Brokers are typically hired by the landlord to find a tenant and not a tenant to find an apartment. The big apartment complexes with a company ownership rather than individual typically hires brokers too, but probably they have enough apartments to just have in-house ones and pay them themselves.
But at least in NYC those big apartment complexes are typically only at the higher end of the spectrum. You'll be using a website like StreetEasy to find listings online which often don't have the best pictures, floor plans and you will have to schedule an appointment with one such broker for a time that works best for both of you. These days its less common but pre-pandemic it was not uncommon for a tenant to have to pay 1 month rent as broker fees.
But at least in NYC those big apartment complexes are typically only at the higher end of the spectrum. You'll be using a website like StreetEasy to find listings online which often don't have the best pictures, floor plans and you will have to schedule an appointment with one such broker for a time that works best for both of you. These days its less common but pre-pandemic it was not uncommon for a tenant to have to pay 1 month rent as broker fees.