We manage properties — so take the last section as the bias it is. But the software comparison is straight, because we use this stuff every day.
Innago — built for small landlords
Free for landlords (tenants pay small ACH/card fees). Online applications, screening, leases and e-sign, rent collection, maintenance tracking, and a tenant portal. For a 1–20 unit owner who wants to self-manage, it's hard to beat the price-to-feature ratio. It's the platform we run for our owners, which is why the portals on this site point to it.
AppFolio — built for bigger portfolios
Powerful, polished, and priced for scale: typically a monthly minimum (often a few hundred dollars) plus per-unit fees, designed for managers and larger portfolios. Deep accounting, automation, and reporting — more than most small landlords need, at a cost most small landlords shouldn't pay. If you have 1–10 units, you're buying a freight truck to get groceries.
Quick comparison
- Cost (small landlord): Innago — effectively free to you. AppFolio — monthly minimum + per-unit. A manager — a percentage of rent (ours is a flat 10%).
- Best fit: Innago — hands-on DIY. AppFolio — larger self-managed portfolios. Manager — hands-off owners.
- What it does NOT do: software doesn't answer the 11pm furnace call, walk the unit, vet the borderline applicant, or stand in eviction court.
Software is a tool, not a manager. It'll collect rent and store a lease. It won't make the second prior-landlord call or coordinate a sheriff lockout. That gap is the whole question.
When software is enough — and when it isn't
Software is plenty if you have a unit or two nearby, the time to show and screen, a contractor list you trust, and the stomach for the occasional 2am call. It stops being enough when any of these creep in: you're out of state, you're adding units, your time is worth more than the fee, vacancies drag, or one bad tenant just taught you what a clean screening process and a fast eviction are worth.
The honest math
At a flat 10%, a manager costs roughly one month of rent per year. The question is whether professional placement, maintenance at cost, fewer vacancy days, and never handling a tenant problem yourself is worth that. For a lot of Brown County owners, it is — see what's included and get a free rent estimate to compare against what you net today.
Run the numbers, then talk to Becky or April if managing yourself isn't paying off.