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Whether you track and collect rent manually through Excel or with an accounting software like QuickBooks, one thing is for certain: There’s a better way that allows you to collect rent payments online!

Sure, Excel spreadsheets are pretty.

And sure, QuickBooks is an amazing accounting software.

But neither is purpose-built for property managers and landlords who need specific tools to track and collect rent each month with less hassle.

That’s where online rent payment systems, or property management software, come in.

With an online rent payment software, you can simplify the effort of tracking rent payments and automate rent collection itself.

And with an all-in-one property management solution like DoorLoop, you can get tenants to pay you automatically on the first of each month.

Imagine a life where rent is collected each month automatically, without the hassle of chasing it down.

With one of the tools we’ll show you below, you can make that a reality.

The 7 Best Online Rent Payment Systems

There are many great online rent systems out there that make managing rent payments easier—but these are the best of the best.

Here are seven of the best online rent payment services:

1. DoorLoop

DoorLoop homepage

DoorLoop is an all-in-one property management solution that offers a full suite of rent payment and collection features, making it an excellent online rent payment system and much more.

With DoorLoop, you’ll never have to scramble around collecting rent payments again. On the first of each month, rent payments will pour in automatically, just like that.

Plus, you get the bonus of the many great property management features DoorLoop offers, all to help you streamline and automate your business.

Features include:

  • Automatic rent collection: Collect online and cash rent payments (with DoorLoop CashPay) conveniently so you can focus on other important issues.
  • Built-in CRM with tenant portal: Track all your leads, applicants, and tenants.
  • Tenant portal: Owners can collect rent online and accept cash payments with DoorLoop CashPay, manage other fees, set up payment reminders, and more in their own portal.
  • Complete suite of accounting features: Make accounting easy a full chart of accounts, bank reconciliations, and more.
  • Owner portal: Print checks and issue reports for your property owners.
  • Multiple payment options to your bank account: Accept credit or debit card, and ACH (eCheck) payments with Stripe.
  • Open API powered by Zapier: Enjoy a massive number of integrations with other software and tools so you can streamline all aspects of your property management.

DoorLoop Pricing

DoorLoop pricing

DoorLoop’s online rent payment and property management system starts at just $49 per month.

2. Avail

Avail

Avail is an online rental payments system with a user-friendly interface and easy navigation.

The tool offers a good range of features for managing units and collecting rent online. However, users report that it’s hard getting started; there is a lack of good tutorials via the company's knowledge base, making the software difficult to navigate.

Features include:

  • Online rent collection
  • Tenant screening
  • Maintenance order management
  • Digital leasing
  • Automated listings

Avail pricing

Avail pricing

Avail offers a 100% free plan to get started, with no charge on unlimited units. However, the plan is pretty limiting in terms of features. So, you’ll need to pay for their higher-tier plans to get many of their premium features.

The Unlimited Plus Plan offers the rest of their feature set for $7 per unit per month.

3. Buildium

buildium

Buildium is one of several decent all-around options on the list for managing your properties and collecting rent more effectively.

With Buildium, you’ll get a good set of features (listed below). However, it’s one of the priciest options on this list, even considering its features—unless you have 50+ units.

Features include:

  • Online rent payments
  • Payment and expense tracking
  • Decent reporting features
  • Lots of integrations with sites like Zillow and Apartments.com

Buildium Pricing

Buildium Pricing

Buildium's Essential plan starts at $52 per month. Its other plans go up to $479 per month depending on the features you need and the number of units you have.

Make sure to also read our full review of Buildium.

4. AppFolio

AppFolio

AppFolio is another solid all-around option with a good combination of residential and commercial property management features.

Users report that the UI is easy to use and the feature set fairly robust, but it’s one of the most expensive systems on this list, depending on how many units you have.

Features include:

  • Accounting features like smart bill entry and automated late fees
  • Automated and online rent payments
  • Good reporting features
  • Security deposit account holding

AppFolio Pricing

AppFolio Pricing

AppFolio has a pricey onboarding fee to get started.

In addition to the onboarding fee, Appfolio’s plans come in at $1.40 to $3.00 per unit per month. It also has $280 or $900 monthly minimum, depending on the plan you choose.

5. TenantCloud

TenantCloud

TenantCloud is a rather affordable option.

However, similar to Avail, its feature set is limited. While it’s a good place to get started, you’ll likely want to quickly move up to the paid tier.

Features include:

  • Online rent payments
  • Vendor payments
  • Maintenance order management
  • Insurance reminders

TenantCloud Pricing

TenantCloud Pricing

TenantCloud starts at $15 per month for basic features. If you want more, you'll have to upgrade to its Growth plan for $50 per month.

6. Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct is a similar entry to the likes of Buildium, with a robust set of features but a somewhat less intuitive UI.

While Rentec Direct’s feature list is one of the most impressive, users report that navigating the software can be a bit of a pain due to its somewhat clunky and dated UI.

Features include:

  • Great accounting features like online rent payments, multiple payment methods, and robust reporting tools
  • Owner portal
  • Maintenance management tools
  • Tenant screening
  • Tenant communications via SMS and email

Rentec Direct Pricing

Rentec Direct Pricing

Rentec Direct’s pricing starts at $55 per month for up to 10 units. Additional units increase the monthly amount based on tiers:

  • 50 units = $65 / Month
  • 100 units = $110 / Month
  • 250 units = $270 / Month
  • 500 units = $550 / Month

7. Yardi Breeze

Yardi Breeze is another well-known rental property management solution that offers a diverse set of features.

Users tout the software’s design as intuitive and easy to use, while customer service is great.

However, users also report that the tool is littered with minor necessary improvements that are slow to be fixed, sometimes making for an inconvenient experience with the software.

Features include:

  • Automated and online rent payments
  • Accounting features like reports and budget tracking
  • Owner portal
  • Management of maintenance requests

Yardi Breeze pricing

Yardi Breeze offers a pretty straightforward per unit, per month pricing model depending on the portfolio type, but with a minimum added in.

The basic plan for residential properties is $1 per unit per month with a $100 minimum (meaning if you have less than 100 units, you’ll be paying $100 minimum per month).

The higher-tier plan for residential property portfolios moves up to $2 per unit per month with a $400 monthly minimum.

Collect More Rent in Less Time

DoorLoop features

Few things are more strenuous for landlords than having to chase down rent at the beginning of every month.

With all of these online rent payment systems, that becomes a thing of the past—literally.

No matter which you choose, we hope this list helps you find a tool that streamlines and automates your property management efforts each month, giving you more time for what really matters: growing your business or even just living life.

You’ll get not only all the excellent rent tracking and collecting features we’ve been mentioning but also the ones listed below:

  • A built-in CRM with tenant portal
  • Maintenance order management system
  • Tenant screening and online applications
  • Collect rent by credit card & ACH (eCheck) with RapidRent
  • Even more
DoorLoop

Experience DoorLoop’s rent collection features, and schedule a free demo today.

David is the co-founder & CMO of DoorLoop, a best-selling author, legal CLE speaker, and real estate investor. When he's not hanging with his three children, he's writing articles here!

doorloop