Zillapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to Zillow Group, Inc. “Zillow” and “Zestimate” are registered trademarks of Zillow Group, Inc. All references to those marks on this site are descriptive (nominative) and refer only to Zillow Group’s publicly available property data.
This page exists so that any party reviewing our site (counsel, partners, customers, or the public) can read our legal posture in one place.
What Zillapi is, in plain language
Zillapi is a developer-facing REST API. It returns U.S. property data that Zillow Group publishes on zillow.com: prices, Zestimates, photos, schools, taxes, agent contacts, and price history. We retrieve that publicly available data through automated tools, normalize the response shape, cache it, and expose it to developers under our own brand. We charge developers for the productized convenience: authentication, rate limiting, billing, webhooks, an OpenAPI 3.1 spec, and an HTTP contract that does not change weekly.
We do not redistribute Zillow Group’s logos, marks, color schemes, fonts, photography, or proprietary trade dress. We do not display content scraped from zillow.com on our marketing pages. We do not impersonate Zillow Group in any commercial context.
Why we use the word “Zillow” on this site
We use the word “Zillow” because it is the only accurate way to describe what our service returns. When a developer asks “what does the Zillapi /v1/properties/{zpid}/zestimate endpoint return?”, the truthful answer is “the Zestimate value Zillow currently displays for that property.” There is no synonym. Removing the word would mislead the developer and degrade the service.
This use is nominative fair use under U.S. trademark law (KP Permanent Make-Up v. Lasting Impression, 543 U.S. 111 (2004); New Kids on the Block v. News Am. Publ’g, 971 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1992)). The three-part test:
| Test prong | How Zillapi satisfies it |
|---|---|
| The product or service in question must be one not readily identifiable without use of the trademark | ”Zillow data” cannot be described without the word “Zillow.” No generic substitute exists. |
| Only so much of the mark may be used as is reasonably necessary to identify the product or service | We use the word mark “Zillow” only. We do not use Zillow’s stylized logo, color scheme, or trade dress. |
| The user must do nothing that would, in conjunction with the mark, suggest sponsorship or endorsement | Every page footer displays a non-affiliation disclaimer. This page is linked from the footer. We make no claim of partnership, license, or endorsement. |
Our brand is “Zillapi”, not “Zillow”
“Zillapi” is a portmanteau of “Zilla” (a nod to the actor framework underneath) and “API”. We acknowledge that the name evokes Zillow phonetically. We chose it deliberately because the developer audience for this product searches for “Zillow API”, and a name that signals what the service connects to lowers cognitive friction for those developers.
We mitigate confusion in the following ways:
- The Zillapi homepage carries the disclaimer in the footer, visible without scrolling on most viewports.
- The Zillapi color palette (navy
#0A2540, electric blue#0066FF) is materially different from Zillow’s (Zillow Group brand blue is#006AFF, but our identity uses a darker navy as the dominant surface). - The Zillapi logotype is set in Geist Sans. Zillow’s logotype is set in a custom geometric sans-serif. These are not visually substitutable.
- Zillapi’s documentation, marketing copy, and product surfaces never use Zillow’s photography, screenshots, or UI elements.
- Zillapi’s customer base is developers and AI agents, not end-consumers searching for homes. There is no overlap in the goods/services channel where the marks are encountered.
Data sourcing
Zillapi does not enter into any redistribution agreement with Zillow Group. We retrieve data via publicly accessible web pages on zillow.com. This is the same access pattern available to any browser. We do not bypass authentication, paywalls, or technical access controls protected by 17 U.S.C. § 1201.
We respect:
robots.txtdirectives onzillow.comfor routes that are explicitly disallowed for our user agent.- Any rate limit or anti-abuse signal Zillow Group’s infrastructure communicates.
- The general principle that we are a guest on their infrastructure. Where Zillow Group has indicated a preference (publicly or via direct contact), we adjust.
Cases relevant to the lawfulness of automated retrieval of publicly available data include hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., 31 F.4th 1180 (9th Cir. 2022), which held that scraping publicly accessible data is not “without authorization” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
What Zillapi will and will not do, on request
If Zillow Group’s counsel contacts us with a specific concern, we will respond promptly and in good faith. We are open to:
- Adjusting copy on any page if a specific phrase suggests affiliation we do not have.
- Modifying our user-agent string or request cadence if our retrieval is causing operational strain.
- Adding additional disclaimers on any specific surface if requested.
- Removing any reference to a specific product or feature of Zillow Group that we are not entitled to describe.
We will not:
- Cease descriptive use of the word “Zillow” where it is the only accurate term, as that would be a concession beyond what U.S. trademark law requires of a nominative fair user.
- Disclose customer information, API keys, or non-public technical details absent valid legal process.
- Remove this page or our affiliation disclaimer.
Contact
For trademark, affiliation, or data-sourcing questions, contact: legal@zillapi.com.
For all other inquiries: see the contact form on the homepage.
Zillapi is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zillow Group, Inc. “Zillow” and “Zestimate” are registered trademarks of Zillow Group, Inc. This page does not constitute legal advice; it documents the legal posture of Zillapi for transparency.