The biggest classifieds websites in the world in 2026 are Facebook Marketplace, which works in most countries, and a set of regional leaders: Craigslist in the United States, Kijiji in Canada, Leboncoin in France, Avito in Russia, Mercari in Japan, OLX in Poland, Portugal, Romania and other markets, and Gumtree in the UK, Australia and South Africa. No single site leads everywhere, so the best place to buy or sell depends on your country.
Classifieds sites changed how people buy and sell second-hand goods, find jobs, rent homes and offer services, usually without a middleman. Below we compare the largest ones region by region: what each is for, what it costs to post, and what has changed since 2024.
In short
- Facebook Marketplace works in most countries, but each region has its own leader: Craigslist in the US, Kijiji in Canada, Leboncoin in France, Avito in Russia and Mercari in Japan.
- OLX now means different companies in different countries, with OLX Group running seven markets including Poland, Portugal, Romania and South Africa.
- Gumtree is three separate companies in the UK, Australia and South Africa, and the challenger Vinted passed €1 billion in revenue in 2025.
- Sell bulky items locally on your country's leader plus Facebook Marketplace, and small items you can post on Vinted in Europe or Mercari in Japan.
- Most sites are free to post on, but jobs, cars, property and services are the categories that usually charge.
Part of the guide Classifieds sites by country
The biggest classifieds websites at a glance
| Site | Best for | Cost to post | App | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Marketplace | Local buying and selling almost anywhere | Free to list; fees only on some shipped sales | Inside the Facebook app | Needs a Facebook account |
| Craigslist | US local ads, rentals, jobs, gigs | Mostly free; $3–75 for jobs, gigs, services, cars and dealer ads in the US | Yes | US-centric, plain design |
| Kijiji | Canada: cars, rentals, used goods | Mostly free; dealers and extra car ads pay | Yes | Canada only |
| OLX | Poland, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine | Free in many categories; paid or limited in cars, property, jobs, services | Yes | Other OLX countries have different owners |
| Leboncoin | France: everything, plus cars and property | Mostly free; fees past a free quota in vehicles and property | Yes | Optional delivery and secure payment |
| Avito | Russia: cars, property, jobs, goods | Free up to a monthly limit per category, then paid | Yes | Russia only |
| Mercari | Japan: selling items you ship | Free to list; 10% fee when it sells | Yes (app first) | Separate US site |
| Gumtree | UK, Australia, South Africa local ads | Mostly free; some categories and business ads pay | Yes | Three separate companies |
| Vinted | Europe: clothes and second-hand items | Free for sellers; buyers pay a protection fee | Yes | Shipped sales, not local pickup |
Biggest classifieds sites in North America
1. Craigslist
Region: mainly the United States, with city sites in Canada and in cities across Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Craigslist is often called the pioneer of online classifieds. Craig Newmark started it in San Francisco in 1995 as an email list of local events, and it grew into a site with a page for each city covering housing, jobs, for sale, gigs, services and community posts. The design has barely changed, which keeps it fast and simple.
It is strongest in:
- Jobs and gigs: part-time, casual and small-business hiring.
- Housing: rentals and roommates.
- Services: movers, cleaners, repairs, tutors.
Cost: most posts are free. In the US, Craigslist charges for job ads ($10–75 depending on the city), gigs ($3–10), services ($5), cars, RVs and motorcycles by owner ($5), dealer ads ($5) and apartment rentals in the Boston, Chicago and New York areas ($5) (Craigslist posting fees).
Watch out for: Craigslist has few identity checks and no buyer protection, so scams are common. Meet in person and pay on collection.
2. Facebook Marketplace
Region: global, in most countries where Facebook operates.
Facebook launched Marketplace in October 2016 to move the buy-and-sell groups already on Facebook into one place. Because almost everyone already has an account, it quickly became the default place for local sales in many countries, from furniture and electronics to cars and rentals. Buyers and sellers talk through Messenger.
Cost: listing is free and local sales with in-person pickup carry no fee. Where Marketplace offers shipping, a selling fee is taken on shipped orders.
Watch out for: the scale makes moderation hard: fake listings, deposit scams and counterfeit goods are the usual problems. Check the seller's profile and never pay in advance for an item you haven't seen.
3. Kijiji
Region: Canada.
Kijiji was launched by eBay in 2005 and became Canada's best-known local classifieds site, with sections for each city and region. It passed to Adevinta when Adevinta bought eBay's classifieds business in 2021. It is widely used for cars, rentals, jobs and used goods, and has a separate Kijiji Autos site for vehicles.
Cost: most ads are free. Private sellers get a limited number of free vehicle ads; dealers and anyone over the limit pay a listing fee that depends on the ad type and area (Kijiji help).
Biggest classifieds sites in Europe and Russia
4. OLX
Region: OLX Group runs OLX and its sister brands in seven markets: Bulgaria, France, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa and Ukraine.
OLX (OnLine eXchange) was founded in 2006 and, backed by Naspers, spread to dozens of emerging markets as a free, mobile-friendly place to sell almost anything. Since then it has sold or merged many of those businesses, so the OLX name now means different companies in different countries:
- OLX Group (Prosus): the seven markets above, plus car and property sites such as Otomoto, Otodom, Autovit, Standvirtual, Property24, AutoTrader South Africa and La Centrale in France, bought in 2025.
- India: sold to CarTrade in 2023.
- Brazil: OLX Brasil is a joint venture between Prosus and Adevinta.
- Pakistan, Egypt and Lebanon: run by Dubizzle Group since a 2020 merger.
- Indonesia: sold to Astra.
OLX Group reported revenue of $992 million for the year to 31 March 2026, up 28%, with motors, real estate and jobs making up 71% of it (OLX Group, 29 June 2026).
Cost: many categories are free with limits; cars, property, jobs and services are usually paid or have small free quotas, and prices differ by country.
5. Leboncoin
Region: France.
Leboncoin, launched in 2006 and owned by Adevinta, is France's main classifieds site and one of the most visited websites in the country. People use it for everything from furniture and children's clothes to cars, holiday rentals, jobs and property. It also offers delivery and a secure payment option, so items can be sold to buyers outside your town.
Cost: posting is free for private sellers in most categories. Vehicles and property have a free quota, after which each ad is paid; visibility options are extra. When buyers use secure payment and delivery, the buyer pays the fee.
6. Gumtree
Region: the UK, Australia and South Africa, each run by a different company.
Gumtree started in London in 2000 as a site for expats looking for flats and jobs and grew into one of the main local classifieds sites in the UK, Australia and South Africa. It is used for second-hand goods, cars, rentals, flatshares and casual jobs.
It is no longer one business. Gumtree UK has been owned by Ocean Link and 58.com since September 2024 (Online Marketplaces). Gumtree Australia is run by the ASX-listed Gumtree Australia Markets, alongside CarsGuide and Autotrader, and Gumtree South Africa was bought by Impresa Capital in 2022.
Cost: basic ads are free in most categories; business sellers, some categories (such as pets in the UK) and featured placements are paid, and the rules differ by country.
7. Avito
Region: Russia.
Avito launched in 2007 and became Russia's largest classifieds site, strong in property, cars, jobs and services as well as second-hand goods. Naspers agreed to sell it to Kismet Capital Group in October 2022 after leaving Russia. It serves the Russian market only; it is not a pan-European site.
Cost: each category has a free limit per month (in some categories per year); ads beyond it are paid, and sellers flagged as businesses pay in categories such as used cars.
The challenger to watch: Vinted
Vinted, the Lithuanian second-hand marketplace, passed €1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2025: revenue reached €1.1 billion (up 38%) and gross merchandise value €10.8 billion (up 47%) (Tech.eu, 9 April 2026). It started with clothes and has added categories such as electronics, sports and collectibles. Sales are shipped rather than collected, so in much of Europe it now competes directly with general classifieds sites for small items.
Biggest classifieds sites in Asia
8. Mercari
Region: Japan, with a separate US marketplace.
Mercari, founded in Tokyo in 2013, is Japan's largest app for selling used items between individuals. Unlike most sites here, it is built around shipping: you list from your phone, the buyer pays through the app, and you send the item with anonymous shipping. Mercari says its Japanese marketplace is used by about 24 million people a month, and its US marketplace by 4.2 million, in its results for the year to June 2026 (Mercari investor relations).
Cost: listing is free; Mercari takes a 10% fee when an item sells.
Elsewhere in Asia, the leaders are local: in India the OLX site is now run by the car group CarTrade, whose OLX business grew revenue 29% year on year in April–June 2026 (Business Upturn, 29 July 2026), and in Pakistan OLX belongs to Dubizzle Group.
What changed after 2024
The biggest names are mostly the same, but behind them the industry keeps consolidating and splitting up country by country:
| Platform | What changed |
|---|---|
| Craigslist | Still privately held and nearly unchanged. It publishes no traffic or revenue figures; outside estimates show it losing buyers to Facebook Marketplace and apps since around 2018. |
| Facebook Marketplace | On 14 November 2024 the European Commission fined Meta €797.72 million for tying Marketplace to Facebook and for imposing unfair trading conditions on rival classifieds sites (Society for Computers & Law). Meta has since started showing listings from partner platforms such as eBay in Marketplace (Value Added Resource). |
| OLX | OLX Group narrowed to seven markets and bought La Centrale in France (completed November 2025); it sold its Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan businesses. OLX India has belonged to CarTrade since August 2023. |
| Gumtree | Three owners in three countries; check the local site's terms rather than assuming they match. |
| Avito | Under Russian ownership since the 2022 sale. |
The fastest-growing marketplaces: what happened after the hype
In 2024 every "fastest growing" list was led by Temu, TikTok Shop and Alibaba's Miravia, mostly on the strength of forecasts. Two years on, the picture is different:
- Vinted delivered. Its 2025 GMV reached €10.8 billion (up 47%), with revenue of €1.1 billion and a net profit of €62 million (Vinted, April 2026).
- Cross-border bargain apps ran into regulation. The European Commission designated Temu a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act in May 2024 and said in July 2025 that it was failing to stop the sale of illegal products. In the US, duty-free imports of small parcels from China ended on 2 May 2025.
- Local classifieds were less exposed. When buyer and seller meet nearby, parcel rules don't apply, which is one reason the local leaders above kept their place.
When you read a growth ranking, check whether it quotes published results or projections. And remember that classifieds sites and e-commerce apps are different businesses: classifieds earn from listing upgrades, professional accounts and verticals such as cars, property and jobs, while shops like Temu earn per order.
Which classifieds site should you use?
- To sell something bulky locally (a sofa, a bike, a car): the local leader in your country (Craigslist, Kijiji, Leboncoin, OLX, Avito, Gumtree) plus Facebook Marketplace.
- To sell small items you can post: Vinted in Europe, Mercari in Japan.
- For cars and homes in emerging markets: OLX and its car and property sites in Eastern Europe and South Africa, OLX India and OLX Brasil, and Avito in Russia, are where most private sellers list.
- For jobs and rentals: the local generalist works, but check the posting fee first; these are the categories most sites charge for.
Safety tips for buyers and sellers
- Meet in a busy public place, or bring someone along for visits to a home.
- See the item before paying, and never send a deposit to hold something you haven't seen.
- Use the site's own messaging and payment where it offers one; be wary of anyone who moves you to another app or sends a payment link.
- Sellers: be wary of "overpayment" offers and fake payment-confirmation emails. Wait until the money is in your account.
- For cars, check the registration documents and history before you pay.
Template
Stay-safe tips page for buyers and sellers
Publish this as your safety page and link it from every listing and message screen; add your own payment and reporting details.
How we checked these sites
We visited each site and checked, in October 2026, that it still operates in the countries listed, its current address, what it is mainly used for, what posting costs and whether it has an app. Ownership changes and figures come from the companies' own results and help pages or from the news reports linked above; where a company publishes no figures (Craigslist, Avito, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace), we have left numbers out. Fees change often, so check the posting screen before you pay.
The global brands are becoming local, and in many towns the most useful classifieds site is a small local one. If you want to start one for your own area or community, you can build it with Yclas.
