Online rent collection can help you take your rental business to the next level.  Do you want to collect rent online but aren’t sure which service is best for you? 

I’ve removed the guesswork and compared the top free and almost free online rent collection services in this head-to-head review.

Full Disclosure:  I am affiliated with some of the services reviewed below.  My recommendations are solely based on the features and functions of the services themselves.  I currently use Apartments.com but you should review the chart and explanations to see which online rent collection service is best for you.

Apartments.com Update August 2021 – My Cozy account migrated to Apartments.com April 2021.  I’ve updated the article to replace Cozy with Apartments.com based on my experience so far.

Scroll to the end for a log of all changes since the original publish date of July 2017

What is online rent collection?

Online rent collection is simply a system that allows tenants to pay their rent via ACH transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card or other online payment service such as PayPal. You are probably familiar with all of these payment methods including the ACH, which stands for Automated Clearing House.

ACH is a network of over 10,000 institutions that batch-process direct payments and direct deposits electronically instead of the old manual, paper method. If you ever had an employer deposit your paycheck directly into your bank account, it was via the ACH system.

Do I Need Online Rent Collection?

Tenants want to do everything online these days. We can bank online, buy groceries online and even find our perfect match online. Why not pay rent online?

If you are targeting younger tenants, you should know that according to one survey, over half of millennials have never even written a check. Everything is done online and on their phones. Try splitting a restaurant bill with a millennial and see how fast the Venmo app comes out.

Online rent collection services give your tenants a modern way to pay rent. It’s easy for them and assures on-time payments for you. But is it easy to set up?

Is Online Rent Collection Easy to Set Up?

The steps to set up an online rent payment are pretty similar across the various services. Once they sign up for the service, your tenant will need to enter their US bank or credit/debit card information. Next, if using ACH, they will need to confirm their bank account information via a small bank deposit process. Finally, the tenant will set up recurring payments according to the agreed schedule.

What are the Benefits of Online Rent Collection?

• No more late payments. Tenants don’t need to worry about dropping a check in the mail. They simply set up an automatic transfer. I haven’t had one late payment since I’ve switched my rentals to online rent collection.
• Convenient for landlord and tenant. No more trips to the bank or dropping by the property to collect rent checks.
• Competitive advantage. Standout from other landlords in your market and appeal to younger renters by offering a convenient, modern rent payment solution.
• Rent Tracking. No need to track rents in an offline spreadsheet. Online rent collection services make it easy to see which tenants are paid up. Hint: all of them will be paid up!
• Security. Financial transactions run through the ACH network rather than a paper check, which can be used to gather tenant bank account information.

Awesome! What about the disadvantages to online rent collection?

While the benefits of online rent collection far outweigh the risks in my opinion, you should be aware of some of the risks associated with the process.

• Partial rent payments. This is the biggest risk of accepting online rent payments – or any other form of automated rent collection for that matter. There is really nothing stopping a tenant from making a partial rent payment. When deposited into your bank account, this is considered “accepted” and will reset the clock on the eviction process. However, there is a simple solution. Turn off the online rent collection process when starting an eviction procedure. Online rent collection services like Cozy allow landlords to turn off the lease to prevent inadvertent acceptance of partial payments.
• Clawbacks. This is most likely when dealing with a tenant who paid by Credit Card. Maybe a tenant is upset at the end of the lease due to a disputed security deposit charge. A tenant could petition their credit card bank to investigate the charge as fraudulent leaving you out of pocket while the charge is disputed. Luckily, you are a smart landlord and have a bullet-proof lease in place right? If not, read Landlord Tip #17 for more on this.
• Automatic lease renewal. Accepting rent payments automatically could put you in a situation where you have to allow a tenant to stay another 30 days because you accepted the next month’s rent. Avoid this by setting the lease payment dates. Once completed, a new payment cannot be accepted.

Are all online rent collection services the same?

All online rent collection services are not created equal. While they all move tenant rent payments into your bank account similarly, there are a lot of differences that matter when choosing the service that is best for you.

Below you will find two comparison charts followed by explanations of each feature. 

The first chart compares totally free online rent collection services.  These companies don’t charge you or your tenant to collect rent. Instead, they make their money from offering other landlord services. 

The second chart compares almost free online rent collection services.  Some may offer rent collection that is free to landlords but the tenant will need to pay.  Others offer free online rent collection but only if the landlord pays a small monthly fee.

TOTALLY FREE ONLINE RENT COLLECTION SERVICES

Swipe right to see all 3 rent collection services compared in the table below.

RENT COLLECTION FEATURES

Rent Collection Costs

Aren’t they all free?  Yes.  The services compared in the chart above allow you to collect rent online without paying a monthly a fee or charging your tenant per transaction.   After all, isn’t that the point of a Free Online Rent Collection Service?

However, there’s a catch.  You can only collect rent online for free if you use the ACH transfer option.  ACH is generally slower than other rent collection options.

Some rent collection services offer faster money transfer methods, for an additional fee. 

Alternatively, your tenant may prefer to use a credit or debit card, but it will cost them.

Apartments	Totally free ACH transfers.  Using a credit card will cost your tenant 2.75%.
Zillow	Totally free ACH transfers but they will charge your tenant 2.95% to use a credit card or $9.95 to use a debit card
Rentler	Totally free ACH transfers but they will charge your tenant 2.9% to use a credit or debit

Winners: All three!  You can’t go wrong with any of these services to collect rent online provided you opt for the ACH transfer. 

Time to Receive Deposit

All of the above rent collection services offer ACH processing.  For comparison purposes, I’ve used the site’s claimed online rent payment ACH processing time.  Rentler claims to have the fastest ACH processing time at 2 business days.

I use Apartments, which takes between 4-5 business days for an ACH transfer.  This hasn’t been a problem for me.  I always keep at least 1.5x of monthly operating expenses in my Operating account.  I also ask my tenants to begin the transfer before the rent is due.  Some do and others wait until the rent is due to start the transfer.

Apartments, which took over Cozy Services, no longer offers Express Pay where landlords could pay $2.99 per unit per month to get paid in 2-3 business days.  You will have to wait to get paid with Apartments.

Deposit Time

Apartments	4 to 5 business days
Zillow	4 to 5 business days
Rentler	2 business days

Winner: Rentler is fastest if you plan to use ACH transfers.

Accept Multiple Payments Per Unit

You need to be able to accept multiple payments for each unit.  This is true whether you are renting to roommates or to a family.  Sometimes, tenants need to pay from different bank accounts.  You want to be able to collect rent online from multiple payers.

Multiple Payers Per Lease

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes

Winners: Apartments and Rentler for not limiting this important feature

Automatic Late Fees

Strict enforcement of late fees is important to keeping tenants in compliance with your lease terms.  Letting tenants pay late a couple of times can establish a pattern which will be hard to break and will work against you in court.

Some online rent payment services make it easy to enforce late fees automatically.  Apartments and Rentler each offer this feature and allow you to adjust the grace period before your late fees kick in.  Zillow doesn’t offer this feature at all.

However, the Totally Free rent collection services reviewed only offer a fixed automatic late fee (e.g., $25). If you want more flexibility such as per day or % late fees, then you need to look at the Almost Free online rent payment services in the next section.

Auto Late Fees

Apartments	Yes (Fixed)
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes (Fixed)

Winners: Apartments and Rentler

One Time Charges

Collecting rents on a regular basis is just one part of the business of being a landlord.  Often we have to assess one-time or irregular fees such as dividing up a utility bill. 

What good is an online rent collection service if you still have to collect these irregular charges offline?  These services get it.  That’s why they all have a way for you to charge your tenants irregular amounts through the service.

One Time Charges

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	Yes
Rentler	Yes

Winners: Three-Way Tie!

Credits

Sometimes payments flow the other way.  Landlords need to apply credits to tenants for various reasons.  These can include an overpayment, a repair-and-deduct scenario, or a holiday gift.   

Apartments and Rentler each offer this important feature.  Zillow does not currently offer landlords the ability to credit a tenant’s account through their system directly.  Instead, you have to ask the support team to do it for you.  Not a great option in my opinion given my experience with their customer service in researching this article.

Credits

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes

Winners: Apartments and Rentler

Offline Tracking

Your tenant may need to pay rent outside of the online rent collection application.  You need a full record of all rent payment received whether or not it was collected online.  This is important both for tax reasons and legal reasons in case of rent disputes. 

Apartments and Rentler each allow you to track rents received outside of their software systems.  Zillow only gives this ability to the tenant so it’s not a great option.  A tenant is less likely to go online and track rents paid for you.

Offline Tracking

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes

Winners: Apartments and Rentler

Partial Payment Restrictions

One of the biggest concerns of landlords who are reluctant to take advantage of these free online rent payment services is that they fear they will expose themselves to partial payments when trying to evict a tenant.

They can relax.  These online rent collection services have made this less likely.  Some have a way to proactively restrict a partial payment.  Others simply let you turn off rent collection at any time during a lease.  Either way, you control when and how your tenants can make payments.

Partial Payment Restrictions

Apartments	Lease Shut Off
Zillow	Full Pay Only
Rentler	Lease Shut Off

Winner: Zillow. Ironically, because Zillow Rentals is relatively inflexible, it wins this round because it can only accept a full rent payment.

Security Deposits

Most states have very strict rules when it comes to handling security deposits.  Landlords are usually required to segregate the funds, report interest earned, and return the funds promptly after the lease ends. Your online rent collection system needs to be able to handle security deposits as well as rents.

Security Deposits

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes

Winners: Apartments and Rentler

Multiple Deposit Accounts

As a landlord, you know that keeping good records is not optional.  It’s a must!  That’s why you have multiple bank accounts right?  It makes record keeping much easier. Not all rent collection software allow for this necessity. 

Ideally you want to maintain at least one Operating Account where you run all of your income and operating expenses through.  You may need more Operating Accounts if you are using different legal entities. 

But you also need a separate Security Deposit account for each unit.  Only Apartments gives you the most flexibility when managing bank accounts.

Multiple Deposit Accounts

Apartments	One Deposit Account Per Unit
Zillow	One Deposit Account
Rentler	One Deposit Account Per Unit

Winner:  None. While you can collect the Security Deposit via these rent collection services, you will need to transfer them to a separate account to comply with some local laws.  The Landlord’s Guide to Writing Great Leases will tell you which states require a separate account for Security Deposits.

Maximum Number of Doors

Some “free” online rent collection services limit the number of units you can have (“doors”) before they start charging the landlord.  That’s only the case with Apartments.  There is no limit on number of doors for free rent collection with Apartments.  However, you can only have up to 19 units in a building before you will need to start paying for listings.  That’s more than enough for most landlords though.

Maximum Doors Allowed for Free

Apartments	Unlimited*
Zillow	Unlimited
Rentler	Unlimited

Winners: Zillow and Rentler

PROPERTY LISTING FEATURES

Rental Listing Generator

A high quality rental listing will help you rent your home faster.  Apartments and Zillow are primarily rental listing sites.  They do this very well!  Here’s a comparison of the best rental listing sites to see which may be right for you.  However, there is a lot of convenience in going with the listing service provided by your online rent collection application. It will save you duplicate efforts in setting up properties.

All of the Totally Free online rent collection services help you build your own rental property listing but some will charge you.

Apartments doesn’t charge for this feature unless you have a building with 20 or more units.  However, you will have to pay to get your listing syndicated to Realtor.com.  See the next section.

Zillow has moved to a paid model.  It will cost you about $10 per week in most markets.  The first listing is free so give it a try.

Rentler allows one free listing but then they will charge you $30 per 30 days for each property listed after that.

Rental Listing Costs

Apartments	Free*
Zillow	One Free; $9.99/week in most markets
Rentler	One Free; $30 / per 30 days each additional

Winner: Apartments

Rental Listing Syndication

It’s also important to get your rental listing in front of as many of your target audience as possible.  Each of the rent collection services compared will help you get the word out across the Internet. Apartments includes several syndication sites for free but if you want to syndicate to Realtor and Doorsteps, you will need to opt for a premium listing. Price will vary according to your location but range from $99 to $349.   Premium listings are required for buildings with 20 or more units.

Here is where each will automatically syndicate your rental listing for you and a snapshot of each website’s traffic for reference:

Rental Listing Syndication

Apartments	Apartments ForRent Realtor (Premium) +8 More
Zillow	Zillow Hot Pads Trulia
Rentler	Facebook

Winner: Zillow and Apartments.  They can reach over 20M targeted apartment seekers.  Even though Rentler’s partnership with Facebook puts your listing in front of many more potential tenants, my experience is that they are very low quality and rarely convert into good tenants.

TENANT SCREENING FEATURES

Screening for excellent tenants is arguably the most important skill a landlord can acquire.  While there is no substitute for a formal screening system tailored to your local requirements, these online rent collection services offer tools to help ensure you are renting to quality tenants.

Rental Application

Your rental application is going to help you screen out most unqualified tenants.  It’s important to have good tenant screening questions that do this for you. 

Unfortunately with these free online rent collection services, there isn’t any flexibility to customize the application.  Here is a link to their application questionnaire:

• Apartments Application
• Zillow Application
• Rentler Application

Rental Application

Apartments	Integrated, Non-editable
Zillow	Integrated, Non-editable
Rentler	Integrated, Non-editable

Winner: No one.  Landlords need to be able to customize their rental applications to meet their needs.  You may want to consider Avail (see below) instead.

Credit Reports

Landlords understand that a tenant’s credit score can be an excellent predictor of their ability to pay rent. However, you need to go beyond the credit score and see the details that make up the score, especially the payment history. 

All of the online rent collection services reviewed here offer an integrated process for getting an applicant’s credit report through their system.  However it’s important to know how the tenant screening services compare.

Here’s a sample credit report from each rent collection service:

• Apartments Credit Report
• Zillow Credit Report
• Rentler Credit Report

Credit Report Costs

Apartments	$29.99 bundled with Background
Zillow	$29 bundled with Background
Rentler	$35 bundled with Background

All of these online rent collection services have partnered with Experian for their credit reports, except Apartments which uses TransUnion.  In addition, they all require the tenant to pay.  There is no option for a landlord to pay for the report due to the nature of the way the reports are run. I believe tenant-initiation makes them legal in states that don’t allow application fees and results in soft credit pulls for the applicants but I’m not 100% certain.

Apartments and Zillow allows the applicant to use this report to apply to other rentals on their networks for 30 days.

	Partner	Who Pays		Portable
Apartments	TransUnion	Tenant		Yes
Zillow	Experian	Tenant		Yes
Rentler	Experian	Tenant		No

Winner:  Apartments for providing payment history details in their reports!  I like that Zillow has the lowest cost bundle and makes it portable for applicants but it lacks the details that the Apartments report provides.  See samples for more details.

Note:  Cozy used to report tenant payments to Experian as a way to help build their credit while incenting on-time payments.  This was a great feature that is no longer available with Apartments.com.  You can check out Avail which allows tenants the same benefit via CreditBoost

Background Checks

Screening tenants is not complete without a proper background check.

Here’s a sample Background report from each rent collection service:

• Apartments Eviction Report and Criminal Background Report
• Zillow Background Report
• Rentler Background Report

Background Report Cost

Apartments	$29.99 bundled with Credit Report
Zillow	$29 bundled with Credit Report
Rentler	$35 bundled with Credit Report

It’s also important to know what source your online rent collection service provider uses to obtain background information on your prospective tenant.  Not all background checks are the same. 

	Partner	Who Pays		Portable
Apartments	TransUnion	Tenant		Yes
Zillow	Checkr	Tenant		Yes
Rentler	SimpliVerified	Tenant		No

Winner: Still Apartments for having the most comprehensive bundle reports which includes eviction history

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FEATURES

Lease Generator

A couple of the free rent collection services are currently experimenting with this feature in a couple of states so you could get lucky but it’s not nationwide.  There are a number of online landlord forms services that they could partner with but they aren’t there yet.

Only Apartments offers this service for free nationwide.  In fact, Apartments claims their leases are not only state-specific, but also location specific.  Unfortunately though, they are not editable so you can’t include the most important lease clauses without creating an addendum.

Lease Generator

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	Tests in OR, FL, & CO
Rentler	UT only ($25)

Winner: Apartments for including this valuable service for free.  Just be sure to augment their un-editable lease with these must have lease clauses! 

E-Signatures

Being able to generate a lease is great but it’s pointless if it can’t be signed electronically.  Apartments includes this in their service.  Zillow is also testing this feature where integrated leases are available.

E-Signatures

Apartments	No
Zillow	Landlord Only
Rentler	No

Winner: Apartments

Document Restrictions

Landlords need to document things other than leases. In addition to tracking your online rent collections, these services also allow you to upload other documents and files that will help keep a record of your lease agreements, rules, maintenance performance, receipts, and more.  However, there are restrictions.

Document Restrictions

Apartments	10MB (PDF, DOC, DOCX)* * Maintenance issues Max file size is 75MB per file. PDF, JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF, MOV, AVI, MP4 or WMV formats. * Expense Tracking Max file size is 30MB per file.  JPEG, PNG or PDF
Zillow	Not Available
Rentler	Maintenance Tickets Only Up to eight 10MB files per comment (.JPG, .PNG, .AVI, .MP4, .MOV, & .PDF)

Winner: Apartments

PRO TIP – You should always keep a backup of your electronically stored documents to ensure access in case your online rent collection software fails. Google Drive is an excellent solution for most DIY Landlords.

OTHER PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FEATURES

In addition to allowing DIY landlords to collect rent online for free, many of these services are beginning to offer additional features that rival some of the bigger SaaS property management companies.

Maintenance Tracking

Every successful landlord understands the need to handle maintenance issues quickly.  Small issues can turn into big issues if not addressed. Also, there is probably nothing more upsetting to tenants than unattended maintenance issues.

Some free online rent collection services have made this aspect of landlording a little easier with maintenance requests features.  No more bouncing between messages from your tenant and maintenance crew when trying to schedule a repair!  Use the tools provided by your service to help coordinate repairs.

Apartments has a simple online maintenance request feature that allows you or a tenant to upload photos and a description of the issue.  This is essentially the same as it was under the Cozy system.  Learn more about Cozy Maintenance Tracking.

Maintenance Requests

Apartments	Yes
Zillow	No
Rentler	Yes

Winner: Apartments because it is integrated with its expense reporting feature.  See my original Cozy review to learn more.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

One advantage of using an online rent collection service is that it will help you keep track of rents collected for each unit.  Tracking rents and documenting your rent collection process is critical when it comes to evicting a tenant for non-payment of rent.

This basic feature is available across all of the services reviewed.  However, only Apartments goes beyond tracking rents and lets you track all sorts of expenses so you can replace that spreadsheet you’ve been using.

Apartments lets you keep track of any expenses associated with the property.  This includes payments made to vendors for maintenance for example.  You can even enter historical transactions before you start using the service so you have a full record. 

 

Apartments also includes a set of ready-made financial and operating reports you can run anytime to see how your rental business is performing.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

Apartments	Income & Expense Tracking Financial & Operating Reports Mobile receipt upload Downloadable .CSV file
Zillow	Income Tracking Only
Rentler	Income Tracking Only

Winner: Apartments

Renter’s Insurance

Every landlord should require tenants to carry renter’s insurance.  It may cover damages caused by your tenant protecting both you and your tenant.  Many tenants aren’t aware that their belongings aren’t covered by the landlord’s insurance.

None of the free online rent collection services offers integrated Renter’s Insurance.  However, Apartments does allow you to require the tenant to obtain renter’s insurance as part of the process.  You will receive an email notification once the documentation has been uploaded.  Access the details via the “Residents” tab under “Rental Tools.”

Renter’s Insurance

Apartments	No*
Zillow	No
Rentler	No

Winner: None of the free online rent collection services offer your tenants an integrated way to purchase renter’s insurance but at least Apartments can track it for you.

Rent Estimates

Setting the right rent can be tricky.  Fortunately, these free online rent collection services also offer rent estimate tools to help you get it right the first time so you can maximize your revenues.

However, the free rent estimate reports are not great.

• I kept getting an error message when running my Apartments estimate for one of my properties.  
• The free estimates are not as accurate as the pro RentRange estimate offered by Rentler 

You can use the free reports to get started but I highly recommend you follow my simple 5-step process to setting the right rent.  Download my free guide now.

Email address:

First Name

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

 

Rent Estimate Costs

Apartments	Free
Zillow	Free Rent Zestimate
Rentler	$19.95 via RentRange

Winner: Rentler for offering a pro rent estimate tool to maximize rents

PRO TIP – You can get the same RentRange rent estimate reports for about half the price.   Sign up with RentRange and use Affiliate Code: AR25OFF

ALMOST FREE ONLINE RENT COLLECTION SERVICES

Swipe right to see all 3 rent collection services compared in the table below.

RENT COLLECTION
Method/Cost/Who Pays	• ACH / $2.95 Free plan or Reduced Fee in Paid plans / LL or T pays • Debit & CC / 3.5% + $.30 / T	• ACH / $2.50 in Basic (free w/ paid plan) / T Pays • Debit & CC / 3.5% / T Pays	• ACH / $1.99 in Basic (free w/ paid plan) / T Pays • Debit & CC / 3.99% / T Pays
Speed	• ACH 4-6 Business Days • Debit/Credit 2-7 Business Days • PayPal Instant or up to 3 Days if paid w/CC	• ACH 3 Business Days • Debit & CC 3 Business Days • FastPay 1 Business Day – incl. in Unlimited Plus plan	• ACH (2-3 Business Days) • Debit & CC (2-3 Business Days)
Multiple Tenants	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto Late Fees	• Daily and/or One-Time • Fixed or %	• Fixed Fee only	No
One Time Fees	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit Ability	Yes	No	Yes
Offline Tracking	Yes	Yes	Yes
Restrict Partial Pay	Yes	Lease Shut Off	Lease Shut Off
Security Deposits	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of Banks	Multiple	Two per Unit	One per Unit
Max Doors	75 Basic 150 Standard 500 Advanced	Unlimited	Unlimited
PROPERTY LISTING
Listing Generator	Yes	Yes	One unit free (unlimited w/ paid plan)
Web Page	Yes	Paid plans only	Ultimate plan only
Syndication	• Zillow.com • Trulia.com • Hotpads.com • Apartments.com • More	• Zillow.com • Trulia.com • Hotpads.com • Apartments.com • More	• Zillow.com • Trulia.com • Hotpads.com
SCREENING
Application	Integrated (add up to 40 questions)	Integrated (editable)	Integrated (editable)
Credit Report	$35 via RentPrep	$30 via TransUnion	$9 -$15 via TransUnion (A La Cart)
Background Report	$22.95 – $35 via RentPrep or Checkr	• Free Renter Profile • $55 Full Screening via TransUnion	• National Criminal Report ($9 – $15) • National Eviction Report ($9 – $15) • Rent History & ID Trace ($9 – $15)
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
Lease Generator	• Included (editable) • Non state-specific	• Included (editable w/paid plan) • State-specific	• Free version included • State-Specific $9 – $29
E-Signatures	Paid plans only	Included	No
Other Forms	• Upload your own • Available via Legal Nature	• Available via Rocket Lawyer	Free Late Rent notices
Document Restrictions	• 10MB per file • Max storage 512MB	• 2.5MB photo limit • Unlimited Storage	• 5MB photo limit • Unlimited Storage
OTHER PM SERVICES
Maintenance Tracking	Yes	Yes	Yes (paid plans)
Accounting	• Income & Expense Tracking • Liabilities and Credits Tracking • Mobile receipt upload • Download files • Quickbooks integration (Advanced)	• Income & Expense Tracking	• Income & Expense Tracking • Mobile receipt upload • Tax Reporting
Notifications	• System notifications • Email reminders	• System notifications • Email notifications	• Auto-tracked communications (paid plans)
Mobile App	Yes	No	No
Renter’s Insurance	Integrated (via Assurant)	Integrated (via Lemonade)	No
Rent Estimates	$19.99 (via RentRange)	$19.99 (via RentRange)	No
Track Leads	Yes (Advanced plan)	No	No
Manage Keys	Yes	No	No
Invoice Owners	Yes (per service % or flat fee)	No	No
SIGN UP	SIGN UP	SIGN UP	SIGN UP

Rent Collection Costs

These almost-free services allow you to collect rent online through various packages.  The free versions are either very limited or charge you per transaction. 

You can upgrade to their premium plans for “free” online rent collection and a host of other features.

Here is a look at their pricing plans.

TenantCloud

TenantCloud has added a “free to landlord” ACH transfer option in their free plan but the tenant has to pay $2.95 per transaction.  The fee is lower in their paid plans starting $1.50 and declining from there.  The landlord can opt to cover the ACH transfer fees.

Your tenant can use a Credit Card for 3.5% of the rent collected plus $0.30. 

This is a disadvantage because the only way to collect rent under the Free plan is to either charge you or your tenant a fee.  For credit cards that will cost your tenant 3.5% of the rent.  That’s $35 per $1,000 of rent!

Avail

Avail simplified its pricing. They now offer two plans: Unlimited and Unlimited Plus. Unlimited is free but Unlimited Plus will cost you $7 per month per unit.

Your tenant will need to pay the $2.50 per ACH payment under the Unlimited plan. You can avoid this tenant charge if you upgrade to the Unlimited Plus plan. 

Tenants can also use a Credit or Debit Card for 3.5%.

The best part is you can now get your rents deposited in as little as 1 business day if you upgrade to the Unlimited Plus plan!

SparkRental

SparkRental is free for both landlord and tenant when using ACH transfers but only in the premium plans starting at $19.95 per month.  In the free plan, the tenant will be charged $1.99 per ACH transfer.    

Credit Card is also available for 3.99% which your tenant pays.

SparkRental used to offer an innovative RentDeduct option which took rent right out of your tenant’s paycheck but they have since discontinued that feature due to lack of demand.

Rent Collection Costs

TenantCloud	ACH in Free plan for $2.95 or 3.5% +$.30 Credit/Debit fee Reduced ACH fees in premium plans Choose who pays ACH fee
Avail	$2.50 per ACH transfer (free plan) Free ACH in Unlimited Plus plan 3.5% Debit or Credit fee Tenant pays fees (no option to choose)
SparkRental	$1.99 per ACH transfer (free plan) Free ACH in premium plans 3.99% Debit or Credit fee Tenant pays fees (no option to choose)

Winner: Avail wins this round for having the most affordable truly “free” rent collection cost

Time to Receive Deposit

There is a big difference in how long it takes to receive your deposit from each of the rent collection services above.  It also varies widely depending on your tenant’s payment method.

TenantCloud uses a 2-step process via Dwolla which adds considerable time to the process.

Avail is the fastest to pay landlords with an option to get paid even faster.

 

Deposit Time

TenantCloud	ACH 4-6 Business Days Debit or Credit 2-7 Business Days
Avail	ACH 3 Business Days Debit or Credit 3 Business Days Fast Pay 1 Business Day (Unlimited Plus)
SparkRental	ACH 2-3 Business Days Debit or Credit 2-3 Business Days

Winner: Avail and SparkRental for the fastest ACH rent collection processing

Accept Multiple Payments Per Unit

Each of these services allow you to collect rent online from multiple tenants per unit.

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: 3-way tie!

Automatic Late Fees

Every state has different rules about late fees.  So these online rent collection services need to be as flexible as possible when it comes to setting up automatic late fees.  Otherwise, that feature may not be of much use to you. 

Luckily one of these rent collection services has the most built in flexibility.

Automatic Late Fees

TenantCloud	Daily and/or One-Time Fixed or % of Rent
Avail	Fixed Fee Only
SparkRental	No

Winner: TenantCloud for having the most flexible auto late fee function

One-Time Charges

All of these services allow you to collect one-time fees or non-similar charges such as utilities or fines.

One-Time Charges

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: 3-way tie!

Credits

Not all of the services reviewed give you the flexibility to issue your tenant a credit.  This can be a problem if you need to issue credits regularly.

Credits

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	No
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: TenantCloud and SparkRental

Offline Tracking

Occasionally your tenant may not be able to pay you through the system.  You need to be able to keep track of these offline payments.  All three of these rent collection services give you this ability.

Offline Tracking

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: Everyone!

Partial Payment Restrictions

Only one of these rent collection services has a way to restrict a partial payment but the others allow you to stop receiving rent payments by “turning off” the lease anytime.  Ideally though, you should be able to require a tenant to pay rent in full or not at all.

 

Partial Payment Restrictions

TenantCloud	Yes. Can toggle on or off.
Avail	Shut Off Lease
SparkRental	Shut Off Lease

Winner: TenantCloud for allowing Landlords to be able restrict partial payments

Security Deposits

All of these services allow you to collect a security deposit in addition to collecting rent online.

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: 3-way tie!

Multiple Deposit Accounts

The table below tells you how many bank accounts you can have associated with your account.

TenantCloud	Yes. Up to 10.
Avail	2 per Unit
SparkRental	1 per Unit

Winner: Avail for making it possible to separate rents from security deposits for each unit

Maximum Number of Doors

Some of these rent collection services have a cap on how many units you can have while others will charge you for additional units beyond a threshold. 

Maximum Number of Doors

TenantCloud	75 in Basic 150 in Standard 500 in Advanced
Avail	Unlimited
SparkRental	Unlimited

Winner: SparkRental for keeping it simple

PROPERTY LISTING FEATURES

Rental Listing Generator

You would expect that a rental listing generator would be a standard feature with these almost free rent collection services but that’s not the case.

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

Winner: Everyone!

Website

Whether you are already on your way to building your rental empire or you are managing one for someone else, a professional website can help set you apart from the crowd.

Each of these services offers a way to build a custom webpage to showcase your properties and collect leads.

Website

TenantCloud	Yes (all plans)
Avail	Yes (premium plans)
SparkRental	Yes (Ultimate plan)

Winner: TenantCloud for extending this cool feature to the Basic plan

Rental Listing Syndication

These online rent collection services also help you advertise your rental by pushing out over the web. Here is where each will automatically syndicate your rental listing for you.

TenantCloud	Zillow HotPads Trulia Apartments Many more
Avail	Zillow HotPads Trulia Apartments Many more
SparkRental	Zillow HotPads Trulia

Winner: All 3 win this round for having excellent syndication reach

TENANT SCREENING FEATURES

Rental Application

If you are looking for a customizable rental application to use as a pre-screening tool then you might want to consider one of the “almost free” online rent collection services.  Each of them offer the ability to edit and add questions to the standard rental application.

Rental Application

TenantCloud	Editable (add up to 40 questions)
Avail	Editable
SparkRental	Editable

Winner: TenantCloud for allowing you to add up to 40 questions in all plans

Credit Reports

Pricing is a little more complicated for the “almost-free” rent collection services.  Some force you to choose between available reports while others have an a la cart pricing approach.

Credit Report Costs

TenantCloud	$35
Avail	$30
SparkRental	$9 – $15 A La Cart

TenantCloud

 

You need to pay for the most expensive screening plan if you want to get a full credit report (you should always get a full credit report!).  The other option does not include a credit report.

Avail

 

Avail offers a free “Renter Profile” which shows you the tenant’s rental and job history along with proof of their income.

If you want a credit report it will cost you at least $30

SparkRental

SparkRental offers a la cart pricing on a sliding scale depending on your monthly plan.  It will cost $15 in the Free plan but goes down to $9 in the Ultimate plan.

 

	Partner	Who Pays	Portable
TenantCloud	RentPrep	Tenant or LL	No
Avail	TransUnion	Tenant	No
SparkRental	TransUnion	Tenant or LL*	No

All of these online rent collection services have partnered with TransUnion (SmartMove) for their credit reports. 

TenantCloud’s report is done by RentPrep (affiliate link) – more on this below. 

SparkRental also offers an Experian report if you want to avoid the on site inspection required if you get the TransUnion report.

In addition, TenantCloud and SparkRental give you the option of paying yourself or charging the tenant for the reports.  Although this option is only available in the premium SparkRental plans.  This is important because some states prohibit landlords from charging tenants for rental applications (including screening reports).

None of these online rent collection services offer portable tenant screening reports.

Winner: SparkRental for having the most flexible and affordable credit report

Background Checks

Here’s a sample Background report from each rent collection service:

• TenantCloud (via RentPrep)
• Avail
• SparkRental

Background Report Costs

TenantCloud	$22.95 – $35
Avail	$30 – $55
SparkRental	$9 – $45*

SparkRental’s background check pricing depends on which reports you choose and your plan level.  This is in addition to the $9 – $15 you will pay for the credit report.

	Partner	Who Pays	Portable
TenantCloud	Checkr or RentPrep	Tenant or LL	No
Avail	TransUnion	Tenant	No
SparkRental	Unknown	Tenant or LL*	No

TenantCloud has partnered with RentPrep (an AR affiliate) which is a comprehensive, manual tenant screening service.  This means they go beyond what the automated services can do.  They can even screen tenants in states that prohibit instant tenant screening reports like Colorado. 

However, TenantCloud appears to only offer the RentPrep/SmartMove report which is an instant background check (confusing right?). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you can get the full manual RentPrep report AND the full credit report. See my recommended screening tools if you want the best of both.

Avail uses TransUnion for both credit and background checks.  You will have to opt for the most expensive plan if you want the eviction report included.

It’s not clear who SparkRental is using for background checks. Because of it’s a la cart pricing, it is potentially the most expensive if you want all the reports (up to $60).  However, it can go as low as $36 for a full background and credit report if you are in the Ultimate plan. 

Winner: SparkRental for the most flexible and potentially cheapest tenant screening bundle

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FEATURES

Lease Generator

These “almost-free” online rent collection services set themselves apart from their “totally-free” counterparts in this area.

Lease Generator

TenantCloud	Included Editable Non State-Specific
Avail	Included Editable State-Specific
SparkRental	Free Non State-Specific State-Specific ($9 – $29) Editable

TenantCloud includes an editable, non state-specific version for free in all plans.

Avail goes above and beyond by including state-specific leases in all of its plans.  Not only are their leases lawyer-reviewed, they also include local clauses specific to your city.  Leases come with all the necessary disclosures and attachments.  However, if you want to customize the lease you need to upgrade to a premium plan.

SparkRental also offers a free general lease.  If you want a state-specific one you can purchase it for $29 if you are in the free plan.  It’s cheaper in the premium plans.

Winner: Avail.  They offer the most comprehensive leases for free!

E-Signatures

Who offers e-signatures as a convenient feature?  See below.

TenantCloud	Premium plans only
Avail	Included
SparkRental	No

Winner: Avail

Other Legal Forms

Landlords need more than just leases when it comes to legal forms. 

Here’s what each of these online rent collection services offers to meet your needs.

TenantCloud	Create or upload your own Available for purchase via Legal Nature
Avail	Available for purchase via RocketLawyer
SparkRental	Free Late Rent notices

Winner: TenantCloud and Avail for integrating an optional landlord legal forms service.

Document Restrictions

Each of these online rent collection software platforms have different file types and sizes they can support.

Document Restrictions

TenantCloud	10MB per file (.PDF, .PNG, .JPEG, .JPG) Limited to 512GB max in Basic plan
Avail	2.5MB per file (.PDF, .JPEG,) Unlimited storage
SparkRental	5MB per file (.PDF, .JPEG,) Unlimited storage

Winner: SparkRental

OTHER PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FEATURES

In addition to allowing DIY landlords collect rent online, these services are starting to rival larger software suites such as Buildium by offering many of the same Property Management features

Maintenance Tracking 

All three “almost free” online rent collection services include an integrated Maintenance Tracking feature to make your landlord life a little easier.

Maintenance Requests

TenantCloud	Yes
Avail	Yes
SparkRental	Yes

TenantCloud

 

TenantCloud has a robust maintenance tracker with several features to help busy DIY landlords like you and me:
• Categorize requests with pre-set categories and sub-categories
• Set priority levels
• Upload photos and videos
• Assign tasks to Service Professionals in the TC ecosystem
• Message Tenant or Service Pro directly in TC
• Connect Tenant and Service Pro directly within TC

Avail

Avail’s maintenance tracker is not as robust but it does have some good features:

• Yelp suggestions can help you find a local contractor

• Assign tasks to Contractors in Avail (premium plans)

• In-App messaging

• Add notes to tickets (option to make Tenant visible)

• Upload receipts (proof of work)

• Add expense for accounting purposes

Winner: TenantCloud for having the most comprehensive Maintenance Tracking feature.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

The functionality available for accounting and bookkeeping varies significantly across these “almost-free” services.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

TenantCloud	Income & Expense Tracking Ability to track Liabilities and Credits Mobile receipt upload Downloadable .CSV and .XLS files Multiple reports available to track performance Quickbooks integration Invoice Property Owners and request Contributions
Avail	Income & Expense Tracking
SparkRental	Income & Expense Tracking Mobile receipt upload Tax Reporting

 

TenantCloud

TenantCloud is more like a full PM software suite than a simple online rent collection service.  Accordingly, it has a lot of capabilities when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping.  This is great of you are small PM managing a portfolio or multiple portfolios for different owners.   It gives you many of the tools you need to run a PM business.

However, it’s also more complicated and clunky with it’s “Money In” and “Money Out” system. You need to spend some time learning the system.  Smaller DIY landlords may not want to make that investment in time and resources.

Winner: TenantCloud

Renter’s Insurance

Want your tenant’s to sign up for Renter’s Insurance?  Then choose a rent collection service that makes it easy.

Renter’s Insurance

TenantCloud	Yes via Assurant
Avail	Yes via Lemonade
SparkRental	No

Winner: TenantCloud and Avail

Rent Estimates

Set the right rent the first time, every time with the help of an integrated rent estimate report. 

Rent Estimates

TenantCloud	$19.99 (via RentRange)
Avail	$19.95 (via RentRange)
SparkRental	Not Available

Winner: Avail for saving you a few pennies while helping you maximize rents

PRO TIP – You can get the same rent estimate reports for about half the price.   Sign up with RentRange and use Affiliate Code: AR25OFF

Lead Management

 

TenantCloud recently launched its lead management feature.  This can come in very handy if you are managing multiple doors.  Never lose track of where a potential tenant is in the process.

Key Management

 

Another cool feature that TenantCloud offers is key management.  Assign and track keys so you don’t have to guess when it’s turnover time.

User Experience

I have been using Cozy (now Apartments.com) for a little while now so I thought it only fair to sign up for the other free online rent collection services to see how easy it is to use.

Here are some quick observations:

Apartments (Formerly Cozy)

 

Apartments Dashboard

• Login requires two-step authentication
• Simple and intuitive interface
• Rental Manager Dashboard includes quick access to 3 sections:
  • Properties & Listings (Properties, Application Requests, and True Leads)
  • Rental Tools (Applications, Residents, Payments, Expenses, Maintenance, and Reports)
  • Account (My Account, Billing History, Banks & Cards) 
  • Help Center
• Each property has its own “tile” for quick access to see payments or reactivate a listing 
• It’s hard to find the Rental Manager Dashboard again if you navigate away
• The Reports feature offers the best property management reports of the free rent collection services including customizable date ranges for income statements.
• Can be a bit buggy.  I’ve had to log out and log back in to get to some pages sometimes.
• TrueLeads keeps track of all prospective tenants in one easy dashboard
• Listing a property on Apartments is pretty simple.  See my review of several rental listing sites for an in depth comparison.

 

Zillow 

 

• Dashboard lacks functionality
• Manage Listing, Applications, & Payments from My Properties tab

 

Rentler

Rentler Listing Promotion Options

• Simple and easy property set up
• Nice dashboard and interface
• Customizable amenities in listings
• Unlimited photos in listings (but no videos)
• Listing Promotions available for a fee (see image above)
• Accounting feature to track bank deposits (available) and profit & loss (coming soon)
• Maintenance Dashboard
• Fully integrated system – no need for email
• Track Messages from Dashboard

Tenant Cloud

Tenant Cloud Service Pro Screen

• Sign up with social accounts
• Free 20 minute personal demo session upon sign up
• Comprehensive Dashboard with tutorials at your fingertips
• Adding a property is simple
• Add reminders to properties
• Nice calendar feature to see upcoming events

 

Avail

• Simple and intuitive interface
• Dashboard with numbers at a glance
• One-click downloadable reports such as rent roll and tenant list
• Gives you a Redfin property estimate once you input your property
• Listing comes pre-populated with basic info from public records
• Customizable Amenities for your listing
• Refer a friend program (Free rent analysis for them, bonuses for you!)

 

SparkRental

 

• Fewer features with a simpler dashboard
• More complicated setup than others – 36 point registration form for ACH!
• Most navigation can be done from the Property Page – Move in a renter, see transaction history, Edit/Delete a property
• Transactions appear on dashboard homepage
• Many more features coming soon

Unique Features  

Each of the free (and almost-free) online rent collection systems all cover the basics of setting up and collecting rent payments from tenants. How do they set themselves apart? Below is a list of cool and unique features offered by each of the services.

Apartments (Formerly Cozy)

• Simplified Maintenance and Expense tracking
• TrueLeads tracks all your prospects for you
• Free Rent Estimates (but I don’t recommend relying solely on them)
• Free, State-Specific lease agreements (non-editable so you will have to include addendums for specific lease clauses you want.

Zillow

• Restrict partial payments
• Huge online rental listing service
• Inexpensive screening (lacking some features though)

Rentler

• Faster ACH deposits
• Integrated tenant communications

TentantCloud

• Flexible Automatic Late Fees
• Mobile App
• Editable application
• Comprehensive Maintenance portal
• Other PM features such as key management, owner invoicing, etc.

Avail

• Fast ACH payments
• Portable Applications
• Automatic Landlord reference checks
• Free local lease forms
• Send Maintenance requests to your handy man (Unlimited Plus Plan)
• Rent Guarantee via Steady Marketplace
• Tenant Welcome Kit ($39.99)
• Tenant Credit Boost via TransUnion

SparkRental

• A la cart tenant screening pricing
• Secure messaging and storage

Conclusion

And the winners are…Apartments (Free) and Avail (Almost Free)!

Apartments is still a pretty good option if you are looking for a completely free online rent collection service.  It’s not as good as Cozy was because they dropped some of the nice features like tenant credit building, integrated renter’s insurance, and integrated rent estimates from RentRange.  And it’s not free if you have 20 or more doors.

However, we’ve gained a few new perks like financial reports and access to free state-specific leases.  For most accidental landlords like me, Apartments works just fine for now.

Avail is another great option and may suit you better than Apartments.  It has similar features with a similar user experience.   However, you will get paid much faster with Avail.  I also found their customer service to be more responsive.  Avail also offers a free version with unlimited units.  However, if you upgrade for $5/month/unit you can waive the ACH fee for your tenants along with other features like custom applications and more.

Regardless of which free online rent collection service you choose, you will wonder why you haven’t used one of these services sooner. Set yourself apart from your landlord peers by offering online rent collection. Start attracting better tenants and minimizing late payments.

Which of these online rent collection services are right for you at this stage in your real estate portfolio’s growth?

Help Me Keep This Comparison Chart Updated

This is the most comprehensive comparison of online rent collection services that I know of.  I want to keep this the best resource out there so please let me know if something needs correcting.  Thanks for your help!

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Update Log

Update April 2023 – New Avail pricing.

Update Nov 2022 – Updated to reflect new ACH option in TenantCloud Free plan.  Also removed reference to PayPal option which no longer seems to be supported.

Update August 2020 – Cozy announced they are transitioning to Apartments.com mid-2021.  This will include adding new features such as faster payments and electronic leases but they will also begin charging landlords with more than 20 properties.  Read the announcement before making your decision. 

For more about Cozy, check out my Comprehensive Review of Cozy Services and the one by Norm at Ridinkulous.net with great visuals and a humorous overview of the entire experience. 

Update February 2020 – I’ve split the services into two groups: Totally Free and Almost Free.  This is an easier way to distinguish between the services that are free for both tenant and landlords for collecting rent online.  I’ve also reconfirmed all the chart details with each service provider so there are numerous updates to the chart and detailed explanations.

Update August 2018 – A lot has changed in the year since I first published this original article.  One of these services changed its name, another no longer offers rent collection and two have emerged as leaders in this space.  I’ve updated the article to reflect a ton of new services now offered by these top online rent payment services.  I’ve also swapped out TurboTenant, which no longer offers rent collection, for a couple of new services.