Property Management Software Compared: AppFolio vs Buildium vs Yardi

I switched property management platforms twice in eight years. The first switch was from a spreadsheet-and-email setup to Buildium. The second was from Buildium to AppFolio when my portfolio crossed 180 units and the entry-tier Buildium plan started feeling like a ceiling. I have also run a property on Yardi Breeze for an owner who required it as a condition of the management contract.

None of these platforms is bad. They target different operations, and choosing the wrong one for your portfolio size and service mix costs real time and money. This comparison reflects what I actually use these systems for day-to-day, not what the vendor demos show.

Comparison Criteria and Methodology

The features that matter in property management software are not always the ones vendors lead with. The criteria that determine whether a platform helps or creates friction:

• Resident portal and online payments: How easily can tenants pay, submit maintenance requests, and communicate without calling the office?
• Maintenance workflow: Can work orders move from submission to vendor to completion without manual follow-up?
• Accounting accuracy: Does the platform produce a clean owner statement without requiring reconciliation in a separate tool?
• Leasing workflow: How much manual entry does a new lease require, and does the platform handle the screening integration cleanly?
• Reporting: Can you pull an owner report, a delinquency report, and a vacancy report in under five minutes?
• Mobile app: Does it work well enough for on-site inspections and quick owner communication?

Pricing below reflects what operators managing 100-400 units report paying as of early 2026. Vendors use custom quoting and the numbers shift with unit count and add-ons.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

Resident Portal and Online Payments

AppFolio has the strongest resident portal of the three. Tenants can pay rent, submit maintenance requests with photos, sign leases, and review their ledger without logging into a separate system. The payment processing is built in, and ACH and card payments post automatically to the ledger. Maintenance requests come through with photos attached, which reduces the back-and-forth needed to scope a repair before dispatching a vendor.

The trade-off is that AppFolio charges a convenience fee for credit card payments that tenants sometimes push back on. ACH is free, and most tenants default to it once you explain the difference.

Buildium’s resident portal works well at the Essential and Growth tiers. Online payments, maintenance requests, and lease documents are all included. The interface is slightly less polished than AppFolio’s, and the maintenance workflow requires more manual steps between submission and vendor dispatch. For portfolios under 150 units where the property manager handles most maintenance coordination personally, this is acceptable. For larger operations, the extra steps add up.

Yardi Breeze includes a resident portal with online payments and maintenance requests. The portal is functional but less intuitive for tenants than AppFolio’s. The bigger issue is that Yardi Breeze is the entry-level Yardi product, and it lacks some of the workflow automation that makes the full Voyager platform valuable. If you are evaluating Yardi as a long-term infrastructure decision because you expect significant growth, the question is really whether Breeze is sufficient or whether you need Voyager from the start.

Accounting and Owner Reporting

AppFolio produces clean owner statements by default. The chart of accounts is pre-configured for residential property management, and the month-end close process does not require an accountant to interpret. Owner portal access lets owners view statements, documents, and property financials without calling you. This saves real time if you have more than 10 owner relationships.

Buildium is comparable on accounting fundamentals. The owner portal works, and the reporting library covers the basics. Where it falls short is in the depth of financial reporting at the Essential tier — some reports are locked behind the Growth and Premium plans. The upgrade from Essential ($55/month) to Growth ($174/month) is often necessary once a portfolio reaches 75-100 units and owners start asking for more detailed performance data.

Yardi Breeze handles accounting adequately for straightforward portfolios. The platform is built on Yardi’s accounting engine, which is widely trusted in the industry. However, the reporting depth in Breeze is more limited than in Voyager, and operators who need consolidated reporting across multiple ownership entities will find Breeze’s capabilities restrictive. For single-entity portfolios under 500 units with standard residential leases, it works fine.

Leasing and Screening

AppFolio has the most integrated leasing workflow. Online applications, credit and background checks (through AppFolio’s built-in screening), and lease generation all live inside the platform. The leasing funnel — from listing to application to screening to signed lease — can be completed without leaving AppFolio. The screening reports are priced per applicant and appear directly in the platform alongside the application.

Buildium handles leasing adequately. Applications are online, and screening integrates through TransUnion. The lease template library is functional, though customizing lease templates requires more manual effort than AppFolio’s approach. The biggest difference is that Buildium’s leasing workflow involves more steps between application and signed lease, which adds up when you are turning multiple units simultaneously.

Yardi Breeze has improved its leasing tools in recent versions. Online applications and basic screening are included. The lease signing process works through DocuSign integration, which adds a dependency but functions reliably. For operators already familiar with Yardi’s interface, the leasing tools are workable, though they lag behind AppFolio in streamlining the end-to-end process.

Pricing Comparison

AppFolio’s per-unit pricing model is more expensive at small portfolio sizes but becomes competitive at 200+ units where Buildium’s tier pricing forces upgrades. At 300 units, AppFolio at $1.49/unit costs $447/month, while Buildium Premium runs $375/month — a smaller gap than the per-unit math suggests.

Yardi Breeze is priced competitively for mixed residential-commercial portfolios where a single platform handles both asset types. The $200/month commercial minimum applies to Breeze Premier; standard Breeze does not handle commercial leases well.

Best For

AppFolio is the right choice for mid-size residential property managers handling 150-1,000 units who want a single platform for leasing, maintenance, accounting, and owner communication without needing to integrate separate tools. The resident and owner portals reduce inbound calls enough to justify the per-unit cost. It is also the better option when the property manager is not a trained accountant and needs the platform’s defaults to produce reliable financial reports.

Buildium fits smaller portfolios and operators who are cost-sensitive at the entry level. The Essential tier at $55/month provides enough functionality to manage 50-100 units without overpaying. Buildium also handles HOA management better than AppFolio — if your portfolio includes association management alongside rental units, Buildium’s HOA toolset is a concrete reason to choose it.

Yardi Breeze makes sense for operators who expect to grow into Yardi’s ecosystem — specifically those who will eventually need Yardi Voyager’s commercial lease management, investment management, or multi-entity consolidated reporting. Starting on Breeze reduces the disruption of switching later, since the data structures are compatible with Voyager. It also works well for portfolios with mixed residential and commercial units where most platforms require separate systems.

Honest Verdict

AppFolio wins on day-to-day usability for residential portfolios above 150 units. The integrated leasing workflow and resident portal reduce manual work more than either competitor. Buildium wins on entry-level price and HOA functionality. Yardi wins when portfolio complexity — commercial leases, multiple ownership entities, or eventual growth toward enterprise reporting — is the actual constraint.

The most common mistake I see is choosing AppFolio for a 60-unit portfolio because it looks better in the demo, then paying $100+/month more than Buildium for features the operation does not use yet. Conversely, I have seen operators run Buildium Essential on 300-unit portfolios long past where they should have upgraded, spending hours monthly on manual work that the higher tiers or a different platform would automate.

One thing worth knowing: Buildium was acquired by RealPage in 2019. RealPage has faced regulatory scrutiny over its revenue management tools, and some operators have expressed concern about data practices. If that matters for your business decisions, it is worth understanding the relationship before committing to Buildium.

Before you sign with any platform, test the specific workflows that take the most time in your current operation. If lease signing is slow, test that end-to-end. If owner statements take two hours a month to produce, test the reporting. Vendor demos will show you the polished paths. Your job is to find the edges.

What to Do Before You Decide

1. Run the month-end close process in each platform’s demo environment with your actual unit mix.
2. Call two or three current customers — not vendor references, but operators you find through forums or local NARPM chapters — and ask what breaks.
3. Price out the upgrade path, not just the entry price. A $55/month entry tier that becomes $375/month at 200 units is a different financial commitment than it appears at signup.
4. Confirm data export terms in writing before you commit. Switching platforms is significantly easier when you own your data in a portable format.