Apartments.com Rental Manager vs Buildium
Buildium scores 8.2/10 vs 6.5/10. Best for: Professional residential and HOA property managers with 50-5,000 units who need full general ledger accounting, 1099 filing, and owner/tenant portals.
Buildium scores higher overall at 8.2/10 vs 6.5/10. Buy Buildium if you are a professional property manager running 50-5,000 residential units or HOA portfolios and need real accounting with 1099 filing. The tenant and owner portals save hours of email. Skip if you manage under 30 units, because the per-transaction fees and plan costs make simpler tools a better deal.
Apartments.com Rental Manager 
Buildium Rank
#26 of 31
Rank
#2 of 31
Features
10/17
Features
17/17
Starting at
$0/mo
Starting at
$62/mo
User reviews
4.2/5 (50)
User reviews
4.4/5 (2350)
What they cost
| Apartments.com Rental Manager | Buildium | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting at | Free /mo | $62 /mo |
| Free trial | Free tier available | 14 days |
| Number of plans | 3 | 3 |
What the pricing really means
At first glance, Apartments.com Rental Manager looks cheaper at $0/month vs $62/month. But sticker price is only part of the story. Look at what is included on the base plan, how many users you get, and whether you need add-ons to get the features you actually need. The $99/month plan that requires $200 in add-ons is actually more expensive than the $250/month plan that includes everything.
Where Apartments.com Rental Manager wins
- Free listing syndication across the Apartments.com network reaches millions of renters
- Core features like screening, rent collection, and applications are free
- Backed by CoStar Group, giving it long-term stability and investment
- Inherited Cozy's user-friendly approach to small landlord management
Where Buildium wins
- Full general ledger accounting with 1099 e-filing built in. Your bookkeeper or CPA will appreciate not having to reconcile a separate system
- Tenant and owner portals actually work well. Tenants submit maintenance requests and pay rent online. Owners see statements without emailing you
- Scales from 20 units to thousands without forcing a platform switch. You just move up a plan
- 14-day free trial comes preloaded with sample data so you can test workflows without entering fake tenants
Where Apartments.com Rental Manager falls short
- No built-in accounting or financial tracking beyond basic expense logging
- Website can be glitchy, especially during peak application processing
- Maintenance tracking lacks advanced features like recurring tasks and priority levels
- Limited feature depth compared to dedicated property management platforms
Where Buildium falls short
- Essential plan caps at 150 units and charges higher per-transaction fees: $99 per bank account setup alone
- No phone support on the $62/mo Essential plan. You are limited to email and chat, which is frustrating during a billing emergency
- Growth plan at $192/mo sounds reasonable until per-unit add-on fees stack up: screening, eSign, and insurance all cost extra
- A landlord with 15 rental units will pay $62/mo for features they mostly do not need. Simpler tools like Innago or Stessa cost less
Who is each product built for?
Apartments.com Rental Manager
Target: 1-50 units
Apartments.com Rental Manager is best for small landlords who value listing exposure above all else. Being part of the largest rental listing network in the US is a genuine competitive advantage for filling vacancies quickly. However, the management tools are relatively basic — there is no real accounting, and the platform works better as a listing and screening tool than a full property management solution.
Buildium
Target: 1-5000 units
Buy Buildium if you are a professional property manager running 50-5,000 residential units or HOA portfolios and need real accounting with 1099 filing. The tenant and owner portals save hours of email. Skip if you manage under 30 units, because the per-transaction fees and plan costs make simpler tools a better deal.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Apartments.com Rental Manager | Buildium |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Management | ||
| Tenant screening | ||
| Online rent collection | ||
| Lease management | ||
| Tenant portal | ||
| E-signatures | ||
| Property Operations | ||
| Maintenance requests | ||
| Owner portal | ||
| Property inspections | ||
| Vendor management | ||
| Vacancy advertising | ||
| Finance & Reporting | ||
| Accounting/bookkeeping | ||
| Bank account management | ||
| Insurance tracking | ||
| Reporting/analytics | ||
| Platform | ||
| Document storage | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| API access | ||
Common questions
Buildium scores 8.2/10 vs Apartments.com Rental Manager's 6.5/10 in our ranking. Buildium is the better pick for 1-5000 units. Apartments.com Rental Manager is better if you need small landlords who want free listing exposure on the largest rental marketplace in the us.
Apartments.com Rental Manager starts at $0/month. Buildium starts at $62/month. Watch for add-on costs — the base price often does not include all features. Pricing last verified 2026-03-01.
Apartments.com Rental Manager: Free tier available. Buildium: Yes, 14-day free trial. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
Apartments.com Rental Manager covers 10 of 17 features we track. Buildium covers 17 of 17. Buildium has broader feature coverage, but more features does not always mean better — pick the tool that covers what your business actually needs.
No, Apartments.com Rental Manager does not have a mobile app. Buildium does have one.
Yes. The main effort is migrating your data (customer lists, job history, invoices). Plan for 1-2 weeks of overlap where you run both. Most property management tools can import CSV data. Ask both vendors about migration support before you sign.
The bottom line
Pick Apartments.com Rental Manager if...
Small landlords who want free listing exposure on the largest rental marketplace in the US
Pick Buildium if...
Professional residential and HOA property managers with 50-5,000 units who need full general ledger accounting, 1099 filing, and owner/tenant portals