rents.ai vs AppFolio
Fifty units and a sales call, or four units and an afternoon.
AppFolio is enterprise property management, and it is very good at that. It also does not publish a price and states a 50-unit minimum on its Core plan, which means the evaluation starts with a sales call. If you own between one and ten units, the comparison ends there. rents.ai is $18/mo, self-serve, and its whole product is visible in a public demo before you type an email address.
Short answer
AppFolio does not publish prices and states a 50-unit minimum with a minimum spend on its Core plan, so evaluating it means contacting sales. rents.ai is $18/mo for unlimited properties, self-serve, with a public demo that needs no signup. If you own between one and ten units, this is a mismatch rather than a close comparison, and the 50-unit minimum settles it before any feature discussion.
What each one costs
Published prices, both sides.
AppFolio
- Core
- not published
- Plus
- not published
- Max
- not published
50-unit minimum; minimum spend applies
contact sales
contact sales
rents.ai
- Basic
- $10/mo
- Pro
- $18/mo
- Trial
- $0
one property, every feature
unlimited properties, every feature
7 days
AppFolio figures read from appfolio.com/pricing on August 10, 2026. Products change. If a line here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
The $10 question
What the subscription actually buys.
A year-round record for each property: rent roll, ledger, work orders, documents, deposits, notes, and renewal dates. No bank login is required, no rent moves through the product, and nothing changes for your tenants. Keep collecting rent exactly how you do today. If that is not the gap you have, AppFoliois very likely the better answer.
Side by side
Where each one actually earns its keep.
| What it does | AppFolio | rents.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Free plana plan you can stay on at $0, not a trial | no free plan; minimum spend and units apply | paid only, after a 7-day trial |
| Automatic bank feedspulls transactions from a connected bank login | not stated on the pricing page | manual entry or CSV import; no bank login |
| Online rent collectiontenant payments move through the product | property accounting and payments | records rent you receive elsewhere |
| Tenant screeningcredit, background, and eviction reports | not stated on the pricing page | not a leasing tool |
| Listings and syndicationposts a vacancy to the rental sites | not stated on the pricing page | not a leasing tool |
| Schedule E reportincome and expenses arranged by tax line | not stated on the pricing page | per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export |
| Residential depreciation computedcost basis and land split on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule | not stated on the pricing page | computed from cost basis and land on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule |
| Mobile appa native iOS or Android app | mobility is listed as a product area | responsive web app, no native app |
| Maintenance and work orderswork orders with the vendor and what the job cost | listed as a product area | Kanban work orders with vendor and cost tracking |
Free plan
a plan you can stay on at $0, not a trial
- AppFolio
- no free plan; minimum spend and units apply
- rents.ai
- paid only, after a 7-day trial
Automatic bank feeds
pulls transactions from a connected bank login
- AppFolio
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- manual entry or CSV import; no bank login
Online rent collection
tenant payments move through the product
- AppFolio
- property accounting and payments
- rents.ai
- records rent you receive elsewhere
Tenant screening
credit, background, and eviction reports
- AppFolio
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- not a leasing tool
Listings and syndication
posts a vacancy to the rental sites
- AppFolio
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- not a leasing tool
Schedule E report
income and expenses arranged by tax line
- AppFolio
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export
Residential depreciation computed
cost basis and land split on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
- AppFolio
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- computed from cost basis and land on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
Mobile app
a native iOS or Android app
- AppFolio
- mobility is listed as a product area
- rents.ai
- responsive web app, no native app
Maintenance and work orders
work orders with the vendor and what the job cost
- AppFolio
- listed as a product area
- rents.ai
- Kanban work orders with vendor and cost tracking
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
Source
AppFolio figures read from appfolio.com/pricing on August 10, 2026. Products change. If a line here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Beyond the axes
What this table does not cover.
The rows above compare a narrow set of pricing-page features. rents.ai also keeps these records behind each rental.
- A per-property ledger, categorized to Schedule E lines all year rather than in April
- Rent roll with late fees computed from each lease's due day, grace period, and fee rule
- Residential depreciation from cost basis, land, and in-service date on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
- Documents attached to the property, tenant, transaction, or property record they belong to
- Append-only tenant notes that become immutable after a 15-minute edit window
- Insurance, property tax, and rental licence records with an SMS renewal reminder before they lapse
- Per-property P&L, NOI, and cap rate, plus CSV import and export
The honest version
There's a right answer for you.
Sometimes it isn't us, and we'll say so. Here's the short way to tell.
Choose AppFolio if
- You manage at least 50 units and have staff using software all day.
- You need an enterprise platform with a full general ledger and maintenance operations.
- A resident portal and mobility for on-site staff are core to your operation.
- A sales-led evaluation and a formal onboarding are normal for you.
Choose rents.ai if
- You are well under 50 units, which is the published Core minimum.
- You want a price you can read on a page rather than request.
- You want to see the whole product before giving anyone your email.
- Your problem is the tax return, not managing a portfolio at scale.
On purpose
This is a size mismatch, not a contest.
There is no honest way to argue rents.ai competes with AppFolio on capability. It does not. The reason this page exists is that small landlords search for AppFolio, hit the sales-call wall, and leave without learning that the 50-unit Core minimum was the whole answer. If you are under it, save the call.
Questions
What landlords ask comparing the two.
How much does AppFolio cost?
AppFolio does not publish prices. As shown on appfolio.com/pricing on August 10, 2026, the page states that minimum spend and units apply and notes a 50-unit minimum for Core plans, directing prospects to contact sales or book a demo. The three tiers are Core, Plus and Max.
Can a small landlord use AppFolio?
The published 50-unit minimum on Core is the practical answer for most small landlords. If you own between one and ten units, products priced and shaped for that range will be a better fit, whether that is rents.ai or one of the free options listed on our comparison hub.
What does rents.ai do that AppFolio does not?
Very little in absolute terms. The one specific thing is that it computes residential depreciation from cost basis, land value and in-service date on the 27.5-year mid-month convention and places it on Schedule E line 18, per property, and it does so at $18/mo with no minimum and no sales call.
No sales call, no minimum.
The price is on the pricing page and the product is in the public demo. Both are readable in under five minutes.
- 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
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