Avail vs Buildium
Buildium scores 8.2/10 vs 7.5/10. 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 7.5/10. 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.
Avail 
Buildium Rank
#13 of 31
Rank
#2 of 31
Features
9/17
Features
17/17
Starting at
$0/mo
Starting at
$62/mo
User reviews
4.8/5 (350)
User reviews
4.4/5 (2350)
What they cost
| Avail | Buildium | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting at | Free /mo | $62 /mo |
| Free trial | Free tier available | 14 days |
| Number of plans | 2 | 3 |
What the pricing really means
At first glance, Avail 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 Avail wins
- Genuinely free tier with no unit limits covering core landlord needs
- State-specific lease templates and e-signatures included free
- Listings syndicate to Zillow, Realtor.com, and 20+ sites
- Simple clean interface for non-professional landlords
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 Avail falls short
- Recent 300%+ price increase on Plus plan has upset users
- No real accounting depth, just basic expense tracking
- No API access or integrations
- No owner portal, not for third-party management
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?
Avail
Target: 1-50 units
Avail is the best free option for independent landlords needing basic rent collection, screening, and leases. The free tier is genuinely useful. Strictly for DIY landlords with no owner portal or real accounting. Recent price increases on Plus have frustrated users.
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 | Avail | 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 Avail's 7.5/10 in our ranking. Buildium is the better pick for 1-5000 units. Avail is better if you need independent diy landlords who want free or low-cost basic rent collection and tenant screening.
Avail 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.
Avail: Free tier available. Buildium: Yes, 14-day free trial. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
Avail covers 9 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, Avail 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 Avail if...
Independent DIY landlords who want free or low-cost basic rent collection and tenant screening
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