The Best Property Management Computer Programs: TurboTenant and More

Managing rental properties isn’t just about collecting rent and fixing busted gutters.

It’s about building a profitable portfolio while ensuring tenant satisfaction and reducing your day-to-day work. In the old days, landlords didn’t have purpose-built digital tools to help them manage their properties. However, with the invention of property management computer programs, keeping your properties running smoothly is easier than ever.

As these solutions transitioned to the cloud, online platforms can address the needs of landlords no matter where you are.

In this guide, we’ll review some of the most popular property management computer programs available to help you decide which is best for your business.

1. TurboTenant

We created TurboTenant for landlords seeking an easy-to-use, cost-effective, cloud-based property management computer program. With a robust feature set and a quick learning curve, TurboTenant offers an excellent option for landlords who want to access the platform through their laptops or its powerful mobile app.

Key Features

• Online rent collection: Landlords can collect rent through ACH, debit cards, and credit cards, set up automated rent reminders, assign late fees, and easily track payment statuses for each tenant.
• Tenant screening: With comprehensive background and credit checks, TurboTenant passes the cost of tenant screening on to the applicant. It’s a great way to ensure qualified tenants fill your vacancies.
• Property marketing: With extensive rental advertising, landlords can market their properties across dozens of popular listing websites, providing landlords with an expansive audience for their property.
• Lease agreements and eSignatures: With legally-reviewed, state-specific lease agreement templates and the ability to sign them online, landlords can streamline workflow and onboard new tenants quickly and easily.
• Maintenance tracking: Track each repair and maintenance project from start to finish and manage vendors and timelines directly from the platform.

Pricing

TurboTenant offers three pricing tiers. The Free tier has many features that can significantly help you manage your properties efficiently. It includes syndicated property listings, online rental applications, rent collection, and tenant screening.

The Pro tier (billed annually at $119) adds the ability to include custom screening questions for new applicants, unlimited lease agreements, lease addendums, and a quick, 24-hour turnaround for listing reviews.

The Premium tier (billed annually at $149) includes everything in the Free and Pro tiers. Plus, you’ll get lower screening fees, eSignatures, and waived ACH costs for online rent payments.

Pros

• The free tier includes a large number of features
• User-friendly interface and easy to use
• Specific mobile apps for landlords and tenants and a deep knowledge base of landlord-tenant laws for easy reference

Cons

• Best for small to medium-sized portfolios
• Some features locked behind paid tiers

2. Buildium

Buildium is a property management software program designed for mixed portfolios and provides landlords with a number of features that can make managing properties easier than before.

Key Features

• Accounting & bookkeeping
• Maintenance request management
• Tenant & lease tracking
• Automated reminders for rent payment
• eSignature for lease agreements

Pricing

The Essential Plan, which includes accounting tools, maintenance tracking, tenant communication and messaging, and tenant screening, will cost landlords a minimum of $58/month without add-ons.

For more features, like unlimited eSignatures, “enhanced” tenant screening, and a free marketing website, landlords can expect to pay at least $183/month.

Starting at $375/month, the Premium option adds up to $500 worth of client leads, priority and live phone support, and a dedicated growth consultant to help increase your property management business.

Pros

• Solid and comprehensive accounting tools
• Many users report excitement around custom report building
• Multiple pricing tiers allow the landlord to choose the option best for their needs

Cons

• Some users have reported payment processing issues
• Customer service might respond slower to the lower-cost tiers

3. AppFolio

Appfolio is feature-rich property management computer software built with large-scale property managers in mind. A 50-unit minimum is required to sign up for the service. AppFolio has been around since 2006 and heavily focuses on real estate investment at a premium price point.

Key Features

• Online rent collection
• Maintenance request tracking
• Accounting tools & expense tracking
• Tenant screening
• Tenant communication tools

Pricing

Because of its investor-focused model, AppFolio’s pricing structure is at the higher end of this list’s real estate management software options. At the lowest level is the Core plan.

AppFolio charges landlords $1.49 unit/month, with a minimum spend of $298/month. This tier unlocks accounting tools, some marketing and leasing tools, work order management, and unit inspections, among other features.

At $3.29 per unit per month, the Plus plan requires at least a $960/month spend and adds advanced leasing metrics, corporate accounting, and some premium software integrations.

The Max tier costs $5 per unit monthly and requires a spend of at least $7,500/month. This option turns the platform into an advanced CRM with new leasing options, custom fields, database APIs, and a dedicated account manager.

Pros

• Powerful software for owners with large portfolios
• Accounting features are detailed and highly customizable
• The AI-powered maintenance system can further streamline workflow

Cons

• High price points could turn away some property managers
• Lower than average customer ratings on popular app stores

4. Avail

Avail boasts a simple-to-use and easy-to-learn interface. It’s part of the Realtor.com ecosystem. Avail offers many features landlords have come to expect from property management software and provides both free and paid-tier options.

Key Features

• Tenant screening and background checks
• Rental applications
• Online rent collection
• Lease agreements & e-sign options
• Maintenance tracking

Pricing

Like TurboTenant, Avail offers landlords a free tier. It’s called Unlimited, allowing landlords to manage unlimited units with this feature set. Features in the Unlimited tier include syndicated property listings, lease agreements, property accounting, and online rent collection.

For $9 per unit per month, landlords can opt for the Unlimited Plus tier, which provides landlords and tenants with more ways to pay rent, waived ACH fees, and customizable applications and leases.

Pros

• The free tier provides a solid property management experience with many key features
• Many users report that the platform is easy to use
• Customer service receives consistently high marks across the board

Cons

• The cost of the Unlimited Plus plan can balloon if you rapidly expand
• No dedicated mobile app

5. Rent Manager

For a versatile and customizable property management computer program, check out Rent Manager. Offering a set of tools for accounting, tenant screening, and the ability to manage work orders from the platform, Rent Manager could be an option for property managers with larger portfolios.

Key Features

• Accounting & bookkeeping
• Work order management
• Tenant screening
• Lead management
• Automated rent reminders

Pricing

Rent Manager utilizes a purely per-unit pricing model, so while the price can start to push some landlords’ budgets, it’s clear what you get from the start.

The Basic plan charges landlords $1 per unit monthly, with a monthly minimum spend of $200. This plan grants access to work order management, rent manager online, their complete accounting suite, and a dedicated tenant app, among other features.

The Plus plan will cost landlords $1.75 unit/month, requires at least a $350 monthly minimum, and contains everything in the Basic plan. It adds the AppSuite Pro mobile app, an AI-powered AP Suite, and two-way texting between managers and tenants.

If you want video inspections, maintenance scheduling, and access to their customer success team, that will cost $2.50 per unit per month, with a minimum monthly spend of $500. Note that the setup fee for these plans costs two times the monthly payment.

Pros

• Great customer service
• Highly customizable and integrates with a number of other services landlords may already use
• Implementation consultant helps landlords new to the platform get up to speed

Cons

• Some features that are free on other platforms cost money with Rent Manager
• Some users have reported limited accessibility options

6. Propertyware

Propertyware is a customizable property management platform that provides users a user-friendly and straightforward experience while offering many tools landlords have come to expect from this kind of software.

Key Features

• Expense tracking & accounting tools
• Maintenance request management
• Tenant tracking
• Lease tracking
• Automated rent payment reminders

Pricing

Like Rent Manager, Propertyware opts for a per-unit pricing model, with a monthly minimum spend and an implementation fee twice the monthly subscription price.

For the Basic model, landlords can expect to pay $1 a unit per month, with a monthly minimum of $250. This tier includes owner and tenant portals, maintenance tracking, accounting, and tenant screening.

Upgrading to the Plus model bumps the price to $1.50 per unit per month, with a minimum required monthly spend of $350. This tier comes with everything in Basic, plus eSignatures and inspections of the units.

The Premium tier will cost you $2 unit/month, with a minimum spend of $450. It allows more detailed maintenance projects and vendor portals to simplify the process.

Pros

• Automations make property management tasks easier than ever before
• A significant upgrade over other non-property-management computer programs like QuickBooks
• Customizable reporting to suit all needs

Cons

• A steep learning curve can prove challenging for some
• Some users have reported issues connecting to other software

7. Zillow Rental Manager

Zillow has been an industry leader in property listings for a long time. With the addition of Zillow Rental Manager, they are moving into the property management computer software space. With a deep real estate background, Zillow Rental Manager offers a number of services users expect for a reasonable price.

Key Features

• Rental Advertising
• Lead Management
• Tenant Screening
• Lease Agreements & Esign
• Online Rent Collection

Pricing

Zillow rental manager costs nothing for landlords with small portfolios, including basic property listings on their platform, lease signing, and rent collection. Landlords who wish to boost their property listing can pay a fee of $29.99 per listing, which increases its visibility for up to 90 days.

Pros

• Its low-cost appeals to landlords who don’t need a feature-heavy solution
• Integration with Zillow property listings for higher overall visibility
• Easy-to-use features and interface

Cons

• Some landlords may seek more features
• Additional costs for boosting a listing on the platform can add up for landlords with many properties

8. Yardi Breeze

Yardi Breeze is a relatively new offering from Yardi, who have decided to build a platform to try and simplify the property management experience. The platform can handle multiple property types, from residential to commercial, and offers features to help landlords manage their properties from anywhere.

Key Features

• Accounting & bookkeeping
• Work order management
• Tenant screening
• Lease agreements
• Automated rent reminders

Pricing

For residential property management, Yardi offers two package options for landlords – Yardi Breeze and Yardi Breeze Premier. Both plans allow landlords to collect rent online, screen tenants, access state-specific lease agreements, and manage maintenance workflows.

The Premier plan, however, will provide a more robust feature set with more customizations than the regular plan. It’s a good option for landlords with a more extensive portfolio of properties.

For the standard Yardi Breeze package, landlords can expect to pay $1 per month per unit with a minimum spend of $100/month. The Premier plan also costs $1 unit/month but requires a $400 monthly minimum spend.

Pros

• User-friendly platform integrates with bank accounts for ease-of-payment
• Users like the robust accounting tools for managing cash flow
• Helpful customer service can direct landlords how to customize the platform for their needs

Cons

• Some of the reports are difficult to customize
• Some landlords may find API integration lacking

9. Innago

Innago has been around since 2017. The company aims to improve tenant management to make property managers more successful. Innago prides itself on offering landlords the necessary tools to ensure tenant satisfaction while improving the profitability of any portfolio of any size.

Key Features

• Tenant screening
• Rental applications
• Online rent collection
• Maintenance request tracking
• Lease agreements & eSign

Pricing

As one of the outliers on this list, Innago is completely free for landlords and passes any associated fees on to the tenant. Landlords can enjoy the platform’s feature set without dishing out a penny. Tenants will pay a transaction fee for paying rent online and an additional fee for tenant screening or income verification. This fee structure isn’t uncommon, and TurboTenant operates similarly.

Pros

• Free to landlords to gain access to rental applications, maintenance tracking, and other features of the platform
• Landlords can create custom leases based on Innago’s templates
• Ideal for landlords with few properties

Cons

• Processing fees for tenants can be high
• Landlords with medium or large portfolios might have a difficult time using the platform

10. Apartments.com Rental Manager

Like Zillow, Apartments.com has been in the game for a while, and they’ve developed a property management computer program to position themselves deeper into the property management marketplace.

Key Features

• Rental advertising
• Lead management
• Tenant screening
• Online rent collection
• Lease agreements & eSign

Pricing

Of all the selections on this list, Apartments.com is the least transparent with its pricing models. Formerly a free product, many users have reported that they’ve moved to a pay model based on the geographic location of the units. Reach out directly to Apartments.com if you wish to learn more about their pricing structure.

Pros

• Listings are natively tied into the Apartments.com platform, which gets good visibility from renters
• Long-standing history in the marketplace can be a benefit to landlords
• Good customer support reported by users

Cons

• Lack of transparency in pricing structure can be frustrating when comparing options
• Some users report the property management features could be more intuitive

The Final Word: Property Management Computer Programs

As you can see, there are a number of solid property management computer programs out there for landlords to pick from. It’s never been a better time to be a DIY landlord since the tools and features these platforms offer can level up your property management game like never before.

But which one is right for you?

For independent landlords with small portfolios, finding a better choice than TurboTenant is hard. Landlords will find a user-friendly interface, tenant screening, online rent collection, and property listings, all for free. And for a (relatively) small yearly cost, you’ll gain immediate access to advanced and premium features at a price that won’t significantly dent your bottom line.

Landlords with medium or large-sized portfolios may consider products like Buildium or AppFolio. While the cost to access the services may be a little higher than average, the detailed accounting tools, in-depth financial tracking, and comprehensive tenant tracking will quickly prove its value in the time it saves you in the day-to-day grind.

Ultimately, the best property management computer program depends on your needs as a landlord and what you need to prioritize to streamline your daily operations and buy you more time to grow your business.

It can’t hurt to jump in head first and sign up for a free account today to see how property management software like TurboTenant can immediately impact your daily life.