CoStar
Evidence
| Feature | CoStar | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Contact sales | Free / from $49/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | commercial-brokers, property-investors, asset-managers, appraisers | data-analysts, data-engineers, startups, analytics-teams |
| Founded | 1987 | 2021 |
| Property Data | ✓ | ✗ |
| Market Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tenant Information | ✓ | ✗ |
| Comparable Sales | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mapping | ✓ | ✗ |
| Forecasting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Alerts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sql Reporting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Markdown Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Charts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Static Deployment | ✗ | ✓ |
| Git Integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Data Sources | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ CoStar Pros
- Most comprehensive commercial real estate database
- Detailed property and tenant information
- Advanced analytics and market forecasting
- Verified data with dedicated research teams
✗ CoStar Cons
- Very expensive subscription costs
- Primarily focused on commercial real estate
- Steep learning curve for new users
✓ Evidence Pros
- Code-based reports (version controlled)
- Beautiful output
- Fast static deployment
- SQL-first approach
✗ Evidence Cons
- Requires SQL knowledge
- Not for ad-hoc exploration
- Smaller community
The Verdict
CoStar is built for commercial brokers and property investors, with a focus on property-data and market-analytics. Evidence targets data analysts and data engineers and leads with sql-reporting and markdown-pages.
CoStar uses custom enterprise pricing, while Evidence starts at $49/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Evidence has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. CoStar requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, CoStar offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Evidence takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.