6 Best Online Rent Payment Services 2020

A reliable online rent payment service offers landlords an easy way to collect rent, saving time in collection and providing faster access to your money. We reviewed the most popular services available and narrowed it down to the six best online rent payment services based on pricing, features, and ease of use.

Top Online Rent Payment Services

Cozy: Overall Best Online Rent Payment Service

Cozy has rent payment features and landlord options, and it’s totally free to landlords. Cozy offers landlords a robust platform for rental management which, unlike other online rent payment services, charges no fees—unless you want faster access to your funds.

Cozy Pricing

There is no cost for landlords to use Cozy, which is unusual among online rent payment services. As a landlord, you only pay fees if you want to receive expedited payments in as few as two business days. The typical transaction time is two business days for credit cards and five days for checking account payments, but direct payments can be sped up to two days for $2.99 per unit, per month.

Tenants may be required to pay a few fees through the Cozy platform. For example, Cozy will ask potential tenants to pay for their own background and credit reports, allowing you to technically charge a $0 application fee. Upon becoming a tenant, they will pay a 2.75% transaction fee if using a debit or credit card to pay rent, although they can pay directly from their bank account for free.

Cozy Features

Cozy provides a reliable online rent payment service for landlords who want to allow a variety of payment options. Using Cozy, tenants can pay with Stripe, any credit or debit card, or automatically through withdrawals from their specified bank account. If paying by bank account, the platform verifies the account to avoid future difficulties.

Cozy offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, and automatic bank account withdrawals
• Automatic late fees: Can be set to specific dates to be automatically applied
• Payment notifications: Landlord can opt to receive an email notification
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can choose automatic withdrawal from a bank account on a date of their choice
• One-time payments: Allowed for security deposits, utility bills, and non-recurring charges separate from rent
• Other charges: Can add utility bills or tenant credits
• Additional features:
  • Ability to export rental payments for bookkeeping
  • Landlord dashboard to reconcile tenant payments
  • Tenant dashboard to track rent payments
  • Document sharing for leases and moving checklists
  • Marketing rental feature within website
  • Internal rental application
  • Free applicant screening with background and credit checks
  • Renters insurance options for tenants
  • Landlord expense tracking
  • Maintenance request ability

Cozy offers a range of features that allow landlords to customize online rent payment, along with many additional features that provide options accommodating various rent structures. With the ability to add utility bills, one-time payment options, and even the ability to credit tenants, Cozy has a platform that meets you where you’re at.

What Users Think About Cozy

Cozy user reviews are mixed. Positive reviews share that the service is easy to use and affordable. The primary user complaints focus on payment delays and difficulty reaching customer service.

Avail: Best Online Rent Payment Service for Small Portfolios

Avail is a great online rent payment service for landlords with small portfolios because it has an ideal balance of reasonable pricing and options for landlords with up to 15 units. Avail has plans ranging from $0 to $50 per month, sends tenants reminders, and allows payments from tenant bank accounts and credit cards.

Avail Pricing

Avail offers four pricing options depending on your needs, with a number of options for rental payment. Unlike other platforms that price per unit, Avail offers fixed pricing for landlords that fall in various ranges.

Avail Features

Avail offers features that make online rent payment services easy to use. With features such as automatic receipts, reminder emails, and payment tracking across tiers of service, Avail creates a platform that helps landlords keep track of their finances as well as their tenants.

Avail offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, and automatic bank account withdrawals
• Automatic late fees: Can be set to specific dates to be automatically applied
• Payment notifications: Landlord can opt to receive notification upon payment
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can choose automatic withdrawal from a bank account
• One-time payments: Can customize one-time or additional charges like security deposits, utility bills, and cable
• Other charges: Can add utility bills or tenant credits
• Additional features:
  • Solid customer support availability
  • Ability to export rental payments for bookkeeping
  • Sharing document feature for leases and more
  • Marketing rental feature with website
  • Internal rental application
  • Applicant screening including background and credit checks, with landlord option to cover or charge
  • Welcome kits for tenants for additional fee of $39.99 each

Avail offers a number of feature differences for its varied plans, but the payment processing features remain similar across plans. Faster payment processing, in the three higher tiers, makes funds available the same day. This is far faster than Cozy, which can take five business days for account transfers to become available.

What Users Think About Avail

Avail user reviews indicate the software is well suited to landlord needs. Users particularly enjoy the firm’s solid customer support, which is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time seven days a week. Criticisms of the payment platform revolve around the monthly costs for the software.

SparkRental: Best Online Rent Payment Service to Reduce Default & Evictions

SparkRental’s online rent payment service can help you reduce default and evictions. In addition to free rent collection through ACH transfers, SparkRental also offers RentDeduct, which deducts rent payments directly from the tenant’s paycheck at a fee of 1.9% for each landlord and tenant, guaranteeing rent is paid on time.

SparkRental Pricing

While there is no sign-up or monthly fee to use SparkRental, and all payment types are accepted, landlords or tenants may be charged fees on some forms of payment. However, these fees are still less than Avail, which has both a monthly subscription fee as well as a 3.5% credit card fee applied to tenants.

SparkRental Features

SparkRental helps you guarantee rent payment, even with employed tenants with difficult credit, by offering RentDeduct. The RentDeduct program helps landlords reduce defaults and evictions by deducting rent directly from the paycheck of the tenant to ensure that rent is paid on time and in full every month.

SparkRental offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, bank transfer, e-check, and automatic paycheck deduction (RentDeduct)
• Automatic late fees: None noted
• Payment notifications: Landlord can opt to receive email notification upon payment
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can choose automatic withdrawal from a bank account or from a paycheck
• One-time payments: None
• Other charges: Cannot add utility bills or tenant credits
• Additional features:
  • Downloadable rental application
  • Screening packages that include credit, criminal, and eviction checks for $25 to $40, paid by the applicant

SparkRental is an online rent payment service built around reducing defaults and evictions. For landlords who often rent to tenants with poor credit, RentDeduct can be a game-changer. This service allows you to confidently accept tenants with shaky credit but a solid employment history.

SparkRental also provides early alerts when a tenant loses a job. SparkRental notifies landlords of a job loss before the rent is due in order to immediately arrange alternative payments. No other plan we reviewed was able to do this for landlords.

What Users Think About SparkRental

SparkRental user reviews show that landlords appreciate the ability to deduct tenant rent directly from paychecks. Users found the software limiting in other areas of payment collection and rental management.

Buildium: Best Online Rent Payment Service for Large Portfolios

Buildium is a comprehensive online rent payment service for large portfolios with customizable pricing based on the number of units. Tenants have multiple ways to pay their rent. For example, Buildium has paired with Pay Near Me to offer retail cash payments for renters that are then transferred to landlord accounts.

Buildium Pricing

Buildium is unique in that its pricing is structured based on the number of units you manage or own. If you have a portfolio of properties, you can reach out to Buildium and receive pricing for a monthly plan to best accommodate your needs.

Here is an example of pricing for online rent payment services for someone operating 40 units.

Buildium Example Monthly Pricing Plans

Buildium provides an online rent payment service that can manage an almost unlimited number of units. Buildium charges a lower credit card transaction fee than SparkRental, but the electronic fund transfer rates are higher than TenantCloud or Cozy, which offer free transactions.

Buildium Features

Buildium can easily accommodate rent payment options that span the scope of possible clients and their needs. Buildium offers pairing with Pay Near Me to offer retail cash payments for renters who may not have credit cards or bank accounts that will transfer to your specified landlord bank account.

Buildium offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, bank transfer, and retail cash payments
• Automatic late fees: Allowed
• Payment notifications: Immediate landlord payment updates
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can set reminders, bank or credit card payments, and owner or vender payments
• One-time payments: Allowed
• Other charges: Allowed for utility bills and tenant credits (except for retail cash payments)
• Additional features:
  • Tenants pay with any device
  • Property accounting and reporting
  • 1099 tax filing ability
  • Tenant application and screening
  • Rental showings coordinator
  • Document storage
  • Maintenance request tracking
  • Tenant violations tracking

Buildium has features that distinguish it from competitors both in its online rent payment service and in the accompanying rental management offerings it provides. Its online rent payment service not only spans a variety of types, which include retail cash payments wired to landlords, but it allows tenants to set both recurring bank withdrawals as well as recurring credit card payments, thereby increasing compliance.

What Users Think About Buildium

Buildium user reviews are exceptionally positive for the firm’s online rent payment service. Reviews reflected owners who felt they received a good value for the price they paid, with the only critique being that some found the breadth of services challenging to initially set up. Some resorted to doing it in stages.

PayYourRent: Best Online Rent Payment Service for Fast Payment Processing With No Holds

PayYourRent offers free, same-day rent payment processing, which deposits into your account that evening. With PayYourRent, there are no holds on payments; you receive your payments quickly across all plans available.

PayYourRent Pricing

PayYourRent prices are competitive with those of other providers offering similar services. For example, you’ll pay a $2.50 transaction fee for ACH transfers (after the first free transaction), while Avail charges $2 on its basic plan. PayYourRent charges a 2.75% fee on credit card transactions, while SparkRental charges 2.99%.

PayYourRent Features

PayYourRent offers features common to online rent payment services but with reliable speed that many landlords seek. With some providers—such as Cozy— ACH transfers can take three to five days; having same-day processing at a similar price point to other plans is an advantage over other providers.

PayYourRent offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers
• Automatic late fees: Allowed
• Payment notifications: Landlords can receive email payment notifications
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can set automatic bank withdrawals and receive notifications both before and after automatic payments occur
• One-time payments: Allowed
• Other charges: Allowed for utility bills, but not tenant credits, although you can reduce rent payment for one month
• Additional features:
  • Downloadable rental application
  • Screening packages that include credit, criminal, and eviction checks for $25 to $40, paid by the applicant

PayYourRent offers fast processing speed and guaranteed security of your payments. Rather than floating your payments to make additional income as some companies do, PayYourRent marks you as the merchant directly, so that the company doesn’t hold your funds or carry that liability.

What Users Think About PayYourRent

While we found no formal reviews, we did locate many landlords using PayYourRent who report positive experiences overall. Complaints were primarily around the ACH fees, but those who used the service reported that the rent payment transactions process smoothly.

TenantCloud: Best Online Rent Payment Service Using Existing PayPal or Stripe Accounts

TenantCloud is a great online rent payment service for landlords with existing Stripe or PayPal accounts. TenantCloud integrates these payment tools with a free comprehensive rental management platform that offers reporting tools, tenant reminders, receipts, and more. Landlords with up to 75 units can use TenantCloud and pay no subscription fee.

TenantCloud Pricing

TenantCloud is competitively priced. While there is a free basic account that accommodates up to 75 units, ACH transfers aren’t available with free accounts. By comparison, Cozy is free to use, uses the Stripe platform for payment processing, and has ACH transfer ability at no cost at its free user level.

TenantCloud Features

TenantCloud allows renters to easily pay their rent using the method they are accustomed to, thus increasing collections. It also offers added property management tools like accounting integration, giving landlords the ability to generate reports and track expenses. Rather than simply using a standalone Stripe or PayPal service, landlords can get the additional benefits at absolutely no cost.

TenantCloud offers the following online rent payment features:

• Types of payment accepted: Credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers (with paid plans only)
• Automatic late fees: Allowed
• Payment notifications: Landlords can receive email payment notifications
• Automatic payment option: Tenant can set automatic reminders and set up automatic bank withdrawals (paid service only)
• One-time payments: Allowed
• Other charges: Allowed for utility bills and tenant credits
• Additional features:
  • Tenants can pay via mobile app
  • Full accounting package
  • On-demand reports
  • Tenant application, screening, and e-signature features
  • Maintenance request features

TenantCloud allows landlords to integrate existing PayPal or Stripe accounts into its comprehensive property management software at no cost for up to 75 units. While many landlords discuss using services like PayPal because of ease and familiarity, this platform allows them to do so with a range of benefits, including a full accounting package and on-demand reports for their financials. Benefits like this make TenantCloud far more attractive than simply using PayPal independently.

What Users Think About TenantCloud

TenantCloud user reviews are positive, with many users saying they find the platform easy to use. Users stated that customer service was helpful and responsive to issues and with assistance. The most common complaint seems to be the amount of data that must be entered manually.

How We Evaluated Online Rent Payment Service Providers

We evaluated online rent payment services providers by examining and comparing price, ease of use, customization options, and additional features for landlords. We gave priority to features that make tenant payments seamless and provide a solid landlord experience.

The online rent payment features we used to compare providers were:

• Price: This includes any purchase or subscription charges, along with fees for service use at various stages of the rental payment transaction.
• Ease of use: How quickly landlords can implement a rent payment system and how easily tenants can use the system to pay their rent.
• Accepted payment methods: All of our providers offer online rent payment ability, including via credit cards and checking account transfer.
• Automatic late fee ability: This element highlights whether the landlord has the capacity to schedule an automatic late fee to be added once payment is overdue.
• Notification of payment: We reviewed whether the landlord is notified when payments are made.
• Automatic payment option available: If there is an ability for tenants to schedule automatic withdrawal, thereby helping to make payments more consistent.
• One-time payment options: Tenants may benefit from one-time payment options for security deposits, late fees, and utility bills, and if they need to pay bi-weekly rather than monthly.
• Ability to add utility bills: This option reviews if landlords can add utility bills or other charges to the tenant account for rent collection.
• Ability to credit tenant: The ability of the landlord to credit a tenant; often tenants will do minor maintenance for a rent reduction, such as shoveling walkways during winter.

Bottom Line

We’ve reviewed the six best online rent payment service providers that can meet the needs of landlords at various levels of portfolio development and with a variety of clientele. In selecting your own system for online rent payment, we encourage you to read through the price points and additional services many of these businesses offer.

For a free rent payment service for landlords, check out Cozy. Well regarded within the rental community, easy to use, and able to accept bank, credit, and debit card payments, Cozy provides a robust range of other rental management features at no cost to you.

Visit Cozy