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy. |
Which of these brokerages share an owner?
Several do. Compass completed its merger with Anywhere Real Estate on 9 January 2026: it owns the Coldwell Banker and Century 21 trademarks and runs Sotheby's International Realty and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate under license, alongside its own Compass offices. Real and RE/MAX Holdings combined on 24 August 2026 and operate as Real REMAX Group Inc., with both brands kept.
Which pay revenue share or profit share?
Three describe one. Real pays revenue share out of its own 15% split, as 5% down to 1% of a sponsored agent's gross commission across five tiers. eXp Realty pays revenue share from a pool that is half of its company dollar, across seven tiers. Keller Williams describes a profit share at the level of each market center, for agents in the US and Canada. The other brokerages' filings and pages cited here describe neither.
Does the sponsor you name at Real change anything in the table?
No. Real's split and fees are the same for every agent in a country, whoever sponsors them. The sponsor's name decides who Real pays revenue share to on your transactions, out of its own 15%, and it cannot be changed once your Independent Contractor Agreement is signed.
Questions & answers
What else do agents in the US and Canada ask?
Which brokerages publish their commission split and cap?
Of the twelve compared on this site, two publish a national split and cap: Real, at 85/15 to a $12,000 cap in the US and $15,000 in Canadian dollars in Canada, and eXp Realty, at 80/20 to a $16,000 cap. At the franchised brands the office sets its own terms, and Compass, Douglas Elliman and Keyes publish none for their own offices.
Real's and eXp Realty's fees before and after the cap, and what each publishes for Canada, are set out on the page comparing Real Brokerage and eXp Realty side by side.
Which brokerages does Compass own now?
Since its merger with Anywhere Real Estate on 9 January 2026, Compass owns the Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Corcoran and ERA trademarks, runs Sotheby's International Realty and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate under license, and runs its own offices as @properties, Coldwell Banker, Compass, Corcoran and Sotheby's International Realty. It counts more than 340,000 real estate professionals across the network.
At the franchised offices of those brands, Compass says the franchisee manages its own relationships with its agents. What that means for an agent's terms is set out on the page about who sets what an agent pays between Real Brokerage and Coldwell Banker.
Which of the big brokerages are franchises?
Keller Williams, RE/MAX, Century 21, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices are franchise networks, and Coldwell Banker and Sotheby's International Realty have both franchised and company-owned offices. At a franchised office, the office sets the agent's split and fees. Real, eXp Realty and the Compass brand itself run as brokerages rather than franchises, and Douglas Elliman runs its own US offices.
A franchised office also pays the brand, and RE/MAX agents pay RE/MAX some fees directly, as set out on the page about what an agent pays at Real Brokerage and at RE/MAX.
Which brokerages pay revenue share or profit share?
Of the twelve compared here, three describe one. Real pays revenue share out of its own 15% split, 5% down to 1% of a sponsored agent's gross commission across five tiers. eXp Realty pays revenue share from a pool that is half of its company dollar, across seven tiers. Keller Williams describes profit share at the level of each market center.
A Real sponsor's share follows the sponsored agent's commission, and a KW agent's profit share follows one market center's profits. The difference is set out on the page asking what Real Brokerage and Keller Williams each charge.