As the market for DIY solutions expands, landlords searching for the best property management software in 2024 will have a wide range of options to consider.
Some come with a slew of free features, while others offer pricing tiers scaled to the number of units managed. Either way, choosing the best software for your needs is critical to starting on the right foot.
To help you along your journey, we examined the top property manager software options available today by accounting for the breadth of features each individual software presents, its pros and cons, and reviews.
Let’s get to it.
Top 5 Property Management Software in 2024
TurboTenant
Best All-In-One Free Option
Landlords new to property management software might not see the value in a solution if they have to pull out a credit card just to use it. With TurboTenant, you can sign up for a free account to get a feel for the platform risk-free.
A free account gives you access to:
- Online rent collection
- Automated property marketing
- Rental application forms
- Lease agreement generation
- Showing scheduling
- Maintenance management
And with the landlord app, you can manage your properties on your phone while seamlessly communicating with your tenants from anywhere. It’s an easy way to stay connected and productive while on the go.
After experiencing the benefits of TurboTenant’s free version, you may choose to upgrade to our Premium offering. For just $129 a year, you’ll gain access to a comprehensive landlord forms pack, lawyer-reviewed leases for every state, and reduced ACH and tenant screening fees.
This cost-effective solution is a steal compared to hiring a property manager.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Cost-effective
- State-specific leases provide peace of mind
- Unlimited properties included in the free tier
- Continuing landlord education gives you an edge
- Free online calculators help you make sound financial decisions
- Colorado-based support team here to help 7 days a week
- REI Hub integration imports bank transactions for easy expense categorization
Cons:
- Rental accounting software isn’t free
Customer Reviews:
- Customers love how easy TurboTeant is to use
- Users think that pre-screening tenants is easy
- Reviewers agree that TurboTenant makes lease drafting simple
- Reviewers find responsive customer service when they have questions
- Users enjoy using the app
- Some regret not receiving leads quickly, but configuration settings can make this process smoother
AppFolio
Ideal for Very Big Portfolios
If you manage a large number of doors, the solution for you might be AppFolio.
You’ll see why after examining its Core tier. In the Core tier, each unit costs property managers $1.50 to manage, with a minimum monthly spend of $298. The cost includes access to:
- Property accounting
- Streamlined property marketing
- Work order management
- Online payments
- Premium unit listings
- Online leases
- AppFolio’s standard support
Ultimately, however, AppFolio’s focus is on providing software for large-scale property management companies that work with a range of property types, from multifamily, student housing, affordable housing, and commercial real estate.
To access affordable housing features, you’ll need to step up to its Plus or Max tiers. Plus starts at a minimum of $960 a month. That price includes access to advanced leasing metrics, corporate accounting, flexible reporting, and bulk actions.
To get everything AppFolio offers in the Max tier, you’ll have to spend $7500 a month minimum. For a deeper look at how TurboTenant compares to AppFolio, click here.
Pros:
- Built for large-scale operations
- Scales quickly
- Streamlined accounting
- Bulk tenant charges
- Excellent financial analysis tools
- Top commercial property management software on the list
Cons:
- Expensive
- Lacking customer service
- Not built for small portfolios
- Not focused on continued landlord education
- No state-specific leases
Customer Reviews:
- Users agree that the user interface is easy to use
- Reviewers like how comprehensive AppFolio is
- AppFolio clients like that it efficiently organizes tenants, vendors, and owners
- Some users wish AppFolio had more integrations
Buildium
Top Choice for HOA Management
While AppFolio’s focus appears to be on large-scale property management companies, Buildium seems to be aimed at small—and medium-scale property managers who work with HOAs and similar organizations.
This distinction is reflected in its pricing tiers. Buildium’s Essential tier starts at $55 a month and scales to $375/month for its Premium option. It’s a far cry from the upper levels of AppFolio’s pricing.
For the listed prices, landlords can manage up to 20 units. More units drive the cost up in every tier.
Once paid, investors who choose Buildium will find access to the most critical features included in the property management software segment.
Features you can expect include:
- Accounting
- Maintenance management
- Online portals
- HOA communication between owners, residents, non-resident owners, and board members
However, you’ll need to pay additional charges to access new client leads, and it costs $99 for each bank account you link.
Check out TurboTenant vs. Buildium for more.
Pros:
- 14-day trial requires no credit card
- Showings Coordinator helps automate scheduling
- Retail cash payments make paying rent easier for tenants
- EZMail simplifies document mailing
Cons:
- Several extra charges make budgeting tricky
- Scaled pricing structure changes cost as doors are added
- You have to pay extra if you use multiple bank accounts
Customer Reviews:
- Customers like that Buildium helps them grow
- Reviewers like how easy it is to use
- Users like that tenants can boost their credit scores with on-time payments
- Reviewers wish they could add pets easier
- Customers wish they could integrate Buildium with accounting software
Landlord Studio
Best Accounting-Focused Software
If you want to company that puts a lot of emphasis on accounting in their core product, then Landlord Studio might be a good fit.
That’s not to say LandLord Studio doesn’t offer a range of property management tools. You’ll find:
- Application management
- Tenant screening
- Online rent collection
- Property maintenance
After looking over their feature set, you find what you’d expect from property management software, but it’s clear that Landlord Studio empasizes accounting functionality.
In their Go tier, which is basically the entry level, Landlord Studio includes a feature you won’t find in the others: a free GPS mileage tracker to help you calculate your mileage at tax time.
Upgrading to the Pro tier allows you to manage three units for $12 a month. Every additional unit costs a dollar. Most interestingly, however, LandLord Studio features automated bank syncing that can automatically suggest expenses pulled from your bank account.
It’s not as much of an all-in-one solution as the others, but it’s worth a look if you’re a small landlord focused on accounting.
Pros:
- Interesting accounting focus
- Free tier available
- Relatively inexpensive paid tier
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Limited expense tracking in the free tier
- No rent reminders in the free tier
- Limited document storage in the free tier
- No e-signatures at the time of writing
- No customizable lease agreements at the time of writing
DoorLoop
Best for Small Mixed Portfolios
For the final company on our list of the top property managers software available today, we found that DoorLoop offered a compelling option.
DoorLoop offers a wide range of management features for various real estate industry property types including commercial properties.
In the Starter tier, landlords can manage up to 20 properties for $59 a month, billed yearly. If you add more units, you’ll pay a higher fee. In the Starter tier, you’ll get:
- Accounting and financial access
- Somewhat limited maintenance
- Online rent payments
- Tenant screening
- Prospect CRM
Stepping up to the Pro tier, users gain online marketing, bank account conciliation, and QuickBooks sync. Finally, with Premium, users get access to unlimited e-signatures and data storage as well as free incoming ACH payments.
For a deeper understanding, be sure to visit TurboTenant vs DoorLoop.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Allows management of multiple property types
- QuickBooks integration if that’s your accounting software
Cons:
- Costs add up quickly
- Starter tier doesn’t include marketing
Customer Reviews:
- Customers like how easy DoorLoop is to use
- Reviewers like DoorLoop’s customer service
- Users find that DoorLoop’s costs rise sharply with additional units
Why Use Property Management Software?
Software for property management was created to streamline management tasks that landlords executed themselves or hired a property manager or management company to perform.
Before companies created management software, DIY landlords had to complete almost every task manually. They’d meet their tenants in person to collect rent, or they’d have to screen tenants one by one. It all took a lot of time.
Property Managing Software Today
Now, instead of going through the monotony of doing everything by hand or overpaying property managers, landlords can capitalize on the advances in software over the past decade.
As fast internet connections become ubiquitous and solutions continue to improve, landlords are more empowered than ever to manage their properties with software that enables them to do more with their existing tools — namely laptops and smartphones.
Key Features to Look for in Property Management Software
Online Rent Collection
Making rent payments easy is a good step towards ensuring your business stays afloat.
Traditional methods of paying rent, like cash, add complexity compared to property management software that enables tenants to send rent payments from their phones. But not all apps are created equal for property management — online options like Venmo or Zelle can make a mess.
Tenant Screening
Unlike rent payments, tenant screenings have used an online component for some time. But a challenge arises because all your potential tenants personal info is written on paper. For your renter, this can present security risks.
Namely, what happens in the event of a misplaced application?
Get rid of the paper and conduct thorough online tenant screenings from anywhere while protecting your applicants’ information.
Property Marketing
One of the best ways to reduce lost rent from vacancies is to list your properties on as many platforms as possible. With the right software, you can streamline this process by creating a listing and propagating it to as many sites as possible with just a few clicks.
Instead of manually adding listings to individual listing sites, look for rental property management software that lets you do it all at once.
Maintenance Request Handling
Maintenance requests come in from various sources. Some of your tenants text repair requests, and others email them. Sometimes, you’ll get a call at 4 a.m. with bad news about a burst pipe.
Instead of filtering through all these different notifications, the best property management system software centralizes your requests and puts them into a single interface for easy management.
Streamlined Accounting
One of the most challenging aspects of running a rental property business is keeping track of all your expenses. Sometimes, you’ll toss a receipt in a shoe box and promise to get to it the next day. But that doesn’t always happen.
With property accounting software integrated with your landlord software, all your rent payments and expenses flow into a your accounting software for easy tracking and reporting.
Why TurboTenant is the Best Choice for Property Management in 2024
TurboTenant has all the features you need to manage your properties from a single location — and it’s free. As you grow your portfolio, you can hire a property manager to keep everything in order or confidently do it yourself from your computer or phone.
While property managers charge anywhere from 8% to 12% of your monthly rental income, you can sign up for TurboTenant Premium and get access to all of TurboTenant for just $129 a year.
Compared to ongoing monthly payments, using software built to help you do the job yourself makes sense.
Advanced Tenant Screening
A complete view of your potential tenant’s background is the first step to safeguarding your investment property.
TurboTenant’s advanced tenant screening provides you with a potential tenant’s credit score, lines of credit, credit inquiries, debt in collections, criminal record, and past evictions, if any.
Plus, with Income Insights, you can double-check reported income against TransUnion for assurance.
Efficient Rental Marketing
Quickly marketing your rental property shortens vacancy cycles and gives you peace of mind. But sometimes, coming up with the words for the perfect listing takes longer than actually posting the property.
TurboTenant’s AI property description tool can offload the work of writing a compelling description in seconds. As quickly as it creates your description, you can post your property on some of the most popular real estate listing sites.
The best part is that you can get more leads than ever in less time.
User-Friendly Interface
Property management software that is difficult to use will not be used. TurboTenant designed its interface so that both new and experienced real estate investors and landlords can use it without having to consult support page after support page.
Once logged in, on the left side of your dashboard you’ll find all the tools you need at a glance. Options include property marketing, tenant screening, e-signing, and more. With a single click, you’re inside the feature and ready to create an action.
It’s straightforward to use, but don’t take our word for it. Sign up for a free account and see for yourself — there are never any contracts, so it’s risk-free.
Comprehensive Accounting
We partnered with REI Hub to seamlessly integrate collected rent payments and tracked expenses within TurboTenant with purpose-built rental property accounting software.
Because all income and expenses flow to the same place from a single location, rental property accounting is simplified. Now, you can access P&L Statements, Statements of Cash Flow, Net Operating Income, and more with just a few clicks.
Showing Scheduling
Managing a horde of interesting applicants means showing each one the property. As far as scheduling goes, this process can be draining.
When you have a tool to set your availability and send interested parties a link, you can easily maintain your schedule and make sure the most qualified tenants have a chance to see your property in person.
Unbeatable Support and Service
Even with a free account, TurboTenant customers can access our in-app help center and 7-day-a-week chat and email support. Within TurboTenant, click the blue icon at the bottom right-hand side of the screen. It looks like a smiling message. Once open, fire away your question, and we’ll get right to it.
For email support, you can reach us at [email protected]. It’s the same process — present us with your problem, and we’ll work on it. Be sure to include as much detail as you can to help us help you.
The Future of Property Management Software
The best thing about property manager software-as-a-service (SaaS) is that these tools continue to evolve. That means a feature you may need now could show up in an update later.
Things to look for on the horizon include:
- Integration of AI and Automation
- Enhanced Mobile Capabilities
- Advanced Data and Analytics
- Increased Regulatory Compliance and Security
- Customization and Scalability
- Improved Usability
As technology improves, your chosen software will continue on that path. It wouldn’t be the best property management software without continual improvements.
FAQ
How much does property management software cost?
Depending on the solution you choose, the right rental software could cost you nothing. You’ll have to consider your specific needs to determine whether choosing software with a hefty up-front fee will provide the tools you need to manage your properties effectively.
If you want to streamline your operations immediately without needing payment, try TurboTenant.
What does property management software do?
Property management software facilitates the streamlined management of rental properties by offering lease and tenant management tools, maintenance tracking, and financial oversight. It provides a centralized platform for organizing lease agreements, handling maintenance requests, and tracking rental income and expenses. Additionally, it often integrates online portals for tenant communication, allowing for efficient rent collection and maintenance coordination.
What property management software integrates with QuickBooks?
Software that integrates with QuickBooks includes Buildium, Rent Manager, AppFolio, Propertyware, DoorLoop, and Yardi. Although QuickBooks is the most popular accounting software, it lacks many features that rental property owners find especially useful, such as the ones that REI Hub has tailored for landlords.
What is cloud-based property management software?
Cloud-based property management software operates on remote servers, so you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. It provides tools for lease management, maintenance tracking, and accounting within a centralized online platform. By leveraging cloud technology, property managers can streamline operations, improve accessibility, and benefit from automated updates and data backups.
