Guide
What Rent Collection Really Costs Per Unit (Oct 2026): ACH and Card Fees Across 12 Landlord Apps
What online rent collection really costs per unit per year in Oct 2026: ACH and card fees plus subscriptions across 12 landlord apps, with our method shown.
By Landlord Software Directory · Updated on · Pricing checked
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If tenants pay by bank transfer and you cover the fees, online rent collection costs between $0 and about $30 per unit per year on the free and low-cost apps we track. The subscription often costs more than the payment fees, especially on full property-management suites, where the cost per unit is much higher for small portfolios. Card payments change everything: a single $1,500 rent payment by card costs $44–$53 in fees, more than a year of ACH fees on any app here.
Every figure below comes from each vendor's own pricing or help pages, checked October 28, 2026, and the method is spelled out at the end. Some apps charge nothing per payment if rent lands in their own account, which includes Baselane and Stessa, and we show both cases.
Baselane is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank.
The fee schedule
| App and plan | Subscription | ACH fee per payment | Who pays ACH by default | Card fee | Standard payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zillow Rental Manager | $0 | $0 | — | Credit 2.95%; debit $9.95 | Up to 5 business days |
| TurboTenant Free / Essentials | $0 / $149 a year (1–10 units) | ~$2 | Landlord chooses | 3.49% | 5–7 business days (Free); 2–4 (paid) |
| TurboTenant Pro | $199 a year (1–10 units), $399 (11–30) | Typically waived | — | 3.49% | 2–4 business days |
| RentRedi | $144 a year ($12/mo billed yearly) | $1 | Tenant; landlord can cover | 3.1% + $0.30 | 2–3 business days |
| Innago | $0 | $2 | Tenant; landlord can absorb | 2.99% | 1–2 business days |
| Avail Unlimited / Unlimited Plus | $0 / $9 per unit per month | $2.50 / $0 | Tenant | 3.5% | 2–3 business days; next-day FastPay on Plus |
| Stessa Essentials | $0 | $0 into Stessa; up to $2 to an outside bank | Tenant | 3% | Up to 5 business days |
| Baselane Core | $0 | $0 into Baselane; $2 otherwise | Tenant | 3.49% | 5 business days (2 on Smart) |
| Landlord Studio Go / Pro | $0 (up to 3 units) / $144 a year + $1 per extra unit per month | $2.50 | Landlord's choice | 3.49% | 3–5 business days |
| Hemlane Basic | $28 + $2 per unit per month | $0 | — | 3% | 2–3 business days once verified |
| Rentec Direct Starter / Pro | $25 a month / from $45 a month on annual billing | $2 / 1 free per property per month, then $0.50 | Not stated | 3.5% / 2.95% | Not compared |
| DoorLoop One / Connect | $199 / $299 a month minimum (yearly) | $1.50 / $0 | Not stated | Not stated on its pricing page | Not stated |
| Buildium Essential / Growth | From $65 / $202 a month | $2.35 / $1.35 | Not stated | 2.99% | Not compared |
Hemlane's prices here are its annual-billing rates, the default view on its pricing page ("Save up to 20% with annual billing"); month-to-month billing costs more, checked Oct 28, 2026.
Cost per unit per year if you pay everything
This is what one unit costs you a year if the tenant pays rent by ACH 12 times and you absorb every fee, with the subscription spread across your units. We show 5 and 20 units, because minimums and flat prices make small portfolios pay more per unit.
| App and plan | Per unit per year, 5 units | Per unit per year, 20 units |
|---|---|---|
| Zillow Rental Manager | $0 | $0 |
| Stessa Essentials, rent into Stessa | $0 | $0 |
| Baselane Core, rent into Baselane | $0 | $0 |
| TurboTenant Free | $24 | $24 |
| Innago | $24 | $24 |
| Stessa or Baselane, rent to an outside bank | Up to $24 | Up to $24 |
| Avail Unlimited (free) | $30 | $30 |
| TurboTenant Pro | $39.80 | $19.95 |
| RentRedi (annual) | $40.80 | $19.20 |
| Landlord Studio Pro (annual) | $63.60 | $47.40 |
| Hemlane Basic | $91.20 | $40.80 |
| Rentec Direct Pro (annual) | $108 | $27 |
| Avail Unlimited Plus | $108 | $108 |
| Buildium Essential (starting price) | $184.20 | $67.20 |
| DoorLoop One (yearly) | $495.60 | $137.40 |
Rentec Starter at 5 units works out to $84 per unit, but Starter is capped at 10 properties, so there's no 20-unit figure. Landlord Studio's free Go plan covers rent collection for up to 3 units at $30 per unit in ACH fees.
Two caveats:
- The all-in-one suites (Hemlane, Rentec, Buildium, DoorLoop) include accounting, leasing and maintenance in that subscription, so not all of it is a rent-collection cost. The figures answer "what do I pay per unit to collect rent online on this app," not "which app is better value."
- If tenants pay the ACH fee, everything in the free rows drops to $0 for you, and the tenant pays $12–$30 a year instead.
Card payments: the expensive part
The fee on one $1,500 card payment:
| App | Card fee | On $1,500 rent |
|---|---|---|
| Zillow (credit) | 2.95% | $44.25 |
| Rentec Direct Pro | 2.95% | $44.25 |
| Innago | 2.99% | $44.85 |
| Buildium | 2.99% | $44.85 |
| Stessa | 3% | $45.00 |
| Hemlane | 3% | $45.00 |
| RentRedi | 3.1% + $0.30, grossed up* | $48.30 |
| TurboTenant | 3.49% | $52.35 |
| Baselane | 3.49% | $52.35 |
| Landlord Studio | 3.49% | $52.35 |
| Avail | 3.5% | $52.50 |
| Rentec Direct Starter | 3.5% | $52.50 |
*RentRedi's help center says it calculates the card fee so the landlord receives the full rent: (rent × 3.1% + $0.30) ÷ (1 − 3.1%). Its own example is $32.30 on $1,000.
If a tenant paid $1,500 by card every month for a year, the fees would come to $531–$630, compared with $0–$30 by ACH. Most of these apps put card fees on the tenant by default. If you absorb them, a single card-paying tenant can cost more than your whole software bill. Zillow's flat $9.95 debit-card fee is the cheapest card option here for rent above about $340 (where 2.95% is less than $9.95).
What the numbers say
- For 1–5 units, free apps plus ACH are hard to beat. Zillow, Stessa (into Stessa), Baselane (into Baselane), Innago and TurboTenant Free cost $0–$24 per unit per year even when you cover the fees.
- Flat prices win as you grow. RentRedi's $144 and TurboTenant Pro's $199 drop below $20 per unit at 20 units. Avail Plus stays at $108 because it's priced per unit.
- Minimums punish small portfolios. DoorLoop's $199 monthly floor works out to almost $500 per unit per year at 5 units.
- Payout speed costs extra. The faster options (Avail FastPay, Baselane Smart, TurboTenant expedited ACH) sit on paid plans.
- Watch the "into our account" condition. Stessa's and Baselane's $0 ACH depends on rent landing in their banking products. Rent sent to an outside bank costs up to $2 a payment on Stessa and $2 on Baselane.
How we checked
Sources. On October 28, 2026, we read each vendor's own pricing page or help-center article for its fees:
- Zillow's collect-rent page
- TurboTenant help articles 4003980 (plans) and 4522996 (fees and payout timing)
- RentRedi's pricing page and payments FAQ
- Innago's FAQ
- Avail's pricing page and Unlimited Plus article
- Stessa's pricing page and rent-collection help article
- Baselane's pricing page, payment policy and 2-day rent article
- Landlord Studio's pricing page (US calculator configuration) and online rent collection page
- Hemlane's pricing page and payout article
- Rentec Direct's pricing page and its calculator script
- DoorLoop's and Buildium's pricing pages
Every source URL is logged in our sources file. Where a page didn't state a fee, payer or payout time, the table says "Not stated" rather than guessing.
Assumptions.
- One unit = one tenant paying rent once a month by ACH, 12 times a year.
- The landlord absorbs every ACH fee.
- Subscriptions use the cheapest billing option the vendor shows: annual for RentRedi, TurboTenant, Landlord Studio, Rentec and DoorLoop; monthly for Hemlane and Buildium, which show no annual discount.
- Buildium uses its "starting at" price, so real costs may be higher.
- Where a vendor states an "up to" fee (Stessa's up to $2), we use the maximum.
- TurboTenant's ~$2 is treated as $2.
- No late fees, failed-payment fees, instant-payout fees or screening fees are included.
Formulas. Per unit per year = (yearly subscription + ACH fee × 12 × units) ÷ units.
- TurboTenant Pro: $199 ÷ 5 = $39.80 and $399 ÷ 20 = $19.95.
- RentRedi: ($144 + $12 × units) ÷ units.
- Landlord Studio Pro annual: ($12 + $1 × (units − 3)) × 12, plus $2.50 × 12 × units, then ÷ units.
- Hemlane: ($28 + $2 × units) × 12 ÷ units.
- Rentec Pro: max($50, $2 × units) × 0.9 × 12 ÷ units, with no ACH fee because each property gets one free incoming ACH per month.
- Buildium Essential: ($65 × 12 + $2.35 × 12 × units) ÷ units.
- DoorLoop One: ($199 × 12 + $1.50 × 12 × units) ÷ units.
Independence. Several of these vendors run affiliate programs. None paid for inclusion, and the tables are sorted by cost (the per-unit table by the 5-unit column), not by payout. We haven't tested these apps' payment flows hands-on.
FAQ
What's the cheapest way to collect rent online?
Bank transfer (ACH) on a free app. Zillow Rental Manager charges $0 per ACH payment. Stessa and Baselane also charge $0 when rent lands in their own accounts. Innago and TurboTenant Free charge about $2 per payment, which you or the tenant can pay.
Should I make tenants pay the ACH fee?
That's your call, and most apps let you choose. At $1–$2.50 per payment, it's $12–$30 a year per tenant. Some landlords cover it to encourage ACH over cards. Check your local rules on fees you can charge tenants.
Why is my per-unit cost so high on DoorLoop or Buildium?
Their prices are set for property-management businesses. DoorLoop One has a $199 monthly minimum, and Buildium starts at $65 a month and adds per-payment EFT fees. Spread over 5 units, that's a lot per unit. Over 50 or more, it shrinks.
Is it ever worth accepting cards?
Only if the tenant pays the fee or you value the speed. Card payouts can be faster (TurboTenant quotes 1–3 business days), but at 2.95%–3.5% a card payment costs far more than ACH.
How often do you update these numbers?
We re-check vendor pricing pages and date every table. This version was checked on October 28, 2026.
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