AppFolio vs Buildium
AppFolio scores 8.5/10 vs 8.2/10. Best for: Professional property management companies with 50-5,000+ residential or commercial units that want AI-powered automation and syndicated listings.
AppFolio scores higher overall at 8.5/10 vs 8.2/10. Buy AppFolio if you manage 50+ units professionally and want AI-powered automation with strong accounting. The per-unit pricing is competitive at that scale. Skip if you have fewer than 50 units, because you literally cannot sign up, and the sales-only process wastes time for small landlords.
AppFolio 
Buildium Rank
#1 of 31
Rank
#2 of 31
Features
17/17
Features
17/17
Starting at
Custom
Starting at
$62/mo
User reviews
4.6/5 (2850)
User reviews
4.4/5 (2350)
What they cost
| AppFolio | Buildium | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting at | Contact for pricing | $62 /mo |
| Free trial | No | 14 days |
| Number of plans | 3 | 3 |
What the pricing really means
Buildium publishes their pricing upfront, which is a good sign. AppFolio requires you to contact sales for a quote. When a company hides pricing, it usually means the cost is high enough that they want a salesperson to justify it before you see the number. Always ask for total year-one cost, not just the monthly subscription.
Where AppFolio wins
- AI assistant Realm-X drafts lease notices, responds to tenant emails, and handles routine communication: real time savings for a busy office
- Per-unit pricing works out well at scale. At $1.40/unit on Core, a 200-unit portfolio pays $280/mo, which is hard to beat for what you get
- 450+ integrations through AppFolio Stack connect to your existing accounting, inspection, and leasing tools without custom API work
- Syndicated listings push vacancies to Zillow, Apartments.com, and 20+ sites automatically. No manual posting on each site
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 AppFolio falls short
- 50-unit minimum means a landlord with 10 duplexes cannot even sign up. This is built for management companies, not small portfolios
- No free trial. You sit through a sales process and commit before seeing how it works with your actual data
- Plus plan doubles the cost to $3.00/unit/mo. A 200-unit portfolio jumps from $280 to $600/mo just for custom fields and better accounting
- Max plan pricing is completely hidden. You will not know the cost until you are deep into the sales conversation
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?
AppFolio
Target: 50-50000+ units
Buy AppFolio if you manage 50+ units professionally and want AI-powered automation with strong accounting. The per-unit pricing is competitive at that scale. Skip if you have fewer than 50 units, because you literally cannot sign up, and the sales-only process wastes time for small landlords.
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 | AppFolio | 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
AppFolio scores 8.5/10 vs Buildium's 8.2/10 in our ranking. AppFolio is the better pick for 50-50000+ units. Buildium is better if you need professional residential and hoa property managers with 50-5,000 units who need full general ledger accounting, 1099 filing, and owner/tenant portals.
AppFolio uses custom pricing (contact sales). 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.
AppFolio: No free trial. Buildium: Yes, 14-day free trial. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
AppFolio covers 17 of 17 features we track. Buildium covers 17 of 17. Both are tied on feature coverage, but more features does not always mean better — pick the tool that covers what your business actually needs.
Yes, AppFolio has a mobile app. Buildium does too.
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 AppFolio if...
Professional property management companies with 50-5,000+ residential or commercial units that want AI-powered automation and syndicated listings
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