DoorKeeping vs TurboTenant for apartment owners

The short answer

TurboTenant's home page describes two products: free self-management software and a full-service option called Autopilot. The self-management side covers the leasing cycle end to end: advertising a rental on what it calls "25+ sites", online applications, credit and background checks, state-specific leases with e-signing, and online rent with autopay and late fees. Its rent collection page speaks to owners of "one or 50 doors".

DoorKeeping starts from the other end. It assumes the units are already leased and the work that eats your week is the money: who paid, which property earned what, what goes on the tax return. You ask your AI app a question about your buildings, and anything that moves money or takes a legal step waits for your one-tap approval in the web app.

• Pick TurboTenant if you turn over units often, want listings and screening built in today, and own a handful of doors.
• Pick DoorKeeping if you own one or more apartment buildings, hold each in its own LLC, and want separate books per property without paying for tiers.
• Some owners will want both for a while: TurboTenant to lease, DoorKeeping to run the books, until DoorKeeping's leasing tools arrive.

What each costs at 12 units and at 60 units

TurboTenant's pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 and two paid plans billed yearly, with the price set by a band of units rather than a rate per unit:

Example a made-up owner with 12 units sits in the 11 to 30 band. TurboTenant costs $0 on Free, $199 a year on Essentials or $399 a year on Pro. DoorKeeping costs 12 units x $2 x 12 months = $288 a year.

Example a made-up owner with 60 units sits in the 31 to 60 band. TurboTenant costs $0 on Free, $299 a year on Essentials or $699 a year on Pro. DoorKeeping costs 60 units x $2 x 12 months = $1,440 a year.

On subscription price alone, TurboTenant is cheaper at both sizes, and much cheaper at 60 units. Two things narrow the gap. First, TurboTenant's rental accounting page prices accounting as a per-unit add-on (for example $60 a month for 10 units and $85 a month for 15 or more, after a half-price first two months) and says the Pro plan includes it, so an owner who wants full books should compare against Pro. Second, renters pay fees, covered next.

Who pays the payment and screening fees

TurboTenant is free or cheap for the landlord partly because renters pay some costs. Its pricing page lists, for renters of Pro landlords, a $45 screening fee, free bank transfers (ACH) and a 3.49% card fee; for renters of Free landlords, a $55 screening fee, a $2 ACH fee and the same 3.49% card fee. The rent collection page also states "$2 ACH, 3.49% credit/debit" as its convenience fees and says the card fee is paid by the tenant.

Example a made-up 12 unit building on TurboTenant's Free plan where every tenant pays $1,100 rent by bank transfer each month. Tenants pay 12 x 12 x $2 = $288 a year in ACH fees between them. A tenant who pays by card instead pays 3.49% of $1,100 = $38.39 that month.

DoorKeeping never holds rent. Tenants pay into your own bank account by bank transfer, or by Zelle where your bank supports it, and DoorKeeping charges them nothing for it. Each tenant gets a memo such as 12B SMITH and an exact amount with its own cents, so two $1,100 rents never look the same on your statement. Tenants never pay a fee to DoorKeeping. Screening is passed through at cost.

Features side by side

TurboTenant facts come from its own pages on the date checked. DoorKeeping statuses are what it does today.

Where TurboTenant is stronger today

Fairly put, TurboTenant does more of the leasing job right now. It has listing syndication, applications with income verification and fraud detection on Pro, an AI lease audit, maintenance requests and in-app messaging. It also offers full-service management through Autopilot, and a one-time $1,500 tenant placement service, for owners who want to hand the work off. And its Free plan costs the landlord nothing, which DoorKeeping cannot match. If you lease single units one at a time and your books are simple, TurboTenant's free or Essentials plan is hard to beat on price.

Where DoorKeeping takes a different path

• You run it from the AI app you already use. Ask Claude or ChatGPT "what did the Elm Street building net last month?" and get the answer from that property's own books.
• Nothing with money or legal weight happens on its own. The AI drafts; you approve with one tap in the web app.
• One price, every feature. $2 per unit per month, with no setup fee, no minimum, no tiers and no add-ons, so there is no plan to outgrow.
• Rent goes straight to your bank. DoorKeeping never holds it and sends a payment only when you approve it.
• One LLC, one set of books. Each property has its own ledger, bank account, deposits held and P&L, and you still see every property together.

See the pricing page for the full price, or how the AI connection works.

A quick way to choose

1. Count how many leases you sign a year. If it is most of your units, leasing tools matter most, and TurboTenant has them today.
2. Count your LLCs. If each building is its own company, separate books per property matter most, and that is how DoorKeeping is built.
3. Add renter fees to the subscription. A cheap plan where tenants pay per payment is still a cost to someone.
4. Try the DoorKeeping demo with your own questions before you decide.

Why switch from TurboTenant

• Tenants pay $0 to pay rent by bank transfer. A credit card payment carries a 3% card fee. Credit cards only. At TurboTenant: $2 per payment for renters of Free-plan landlords; free for renters of Pro landlords; 3.49% of the payment.
• Every feature on one plan. On TurboTenant's Pro plan, full accounting (ledger, p&l, balance sheet), bank feeds and reconciliation, tax reports such as schedule e, vendor dispatch and more need a higher plan or cost extra.
• Run your buildings from the Claude or ChatGPT you already use; money and legal steps wait for your one-tap approval.
• Rent goes straight to your own bank. DoorKeeping never holds your money.

Switch to DoorKeeping

What one year costs: TurboTenant and DoorKeeping

Example math, not a quote: TurboTenant's Pro plan, billed the cheapest published way, plus the published fee for a tenant paying rent by bank 12 times a year per unit. Accounting is only on Pro. Pro is billed yearly by unit band: $199 for 1 to 10 units, $699 for 31 to 60, $999 for 61 or more. ACH fee is waived on Pro (about $2 a payment to the tenant on lower plans).

Feature by feature: TurboTenant and DoorKeeping

22 of 32 features are included on the plan above at TurboTenant, and 32 at DoorKeeping. Read from TurboTenant's own pages on Oct 30, 2026; "Not stated" means we could not find it on TurboTenant's own site.

Every fee: TurboTenant and DoorKeeping

Everything TurboTenant publishes that an owner, a tenant or an applicant pays, next to DoorKeeping, read from TurboTenant's own pages (www.turbotenant.com/pricing/, www.turbotenant.com/rental-accounting/). "Not published" means it is not on TurboTenant's own site.

Sources

1. TurboTenant, Pricing, read Oct 29, 2026
2. TurboTenant, Online rent collection, read Oct 29, 2026
3. TurboTenant, Rental accounting, read Oct 29, 2026
4. TurboTenant, Home page and feature list, read Oct 29, 2026

Questions

Is TurboTenant free for landlords?

TurboTenant has a Free plan at $0 for the landlord. Its pricing page lists fees renters pay on that plan: $55 for screening, $2 per bank transfer and 3.49% per card payment.

Is DoorKeeping cheaper than TurboTenant?

Not on subscription price. At 60 units DoorKeeping is $1,440 a year and TurboTenant Pro is $699. DoorKeeping charges tenants nothing to pay rent and includes every feature in the one price.

Can DoorKeeping send the lease once I find a tenant?

Yes. DoorKeeping sends the lease for e-signature and invites the tenant to the portal by link. Many owners post the vacancy and screen applicants with a leasing tool, then run the lease, rent and books in DoorKeeping.