Overall Summary
Screenshot of AppFolio Property Manager
AppFolio (now part of the AppFolio family after its own growth) has long been a favorite among property management companies handling residential, commercial, student housing, and HOA properties. It delivers a polished, all-in-one platform with deep accounting tools, automated workflows, a strong tenant and owner portal, online leasing, maintenance coordination, and utility billing. It’s designed for efficiency at scale and is used by thousands of management companies across the U.S.
Pricing
- Core plan: ≈ $1.40–$1.49 per unit/month with a 200-unit minimum (~$280–$298/month minimum)
- Plus plan: $3 per unit/month (500-unit minimum)
- Max plan: Custom pricing for very large portfolios Additional fees for premium features (e.g., advanced marketing website, certain integrations, CAM/revenue management). Onboarding/training packages are mandatory and can add several thousand dollars upfront. Annual contracts are typical.
Feature Highlights
- Full double-entry accounting with automation and reconciliations
- Smart maintenance tracking with work orders and vendor portal
- Professional tenant and owner portals (mobile apps included)
- Online rent payments, lease signing, and tenant screening
- Utility billing and expense allocation
- Robust reporting dashboard and owner statements
- Open API and hundreds of integrations (Stack, Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.)
- Texting and automated communications
- Commercial and HOA-specific tools
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Extremely polished and professional interface
- Outstanding accounting automation and accuracy
- Excellent tenant and owner portals with mobile apps
- Strong maintenance and vendor management
- Scales beautifully from 100 to 10,000+ units
- Great customer support and training resources
- Powerful reporting and business intelligence
Cons:
- Very expensive for DIY landlords with fewer than 150–200 units (high minimums make it cost-prohibitive)
- Mandatory onboarding fees can be $1,000–$5,000+
- Many features competitors include at lower tiers are locked behind Plus/Max plans
- Overkill for small-portfolio landlords who just need basic rent collection and tracking
- Annual contracts with early-termination penalties
