The four models, side by side
The products below are not four versions of the same thing. They are four different answers to the question “who is this software for, and who pays for it” — and that is the comparison that actually decides which one you should use.
| Built for | Who pays | Pricing shape | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rentmark | Landlords who own their units | The landlord | One flat plan, unlimited units |
| Buildium | Management companies, larger portfolios | The manager, plus add-on fees | Tiers that scale with the portfolio |
| TurboTenant | Landlords filling vacancies | Applicants and tenants, largely | Free tier plus annual premium tiers |
| Stessa | Investors tracking a portfolio | The investor | Free tier plus two paid tiers |
| A spreadsheet | Anyone, badly, eventually | You, in hours | Free |
Every figure and characterisation on the individual comparison pages is read from the other product’s own pricing page and dated, so you can check it. Where a page could not be read automatically, we say so rather than quoting a number we did not verify.
How to actually choose
Nearly every “best property management software” list ranks tools that were built for different customers as though they were competing for the same job. They are not. Three questions separate them faster than any feature matrix:
- Do you own the units, or manage them for someone else? If you owe a third-party owner a statement, you need trust accounting, and that rules most of this category out immediately.
- Is your problem the books, or the tenancy? Accounting-first tools and operations-first tools overlap in the marketing and barely at all in daily use.
- Who do you want paying for the software? Free-for-landlords products recover the cost from your applicants and tenants. That is a legitimate model — but it is a choice you are making on their behalf.
Rentmark answers those three: you own the units, your problem is the tenancy, and you pay for the software so your tenant does not. Where a different answer fits you better, the comparison pages above say so.