IDX Real Estate Listings vs Essential Real Estate
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| Feature | IDX Real Estate Listings v3.20.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Paid · ★ 3.2/5 Visit Details | Essential Real Estate v5.3.4 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.3/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 1,000+ | 7,000+ |
| Last updated | September 29, 2026 | October 15, 2026 |
| Editions | dsIDXpress ($) | Essential Real Estate |
| Pros | Live MLS listings and property search through shortcodes and widgets; Indexable listing pages and sitemap integration for search engines; Registration forms for saved searches and listing alerts | Full property listing, search and map pages from shortcodes; Front-end listing submission and favourites; Mortgage calculator and property comparison included |
| Cons | Needs an activation key from a paid Diverse Solutions subscription; An activation key works on only one WordPress website at a time | Paid listing packages need PayPal or Stripe configured; Readme points to separate add-ons and paid themes |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Listing and search shortcodes ($), Search and listing widgets ($), Indexable listing pages ($), XML sitemap entries ($), Registration form for saved searches and alerts ($), SEO settings page ($), Google Maps search (Pro package) ($) | Property listing shortcode, Property search shortcode, Property map shortcode, Front-end property submission form, Saved favourite properties, Mortgage calculator widget, Paid listing payments through PayPal, Paid listing payments through Stripe |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | — | PayPal, Stripe |
| Social | — | WhatsApp share links |
| Plugins | Better WordPress Google XML Sitemaps | — |
| Other | Google Maps ($), Diverse Solutions IDX API ($) | Google reCAPTCHA, Google Maps |
| Requires WordPress | 4.5.0 | 4.5 |
| Requires PHP | 5.4.0 | — |
| Tested up to | 6.4 | 6.9 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | api-idx.diversesolutions.com, api-b.idx.diversesolutions.com, idx.diversesolutions.com, maps.googleapis.com | www.google.com, api.paypal.com, api.stripe.com, maps.googleapis.com |
| Shortcodes | 4 | 27 |