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Real Brokerage vs RE/MAX: What an Agent Pays at Each
Updated
Bottom line: Real sets one split, cap and fee schedule for every agent. RE/MAX franchises every office and leaves each to set its own split and fees, and its agents also pay RE/MAX annual dues and a broker fee of generally 1%.
Alexis Ruiz-Ney, Partner, Jumpstart Partners · Concierge Director, Houston Properties TeamOr call (713) 425-4194.
Who sets what an agent pays at each?
Real sets its own terms: an 85/15 split for every agent, with its US fee schedule and its Canadian fee schedule both last edited in August 2026. RE/MAX leaves them to each office. Its annual report for 2025 says REMAX is 100% franchised and owns no brokerage offices, and that its franchisees are free to negotiate commission rates and splits.
RE/MAX does recommend a split: 95/5, in exchange for the agent paying fixed fees toward the office's overhead. Its recruiting site says that in the US and Canada an agent's fees are typically a commission split, or a monthly desk fee plus a smaller split, and that costs vary by brokerage and by experience.
| What is compared | Real | RE/MAX |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the split | Real, the same for every agent: 85/15. | Each franchised office. RE/MAX recommends 95/5 with the agent paying fixed fees. |
| Yearly cap | $12,000 in the US and $15,000 in Canada. | Set by the office. None published by RE/MAX. |
| Monthly or desk fee | None. | Set by the office. RE/MAX says fees are typically a split, or a monthly desk fee plus a smaller split. |
| Fees on each transaction | $50 in the US and $40 in Canada, for compliance and broker review. | Set by the office. |
| Paid directly to RE/MAX | Not applicable: Real is itself the brokerage. | Annual dues, $410 in its standard US programs, and a broker fee of generally 1% of commission. Agents who joined its own regions before 2004, and certain agents in Canada, do not pay the broker fee. |
| Revenue share | Five tiers, 5% down to 1% of a sponsored agent's gross commission, paid out of Real's 15%. | None described in RE/MAX Holdings' annual report for 2025. |
| Technology | reZEN, Real's own. | MAX technology on the BoldTrail platform. The April 2026 announcement said agents under either brand would be able to use reZEN. |
| Canada | Real runs its own brokerage in six provinces. | RE/MAX franchises directly in Canada, apart from Quebec, which is an independent region. |
| Agents | 35,348 at the end of June 2026. | 149,267 worldwide at the end of June 2026, 72,968 of them in the US and Canada. |
What does the Real REMAX Group combination change for a RE/MAX agent?
The two companies combined on 24 August 2026 and operate as Real REMAX Group Inc. When the deal was announced in April 2026, the release said REMAX would keep operating under its own brand, that Real would keep operating as an owned brokerage under the Real brand, and that agents under either brand would have the opportunity to use reZEN.
Neither release describes a change to a RE/MAX agent's split, dues or fees.
How do the two models differ for an agent choosing between them?
At Real, one brokerage sets one schedule for every agent in a country and pays revenue share out of its own 15% split to the agent who sponsored you. At RE/MAX, franchisees enter their own independent contractor relationships with agents and set their own terms, and the agent also pays RE/MAX its dues and broker fee.
RE/MAX Holdings' annual report for 2025 describes no revenue share or agent stock program for RE/MAX agents. Real's help center describes both: revenue share of 5% at the first tier down to 1% at the fifth, as a share of a sponsored agent's gross commission, and a stock purchase plan that invests 5% of net commission before the cap and 10% after.
RE/MAX's annual report also describes optional US programs, Aspire and Ascend, that change what an office in RE/MAX's own regions pays RE/MAX for each agent. Those are the office's costs rather than the agent's, and an agent's own terms are still in the agreement with the office. RE/MAX counted 149,267 agents worldwide at the end of June 2026, 72,968 of them in the US and Canada.
Questions & answers
What else do agents in the US and Canada ask?
Who sets the commission split at a RE/MAX office?
The office does. RE/MAX Holdings says REMAX is 100% franchised, owns no brokerage offices, and leaves its franchisees free to negotiate commission rates and splits. It recommends a 95/5 split, with the agent paying fixed fees toward the office's costs, and its recruiting site says fees are typically a split, or a monthly desk fee plus a smaller split.
Real sets one split for every agent, 85/15, with a $12,000 cap in the US and $15,000 in Canadian dollars in Canada. Real's terms sit beside another franchised model on the page asking what Real Brokerage and Keller Williams each charge.
What does a RE/MAX agent pay RE/MAX itself?
Two things, besides whatever the office charges. Annual dues are paid by the agent directly to RE/MAX, $410 in the standard US programs its annual report describes. A broker fee of generally 1% of commission also goes to RE/MAX, although agents in its own regions who joined before 2004, and certain agents in Canada, do not pay it.
The report gives no Canadian amount for the dues. Every fee Real charges an agent, in the US and in Canada, is in one dated table on the page about the money at Real.
Did Real and RE/MAX combine, and does that change a RE/MAX agent's terms?
They combined on 24 August 2026 and operate as Real REMAX Group Inc. The April 2026 announcement said REMAX would keep its brand, Real would keep operating as an owned brokerage under the Real brand, and agents under either brand would have the opportunity to use reZEN. Neither release describes a change to a RE/MAX agent's split, dues or fees.
How big Real is, and what the combination changed at the company level, is set out on the page about what Real Brokerage is and what the RE/MAX deal changed.
This page sets Real's published terms beside what RE/MAX Holdings and its recruiting site publish, as each read in the month shown, and it is not legal or tax advice. At a RE/MAX office, your agreement with that office sets your split and fees.