Aligned Showings is unusual in this category, and it is worth understanding why. It is not a vendor product. It is owned by MLS Aligned, LLC, a company jointly held by six MLSs: ARMLS in Arizona, Metro MLS in Wisconsin, MLSListings in Silicon Valley, RMLS in Oregon, UtahRealEstate.com, and BeachesMLS in southeast Florida. It also serves New Mexico MLS. It was built on technology the group acquired from Agent Inbox in 2021, it signs in with your Flexmls credentials, and it reports over 150,000 subscribers and around 42,000 daily active users.
It replaced ShowingTime at ARMLS in 2023, which tells you it is a serious product rather than a checkbox. And because the MLSs own it, there is no portal behind it, no marketplace attached, and nothing to do with your showing data except show it to you and your seller. On the ownership question — the argument we make hardest against ShowingTime — Aligned Showings has a genuinely good answer.
| Aligned Showings | Showing Bell | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns it | Six MLSs, jointly | Independent, no marketplace |
| How you get it | Only if your MLS is a member | Buy it directly, from $9.99 a month |
| Cost to you | Free with your MLS dues | $9.99 to $49 a month |
| Where you can use it | Only if your MLS is a member | Any state, bought directly |
| Sign-in | Your MLS credentials | Your own account |
| Needs a record in your MLS | Yes | No |
| Short-term rental calendar sync | Not publicly documented | Airbnb and VRBO iCal |
| Who sets the rules | Your MLS | You, per listing |
Comparisons reflect each product’s publicly described model as of August 2026. Products change. Check the vendor directly before deciding, and treat any competitor page, including this one, as one side of the story.
When you should not read any further
Aligned Showings is offered by seven MLSs. If yours is one of them, and your listings are plain houses with a lockbox on the door, stop here and use it. It comes with what you already pay. It works inside the system you already sign into. And the buyer agents in your market already know it. We are not going to pretend a $9.99 plan beats something you have already bought.
The part that is actually different
The distinction is not ownership or quality. It is that Aligned Showings is not something you can buy.
If your MLS is not a member of the cooperative, there is no price you can pay and no plan you can sign up for. The decision was made above you, by an organization you belong to but do not control, and the same is true of the rules, the defaults, and what happens next. That is not a criticism of the product. It is the nature of anything distributed through an MLS, and it is the single reason a direct-purchase tool exists at all.
Showing Bell is the opposite arrangement. You buy it, you configure it per listing, and nobody above you can change the terms or take it away.
Listings that do not fit the model
You sign in to Aligned Showings with your MLS login, and it works off MLS listing data. So it assumes the listing is in the MLS. That covers most of what most agents do. The gaps are where a second tool earns its keep. Bare ground with a gate and no address. A listing you are holding in-house on purpose. A new build before you enter it. A home in a market where you are not an MLS member.
Showing Bell needs no MLS and no lockbox, so all of those book the same way a three-bedroom does. We are not saying Aligned Showings handles them badly. We could not find it written down either way. If those listings are a real part of your work, ask them yourself instead of taking our word for it.
Short-term rentals
If a listing still rents nightly on Airbnb or VRBO, what is open changes without anyone telling the showing tool. Showing Bell reads the home’s calendar feed, blocks booked nights on its own, and opens the checkout evening once the cleaning window has passed. From what is written down in public, no showing tool in this group does that, Aligned Showings included. In a resort town that is the difference between a tool that works and one you fight.
What Aligned Showings does that we do not
Being straight about this matters more than winning. It is free to members, which we will never be. It signs in with credentials you already have, so there is no separate account to set up. It pulls listing data automatically rather than making you type it. It has 150,000 subscribers, so the buyer’s agent on the other end already knows the workflow. And it is owned by MLSs rather than by anyone with a second business, which is a better ownership story than most of this category can tell.
Showing Bell is a paid plan, in one state. You have to type your listings in yourself. And the agent who gets your link has probably never seen it before.
Questions agents ask before choosing
Can I buy Aligned Showings if my MLS does not offer it?
No. It is distributed only through the MLSs that own it, and there is no direct-purchase path. That is the practical difference between the two products more than any feature is.
Which MLSs have it?
ARMLS in Arizona, Metro MLS in Wisconsin, MLSListings in Silicon Valley, RMLS in Oregon, UtahRealEstate.com, and BeachesMLS in southeast Florida, which are the six owners, plus New Mexico MLS. Idaho is not among them, so no Idaho agent has access today.
Is Showing Bell cheaper?
No. Aligned Showings is free to members of those MLSs and we cost money. If you have access to it and your listings are standard residential, it is the better deal and we would tell you so.
Is Aligned Showings owned by Zillow?
No, and this is worth being clear about because the category is confusing. ShowingTime is owned by Zillow Group. BrokerBay and Supra are owned by Honeywell. Aligned Showings is owned by six MLSs directly, which means no portal and no marketplace sits behind it.
What happens if my MLS joins the cooperative later?
Then you will have a free showing tool and you should seriously consider using it. We would rather tell you that now than have you find out after paying us for a year.