BrokerBay is a solid tool for showings and for running an office. In markets where the board or the broker has rolled it out, agents tend to like it. It is sold to companies, not to people. The broker or the MLS signs up, their tech team sets it up, and each agent gets whatever was picked.
That works if you are a broker. It works badly if you are one listing agent who wants showing requests to stop hitting your phone this month.
| BrokerBay | Showing Bell | |
|---|---|---|
| Who buys it | Brokerage, board, or MLS | One agent, directly |
| How long until your first link | A company-wide rollout | A few minutes |
| Seller approval | Built around the agent | Seller approves from a text |
| We chase a quiet seller | Depends how it is set up | Built in at 4 and 8 hours |
| MLS integration required | Central to the product | None |
| Brokerage-wide reporting | Yes | No |
| Land, commercial, pre-MLS | Secondary cases | Same as any listing |
| Short-term rental calendars | Not a supported case | Airbnb and VRBO iCal sync |
| Starting price | A contract with your company | $9.99 a month |
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.
Buying it should not require a committee
Getting a brokerage-level platform in place means a decision that is not yours, a rollout timeline, and training for people who did not ask for it. If your brokerage already runs BrokerBay, that work is done and you should use it.
Showing Bell is a card and an email address. You create a listing, you get a link, and you are running showings through it the same afternoon. Nobody else at your office needs to know or agree.
The seller side
Brokerage platforms tend to be built around the agent and the office. The seller is a notification recipient rather than the person making the call.
Showing Bell inverts that. The seller is the approver by default, they do it from a text message, and the reminder ladder chases them at four hours and eight rather than leaving the request to rot. Your role is to be told what happened.
Listings that are not standard residential
Land, commercial, and pre-MLS new construction sit outside the assumptions of most MLS-integrated systems. Showing Bell has no MLS dependency, so what the property is does not change how it gets scheduled. Access instructions are free text, which covers a gate, a keypad, a job-site trailer, or a lockbox equally well.
What BrokerBay does that Showing Bell does not
BrokerBay does much more than we do. It runs office work, reports across the whole brokerage, agent rosters, and listing data pulled straight from the MLS. If you need to see across dozens of agents, or your board already pays for it, Showing Bell does not replace that and is not trying to.
Showing Bell runs showings for the listings you carry yourself. That is the whole job.
Questions agents ask before choosing
My brokerage already pays for BrokerBay. Is there a reason to add this?
Usually only for the listings that fit it badly. Agents in that situation tend to use Showing Bell for land, vacation rentals with live booking calendars, and pre-MLS new construction, and leave everything else where it is. If all your listings are standard MLS residential, stay where you are.
Does my broker need to approve this?
That is between you and your brokerage, but nothing about Showing Bell touches brokerage systems, the MLS, or your office roster. It is a scheduling link for listings you already have.
Can a small team share an account?
Yes. The $19 plan covers three active listings and the $49 plan removes the cap entirely, and approval can route to a team notification list instead of the seller when that fits the listing better.