How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- The spreadsheet works until the third property. After that, rent collection and maintenance tracking need a real system.
- Stessa, TurboTenant, Avail, TenantCloud and Innago all offer free tiers, so small landlords can start at zero cost.
- Paid plans for DIY landlords run $12 to $15 a month; full management platforms start around $62 a month and scale with units.
- AppFolio and Buildium serve professional managers with dozens of units; DIY landlords with under ten units should look at the simpler tools first.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Stessa | Financial tracking for rental investors | $12 per month (paid annually) | Yes |
 TurboTenant | DIY landlords who self-manage | $149 per year (Essentials, 1-10 units) | Yes |
 Avail | Tenant placement and DIY management | $9 per unit/month (Unlimited Plus) | Yes |
 Innago | Free full-featured management | Free | Yes |
 RentRedi | Simple flat pricing, unlimited everything | $12 per month (billed annually) | No |
 TenantCloud | Growing from one unit to a portfolio | $15 per month | Yes |
 DoorLoop | Modern all-in-one for small to mid portfolios | $69 per month | No |
 Buildium | Professional managers with accounting needs | $62 per month (Essential) | Free trial (14 days) |
 AppFolio | Large and diverse portfolios at scale | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best rental software for landlords
Starting price$12 per month (paid annually)
Free planYes
Stessa started as the financial dashboard for rental investors and it still does that job best. Connect your bank accounts and it categorizes rental income and expenses automatically, producing the reports your CPA wants at tax time. The free Essentials tier covers the basics, while Manage at $12 a month paid annually adds automation, legal forms and e-signature for investors who want to systematize.
The honest limitation is scope. Stessa is investor-first software: financial tracking, performance dashboards and tax prep. If your daily pain is maintenance requests and tenant communication rather than bookkeeping, a management-first tool like TurboTenant or DoorLoop fits better. For the landlord whose question is "how is my portfolio actually performing," Stessa is the clearest answer.
What we like- Free Essentials tier covers core financial tracking
- Automated income and expense categorization
- Tax-ready reports landlords actually use
Watch out for- Not a full property management suite
- Tenant-facing features are newer and thinner
- The paid tiers matter most for short-term rentals
Starting price$149 per year (Essentials, 1-10 units)
Free planYes
TurboTenant is built for the landlord who manages their own properties and wants the busywork handled. Advertise vacancies, collect applications, screen tenants, sign leases electronically and collect rent online, all priced to grow with you: Essentials starts at $149 a year for 1 to 10 units, stepping up as the portfolio grows. The free tier lets a new landlord test the workflow before paying.
The trade-offs are commitment and depth. Annual billing means paying upfront, and the accounting tools are simpler than what a professional manager gets from Buildium or AppFolio. But for the DIY landlord with a handful of doors, TurboTenant covers the actual workflow at a price that pays for itself with one avoided vacancy.
What we like- Free tier for getting started
- Pricing scales gently with unit count
- Solid tenant screening and online applications
Watch out for- Annual pricing means committing upfront
- Advanced accounting is lighter than Buildium
- The free tier has real limits
Starting price$9 per unit/month (Unlimited Plus)
Free planYes
Avail, part of the Realtor.com network, focuses on the front half of landlording: finding tenants and getting paid. List your rental, collect applications with screening, sign a state-specific lease, and collect rent online, with the free tier covering the essentials. Unlimited Plus at $9 per unit per month adds FastPay for quicker deposits, waived ACH fees and customizable leases.
The per-unit pricing is the thing to model. Nine dollars per unit per month is painless for two units and noticeable for twenty, so larger DIY landlords should compare against RentRedi's flat pricing. Maintenance management is also thinner than full-suite competitors. For tenant placement and straightforward rent collection, Avail is polished and proven.
What we like- Free tier handles listings, applications and rent collection
- FastPay speeds up rent deposits
- State-specific lease templates
Watch out for- The free tier nudges toward paid add-ons
- $9 per unit per month adds up across many doors
- Maintenance tools are basic
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Innago's pitch is disarmingly simple: free property management software for landlords, covering listings, applications, tenant screening, e-sign leases, online rent collection and maintenance requests. There is no paid subscription tier to graduate into. The business model runs on optional usage-based fees paid by tenants for certain services.
That model is also the question to ask. If you are uncomfortable with tenant-paid fees in your rent collection flow, Innago is not for you. And the accounting depth does not match Buildium. But as a free, genuinely full-featured management tool for small to mid-size landlords, Innago is the most generous offer in the category.
What we like- Completely free for landlords with no unit caps games
- Covers listings, screening, leases, rent collection and maintenance
- No subscription to budget
Watch out for- Revenue comes from optional tenant-paid fees, which some landlords dislike
- Smaller company with less market presence
- Fewer advanced accounting features
Starting price$12 per month (billed annually)
Free planNo
RentRedi keeps the pricing conversation to one sentence: $12 a month billed annually ($29.95 monthly, $20 semi-annually) for unlimited properties and unlimited tenants. No per-unit math, no tiers that hide features, no contracts. Rent collection, tenant screening, maintenance tracking and listings are all included, with a 30-day money-back guarantee instead of a free tier.
The simplicity is deliberate and limiting in equal measure. You will not get Buildium's accounting depth or AppFolio's automation, and there is no free plan to test long-term. But for the landlord who wants one predictable bill and every property covered, RentRedi is the simplest paid answer here.
What we like- One flat price with unlimited properties and tenants
- $12 a month annual billing is among the cheapest paid options
- No contracts, cancel anytime
Watch out for- No free tier, only a money-back guarantee
- Simpler feature set than the big platforms
- The mobile-first design is not for everyone
Starting price$15 per month
Free planYes
TenantCloud positions itself as the tool that grows with you, from a single condo to a full portfolio. The free tier handles the basics, and paid plans starting at $15 a month open up advanced accounting, team management and automation as the portfolio justifies them. With over 100,000 landlords on the platform, it is one of the most adopted options here.
The growth path has gates: the features a scaling landlord wants, like team tools and deeper accounting, sit on premium tiers, so price the plan you will need in a year, not just today. The interface prioritizes function over polish. For the landlord with a growth plan, TenantCloud's ladder is well designed.
What we like- Free tier for starting out
- Paid plans from $15 a month scale with growth
- Trusted by over 100,000 landlords
Watch out for- Advanced accounting and team tools need premium tiers
- The interface is functional rather than delightful
- Per-plan feature gates require attention
Starting price$69 per month
Free planNo
DoorLoop is the modern all-in-one that small and mid-size managers graduate to. Accounting, rent collection, maintenance, tenant portals, leasing and owner reporting sit in one clean interface, with flat pricing from $69 a month instead of per-unit math. It has grown fast on the strength of being easier to use than the legacy platforms.
The jump from DIY tools is real: $69 a month with no free tier means committing, and managers used to free Stessa or TurboTenant should be sure they need the full suite. It also lacks the decades-long track record of Yardi or AppFolio. For the growing manager who wants one modern system, DoorLoop is the most approachable serious platform.
What we like- Modern interface that is easy to learn
- Transparent flat pricing
- Strong all-in-one feature set for the price
Watch out for- No free tier or trial, only demos
- $69 a month is a step up from DIY tools
- Newer than the established enterprise players
Starting price$62 per month (Essential)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Buildium is the professional's choice for residential property management, now part of RealPage. The accounting module is the standout: trust accounting, owner statements and financial reporting built for how property managers actually handle money. Plans start at $62 a month for Essential, scaling through Growth at $192 and Premium at $400 as unit counts and needs grow, with a 14-day free trial.
It is not a DIY landlord tool at heart. The price and the learning curve assume someone manages properties for a living, and users note that bank reconciliation still involves manual matching. For the professional manager or the serious investor with a growing portfolio, Buildium's accounting depth justifies the cost.
What we like- Strong accounting purpose-built for property management
- Scales from small managers to large portfolios
- 14-day free trial
Watch out for- $62 a month to start prices out casual landlords
- The accounting depth has a learning curve
- Some bank-feed automation lags newer fintech tools
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
AppFolio is the heavyweight: a full property management platform for diverse, large portfolios, with AI woven into leasing chats, maintenance dispatch and invoice reading. It handles residential, commercial and student housing in one system, and the mobile app lets managers run nearly every workflow from the field.
The barriers are deliberate. Pricing is now quote-only, historically around $1.49 per unit per month with monthly minimums near $298 and a 50-unit floor, which prices out small landlords entirely. There is no open API, so custom integrations are painful, and support reviews are mixed. For the large operator who needs everything in one place, AppFolio is the standard. Everyone else should start higher up this list.
What we like- Handles residential, commercial and student housing in one platform
- AI features for leasing chats and maintenance dispatch
- Strong mobile app
Watch out for- Quote-only pricing with minimums that exclude small landlords
- No open API for custom integrations
- Support quality gets mixed reviews
How we chose
We focused on tools landlords actually buy in 2026, from free DIY options to professional platforms, and verified each product exists today. Pricing comes only from the vendors' own pricing pages, captured in October 2026; AppFolio has moved to quote-only pricing, so that listing says so. We weighted the landlord's real workflow, listing, screening, leasing, rent collection, maintenance and accounting, over feature counts, and we separated DIY landlord tools from professional manager platforms because the wrong category is the most common buying mistake.
DIY landlord or property manager: pick your category
The category split matters more than any feature list. DIY landlord tools (Stessa, TurboTenant, Avail, Innago, RentRedi, TenantCloud) assume you manage your own properties: simple pricing, free tiers, and workflows built for owners. Professional platforms (DoorLoop, Buildium, AppFolio) assume property management is the business: trust accounting, owner portals, team permissions and scale pricing.
Buying across the split hurts both ways. A landlord with four units on AppFolio pays for power they will never use. A manager with eighty units on a DIY tool hits walls in accounting and permissions within months. Count your units, be honest about whether this is a side investment or a business, and buy inside the right half of the list.
The fees hiding behind "free rent collection"
Free plans and low headline prices deserve a careful read of the fee schedule. Several tools monetize through transaction fees: ACH processing, credit card surcharges and expedited deposit fees that tenants or landlords pay per transaction. A "free" tool that takes a cut of every rent payment can cost more annually than a $15-a-month subscription.
Ask four questions before committing. What are the ACH and card processing fees, and who pays them. Are there fees for tenant screening reports, lease templates or e-signatures. What does expedited or same-day deposit cost. And what happens to pricing as units grow: per-unit tools get expensive fast, which is why flat-fee tools win for growing portfolios. The cheapest headline price rarely survives the fee schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free rental software for landlords?
Stessa's free Essentials tier is best for financial tracking, Innago is the most complete free management suite, and TurboTenant, Avail and TenantCloud all offer free tiers for listings, applications and rent collection. Free usually means thinner accounting and some transaction fees, so read the fee schedule.
How much does property management software cost?
DIY landlord tools run free to about $15 a month, or $149 a year for TurboTenant. Mid-market platforms like DoorLoop start at $69 a month and Buildium at $62 a month. AppFolio is quote-based with minimums aimed at 50-plus units. Always add payment processing fees to the subscription price.
Should I switch from spreadsheets to software?
If you have one or two units and simple finances, a spreadsheet plus Stessa's free tier is fine. At three-plus units, or the first time a maintenance request slips through the cracks, dedicated software pays for itself. The trigger is usually missed rent follow-ups or tax-time bookkeeping pain.
Do tenants have to pay fees with these tools?
It depends on the tool and your settings. Some platforms charge landlords for ACH processing, some pass fees to tenants, and some offer free ACH with fees only for cards or expedited deposits. Innago's model includes optional tenant-paid fees for certain services. Check who pays what before you invite tenants.
Can this software handle my taxes?
Stessa is built for exactly this, with tax-ready reports and CPA-friendly exports. Buildium and AppFolio produce owner statements and financials a bookkeeper can use. None of them replace a tax professional, but they replace the shoebox of receipts.
What happens if I outgrow my tool?
Most DIY tools export your data, and the professional platforms offer migration assistance, sometimes for a fee. The painful part is usually retraining yourself and re-inviting tenants to a new portal. Choosing a tool with a growth path, like TenantCloud's tier ladder, postpones the problem.
Sources we checked (9)
- https://www.stessa.com/pricing
- https://www.turbotenant.com/pricing
- https://www.avail.com/pricing
- https://innago.com/
- https://rentredi.com/pricing
- https://www.tenantcloud.com/pricing
- https://www.doorloop.com/pricing
- https://www.buildium.com/pricing
- https://www.appfolio.com/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.