APPF vs CSGP vs ZG Stock Comparison

Appfolio, Costar and Zillow Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
APPF Appfolio Inc
$210.62 +0.3% 1M -12.1% 1Y
Market cap
$7.60B
P/E
44.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.09B
Div. yield
–
Real Estate Software Technology
6 wins
CSGP Costar Group, Inc.
$33.92 +20.0% 1M -56.3% 1Y
Market cap
$13.61B
P/E
184.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.56B
Div. yield
–
Real Estate Software Technology
3 wins
ZG Zillow Group, Inc.
$34.05 +16.0% 1M -54.3% 1Y
Market cap
$7.69B
P/E
139.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.81B
Div. yield
–
Real Estate Software Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Appfolio leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Appfolio 6, Costar 3, Zillow 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPPFCSGPZGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.60B $13.61B $7.69B CSGP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 44.7x 184.9x 139.7x APPF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 31.2x 24.1x 14.5x ZG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.0% +22.0% +17.7% CSGP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.6% 2.1% 2.0% APPF
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.6% 0.2% CSGP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.5x -0.7x ZG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.1% -56.3% -54.3% APPF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.6%/yr -19.3%/yr -18.3%/yr APPF
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.7% 47.7% 51.7% APPF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 75/100 63/100 69/100 APPF

Percentile Scorecard

APPFCSGPZG

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAPPFCSGPZG
Valuation 46 #49 of 90 49 #46 of 90 56 #40 of 90
Growth 90 #9 of 82 46 #45 of 82 67 #28 of 82
Profitability 92 #7 of 77 57 #34 of 77 51 #38 of 77
Financial Health 90 #11 of 96 79 #21 of 96 75 #25 of 96
Shareholder Returns 57 #24 of 54 87 #8 of 54 96 #3 of 54
Overall 75 63 69
  • APPF ranked among 99 companies in Vertical Software
  • CSGP ranked among 99 companies in Vertical Software
  • ZG ranked among 99 companies in Vertical Software

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAPPFCSGPZGSPY
1 month +0.3%+20.0%+16.0% -1.0%
3 months +27.6%+22.6%+11.0% +2.9%
6 months +24.4%-6.9%-25.4% +6.4%
Year to date -9.5%-49.6%-50.1% +11.4%
1 year -12.1%-56.3%-54.3% +13.1%
3 years +16.1%-54.3%-11.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year +5.1%-23.0%-3.9% +21.5%
5 years +58.4%-65.8%-63.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +9.6%-19.3%-18.3% +10.9%
10 years +1,004.5%+61.8%+1.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +27.2%+4.9%+0.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAPPFCSGPZGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.7%47.7%51.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.1%51.7%55.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.460.181.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.27-1.18-1.05 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.4%-73.0%-74.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.7%-56.6%-54.3% -2.5%
52-week high $262.26$78.23$74.58 $779.14
52-week low $143.34$26.95$27.70 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAPPFCSGPZG
P/E now vs peer median 43.9xmedian 42.7x 186.2xmedian 42.7x 141.1xmedian 42.7x
P/S now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 2.7x 3.9xmedian 2.7x 2.7xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.1xmedian 19.0x 25.5xmedian 19.0x 25.0xmedian 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.5xmedian 19.6x 49.1xmedian 19.6x 29.7xmedian 19.6x
P/B now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 1.8x 1.7xmedian 1.8x 1.8xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.56median 1.75 -4.41median 1.75 4.38median 1.75

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAPPFCSGPZG
Revenue $1.09B $3.56B $2.81B
Gross profit $693.53M $2.80B $2.05B
Operating income $204.71M $77.00M $12.00M
Net income $169.86M $73.60M $55.00M
Free cash flow $282.10M $280.00M $258.00M
R&D $199.70M $435.40M $611.00M
EPS (diluted) $4.77 $0.18 $0.24
Cash & equivalents $258.54M $1.27B $572.00M
Total debt – $994.00M $1.44B
Shares (diluted) 35.58M 404.40M 227.90M
Enterprise value $6.67B $7.56B $3.54B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAPPFCSGPZG
P/E 43.9x 186.2x 141.1x
P/FCF 26.5x 49.1x 29.7x
P/Operating cash flow 26.3x 27.7x 19.7x
P/S 6.9x 3.9x 2.7x
P/B 12.8x 1.7x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 13.5x 2.2x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA 30.1x 25.5x 25.0x
EV/EBIT 35.0x 175.0x 620.0x
EV/Revenue 6.6x 3.8x 2.6x
EV/FCF 25.4x 48.1x 28.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.2x 27.1x 19.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.56 -4.41 4.38

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPPFCSGPZG
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.0% 22.0% 17.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 23.8% 15.3% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.6% 21.0% 13.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 14.3% 10.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 54.7% 1,383% 109.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 85.0% -40.4% 27.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.6% -29.3% 188.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 77.5% -42.4% 32.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -15.0% -25.8% 198.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 78.5% -42.2% 32.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 32.7% 25.7% -19.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 100.5% -4.2% -4.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 33.3% 201.7% -25.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 114.3% -18.1% -7.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPPFCSGPZG
Gross margin 63.8% 78.7% 72.9%
EBITDA margin 21.9% 14.9% 10.6%
Operating margin 18.8% 2.2% 0.4%
Pretax margin 19.6% 2.8% 2.1%
Net margin 15.6% 2.1% 2.0%
FCF margin 25.9% 7.9% 9.2%
Operating cash flow margin 26.1% 14.0% 13.8%
Return on equity 30.6% 0.9% 1.3%
Return on assets 24.9% 0.7% 1.0%
Return on invested capital – 0.6% 0.2%
Return on capital employed 35.3% 0.8% 0.3%
Asset turnover 1.6x 0.4x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 6.8x 7.1x
Stock comp / revenue 6.8% 5.4% 12.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPPFCSGPZG
Debt / assets – 9.8% 8.8%
Debt / equity – 0.1x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.5x -0.7x
Debt / FCF – 3.6x 1.8x
Liabilities / assets 18.6% 21.6% 18.8%
Equity / assets 81.4% 78.4% 81.2%
Interest coverage – – 0.7x
Current ratio 4.0x 2.2x 1.9x
Quick ratio 3.5x 2.0x 0.9x
Cash ratio 3.0x 1.7x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 37.70 – 4.85

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPPFCSGPZG
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 1.7% 7.2% 12.3%
Shareholder yield 1.7% 7.2% 12.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAPPFCSGPZG
Forward P/E 31.2xFY2026 24.1xFY2026 14.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.74FY2026 $1.41FY2026 $2.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +27.4%FY2026 +62.1%FY2026 +43.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.0% +29.8% +26.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.18BFY2026 $3.92BFY2026 $3.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.1%FY2026 +20.8%FY2026 +17.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.4% +0.6% +11.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPPFCSGPZG
Held by institutions 96.0% 100.0% 23.5%
Institutions holding 391 751 263
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.3% +2.0% +0.1%
Institutions buying 225 415 124
Institutions selling 130 257 98
Buyers to sellers 1.73 1.61 1.27

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

APPFCSGPZG
APPF 1.00 0.51 0.52
CSGP 0.51 1.00 0.58
ZG 0.52 0.58 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APPF, CSGP and ZG?

Costar (CSGP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Appfolio (APPF) $7.60B, Costar (CSGP) $13.61B, Zillow (ZG) $7.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, APPF, CSGP and ZG?

Appfolio (APPF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Appfolio (APPF) 44.7x, Costar (CSGP) 184.9x, Zillow (ZG) 139.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zillow (ZG) is cheapest (Appfolio (APPF) 31.2x, Costar (CSGP) 24.1x, Zillow (ZG) 14.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Costar (CSGP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Appfolio (APPF) +20.0%, Costar (CSGP) +22.0%, Zillow (ZG) +17.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Appfolio (APPF) has the highest net margin (Appfolio (APPF) 15.6%, Costar (CSGP) 2.1%, Zillow (ZG) 2.0%). On return on invested capital, Costar (CSGP) leads (Costar (CSGP) 0.6%, Zillow (ZG) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Appfolio (APPF) returned the most: Appfolio (APPF) -12.1%, Costar (CSGP) -56.3%, Zillow (ZG) -54.3%. Over five years, Appfolio (APPF) compounded fastest (Appfolio (APPF) +9.6%/yr, Costar (CSGP) -19.3%/yr, Zillow (ZG) -18.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Appfolio (APPF) has been the steadiest (Appfolio (APPF) 44.7%, Costar (CSGP) 47.7%, Zillow (ZG) 51.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APPF, CSGP and ZG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Appfolio (APPF) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.