Buildium alternatives
Buildium alternatives, including staying.
Every price on this page was read from the vendor's own pricing page, each entry links its source, and rents.ai is not at the top of the list. That is not modesty. It is what makes the rest of the page usable.
Short answer
Buildium Essential starts at $62/mo, Growth at $192/mo and Premium at $400/mo, with onboarding required on the upper two. At a similar level, Rentec Pro is $55/mo, Rentec PM is $65/mo, and DoorLoop Starter is $69/mo billed annually with a 10-unit cap. If you own rather than manage, RentRedi at $12/mo billed annually and TenantCloud from $15/mo billed annually cost far less and cover most of what a self-managing owner uses.
First question
Should you actually leave Buildium?
Often not. Switching accounting products mid-year costs real hours, so it is worth being specific about what is wrong before reading a list of replacements.
Reasons to stay
- Two decades of property-management accounting, which shows in the general ledger and the reporting.
- The 14-day trial does not require a credit card, so a real evaluation costs nothing.
- If you manage for owners, the resident portal, inspections and 1099 filing are all load-bearing rather than padding.
Reasons people leave
- $62/mo is the floor, and the mid tiers jump to $192/mo and $400/mo.
- Growth and Premium require onboarding with a dedicated data-import team.
- Add-on costs stack: $99 per bank account setup and $5 per eSignature document on Essential.
- Its pricing page states tax reports and 1099 filing but does not state a Schedule E report.
Buildium figures read from buildium.com/pricing on August 10, 2026. Products change. If a line here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
The field
5 alternatives to Buildium.
Ordered by fit for a self-managing landlord with one to ten units, not by what we would prefer you clicked.
1Rentec Direct
$55 to $65/mo
Best for owners and managers who want full accounting with free ACH.
$55/mo against Buildium's $62/mo entry plan. The published feature sets are close, so price and fit decide it rather than any single capability. Worth a look if you are owners and managers who want full accounting with free ACH.
Verified August 10, 2026 from rentecdirect.com/pricing
2AppFolio
No public price; 50-unit minimum
Best for management companies at 50 units and above.
AppFolio publishes no price, so a comparison against Buildium starts with a sales call. The published feature sets are close, so price and fit decide it rather than any single capability. Worth a look if you are management companies at 50 units and above.
Verified August 10, 2026 from appfolio.com/pricing
3DoorLoop
$69 to $239/mo
Best for property managers running a real book of business.
$69/mo, more than Buildium's $62/mo entry plan. The published feature sets are close, so price and fit decide it rather than any single capability. Worth a look if you are property managers running a real book of business.
Verified August 10, 2026 from doorloop.com/pricing
4rents.ai
$10/mo one property, $18/mo unlimited
Best for landlords whose actual gap is the tax return.
Cheaper than Buildium on the entry plan and much narrower. Not a general replacement, and it does less. It is the answer only if the specific thing you want is residential depreciation computed from cost basis on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule, and a per-property Schedule E kept current all year, without a bank login.
Our own product. Listed here at its real position, not at the top.
5Azibo
Free, with paid add-ons
Best for landlords who want rent collection with no monthly fee at all.
Free at the entry plan, where Buildium starts at $62/mo. It states free plan where Buildium does not offer it. Worth a look if you are someone who want rent collection with no monthly fee at all.
Verified August 10, 2026 from azibo.com/pricing
Side by side
Buildium and its alternatives, priced.
| Product | Published price | Free plan | Rent collection | Schedule E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buildiumverified August 10, 2026 | From $62/mo | 14-day trial, no card required, then paid | ePay included | tax reports and 1099 filing listed; Schedule E is not |
| Rentec Directverified August 10, 2026 | $55 to $65/mo | two-week free trial, then paid | free ACH; cards 2.95% | 1099 e-filing and tax reports listed; Schedule E is not |
| AppFolioverified August 10, 2026 | No public price; 50-unit minimum | no free plan; minimum spend and units apply | property accounting and payments | not stated on the pricing page |
| DoorLoopverified August 10, 2026 | $69 to $239/mo | no free plan | card, ACH, Google Pay, Apple Pay | 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC are listed; Schedule E is not |
| rents.ai | $10 to $18/mo | paid only, after a 7-day trial | records rent you receive elsewhere | per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export |
| Aziboverified August 10, 2026 | Free, with paid add-ons | no monthly fee for property owners | free, described as the core of the product | Schedule E tax form on the free platform |
How to read this
- Yes / nothe source page states it, in those words
- Partialincluded, with a real condition: a higher plan, or a separate fee
- Not publishedthe pricing page does not say. It is a fact about the source, never a mark against the product
Questions
What people ask before switching.
What is the closest alternative to Buildium?
Rentec Direct and DoorLoop. On published August 2026 pricing, Rentec Pro is $55/mo and Rentec PM is $65/mo with trust accounting, and DoorLoop Starter is $99/mo or $69/mo billed annually with a 10-unit cap. All three are full property-management platforms with general-ledger accounting.
Is there a cheap alternative to Buildium for a small landlord?
Yes, if you own rather than manage. RentRedi is $12/mo billed annually for unlimited properties, TenantCloud starts at $15/mo billed annually, and Stessa, Baselane and Azibo all have free plans. What you give up is the general ledger, 1099 filing and owner reporting, none of which have a reader if the units are yours.
Why is property management software so expensive?
Because most of it is priced for businesses with staff and clients. Buildium starts at $62/mo, DoorLoop at $69/mo billed annually, Rentec Pro at $55/mo and AppFolio publishes no price at all with a stated 50-unit minimum on Core. Products aimed at owners rather than managers sit in a completely different band, from free to about $20/mo.
Does Buildium include maintenance?
Yes. Buildium's pricing page lists maintenance as included. It also lists ePay, tenant screening, listings, tax reports, and 1099 filing, so a landlord comparing owner tools should account for the operating features that disappear with the lower bill.
If the gap is the tax return, look at ours.
If it is anything else on this page, one of the products above is the better answer and you have lost nothing by reading. The public demo opens a fully worked portfolio with no signup and no card.
- Live demo: no signup or card
- No bank connection. Nothing changes for your tenants
- Trial: 7 days, card required, $0 today
- Then $10/mo for one or $18/mo for unlimited
Keep comparing
Other comparisons on the same facts.
Every page below reads from the same verified price and feature records, so the numbers agree across all of them.
The best rental property accounting software for small landlords
Eleven products, real prices, one honest ranking.
The best landlord software for 1 to 10 units
Priced for four doors, not four hundred.
Free vs paid rental property software: what free actually covers
Five real free plans, and where each one stops.
Rental property tax software: which ones reach a Schedule E
Which ones reach a Schedule E, and which stop short.
rents.ai vs Stessa
Free, or $12 to $35/mo. Landlords who want free bank feeds and rent collection first.
rents.ai vs Baselane
Free, or $20/mo. Landlords who want landlord banking and the books in one account.