99acres – Company History, Review, Awards & Recognition

If you’ve spent any time hunting for a flat, a plot, or a commercial space in India, chances are you’ve already landed on 99acres at some point. It’s one of those names that comes up constantly whenever property hunting is the topic, right alongside a couple of other big portals. But does it actually deliver what it promises, or is it just another listing site riding on brand recognition? This 99acres review looks at where the platform came from, what it offers today, and whether it’s genuinely worth your time if you’re buying, renting, or selling property.

The Story Behind 99acres

99acres was started back in 2005 by Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the same person behind Naukri.com, India’s well-known job portal. It runs under Info Edge, the parent company that also owns Naukri and a few other platforms. That background matters a bit, because it means 99acres wasn’t some random startup trying to figure things out from scratch — it had the backing and internet experience of a company that had already built one successful portal before.

Headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, the platform has grown steadily over the years into something that now lists close to nine lakh properties spread across more than 600 cities in the country. At one point, the company reported over 5.7 lakh paid listings in a single financial year, which gives you a sense of how much traction it’s picked up among both individual sellers and real estate businesses.

Hitesh Oberoi currently leads the company as CEO, with Bikhchandani remaining associated as the founder. That leadership continuity has helped the platform stay fairly consistent in how it’s run over the years, rather than swinging wildly in direction the way some startups do after a founder exits.

What Can You Do on 99acres

At its core, 99acres property listings cover both residential and commercial spaces, and the site tries to serve three different kinds of users separately — property owners, dealers, and builders — each getting tools suited to what they actually need. An owner listing a single flat isn’t given the same interface as a builder trying to market an entire housing project, and that separation is a genuinely useful design choice.

You can search listings, post your own property for sale or rent, and even build a basic microsite if you’re a dealer or builder wanting a dedicated online presence. The site also carries real estate news and updates, which can be handy if you’re trying to understand market trends in a city before making a decision.

Since 2011, the platform has extended its reach beyond the website through a 99acres app available on both Android and iOS. For most users today, the app tends to be the more practical way to browse listings, since it lets you filter properties, save searches, and get notified about new matches without needing to sit at a desktop.

The company also put money into Zippserv, a real estate risk assessment business, at one point, which suggests it’s been trying to build out services around due diligence and property verification rather than sticking purely to listings.

99acres User Experience

One thing that becomes clear pretty quickly when you use 99acres real estate listings is the sheer volume of options. Whether you’re looking in a metro city or a smaller town, there’s usually a decent number of listings to sift through, which isn’t always true on smaller regional platforms. The filtering options are fairly detailed too — you can narrow things down by budget, property type, number of bedrooms, furnishing status, and a handful of other criteria that actually matter when you’re serious about a purchase or rental.

The site has also picked up a fair number of industry awards over the years, including recognition as a top online realty portal and, more recently, acknowledgment for personalized user experience within the property-tech space. Awards alone don’t tell you everything about day-to-day usability, but they do suggest the platform has been taken seriously within the industry rather than just being a listing dump.

What Are the Common Complaints About 99acres?

No review would be honest without mentioning the common frustrations, and 99acres isn’t free of them. A recurring complaint among users is the volume of calls and messages that start coming in from brokers and dealers soon after you post your contact details or express interest in a listing. Some of that is simply how Indian real estate works — dealers are aggressive by nature — but it can still feel overwhelming if you weren’t expecting it.

There’s also the usual issue that comes with any large listing platform: not every listing stays current. Occasionally you’ll come across a property still marked available that’s actually already been sold or rented out, which can be a bit frustrating if you’ve already reached out and gotten your hopes up. This isn’t unique to 99acres by any means, but it’s worth going in with that expectation rather than assuming every listing is freshly updated.

Pricing accuracy can also vary, since a good chunk of listings are posted by dealers rather than the property owner directly, and dealer-listed prices sometimes come with some room for negotiation baked in that isn’t obvious from the listing itself.

Should You Use 99acres?

For most people searching for property in India, 99acres is a reasonable starting point rather than the only tool you’d want to rely on. Its scale works in its favor — with listings across hundreds of cities, you’re unlikely to come away with zero options even in a smaller town. The filtering tools are genuinely useful for narrowing down a search, and having both a website and an app gives you flexibility depending on how you prefer to browse.

That said, it makes sense to treat it as one part of a broader search rather than your single source of truth. Cross-checking a shortlisted property through a site visit, a local broker, or even a second listing platform is generally a smart habit regardless of which portal you’re using, simply because listing accuracy across the entire real estate industry in India can be inconsistent.

If you’re a property owner or dealer trying to reach a wide audience, the platform’s reach and the separate tools for owners, dealers, and builders make it a reasonably solid choice to list on, especially given how much traffic a site with this kind of scale tends to pull in.

Final Thoughts

99acres has earned its place as one of the go-to names in Indian real estate, and that reputation isn’t accidental — it’s built on years of steady growth, a wide geographic spread, and tools that genuinely make property searching less painful than it used to be. It’s not without its rough edges, particularly around unsolicited broker calls and the occasional outdated listing, but these are fairly common issues across the property portal space in India rather than something specific to this one platform. If you go in with reasonable expectations and treat it as a starting point rather than a final word, it’s a solid tool to have in your property search.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded 99acres and when did it start?

Sanjeev Bikhchandani founded it in 2005, and the platform operates under Info Edge, the same company behind Naukri.com.

Is the 99acres app better than using the website?

Many users find the app more convenient for daily browsing, since it allows saved searches and notifications, though the website offers the same core listings and tools.

Does 99acres charge for listing a property?

The platform offers both free and paid listing options, with paid listings typically getting more visibility in search results.

Why do I get so many calls after posting my number on 99acres?

This usually happens because dealers and brokers actively monitor new listings and reach out quickly, which is common practice across most Indian real estate portals, not just this one.

Is 99acres reliable for verifying property details before buying?

It’s a useful starting point for research, but for anything involving a serious purchase, it’s still worth doing an independent site visit and checking documentation rather than relying solely on the listing.