How much does property management software cost?
For a landlord with 1 to 20 units, property management software costs $0 to about $240 a month. Free plans charge nothing for the software and make their money from fees that tenants and applicants pay. Paid plans charge a flat or tiered price, charge for each unit or tenant, or set a monthly minimum, such as DoorLoop One's $239. Below are published prices for nine products at 3 to 100 units, the fees outside the plan, and a way to work out your own total.
What nine products cost at 3 to 100 units
At 3 units, prices run from $0 (Innago, Avail Unlimited, and TurboTenant Free) to $239 (DoorLoop One). At 100 units, the paid plans run from about $29 (TurboTenant Essentials billed yearly, or RentRedi at $29.95) to $900 (Avail Unlimited Plus). Each figure is the monthly list price for the software alone, month to month where the company sells it that way.
| Product and plan | 3 units | 10 units | 20 units | 50 units | 100 units | Source, date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rentals369 | $59 | $87 | $127 | $234.50 | $409.50 | Rentals369 pricing, |
| AppFolio Core, from $1.49 a unit | Below the 50-unit minimum | Below the 50-unit minimum | Below the 50-unit minimum | From $74.50; a minimum spend applies | From $149; a minimum spend applies | AppFolio pricing, |
| Avail Unlimited | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Avail pricing, |
| Avail Unlimited Plus, $9 a unit | $27 | $90 | $180 | $450 | $900 | Avail pricing, |
| Buildium Essential, then Growth | $65 | $65 | $65 | $202 | $265 | Buildium pricing, |
| DoorLoop One | $239 | $239 | $239 | $239 | $300 | DoorLoop pricing, |
| Innago | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Innago pricing, |
| RentRedi | $29.95 | $29.95 | $29.95 | $29.95 | $29.95 | RentRedi pricing, |
| TenantCloud Starter, Growth, Pro, Business | $18 or $25 (Starter) | $18 or $25 (Starter) | $35 (Growth) | $60 (Pro) | From $100 (Business) | TenantCloud pricing, |
| TurboTenant Free | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | TurboTenant pricing, |
| TurboTenant Essentials, billed yearly | $12.42 | $12.42 | $16.58 | $24.92 | $29.08 | TurboTenant pricing, |
Yearly billing lowers several of these. Rentals369 charges 10 months' price for a year: $49.17 a month at 3 tenants, $72.50 at 10, $105.83 at 20, $195.42 at 50, and $341.25 at 100. RentRedi is $144 a year ($12 a month), DoorLoop One's minimum is $199 a month billed yearly, Buildium takes 10% off a prepaid year, and TenantCloud Starter is $15 a month billed annually.
TurboTenant bills Essentials and Pro once a year by the number of units you manage: $149 and $199 for 1-10 units, $199 and $399 for 11-30, $299 and $699 for 31-60, and $349 and $999 for 61 or more. The Essentials row is that yearly price divided by 12. Pro works out to $16.58, $16.58, $33.25, $58.25, and $83.25 a month at the five sizes.
AppFolio sells by quote. Its figures at 50 and 100 units are Core's starting rate of $1.49 a unit times the number of units, before a minimum spend that AppFolio applies to every plan but does not publish, so ask for a written quote at your size. Plus starts at $3.20 a unit and Max at $5.00. TenantCloud's pricing page shows both $18 and $25 for Starter month to month, and its plans cap active leases at 10 on Starter, 30 on Growth, and 60 on Pro.
Rentals369 publishes this guide and is not affiliated with the other companies named; their names are trademarks of their owners. Prices change, so confirm current terms before you buy. Each head-to-head comparison lists the rest of the sources.
What is the average cost of property management software?
For a small landlord, the middle price is $65 a month. Of the seven paid plans in the table that you can buy at 10 or 20 units, Buildium Essential sits in the middle at both sizes. At 10 units, TurboTenant Essentials, TenantCloud Starter, and RentRedi cost less, from $12.42 to $29.95, while Rentals369, Avail Unlimited Plus, and DoorLoop One cost more, from $87 to $239.
A plain average is less useful: three of the nine products have a $0 plan at every size, and DoorLoop One's $239 minimum sits at the other end. Treat $65 as a reference point only. What you pay depends on how the product counts your units and on the fees outside the plan, so work out your own total with the steps further down.
Per unit, tiered, flat, or free with fees: how pricing models work
The pricing model decides how fast your bill grows as you add units, so it matters as much as the starting price. Most products use one of these six.
Per unit
You pay a set amount for each unit, so the bill grows in a straight line. Avail Unlimited Plus is $9 a unit a month. DoorLoop One is $3.00 a unit ($1.80 for each unit above 100) with a $239 monthly minimum, so it stays at $239 until you pass about 80 units.
Unit bands and tiers
Each plan covers a range of units, and the price jumps when you cross into the next band. Buildium Essential is $65 a month up to 20 units and $84 up to 40. Above 40 units you move to Growth, at $202 a month up to 50. TurboTenant's paid plans use bands billed once a year: Essentials is $149 a year for 1-10 units and $199 for 11-30. TenantCloud caps active leases instead: 10 on Starter, 30 on Growth, and 60 on Pro.
Flat price
One price at any size. RentRedi charges $29.95 a month month to month, or $12 a month on its annual plan, with no cap on units.
Free, with fees paid by tenants
The software costs nothing. The company earns money when tenants pay rent online, when applicants pay for screening, and from paid upgrades. Innago, Avail Unlimited, and TurboTenant Free work this way.
Per active tenant
Rentals369 counts active tenants, one per occupied unit, so vacant units and past tenants cost nothing. The first 3 tenants are in the $59 base price, tenants 4-25 add $4.00 each, tenants 26-100 add $3.50 each, and every tenant after 100 adds $3.00.
Custom quote
Some suites sell only by quote. AppFolio publishes starting rates, from $1.49 a unit a month on Core, but every plan has a minimum spend it doesn't publish, and Core has a 50-unit minimum. Check the minimum against your unit count before you book a demo.
Property management software fees outside the plan
The plan price is rarely the whole bill. Online rent payments, screening, e-signatures, setup, and add-ons can each cost extra, and tenants or applicants usually pay the first two.
Online rent payments
Products that collect rent charge a fee for each payment, and on most of them the tenant pays it by default. A bank (ACH) payment costs $1 at RentRedi, $1.50 on DoorLoop One, $1.50 to $1.95 at TenantCloud depending on the plan, $2 at Innago and on TurboTenant Free, and $2.50 on Avail's free plan. Card payments cost 2.99% to 3.5%, sometimes plus 30 cents. Avail Unlimited Plus, TurboTenant Pro, and DoorLoop Connect and Multiply drop the bank fee.
Buildium charges through its ePay add-on: $2.35 for each incoming bank payment on Essential, $1.35 on Growth, and $0.60 on Premium after 12 free months, 2.99% by card, and $99 to set up each bank account on Essential. Its pricing page does not say whether the landlord or the tenant pays these. AppFolio sells payments as a separate service and does not publish its general fees.
Rentals369 does not collect rent online. You record the payments you receive, so there is no payment fee, and your tenants also have no way to pay through it.
Screening
Applicants usually pay for screening reports. On these products a report costs $17 to $55: Buildium $17 basic or $35 premium, Innago $30 ($35 with eviction history), Avail $30 for one report or $55 for a bundle, DoorLoop $35, RentRedi $39.99, TenantCloud $39, and TurboTenant $55, or $45 when the landlord is on Essentials or Pro. Rentals369 sends applicants to TransUnion SmartMove, RentSpree, Zillow Rental Manager, or Apartments.com to be screened there, at those services' prices.
E-signatures
DoorLoop, RentRedi, and Avail include e-signing with no cap. Buildium charges $5 a document on Essential and $1 on Growth, and includes it on Premium. TurboTenant's own pages disagree about which plans include it. Rentals369 includes the DocuSign connection, and DocuSign bills you for your own DocuSign account.
Setup and add-ons
Rentals369 and Innago list no setup fee. Products sold by quote can add onboarding, so ask for it in writing. Some features sit on a higher plan or cost extra: Buildium's Lumina add-on raises Essential from $65 to $86.72 a month, and TenantCloud keeps QuickBooks Online sync and the owner portal for Pro and above. A QuickBooks Online sync, wherever it comes from, also needs your own QuickBooks Online subscription from Intuit.
How to estimate your own cost
Work out a year's total at the size you expect to be, using each product's own rules.
- Count what the product counts. Per-unit plans often count every unit, let or empty. TenantCloud counts active leases, and Rentals369 counts active tenants.
- Pick the plan with the features you would use, not the cheapest one. If you need QuickBooks sync or an owner portal, price the plan that has them.
- Add the fees you would carry: payment fees you choose to absorb, e-signatures, add-ons, and setup.
- Price the size you expect next year, and check where the next band or minimum starts. Buildium Essential stops at 40 units, for example.
- Compare 12 months billed monthly with a yearly plan, and read the refund and cancellation terms.
- Confirm the total at checkout or in a written quote, because published prices change.
Example for 10 units over one year, with every tenant paying rent online by bank transfer: on a free plan with a $2 bank fee, the software costs you $0 and your tenants pay 10 x 12 x $2 = $240 in fees. RentRedi costs 12 x $29.95 = $359.40 month to month, or $144 on its annual plan, and its $1 bank fee adds $120 for your tenants. Rentals369 costs $870 billed yearly, or 12 x $87 = $1,044 month to month, with no payment fees because it doesn't take payments.
For Rentals369, the price calculator shows the monthly and yearly price at any tenant count.
What Rentals369 costs, and when another product costs less
Rentals369 is one plan with everything included and no setup fee: $59 a month for up to 3 tenants, $87 at 10, $127 at 20, $234.50 at 50, and $409.50 at 100. Paying yearly costs 10 months' price. Email Sync, QuickBooks Online sync, the DocuSign connection, the Android app, and portals for tenants, vendors, and owners are all in that price.
It costs more than the free plans, RentRedi, and TurboTenant's paid plans at every size, more than TenantCloud from 3 to 50 units, and more than Buildium from 5 units up. It costs less than DoorLoop One up to 51 tenants and less than Avail Unlimited Plus from 10 units up. If the lowest bill matters most, or you need rent collected online, another product fits you better.
To decide whether you need software at all, read do I need property management software? To see what Rentals369 does for a small portfolio, read Rentals369 for independent landlords.
Common questions
Is free property management software really free?
The software is free, and the company earns its money in other ways. Tenants usually pay a fee for each online rent payment, applicants pay for screening, and some features sit on paid plans. If you don't take rent online or screen applicants through it, a free plan can cost you nothing.
Why do some tools have unit minimums?
Products built for larger managers often set a floor: a minimum number of units, a minimum monthly charge, or both. DoorLoop One costs at least $239 a month on monthly billing, and AppFolio's Core plan has a 50-unit minimum plus a minimum spend it doesn't publish. Below the floor, a small portfolio pays the same as a bigger one.
How much does property management software cost per unit?
On the per-unit plans here, $1.49 to $9.00 a unit a month: AppFolio Core starts at $1.49 by quote, with a 50-unit minimum, DoorLoop One is $3.00 ($1.80 above 100 units), and Avail Unlimited Plus is $9.00. On flat and banded plans, the cost per unit falls as you grow. RentRedi's $29.95 works out to about $3.00 a unit at 10 units and 30 cents at 100, and Rentals369 to about $19.67 a tenant at 3 and $4.10 at 100.
Is it cheaper to pay yearly?
Usually, if you plan to stay. Rentals369 charges 10 months' price for a year, RentRedi's annual plan works out to $12 a month against $29.95, Buildium takes 10% off a prepaid year, and DoorLoop One's minimum drops from $239 to $199 a month. TurboTenant sells its paid plans only by the year. You pay more up front, so read the refund terms first. Rentals369's no-sweat guarantee gives a full refund within 30 days of your first payment, monthly or yearly.
