Both are built for professional management companies. One of them will not take your business below fifty units, which settles the comparison before price does.
Figures read from appfolio.com/pricing and buildium.com/pricing on 20 October 2026. Vendor pricing changes — confirm before deciding.
| Plan | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| AppFolio Core | From $1.49 | Per unit / mo, 50-unit minimum |
| AppFolio Plus | From $3.20 | Per unit / mo |
| AppFolio Max | From $5.00 | Per unit / mo |
| Buildium Essential | From $62 / mo | No unit minimum |
| Buildium Growth | From $192 / mo | Paid onboarding required |
| Buildium Premium | From $400 / mo | Paid onboarding required |
| Rentwelly | $39 / mo | Flat to 20 units, books included |
AppFolio states a 50-unit minimum on Core, plus a separate minimum spend. It does not publish what that minimum spend is, and it does not publish transaction fees anywhere on its pricing page. You cannot work out your real monthly cost from public information; you have to contact sales.
Buildium is markedly more transparent, and deserves credit for it. Its pricing page carries a full fee schedule: incoming ACH at $2.35 on Essential, $1.35 on Growth and, on Premium, free for twelve months then $0.60. Cards are 2.99%. It also itemises screening, eSignature, inspections and 1099 filing. The gap is onboarding, which is required on Growth and Premium at an unpublished price.
Neither claims double-entry accounting. AppFolio talks about a unified accounting system and advanced budgeting. Buildium's strongest wording is a full transaction ledger with a customizable chart of accounts. Both are serious accounting products used by real management companies — but if a double-entry general ledger is what you are shopping for, note that neither one says it.
AppFolio will not sell to you below 50 units. If you own four doors, the decision is made for you before price enters the conversation.
Double-entry, a chart of accounts, a trial balance that balances. We say it plainly because it is checkable, and because neither of these platforms says it about themselves.
A minimum spend with no published figure is not a price. Everything here is on the pricing page.
Schedule E figures, 1099s and owner statements come out of the ledger instead of a spreadsheet you rebuild every spring.
Pick AppFolio if you run a management company with well over fifty units, want one platform for the whole operation, and have the volume to make a per-unit price and an undisclosed minimum spend work out. It is a serious enterprise product and it is priced like one.
Pick Buildium if you manage for other owners but are smaller, or you simply want to know what you will be charged. No unit minimum and a published fee schedule make it the more predictable of the two, and Essential at $62/mo is a real entry point.
Pick neither if you self-manage a handful of doors. Both are built for management companies serving third-party owners, and that shows up in the workflows long before it shows up in the bill. A product shaped for owner-landlords will be simpler and cheaper.
DoorLoop vs Buildium — the two mid-market platforms, and why both are often more than a few doors need. See our DoorLoop vs Buildium comparison.
DoorLoop vs AppFolio — both built for professional managers. See our DoorLoop vs AppFolio comparison.
DoorLoop vs RentRedi — the opposite end: a $199 monthly floor against a $12 flat rate. See our DoorLoop vs RentRedi comparison.
Alternatives — our AppFolio alternative and Buildium alternative pages.
All pricing read from each vendor's own published pages on 20 October 2026. Confirm current details before deciding.
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AppFolio is priced per unit per month: Core from $1.49, Plus from $3.20, Max from $5.00. Buildium publishes monthly prices instead: Essential from $62, Growth from $192, Premium from $400. The two cannot be compared on headline price alone, because what each one leaves unpublished matters more than the numbers they show.
Yes, and it is the single most important fact in this comparison. AppFolio's own pricing page states a 50 unit minimum on Core, along with a minimum spend. If you manage fewer than 50 units, AppFolio is not available to you regardless of budget. Buildium states it has no minimum unit threshold.
AppFolio acknowledges a minimum spend but publishes no dollar figure for it, and lists no transaction fees. Buildium is considerably more transparent: it publishes its full fee schedule, including incoming ACH at $2.35 on Essential, $1.35 on Growth and $0.60 on Premium after the first year, and 2.99% on cards. Buildium does require paid onboarding on Growth and Premium without publishing the price.
Neither claims to. This surprises people. AppFolio describes a unified accounting system and advanced budgeting but never uses the words double-entry or general ledger on its own site. Buildium's strongest wording is a full transaction ledger with a customizable chart of accounts. Both are capable accounting products; neither publishes a double-entry claim, so do not assume one.
Then AppFolio is out by its own rule, and Buildium's Essential at $62/mo is the realistic option of the two. It is also the point where a product built for owner-landlords rather than management companies becomes worth looking at. Rentwelly is $39/mo flat for up to 20 units with a real double-entry ledger included.
More on the pricing page or contact us.