Best Online Rent Collection Websites and Apps

Every landlord should be using an automated rent collection website or app to free up their time, streamline tasks and keep accurate records. There are several apps and websites for rent collection out there, but which one is the best online rent collection app or site? 

Features of a Great Rent Collection App

Not all apps are alike, so if you’re going to trust your tasks to one of them, you need to know what you’re getting. The highest-rated features that landlords need in a rent collection app include:

• Automated rent collection and late fee charging
• Perks for tenant users
• Automated reporting
• Summary dashboard
• Payment control and security

That being said, there are many additional excellent, useful features that the best online rent collection apps include, so here are a few of those apps with details on how they stack up as the best rent collection apps:

RentRedi

RentRedi started as a mobile app for tenants. 

Benefits

This landlord-tenant app features tenant screening, rent collection, vacancy management, and automatic payment reminders for tenants. If a tenant is late on rent, this program automatically activates a late fee with a recurring fee amount. It works on any device. 

RentRedi can help landlords keep track of finances and reporting by exporting rental payment history for one or all tenants to QuickBooks. In addition, it also offers a summary dashboard and tracking of maintenance requests.

Landlords can also store all of their current and expired leases via RentRedi, and new leases can be sent to tenants for signing with digital signatures. 

Drawbacks

RentRedi does require a subscription plan. In addition, it doesn’t include any type of tax preparation documents. There is a processing fee of $1.00 for ACH rent payments, which must be covered by either the tenant or the landlord. 

Avail

Avail is a product of Realtor.com.

Benefits

Avail helps landlords collect rental payments online, advertise their properties, track maintenance, and create state-specific leases. Tenants pay directly through the Avail payment platform with a bank account, debit, or credit card. 

Tenants can elect to participate in autopay for each month. Avail will also send out rent payment reminders and automatically collect late payment fees.

This rent collection app also features a calculator so landlords can determine whether a property they are considering purchasing would be a sensible buy. Users can use other tools to get an accurate idea of how much rent you should be charging for a property.

Drawbacks

Avail’s strengths lie in its rent price analysis tools and custom applications for tenant screenings, lease signing, and property advertising…  not collecting rent. Although it does enable landlords to collect, most of this system is focused on non-collection capabilities. 

Both free and paid versions are available, which is good; however, only the paid version allows tenants to skip the fairly steep bank transfer fees. Regardless of the plan landlords choose, tenants will always pay a 3.5% processing fee for credit and debit card payments.

PayRent

PayRent was awarded “Best Overall Rent Payment Service for 2022” by LandlordGurus.com. 

Benefits

This system focuses entirely on online automated rent payment collection for landlords. It offers different plans starting at $0 per month, and although there are transaction fees for payments, landlords can pay these themselves or pass them on to their tenants. Late fees can automatically be charged after grace periods pass.

An online rent payment system only works if renters use it. PayRent really focuses on encouraging tenant use by offering them perks. One benefit is payment reporting to all three credit bureaus to help improve their credit scores via RentCred. In addition, PayRent also works with RentCred to issue non-predatory and interest-free loans of up to $500 to renters.

Landlords can use a convenient dashboard to monitor accounts, enjoy automatic reporting, and benefit from built-in rent collection enforcement features. They can block partial or full payments from a user, too.

In addition, PayRent offers options for free bank transfers, custom financial reports, and the ability to monitor renters’ insurance. This online rent payment system also uses RentDefense, an exclusive set of tools that protects the landlord from potential rental payment problems.

Drawbacks

When landlords are looking for an all-encompassing suite of tools to manage the entire spectrum of online rent collection, PayRent is clearly the best rent collection app. It offers the best online rent collection options. 

While it doesn’t offer listings or screenings, collecting rent is the #1 issue landlords cite as the most stressful for them. PayRent is the best rent online collection service for eliminating that headache.