Update 5/30/2017: We were able to find two more great property management software options, bringing the total number of solutions to five instead of the original three.
Let’s go back to your childhood. Remember walking through your neighborhood or around at school and finding a penny on the ground? For me, it made my day. (Unless you found a penny facedown and you were doomed to live a life imbued with bad luck.) Free is along the same lines, sans bad luck. I’d call that pretty lucky. I’d even venture to say that this has some commonality with free property management software.
Finding free property management software has a cost, however. Many paid solutions offer a free version, though these editions often only enable users to manage one property or only offer basic features in attempts to entice you to buy their paid product.
Not so lucky.
So rather than directing you to paid solutions that offer an unsatisfying free version, I’ve listed fivetruly free property management software solutions, listing their pros and cons so you can find the right fit for your property and your needs.
1. Cozy
Cozy jumpstarts our list as a popular free property management solutions that is used by more than 60,000 property managers and landlords in 6,000 cities across the United States. Cozy can also be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection on any device.
Pros
With Cozy, property managers can craft comprehensive online property listings with flexible image galleries that include in-depth lease terms, and information on amenities and pet policies. These listings can then be hosted on Cozy’s partner sites free of charge and even include a URL to copy and paste into posts on popular sites such as Craigslist. Interested tenants can also apply directly by creating a Cozy Renter Profile that will include all personal information (such as employment, salary, up-to-date credit reports from Experian, and references) in one location. Potential residents can even upload a short bio on their application to give property managers a better sense of who these applicants are. Background check are also available and free, but only for landlords using Cozy (applicants cover the background check fee). This solution also enables users to collect rent online with detailed payment information like incoming and past charges or even charge late fees directly to tenants. Offline payments can additionally be recorded into their payment tool.
Upcoming features for Cozy include document signing and storage, iOS and Android apps as well as income and expense tracking.
Cons
Because this software is heavily focused on the applicant side, this means that other features like managing maintenance reports or accounting options are not possible through this solution.
Have you used Cozy? Leave a review!
2. Online Rental Property Manager (ORPM) by AppGini
Online Rental Property Manager (ORPM) is a free and open source property management solution for those looking to manage their rental properties and units as well as applications, leases, and tenants. ORPM is accessible through PC, tablet, and mobile.
Pros
Because this solution was created using AppGini, users can easily customize ORPM to fit their needs, including a variety of tabs that touch on property details, prospective tenants, and applications that can be converted into leases. Within the “properties” tab, users can list the location, type, number of available units, and even attach photos and documents if desired. Within these units, users can additionally view specific features for any unit, such as rental amount and whether or not a particular unit is occupied, vacant or not listed. For applicants and current tenant, managers can access the contact information of their renters and personal information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, license plate numbers, gross pay, and additional income. ORPM also allows for emails to be directly sent through the application, enabling users to send emails to other users to arrange meetings or keep in touch with other employees or business partners.
Cons
While ORPM hosts a variety of features to help manage properties and their tenant, this solution does lack a payment component. A payment tool can be setup, but requires additional coding that might be out of range for those less technologically inclined.
Have you used ORPM? Leave a review!
3. Rentec Direct
(via Rentec Direct)
Rentec Direct offers a free “Basic” platform for smaller landlords managing ten or fewer properties “as our way of giving something back to the landlording community,” the company states.
Pros
Rentec Basic offers three main features that property managers will find useful:
Income and expense tracking: The software provides a simple ledger account system along with reports that you can go over with your accountant.
Property and tenant accounting: This feature enables you to keep simple and accurate records of both your property and the tenants who live there.
Tenant screening: The software combs through public records and background checks of your prospective tenant’s history to help you determine if they’ll be a good fit for your property.
Cons
Reviewers didn’t have a lot to complain about with Rentec Direct, scoring an average of 5 out of 5 among more than a hundred reviewers. Some did have small complaints though, including that running reports “can be laborious,” or that the software could use some additional features to help organize tasks.
Have you used Rentec Direct? Leave a review!
4. RentTracker
(Screenshot of RentTracker app)
RentTracker is software for managers of rental properties. The company has been around since 1999, and recently unveiled apps for the iPhone and iPad.
Pros
RentTracker’s main advantage is that it’s cloud-based, allowing you the flexibility of managing your properties on your mobile device — or even your PC or Mac if you prefer. All the data is backed up online and secured via Comodo SSL. The cloud infrastructure supports 10 gigabytes per second.
The software enables you to manage tenant-vendor contractors, as well as rent payments and expenses. The software will also alert you when a lease is about to expire.
Cons
RentTracker is free, but fairly limited until you spend money. You can download it to your iOS or Android device, but you will have to pay if you want more than three tenant records. Additional tenant records cost $1 each, or you can buy in bulk for a lower price. The software also runs ads, which are removed with the purchase of a 10-pack of tenant records.
Have you used RentTracker? Leave a review!
5. TenantCloud
For landlords, TenantCloud is a free cloud-based property management option that enables multitasking and is accessible across PC and mobile.
Pros
Aside from basic property management options, TenantCloud offers users the ability to screen potential tenants with a comprehensive background check that covers social security number (SSN) validation, address history, and possible past criminal activity. Those interested can also make use of TenantCloud’s free marketing website component with layout templates and even create an online tenant application that can be accessed through any device. Through TenantCloud, users can additionally manage online payments, accepting both Dwolla and PayPay so users can collect rent with ease. Other standout features range from free unlimited online support to the ability to email tenant notifications right through the system.
Cons
Tenant Cloud is by far one of the more user-friendly and accessible options, but caps at 75 properties. Those needing to manage more properties will have to search for other solutions to satisfy their numbers.
More?
Do you know of any other free property management software that belongs on this list? Make your case in the comments below.
Looking for Real Estate Property Management software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Real Estate Property Management software solutions.
Comments
Comment by Portiqo on
These are great options for property managers and landlords who have many properties to manage. Software solutions such as these can make things much more easier to manage but many cost a lot and finding good ones which are free can be quite difficult. This list makes finding a good property management software so much easier!
Comment by Timothy Hamilton on
Great article; very useful to find these tools for landlords such as myself! Another great free property management software, the one I use, is http://www.rentlit.com. Like cozy, they help you find and screen tenants, but also help with writing the lease. Collecting rent is easy and hits my account within three days. And they offer a maintenance warranty option I use on one of my town homes that really makes sense.
Comment by Nathan M on
Good article. I’d like to add that Rentec Direct still maintains a free version of their property management software. It includes more tools and is years more mature than the options listed above and is 100% completely free for landlords with up to 10 properties. Here’s where to find the info: https://www.rentecdirect.com/details/rentec_basic
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Comment by Hellen Smith on
These are great comments – I am personally using Rentigo to collect rent from my tenants and for managing their maintenance requests. I have 3 units
Comment by Steven Peters on
I use Rentler.com. I can list, run background checks and screenings, do maintenance requests. They also do rental payments now which is awesome. I love using Rentler (https://www.rentler.com).
Comment by Paul Ronto on
You should really check out TurboTenant.com. It’s 100% free to landlords, intuitive, and helps property owners market their rentals, find and screen tenants through an online rental application and integrated credit, criminal and eviction reports, collect payments over the web and much much more! Join today!
Comment by Deborah McGregor on
I’ve been using Tenant Cloud. It is still quite ‘glitchy’ which means that you really need to double check the data you get when running accounts etc.. I’ve had a lot of problems where the program uses “Due Date” instead of the actual date accounts are paid etc.. Support is somewhat tiresome and it takes quite a while of email to-ing and fro-ing to get a result (if you get one). I think it has the potential to be a really good piece of software – but it is not reliable enough yet.
Comment by Domenick T on
I’ve been using Cozy for a while now and love it. No late rent payments!
The cons mentioned above won’t be relevant soon. They are rolling out Expense Tracking, Maintenance Requests and Document Management features soon. If they are all as good as the current service, then Cozy is all small landlord should ever need.
Comment by Marina O'Daniel on
You have missed a good property management software called ‘Property Tree’. It is Australia and New Zealand’s first cloud based property management solution developed by Rockend, the leader in property software. Check out the website here https://www.propertytree.com/.
Comment by Mike on
Another recent entry that I’ve been looking at is FreshRenter.com. They are similar to Cozy in that it’s free, and they are tailored to small landlords. They also offer document management and maintenance request tracking.
Comment by Keith Weigand on
Nice information about of property management software….. I would like to share http://www.propertyzar.com/ that a free property management software….
Comment by Pat Liska on
Haven’t tried this, but came across it, it’s free but charges for screening tenants, http://innago.com , looks like one worth looking into.
Comment by Adam Parsley on
Check out RentSail.com! Much more than just collecting rent online. We offer true full featured property management software. Free for 5 units or less!
Comment by Tyler Hayes on
Don’t forget Roof! https://www.roof.io
Roof is unique—landlords can choose to pay $2/transaction so their tenants can use it for free, or just charge the fee to their tenants and use it for free themselves.
Comment by Rose C. on
We use TenantCloud and honestly it’s been a lifesaver for us. We manage our 10 properties for free. We have set up Stripe for online payments with tenants paying fees and it works great. In future we want to buy few more rentals so I think we will switch to payment plan where online payments are free. I think it is less than $10/month or something. Overall, it works great and Ann from support is really helpful!
Comment by Zigguro on
Rentomy is Free Open Source cloud software for Residential Rental Property Managers. Rentomy is comprehensive, fast & easy to use. Deploy it as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on the web, or run it in-house.
https://zigguro.org/rentomy/
Comment by Propertyzar on
Great post. Thanks for sharing!”
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