RE/MAX vs Century 21: units, growth & AI adoption
RE/MAX leads on AI adoption (68/100 vs 60/100), while RE/MAX is the larger system by unit count (145,000 agents vs 14,000 offices). RE/MAX is growing faster year-over-year (+1.7%). Data verified Q3 2026.
| Metric | RE/MAX | Century 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Headquarters | USA | USA |
| Units (approx.) | 145,000 agents ◂ | 14,000 offices |
| Unit growth YoY | +1.7% ◂ | +1.4% |
| AI Adoption Score | 68/100 ◂ | 60/100 |
| Operations AI | 60 ◂ | 52 |
| Marketing AI | 76 ◂ | 70 |
| Training AI | 66 ◂ | 58 |
| Data infrastructure | 68 ◂ | 58 |
| Region | North America | North America |
| Index rank | #17 ◂ | #29 |
RE/MAX
Global real-estate franchisor equipping agents with AI listing copy, lead scoring, and market-analytics tools across 110+ countries.
FULL RE/MAX PROFILE →Century 21
Anywhere-owned brokerage franchise; AI listing tools and lead routing provided at platform level.
FULL CENTURY 21 PROFILE →Reading the comparison
What actually separates them
RE/MAX leads Century 21 by 8 points overall (68 vs 60), and the gap is concentrated rather than spread. The widest single divergence is data infrastructure, where RE/MAX is 10 points ahead.
Because data infrastructure carries 30% of the score and is the precondition for operations AI, a gap here is the hardest one to close. It reflects years of consolidation work rather than a tool decision.
A composition pattern worth noting
RE/MAX (marketing 76 vs data 68) and Century 21 (marketing 70 vs data 58) carries marketing AI well ahead of data infrastructure. Across our panel this shape recurs in the middle band of the Index and tends to precede a plateau: the tools that work without system-wide data have been bought, and the next step requires the consolidation work that was skipped.
This is a caution about the likely trajectory, not a judgement on current capability. The marketing capability is real; what is unproven is whether it extends.
Sector context
Both compete in Real Estate, which averages 65/100 across the 3 systems we track in it, against an industry average of 63. RE/MAX sits above that sector average; the other does not.
Same-sector comparison is the one that carries real weight. These two are competing for the same operators and the same customers, so a durable capability gap between them is a competitive fact rather than a statistical curiosity.
What this comparison does not tell you
RE/MAX ranks #17 and Century 21 #29 of the 50 systems in the Index. That ordering describes depth of AI deployment and nothing else.
We publish no correlation between AI score and franchisee profitability, because no verified dataset supports one. Unit economics, franchisee satisfaction, territory terms and the disclosure document decide a franchise purchase; AI maturity is a tiebreaker between otherwise comparable options.
Scores describe system-level capability. What reaches any individual unit depends on that system's rollout, and in large networks the variation between units is wide.
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SOURCE: FRANCHISEPULSE FRANCHISE INTELLIGENCE INDEX, Q3 2026 · FREE TO CITE WITH ATTRIBUTION + LINK
Unit counts, growth rates and founding years are approximate public figures compiled from company reports and press (2025–26). They are published by third parties, compiled as-is, and may change; we do not independently verify the underlying data — check the company’s own filing before acting on it. The AI Adoption Score is FranchisePulse’s own editorial metric (operations 35% · data infrastructure 30% · marketing 20% · training 15%), not a measured industry statistic — see the open methodology. For reference only; not legal, tax, or investment advice.