Who owns willhaben now?

Since March 2025, willhaben is owned by a joint venture between Austria's Styria Media Group (~50.0001%) and growth investor Sprits (~49.9999%), after Adevinta sold its stake in a deal valuing the company at roughly 500 million euros.

Is willhaben profitable?

No audited revenue or profit figures for willhaben are publicly disclosed. Third-party estimates vary too widely to be reliable, but the March 2025 sale at a 500 million euro valuation to Styria and Sprits suggests a cash-generative, stable business rather than a distressed one.

Could AI replace willhaben?

Unlikely soon. willhaben's moat is its 20-year Austrian audience of about 4 million monthly users, two-sided network effects across real estate, autos, jobs and goods, and PayLivery trust infrastructure (since July 2020), none of which a generative AI tool can easily replicate as of July 2026.

Who is willhaben's biggest competitor?

ImmoScout24.at, the Austrian arm of Germany's Scout24 SE, has competed in willhaben's real estate vertical since 2012 but has not visibly dislodged willhaben's leadership after 14 years, per market reporting through 2026.

How many users does willhaben have?

willhaben's own advertising materials, citing ÖWA 2025-II audience data, claim about 4 million unique monthly users and 55.9% national reach in Austria as of February 2026, with over 13 million listings across its verticals as of March 2025.

What is PayLivery on willhaben?

PayLivery is willhaben's in-platform escrow payment and shipping-label service, live since July 2020, letting private sellers complete transactions securely inside the marketplace. It remains a core trust and transactional feature underpinning willhaben's competitive position.

E-commerce and marketplaces · subsidiary of Styria Media Group (joint venture with Sprints Capital Management; effective control ~50.0001% Styria, ~49.9999% Sprints as of March 2025) · Austria

willhaben

willhaben.at ↗

Austria's biggest online marketplace for real estate, cars, jobs, and used goods.

Hard to displace

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from Q4 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: 12 to 18 month mark after Sprits/Styria full integration, watch for new product investment or cost cuts

The call

willhaben sits on two decades of Austrian buyers and sellers that no foreign platform or AI tool has managed to pull away yet.

Willhaben is Austria's main classified-ads site for real estate, cars, jobs, and general goods. It is hard to replace because it has 4 million monthly users and reaches about half the country, meaning buyers and sellers naturally go there first, and a new site would need both groups to switch at once, which rarely happens in a small 9-million-person country. The big risk is AI search tools from Google or OpenAI that let people find items without visiting willhaben directly, which could drain its audience and ad revenue over the next few years.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. No AI shopping agent has shipped in Austria yet, but if Google or OpenAI build one, it could skip willhaben's front page entirely. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: Scout24 (ImmoScout24.at). Scout24 has sold real estate listings in Austria since 2012 but is currently focused on Spain, not pushing hard against willhaben. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.

What protects it. 20 years of local buyers and sellers already on the platform, plus PayLivery payment and shipping tools that lock in transactions.

What would change this call

Scout24 launches a visible Austrian real-estate push or reallocates spend from Spain back to Austria. Would show the 14-year incumbent finally mounting a serious share challenge.
A Google or OpenAI shopping/search agent begins handling Austrian classifieds discovery without routing users to willhaben. Would show AI-native agents eroding willhaben's front-door traffic and ad revenue.
Reports of layoffs, senior departures, or a PayLivery fraud/trust incident at willhaben post-acquisition. Would show Sprits/Styria ownership causing distress rather than stable investment.

Key numbers

4 million monthly users (2026-02)
55.9% reach of Austrian population (2026-02)
Sold for 500 million euros (2025-03)

Named risks

AI-native shopping/search agents could siphon discovery traffic and ad revenue from willhaben's front door. Severity: medium
Scout24 could mount a visible Austrian real-estate offensive leveraging its 500M+ euro revenue base. Severity: medium
New Styria/Sprits ownership integration could introduce strategic or investment uncertainty post 2025 deal. Severity: medium
Broader European media/tech sector layoff pressure in 2026 could eventually reach willhaben despite no confirmed cuts. Severity: low
No audited revenue figures are public, leaving financial health opaque to outside observers. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Scout24 (ImmoScout24.at)	contesting	Active in Austrian real estate since 2012, no visible willhaben share loss reported through 2026
eBay Kleinanzeigen (Adevinta)	contesting	Named as horizontal-classifieds rival; primarily Germany-focused, Austria pressure unquantified as of 2026

Questions people ask

Who owns willhaben now?: Since March 2025, willhaben is owned by a joint venture between Austria's Styria Media Group (~50.0001%) and growth investor Sprits (~49.9999%), after Adevinta sold its stake in a deal valuing the company at roughly 500 million euros.
Is willhaben profitable?: No audited revenue or profit figures for willhaben are publicly disclosed. Third-party estimates vary too widely to be reliable, but the March 2025 sale at a 500 million euro valuation to Styria and Sprits suggests a cash-generative, stable business rather than a distressed one.
Could AI replace willhaben?: Unlikely soon. willhaben's moat is its 20-year Austrian audience of about 4 million monthly users, two-sided network effects across real estate, autos, jobs and goods, and PayLivery trust infrastructure (since July 2020), none of which a generative AI tool can easily replicate as of July 2026.
Who is willhaben's biggest competitor?: ImmoScout24.at, the Austrian arm of Germany's Scout24 SE, has competed in willhaben's real estate vertical since 2012 but has not visibly dislodged willhaben's leadership after 14 years, per market reporting through 2026.
How many users does willhaben have?: willhaben's own advertising materials, citing ÖWA 2025-II audience data, claim about 4 million unique monthly users and 55.9% national reach in Austria as of February 2026, with over 13 million listings across its verticals as of March 2025.
What is PayLivery on willhaben?: PayLivery is willhaben's in-platform escrow payment and shipping-label service, live since July 2020, letting private sellers complete transactions securely inside the marketplace. It remains a core trust and transactional feature underpinning willhaben's competitive position.

Timeline

2026-06-16Reuters Institute confirms Sprits/Styria joint venture as willhaben's current owner
2026-02-16willhaben ad materials cite ÖWA 2025-II data: 55.9% reach, 4M unique users
2025-03-31Chambers report on deal: willhaben has 3.8-4M monthly users, 13M+ listings
2025-03-04Sprits announces investment in willhaben alongside Styria
2025-03-03Adevinta announces sale of willhaben stake to Styria/Sprits at ~500M euro valuation
2025willhaben ranked #2 on Great Place to Work Best SME Workplaces in Europe
2024-02-12Erste Bank partnership via willhaben DMP reports 40% ad-segment performance lift
2020-07willhaben launches PayLivery escrow and shipping-label service
2006willhaben founded, headquartered in Vienna, Austria

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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