Update: This post has been updated with new scoring and winners based on changes or upgrades to some of the products and services. We have also included new products that have come to our attention since the last update. Read on to see our winners for the best online rent payment service for 2022:
Property management software can be a useful tool for small and independent landlords to effectively run their businesses. We have written overviews of several top software products that offer solutions for a variety of standard property management tasks from advertising and applications to tenant screening, lease signing and rent collection. Here we compare how each of them handle online rent payment from a landlord’s perspective. We compare them across a variety of factors and then determine the best online rent payment service for small landlords.
The Best Online Rent Payment Service
These are our winners for the best online rent payment service. Read below for complete criteria and scores:
| SERVICE | DESCRIPTION | RATING | MORE |
|---|---|---|---|
|
BEST OVERALL
|
PayRent
|
46.5 |
Read ReviewSign Up Here |
|
BEST SOFTWARE
|
Avail
|
46.0 |
Read ReviewSign Up Here |
|
BEST HYBRID
|
Hemlane
|
43.5 |
Read ReviewSign Up Here |
Best Online Rent Payment Service: Overall
PayRent is a product that focuses solely on online rent payment for landlords like us. With multiple plans starting at $0/month, landlords have access to a low-cost solution for collecting rent payments. Choose to pass-through transaction fees to your tenants, and your rent payment fees are $0 forever. Tenants will also receive rent reminders and can schedule automated payments in advance, helping to ensure on-time rent collection every month.
Additionally, PayRent offers a RentDefense feature with their paid packages: Payment controls and rent collection enforcement that help you collect rent with less hassle and stress that virtually eliminates late and lost rent. Landlords can also upgrade to a premium plan that promises just 1-day payment holds and free bank transfers.
If what you need is fast, secure, reliable online rent collection, PayRent is our winner for you. It is our Overall winner for the Best Online Rent Payment Service.
- With no subscription plan and a simple pricing structure, PayRent helps property owners and managers collect rent online safely, reliably and automatically.
- Strength: Rent Collection
Best Online Rent Payment Service: Property Management Software
Avail is our winner for the best online rent payment in the property management software category. With next day FastPay ACH transfers included for Unlimited Plus subscribers and 2-day deposit times for all others, Avail offers a fast and convenient rent payment service. Furthermore, landlords do not need to be a paid subscriber to access Avail’s online rent payment service. Also at $2.50 per transfer that your tenant can pay, a landlord has the opportunity to collect rent at no additional cost.
What makes Avail a winner is their best in class property management software solution. In addition to online rent collection features, a subscription to Avail gives you a complete set of tools, guidance, and educational content you need to be a confident and professional landlord.
- Advertise your property, find and screen tenants, sign leases, collect rent, and e-sign custom local leases, with tools built specifically for DIY landlords.
- Strength: Complete Solution
Best Hybrid Property Management Platform:
Hemlane is a property management platform that helps property owners manage their rentals wherever they are. It is a cross between DIY and full service management that automates day-to-day administration, from advertising vacant properties to collecting rent and late fees. Because of its flexibility for landlords to choose how much control of the day-to-day operations of their rentals they retain, Hemlane is our winner for the best online rent payment service: hybrid property management platform.
For landlords who want complete freedom from the daily operations of their rentals, Hemlane can help you connect with local, in-person leasing agents and 24/7 repair coordination with local service professionals. You can also choose to maintain 100% control and automation with Hemlane’s all-in-one online platform for leasing and management. Or select something in between where you have access to Hemlane’s software plus repair coordination to allow you to sleep through the night without being woken up with a late night emergency.
No matter which package you choose though, Hemlane offers landlords access to its robust online rent collection and financial tracking tools.
- Hemlane is a next-gen property management tool that helps property owners manage their rentals. More than simply property management software, Hemlane is a platform that bridges the gap between DIY and full service property management.
- Strength: Hybrid Full-Service Mgmt
Our Contenders
We considered the following rental property management software products for the best online rent payment service:
Avail
Advertise your property, find and screen tenants, sign leases, collect rent, and e-sign custom local leases, with tools built specifically for DIY landlords. Read Review >
Buildium
Whether you manage five doors or five thousand, Buildium provides a simple but sophisticated property management platform to help you grow and improve your business. Read Review >
Hemlane
Hemlane is a next-gen property management tool that helps property owners manage their rentals. More than simply property management software, Hemlane is a platform that bridges the gap between DIY and full service property management. Read Review >
Landlord Studio
Accounting and property management tools to save time and money while managing your rentals. Track income and expenses, screen tenants, collect rent, and more. Read Review >
PayRent
With no subscription plan and a simple pricing structure, PayRent helps property owners and managers collect rent online safely, reliably and automatically. Read Review >
Rentec Direct
Designed to address the needs of DIY landlords as well as property management companies, Rentec Direct includes all the tools necessary to manage and rent your properties. Read Review >
RentRedi
RentRedi is an all-inclusive landlord-tenant app. Manage vacancies, screening, and rent collection from wherever you are, on any device. Read Review >
TenantCloud
End-to-end property management solution. Receive payments online, advertise properties and screen potential tenants. Robust accounting and maintenance features. Read Review >
Also Read: Partner Spotlight: Double Your Rental Income with PadSplit
The Best Online Rent Payment Service Criteria & Scores
Below, we graded each of the software providers on 5 key rent collection features on a ten point scale. We also include a bonus feature that your tenants may find useful. Click the criteria name in the table or scroll down for more details. This is how they stack up:
| CRITERIA: |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Payment Options | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Recurring Payments | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Speed | 9 | 8 | 8.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 8 | 8 |
| Cost | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| Reporting | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Bonus | +1 | - | - | - | +2 | - | +1 | - |
| TOTAL | 46 | 43 | 43.5 | 43 | 46.5 | 44.5 | 45.5 | 42.5 |
We looked at the availability and variety of different rent payment options each of the best online rent payment services. These include both online and offline options. More options mean flexibility for tenants to pay rent through a variety of methods. As a result, this helps get their rent paid and to the landlord on time.
Avail – score 9/10:
Tenants can pay however they want, from bank accounts or credit cards. They can also pay from any device that has access to the internet. Getting started is simple. Enter the rent amount and lease dates, your tenant’s name and email, and Avail will handle the rest.
Buildium – score 10/10:
Residents authorize their bank accounts or credit cards to make online rent payments. Together with PayNearMe, Buildium also lets residents make cash payments at over 20,000 locations nationwide.
Hemlane – score 9/10:
Landlords can allow tenants to pay rent with a bank account only, or to have the option to pay with a bank account, credit or debit card. Landlords can choose to pay the 3% credit card transaction fee themselves or pass it directly to the tenant.
Landlord Studio – score 7/10:
Tenants can pay rent from a connected bank account. Once you set up online rent collection, your tenant will receive an email with a link to follow to create an account and connect their bank account. Their rent owed will show up on their dashboard where they can setup payments.
PayRent – score 8/10:
Your tenants will have a choice of either e-check or credit card payment methods. Add your tenants to the platform and PayRent will send out an email invitation for them to join the service then help them through the process of adding a payment method.
Rentec Direct – score 10/10:
Rentec Direct makes it easy for tenants to pay rent using their credit card, debit card, or bank account. Tenants can also make cash rental payments at one of over 20,000 locations that are part of the PayNearMe cash network.
RentRedi – score 10/10:
Tenants can pay with a choice of ACH, debit or credit card, or they can deposit cash at over 90,000 retail locations through RentRedi’s partnership with Chime. Landlords can also choose which method of payment they are willing to accept.
TenantCloud – score 8/10:
With the TenantCloud free plan, your tenants can pay using Stripe or PayPal. However, to accept ACH payments, landlords must first subscribe to one of the paid plans.
We looked at whether the online rent payment service offers tenants the ability to schedule recurring rent payments each month and how flexible the payment dates are. For example, does the payment occur only on the 1st of each month, or can landlords and tenants schedule different dates. And can the tenant schedule multiple payments each month? This helps ensure payment of rent before spending their paychecks on anything else.
Avail – score 10/10:
Tenants can turn on Autopay to schedule recurring online rent payments. They simply choose a date to withdraw the funds, and Avail will deposit the funds directly to your account. Landlords can also manually add custom payment dates if they want to create an installment schedule for their tenants.
Buildium – score 9/10:
Residents can set up recurring online rent payments schedule and can choose from a multitude of frequency options including one-time, every month, every two weeks, daily, and more.
Hemlane – score 8/10:
Hemlane allows owners to request payments using an online or offline payment requests. These requests can be configured for a one-time request (such as a security deposit) or recurring request (such as monthly rent). Tenants can then set up automatic payments for any recurring request. Hemlane provides flexibility to schedule for the due date or a prior date.
Landlord Studio – score 8/10:
Once your tenant has created their account they can turn on auto-pay and set the payment to be made the same time each month. This will schedule all ongoing payments to be deducted from the their account until the lease end date. Tenants can turn off auto-pay using the Automatic Rent Payment Toggle at any time.
PayRent – score 10/10:
Working late or going on vacation shouldn’t stop your tenants from making their online rent payment on time. Let them set up a one-time future payment, or weekly, semi-monthly or monthly recurring payments so you know your rent will be paid no matter where they are or how busy they may be.
Rentec Direct – score 8/10:
You or your tenant will login to Rentec Direct and specify the frequency the rent payment should occur, either monthly or weekly, and on what day to process the transaction. Rentec EasyPay also supports one-time transactions. On the specified date, Rentec deducts the rent from the tenant’s checking or savings account and after it clears a few days later forwards it to the property manager’s account.
RentRedi – score 8/10:
Tenants can choose to enable auto-pay and schedule recurring rent payments for the same date each month.
TenantCloud – score 8/10:
Tenants that have set up TCPayments can also enable Auto Pay to make rent payments automatically on before the due date. Landlords must be subscribed to a paid plan for this to happen.
We compared the time it takes for the landlord to receive their online rent payment. We also ask if there is an option to expedite payments. All of the best online rent payment services claim that most rent payments clear and deposit into your bank accounts within 3 days or so, but there are some differences.
Avail – score 9/10:
Payments typically deposit directly to your bank in 3 business days, faster than a check and without the hassle of a trip to the bank. With a subscription to Avail’s Unlimited Plus premium plan, next day “FastPay” payments are available to landlords at no additional cost.
Buildium – score 9/10:
Online rent payments using EFT/eCheck or credit card will be deposited into your back account 2 business days after the resident makes a payment through Buildium. Landlords can request faster EFT deposits for a small fee between $1.00-1.45 per transaction.
Money from completed PayNearMe transactions will be deposited into your bank account within 5 business days without any risk of reversal.
Hemlane – score 8.5/10:
Hemlane’s ACH payment processing generally takes 3 business days for paying customers with verified accounts. However, first transfers and free trial user payments generally take 5 business days and could take up to 10 to address risk.
Landlord Studio – score 8/10:
It currently takes between 3-5 days for payments to be processed and funds to be received into your account. However, Landlord Studio is looking into options for instant transfers in the future. We will update scores accordingly when that happens.
PayRent – score 8.5/10:
PayRent can deposit your rent payments to any bank with branches in the United States, with a 3 day hold for users on the Pay-As-You-Go and DIY plans. This is expedited to a 1 day hold for their premium Go-Like-A-Pro subscribers.
Rentec Direct – score 10/10:
Rentec Direct offers the fastest ACH transfer of any of the online rent payment services we have reviewed. Funds are transmitted the day following the transaction. You can also get same day funding of ACH transactions for a fee of $0.50 per transaction. Depending on your bank, the funds might be available the same day they are transmitted or any day following. Larger national banks typically show the funds the same day as they are transmitted as “pending”, and fully cleared the following day.
Note: Smaller banks do not have the same connections to the federal reserve and therefore can take anywhere from 1-3 days to post the transaction to your account.
RentRedi – score 8/10:
Landlords can expect to receive rent payments in 4-5 business days. There is no option for expedited payments.
TenantCloud – score 8/10:
ACH transactions usually takes 3–4 business days to complete and show in your “TCBalance” account. Withdrawals to your bank account take another 1-2 business days, longer if they are over a weekend or holiday. There is no expedited option.
We examined the fees each online rent payment service charges under their free or most basic plans. Our graders did not attempt to factor prices of subscription plans into a cost per transaction since the number of units and transactions differ for everyone. However, we did lower scores where a monthly subscription is required to collect rent online, ie, no free options. We also looked at the costs a “typical” small landlord with 5 units would be facing for rent collection and required subscription payments.
Avail – score 9/10:
Using Avail’s free Unlimited plan, ACH transfers cost $2.50 per transaction. With the premium Unlimited Plus plan, landlords receive free ACH transfers. With either plan, credit or debit card transactions are charged a 3.5% transaction fee. To compare pricing across the different online rent payment services, let’s take look at a landlord with 5 units. With the free plan, the cost would be $12.50 per month, which can be paid by either the landlord or tenants. With the paid plan, the monthly subscription fees would cost $25/month but rent collection costs would be $0.
Buildium – score 6/10:
You must have a subscription to one of Buildium’s paid plans, starting from $50/month for the Essential plan, $160/month for the Growth plan, and $460 for the Premium plan.
Online rent payment costs for the Essential plan are:
- $1.00 per incoming EFT transaction
- $0.50 per outgoing EFT transaction
- 2.95% per credit card transaction
- $99 setup fee per business bank account
For the Growth and Premium plans, costs come down to:
- Free incoming EFT payments
- $0.50 per outgoing payment
- 2.95% per credit card transaction
- Free setup for first five business bank accounts, then $99 each
With Buildium, our landlord would pay $50/month for the Buildium Essential plan. For 5 units, she would then pay $5 for ETF transactions each month, but those could be passed on to her tenants. As a result, the total combined cost would be $55/month, not including the $99 bank setup fee.
Hemlane – score 8/10:
There are no ACH transaction or set-up fees with a subscription to any of Hemlane’s plans. There are 3 packages: Basic, Essential, and Complete.
The Basic plan costs $28 per month + $2 per unit. This gives you access to Hemlane’s software platform for leasing and management and leaves you in control of your rentals.
The Essential package gives you the same software platform as Basic plus a 24/7 US-based repair team to coordinate requests directly with your service professionals. This costs $28/month + $12/unit.
Finally, the Complete package comes with all the Basic and Essential features, plus on the ground leasing agents and 24/7 repair coordination with local service professionals. This allows you to manage your rentals from anywhere and delegate the day-to-day tasks to Hemlane. The cost for this package is $28 per month + $32/unit.
To compare pricing across the different online rent payment services, let’s take look at a landlord with 5 units. Using Hemlane’s Basic package, our “typical” landlord’s monthly cost would be $28 plus $2 x 5 units for a total of $38 per month.
Landlord Studio – score 9/10:
Landlord Studio also offers 3 different packages, depending on the services you require. ACH transaction costs also differ based on your subscription level. The Start package costs $5.99 for the first unit plus $1 for each additional unit. ACH fees are $2.25 per transaction. For a landlord with 5 units, ACH fees would be $11.25, plus a $9.99 monthly subscription. The total would be $21.24 per month.
The Growth package starts at $9.99 per month plus $1 for each additional unit. ACH fees are lower at $1.75 per transaction. Our 5 unit landlord would have $8.75 in ACH fees that can be passed to the tenant, plus a $13.99 monthly subscription. The total costs come to $22.74 per month.
Finally, for the Scale package, ACH transactions are charged at $1.25 per transaction. The monthly subscription is $19.99 plus $1 per additional unit. The total costs would translate to $26.24 a month.
PayRent – score 9/10:
PayRent offers 3 different plans as well. The free Pay-As-You-Go plan costs $5 per ACH transfer. The DIY plan costs $19 per month with $2 ACH transfers. And the Go-Like-A-Pro plan gives you free ACH transactions for a monthly subscription of $49.
The lowest cost plan for our landlord of 5 units under the Pay-As-You-Go plan would come to $25 per month in transaction fees.
Rentec Direct – score 8/10:
Free ACH (eCheck) transactions are included with a Rentec Pro or PM subscription. No setup costs or other monthly costs. Expedited same day ACH funding costs $0.50 per transaction. The Rentec Basic option does not include the ability to collect online rent payment though.
Credit card payments are billed at 2.95% of the transaction cost. This can be paid by either the tenant or landlord.
Cash payments through the PayNearMe cash payment network have a $200 setup cost, and tenants pay $3.99 per transaction. There is no monthly cost, but a minimum of 10 payments per month is required.
Subscription fees for Rentec Pro start at $35/month, and $40/month for Rentec PM. In this case, our small landlord with 5 units would just pay $35 each month if she were to sign up for the cheaper Rentec Pro plan.
RentRedi – score 9.5/10:
Rent payments are charged $1 per transfer using ACH payments. A landlord with 5 units would pay $5 plus a subscription fee of $9/month (if paying for an annual plan) for a total of $14 per month. Credit and debit card transactions are charged a 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee.
TenantCloud – score 9.5/10:
With the TenantCloud free plan, landlords can only accept rent using Stripe or PayPal. Both services charge 2.9% of the transfer amount, plus $0.30 per transaction. These fees are paid by the tenant. With a subscription to one of the paid plans, ACH transactions are free. TenantCloud’s Starter plan costs $12 per month if you pay annually. This is the lowest cost rent payment solution for our 5-unit landlord in our comparison.
Related: Best Free Property Management Software for Small Landlords
While all of the property management software solutions offer at least some integration of rent payments into their accounting and reporting tools, some have more robust functionality than others. Which of these more advanced features are included the software? Do they have the ability to track payments and integrate receipts into accounting or reporting? Do tenants receive reminders for upcoming rent payments, and are landlords notified if rent is late or missing? The answers to these questions influence our determination of the best online rent payment service.
Avail – score 8/10:
Avail offers automatic reminder emails and built-in payment receipts. Late fees can be automatically assessed as well. Landlords have access to payment tracking and reporting, though integration with your accounting or bookkeeping software may be limited.
Buildium – score 10/10:
When a resident has a one-time or recurring payment scheduled, they will receive an email seven days in advance notifying them of this upcoming payment.
Completed transactions will automatically post to your Buildium account within minutes — no manual entry required. As a result, landlords spend less collecting, depositing, and logging cash payments.
Hemlane – score 10/10:
Payments are automatically recorded into Hemlane’s robust financial reporting dashboard so you never lose track of payment records and receipts. Hemlane will automatically send requests for late fees, along with the choice of one-time or daily late fees, per the details specified in your lease. Hemlane also requires late fees to be paid prior to the rent, where allowed.
Landlord Studio – score 10/10:
This is where Landlord Studio shines. Landlords can integrate their bank accounts and get automatic income reconciliation. Landlord Studio ties into their leases and accounting software, and provides automated rent reminders, late fees, and more.
PayRent – score 8/10:
PayRent sends automated rent reminders to your renters which helps avoid last-minute confusion and stress. You will also receive instant email notification when rent is paid as well as full accounting and tracking of rent payments. There do not seem to be other reporting features that some of the other services offer.
Rentec Direct – score 9/10:
All of the packages from Rentec Direct include financial tracking and reporting options. You can also connect your Rentec account with your bank to download and sync your online rent receipts into Quickbooks. Rentec Direct also offers a variety of specialized property and owner reports you can email, print, download or export.
RentRedi – score 9/10:
RentRedi will send automated rent reminders to tenants, set up automatic, recurring late fees, and export transactions directly to spreadsheets, Quickbooks Online, Desktop, or Pro. Landlords can also block or accept partial payments, or even assume processing fees if they choose. For landlords who require flexibility, RentRedi provides multiple options.
TenantCloud – score 9/10:
TenantCloud has robust reporting and accounting features to help you keep track of all your income and expenses. Tenants can pay rent and get automatic receipts as well as look up their payment history. There is also automatic invoicing and late fees, as well as financial and rental reports, and simple exporting of your data as needed. With TenantCloud’s $50/month Growth subscription service, you can even sync your data with Quickbooks.
Does the online rent payment service report payments (and missed payments) to the credit bureaus such as TransUnion and Experian? This feature can incentivize tenants to make payments on-time while improving their credit scores.
Avail +1:
Avail can report your tenants’ on-time rent payments to Transunion with their CreditBoost service. Your tenants may see up to a 40 point increase in their credit score.
PayRent +2:
Landlords using PayRent to collect rent can use the credit reporting system to report rent payments to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It reports both on-time payments and late payments for free. PayRent is the first company to report rent payments to all three credit bureaus.
RentRedi +1:
RentRedi also allows tenants to report their payments to TransUnion. If a renter has late or missing payments, these can also be reported through the RentRedi app.
Related: Benefits Of Reporting Rent Payments To Credit Bureaus For Landlords
Video Extra – Collecting Rent Online:
Takeaway
We have reviewed several of the top online rent payment services that can meet the needs of independent landlords no matter the number of properties you manage. While some services are part of a property management software product that includes a variety of features, others may only offer rent collection if that is of most importance to you. We encourage you take a close look at our winners – PayRent, Avail, and Hemlane – for the best online rent payment service. You can and also see our complete product overviews to help decide which is right for you.
Additional Resources
We have also reviewed how property management software products compare on other features. See our other winners here:
- Free Online Ways To Advertise Property For Rent
- Best Tenant Screening Service for Small Landlords
- Best Accounting Software for Landlords
- Residential Lease Agreements: Best Software for Small Landlords
- Best Free Property Management Software for Small Landlords
- Best Property Management Software for Managing Maintenance on Rental Property
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and Landlord Gurus may earn a commission. Our mission remains to provide valuable resources and information that helps landlords manage their rental properties efficiently and profitably. We link to these companies and their products because of their quality, not because of the commission.
Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash
Cozy is also a good addition in collecting rents online. Also, for the one feature which no one offers but spark rental is Pay check deduction.
Another online payment software is Innago, even our tenants say it’s easier to use than Avail.co.