Free vs paid rent collection apps: who pays what on each payment
A rent app is free to you when the fee falls on the tenant, and paid when you carry it. Published bank-payment fees run from nothing to $2.50 per payment, and card fees from 2.95% to 3.5% on the pages we read on 2026-10-29 and 2026-10-30. Multiply the per-payment fee by your tenants and 12 months before you compare plan prices, because that line often outweighs the subscription.
What fees can a rent collection app charge?
Rent apps earn money in a few places. Look for each one on the pricing page before you sign.
- A subscription for the software, per unit or flat.
- A fee on each bank (ACH) payment, paid by the tenant or the landlord.
- A percentage fee on each card payment.
- Return fees when a bank payment fails.
- Cash payment fees for tenants who pay at a store.
What do companies publish for bank and card rent?
| Product | Bank payment | Card payment |
|---|---|---|
| Avail (free plan) | $2.50 per transfer, added to the tenant's payment; no fee on Unlimited Plus | 3.5%, added to the tenant's payment |
| Hemlane | No fee | 3%, paid by the tenant |
| Innago | $2; tenant pays by default, landlord can absorb it | 2.99%; tenant pays by default |
| RentRedi | $1.00; tenant pays by default, landlord can cover | 3.1% + $0.30 |
| TurboTenant | $2 for renters of Free-plan landlords; free for renters of Pro landlords | 3.49% |
| Yardi Breeze | $0.00 when Yardi is the primary processor and card payments are on; otherwise $0.95 | Credit cards 2.95% |
| Buildium (Essential) | $2.35 per payment; can be passed to the tenant | 2.99% on every plan; can be passed to the tenant |
Read from each company's own pricing or fee page on 2026-10-29 and 2026-10-30. Other products publish their fees on their own pages; open them before you decide.
What does a year of rent payments cost?
Example a made-up owner with 8 tenants paying $1,400 a month, all by bank. At $2 per payment the fees are 8 x $2 x 12 = $192 a year. At $2.50 they are 8 x $2.50 x 12 = $240. If every tenant paid by card at 3%, the fee on one payment would be $1,400 x 0.03 = $42, and 8 x $42 x 12 = $4,032 a year, which is why many owners steer tenants to bank transfer.
The card example shows why the payment method matters more than the plan. A tenant who pays $42 extra a month for the same rent has a reason to move to a cheaper method, or to ask you why.
Should the landlord or the tenant pay the fee?
Both are common, and neither is automatically better. If tenants pay, the software looks free to you but tenants see a fee on top of rent. If you pay, your bill is higher but rent is exactly what the lease says.
State rules can limit what you may pass on for card payments. The credit card surcharge guide covers where surcharges are limited, and the credit card fee on rent post covers what the lease should say.
What should you ask before choosing?
- What does a tenant pay on each bank and card payment?
- Can I choose to cover the fee, and does that change the plan price?
- What happens on a returned payment, and who is charged?
- Where does the rent land, and how many days does it take?
- Can I export every payment record if I leave?
How DoorKeeping handles it
Rent stays out of DoorKeeping's hands: tenants pay your own bank directly, and DoorKeeping matches the deposits in your bank feed to each tenant's balance.
DoorKeeping costs $2 per unit per month with every feature included, no setup cost and no minimum. Tenants pay your own bank by bank transfer, which is always free, or by card with a 3% card fee, which covers card processing. DoorKeeping never holds your rent, and anything involving money waits for your one-tap approval.
Sources
- Avail, Pricing, read Oct 30, 2026
- Hemlane, Pricing, read Oct 30, 2026
- Innago, Help, payment fees, read Oct 29, 2026
- RentRedi Help Center, Convenience fees for rent payments, read Oct 29, 2026
- TurboTenant, Pricing, read Oct 29, 2026
- Yardi Breeze, Terms of Use (fee schedule), read Oct 30, 2026
- Buildium, Pricing options (per-use fees), read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- Are rent collection apps really free?
- Some are free to the landlord because the tenant pays a fee on each payment. Add up the fees a year of rent would carry before calling it free.
- Which payment method is cheapest for tenants?
- Bank transfer is usually the cheapest on the published pages, and card payments carry a percentage fee.
- Can I switch apps without losing payment history?
- Export the payment history first. Keep it as a file and load current balances into the new system.