The short version
CoStar tells you what is in the market. Scayled tells you who to talk to about one property, and keeps watching them.
- CoStar: the research database most US brokerages run on. Listings, sale and lease comparables, ownership, tenant records with lease expirations and contacts, and market analytics such as vacancy, absorption and rent. It is the system of record for the market, and nothing here suggests replacing it.
- Scayled: an occupier intelligence platform. You give it a property. Around the property, it returns every business nearby, the person who decides at each and a drafted email. Across the market, it finds businesses anywhere in the country whose operations fit the property's size, use and type. Every occupier found is then tracked for signs it will need space, on a map and a feed, and everything stays in your own Occupier Database.
The useful question is not which one to buy. It is what the job is today: research and valuation, or getting in front of the businesses most likely to lease or buy this building.
What does CoStar do better than Scayled?
CoStar is stronger on everything that describes the market itself:
- Property history, sale and lease comparables, and ownership
- The largest US listings database, plus LoopNet for public marketing
- Market analytics: vacancy, absorption, rent growth, construction pipeline
- Tenant records: where a company leases, how much space, when the lease expires, its contacts and its broker
- Desktop due diligence and research reports for owners and lenders
If you need DFW absorption for a pitch deck or lease comps on a Chicago warehouse, CoStar is the tool. Scayled does none of this.
What does Scayled do that CoStar does not?
Scayled starts from your property and works outward to the businesses that could take it. CoStar's tenant data answers "who leases what, and until when". Scayled answers "who would want this building, who decides there, and what do I send them":
- Around the property (Neighbour Scan): every business near the address, the decision maker at each, and an email drafted for each one
- Across the market (Target Scan): businesses anywhere in the country whose operations fit the property's size, use and type, including owner occupiers and businesses not currently in a tracked lease
- Movement tracking: every occupier found is watched for signs it will need space (hiring, contract wins, new sites, funding, lease events), shown on a map and a feed
- Outreach from your own inbox: drafted per recipient, sent from your mailbox, not a bulk platform
- Occupier Database: everything scanned, revealed and emailed stays in your own database
This is the method behind listing-anchored prospecting, and the tracking side is explained in how to spot which occupiers will need space.
Where do CoStar and Scayled overlap?
On tenants. CoStar already holds tenant names, lease expirations and contacts for the buildings it tracks, and many brokers prospect straight from those records. Where that works, keep doing it.
The difference is the question each tool starts from. A CoStar tenant search filters a database of leases. A Scayled scan starts from one property and asks which businesses, nearby or anywhere in the country, fit that building, then finds the person who decides and writes the first email. It also reaches businesses that do not appear in a lease database at all, such as owner occupiers and companies operating from buildings no one has researched.
Feature comparison
| Feature | CoStar | SCAYLED |
|---|---|---|
| Listings database (for lease, for sale) | ✅ Industry standard | ❌ Not covered |
| Sale and lease comparables | ✅ Industry standard | ❌ Not covered |
| Ownership records | ✅ Comprehensive | ❌ Not covered |
| Market analytics (absorption, vacancy, rent) | ✅ Comprehensive | ❌ Not covered |
| Tenant records with lease expirations | ✅ For subscribers, depth varies by market | ❌ No lease roll |
| Every business around one address | ⚠️ Map search over tracked buildings | ✅ Neighbour Scan |
| Businesses across the country that fit one property | ❌ Not the model | ✅ Target Scan |
| Decision maker at each business | ⚠️ Contacts on tenant records | ✅ Found per business in each scan |
| Tracking for signs an occupier will need space | ⚠️ News and lease dates on tenant records | ✅ Map and feed for every occupier found |
| Drafted outreach sent from your inbox | ❌ Not covered | ✅ Per recipient |
| Pricing | Quoted per firm, not published | Pro per broker, 3 days free, no card needed |
How is each one priced?
CoStar does not publish list pricing. Subscriptions are quoted per firm and depend on the markets and modules you take, and they are usually bought at the brokerage level.
Scayled is bought per broker. Pro covers one broker; Team Plan (3 to 5 brokers) and Market Plan (6 to 10) share a pot at a per-broker discount. Current rates are on the pricing page. You can start a 3 day trial at /start with no card, which includes 4 scans and 150 credits, so the test runs on your own listing.
Who should stay with CoStar?
- Advisory, valuation and research teams whose output is market analysis, not outreach
- Brokers who prospect mainly from lease expirations and are happy with CoStar's tenant coverage in their market
- Investment sales teams that live on comps and ownership
- Anyone who needs the listings database to answer what is available today
For those jobs CoStar is the right tool and Scayled would add little. Scayled earns its place when you have a property to fill and need to reach the businesses most likely to need it. For a fuller look at that use case, see the alternative to CoStar for finding occupiers that need space.
When to use which
You have just been briefed on a listing and want conversations before it goes live
→ Scayled. Scan the address, work through the nearby businesses and the best fits across the market, and send the drafted emails from your inbox.
A client wants a market analysis for a submarket
→ CoStar. Absorption, vacancy, rent growth and comparables.
An owner wants a valuation view before signing a listing agreement
→ CoStar. Sale and lease comparables are its core strength.
You are pitching for a mandate
→ Both. CoStar for the market picture. Scayled for a named list of the businesses most likely to take the building, which shows the owner how you would fill it.
You want to know which occupiers in your patch are about to need space
→ Both. CoStar for lease expirations it tracks. Scayled for hiring, contract wins, new sites and funding on every occupier you have found.