Find Your Fit — Under 10 units
Property Management Software for Landlords With Under 10 Units
At this size, the biggest mistake is paying for software built for someone else. You need rent to land in your account on time, a clean way to screen applicants, and a place for tenants to send maintenance requests. Almost everything else is a nice-to-have.
The short version
One to three units, minimal bookkeeping: start with a free landlord tool such as Avail or TurboTenant. Four to ten units, or you want real accounting in one place: DoorLoop. Revisit the decision when you cross roughly 20 units.
What you actually need at this size
- Online rent collection. ACH into your bank account, automatic reminders, and a record of who paid when. This alone replaces most of the chasing.
- Tenant screening and applications. Credit, background and eviction checks you can run without a phone call. Check who pays for the report — you or the applicant.
- A maintenance request inbox. Tenants submit with photos; you have a dated trail if something becomes a dispute.
- Leases and e-signatures. State-specific lease templates are a real benefit if you own in a heavily regulated state.
- Bookkeeping you will actually keep up with. Some landlords are fine exporting to a spreadsheet or their accountant; others want income and expenses tracked per property inside the tool.
Free tools: Avail and TurboTenant
Both run a free tier aimed squarely at small landlords, covering listings, applications, screening and basic rent collection, and both sell a low-cost premium upgrade for extras like applicant-paid screening, custom lease options and fewer transaction fees. Avail leans into state-specific lease templates; TurboTenant leans into screening and its large small-landlord user base. The trade-off with free tiers is accounting: neither is trying to be your general ledger. Plans change often, so confirm current tiers on each site before you commit.
Read our full Avail review, TurboTenant review, or the head-to-head TurboTenant vs Avail comparison. Prefer one flat price with everything included? See our RentRedi review.
When paying for DoorLoop makes sense
Once you are past a handful of units, the hidden cost is your time reconciling payments, expenses and owner numbers across separate tools. DoorLoop puts rent collection, maintenance and full accounting in one place, and its onboarding is the easiest we have seen. If you are spending more than an hour or two a month on bookkeeping, it usually pays for itself. Read the full DoorLoop review →
What to skip
For a ranked list of free options, see our best free property management software guide.
Buildium and AppFolio are strong products, but at under 10 units you would be paying for trust accounting, owner portals and reporting you will not use. AppFolio in particular is built for management companies and has unit minimums. See the three-way comparison for where they start to make sense.
The verdict
Start free if your portfolio is tiny and your bookkeeping is simple. Move to DoorLoop when the number of separate tools and spreadsheets starts costing you real time. Either way, pick based on the portfolio you expect to own in a year, because switching later means a migration.
Frequently asked questions
What software should a landlord with 3 units use?
A free tool like Avail, TurboTenant or Innago for rent collection and screening, plus Stessa or Baselane if you want clean books for free.
Do I need property management software for one rental?
Not strictly, but free tools make online rent collection, screening and records much easier, and cost nothing.
Try DoorLoop
See how fast you can get set up — most landlords are running within a day.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure for details. We currently have no affiliate relationship with Avail, TurboTenant, Buildium or AppFolio.