Free property management software for 1 to 5 units: what is free, who pays, and where it stops

Free property management software is real, and for a landlord with 1 to 5 units it is often the right call. But "free" almost always means the landlord pays $0 and someone else pays the fees: the tenant on every bank transfer or card payment, and the applicant on every screening report. That is a fair trade for most small landlords. It just has to be the trade you chose, not one you found out about from a tenant.

This page compares what the free tiers of seven landlord tools actually include in 2026: TurboTenant, Avail, Innago, Baselane, Stessa, RentRedi and TenantCloud. We make ClaryBook, which is not property management software, and we say exactly where it fits at the end. Every competitor fact below comes from the vendor's own pricing page as of October 2026. Plans change often, so verify current pricing before you sign up.

Free property management software: who pays when you pay $0

A free landlord tool earns its money in three places. Knowing which one a tool uses tells you more than its feature list.

• Tenant payment fees. On the free plans we checked, a tenant paying rent by bank transfer pays a flat fee of about $2 to $2.50, and a card payment carries a fee of roughly 3.5%. On $1,850 rent, a card payment costs the tenant about $65 a month. Some tools let you cover the transfer fee yourself, and paid plans often waive it.
• Applicant screening fees. The applicant usually pays for the credit, criminal and eviction report. The prices we found run from about $25 to $55 per applicant, depending on the tool and the reports you require.
• Upgrades and banking. The free plan stops at a feature landlords want, and the paid plan starts there. Or the tool earns from the bank account it gives you.

Our view: tenant-paid bank transfer fees are fine, because $2 is cheaper for everyone than chasing a paper check. Card fees are the tenant's choice. The fee to watch is the one that lands on you later, which is usually the upgrade you need at tax time.

What the free tiers include, side by side

This is the free plan only. "Paid" means the feature exists but sits on a paid plan or costs extra. A dash means the pricing page did not show it on the free plan.

From each vendor's pricing page, October 2026. Plans and fees change often; verify current pricing before you choose.

Two things stand out. The tenant side of the job (listings, applications, screening, rent) is genuinely free in several tools. The money side, a Schedule E per property, is free in one of them, and only for the money that went through it.

The free landlord software, tool by tool

TurboTenant

The free plan covers the front of the rental cycle: list and market your rental, screen applicants and collect rent online. Tenants on a free-plan landlord pay about $2 per bank transfer and around 3.5% by card, and the applicant pays the screening report, which costs less on the paid plans. Creating and signing leases online is listed as a paid-plan feature, and tax-ready reports sit on Pro. Paid plans start in the low hundreds of dollars a year for up to 10 units (verify current pricing). Good fit if you fill vacancies yourself and want the listing and screening work free.

Avail

Avail's free Unlimited plan is the broadest free tier we found: listings syndicated to rental sites, applications and screening reports, state-specific leases with digital signing, online rent collection, maintenance request tracking and basic income and expense tracking, for any number of units. On the free plan tenants pay about $2.50 per bank transfer and a card fee of about 3.5%. Screening is usually paid by the applicant, and the cost varies by state. The paid tier is priced per unit per month and waives the bank transfer fee. If you want one free tool for the whole tenant side, start here.

Innago

Innago says it has no monthly fee, no setup fee and no contract, and it offers tenant screening, online rent payments and maintenance requests. Its pricing page does not list fee amounts, so we will not guess them: assume the tenant or applicant pays fees on some payment methods and on screening, as with the others, and check Innago's current terms before you invite tenants.

Baselane

Baselane is banking first. The free Core plan includes landlord checking and savings accounts, property-level income and expense tracking, rent collection with reminders and late fees, and Schedule E reports with an accountant tax package. A bank transfer from a tenant carries a fee of about $2, which you can cover or pass on, and it is waived when rent lands in a Baselane account. Card payments cost the tenant about 3.5%. Screening is an add-on from about $25. The paid Smart plan is around $20 a month on annual billing (verify current pricing). The free Schedule E is the draw. The condition is that your rent and expenses run through its accounts. We compare it with ours in ClaryBook vs Baselane.

Stessa

Stessa's free Essentials plan does more property management than people expect: online rent collection, tenant screening and vacancy marketing, lease templates at a per-lease cost, bank feeds, expense, mileage and maintenance tracking, a basic tax package and five receipt scans a month. Schedule E reports are not on the free plan: they start on Manage, around $12 to $15 a month, with Pro around $28 to $35 (verify current pricing). Our Stessa vs Baselane comparison covers how the two free plans differ.

RentRedi

RentRedi has no free plan. Its pricing page lists one feature set at three billing terms, from about $12 a month on annual billing to about $30 month to month, with a 30-day money-back guarantee rather than a free trial. Applicants pay for screening, at roughly $40 to $50. Worth it if you want an app-first tool and you would pay anyway. Not an answer to "free".

TenantCloud

TenantCloud does not show a free plan today. Every plan has a 14-day trial, and Starter runs about $15 to $18 a month. Screening is paid by the applicant, and tenants pay a small fee per online rent payment, lower on the bigger plans. If you saw TenantCloud recommended as free software in an older article, check the current page.

Where free plans stop

Free plans stop in the same four places, and they are worth knowing before you invite a tenant, because moving tenants to a second platform later is the expensive part.

• Schedule E. Only one of the free plans we checked lists Schedule E reports. Stessa and TurboTenant put tax reports on paid plans. And a report built from one platform only knows that platform's money.
• Leases. Avail includes state-specific leases free. Elsewhere leases are a paid feature or cost per template.
• Faster payouts and waived fees. Next-day deposits and free bank transfers for tenants are the most common upgrade.
• Receipts and expenses. Free plans track income well because rent flows through them. The $48 hardware-store run, the plumber you paid by card, the insurance premium: those still have to be entered by hand, or capped, like Stessa's five receipt scans a month.

That last one is the gap that costs money. Rent is easy to record because the platform sees it. Expenses are where small landlords lose deductions, because nothing sees them unless you write them down.

The books are the job free tools skip

Here is our honest position. ClaryBook is not property management software. It does not collect rent, screen tenants, hold leases or list units. If those are your jobs, use Avail, TurboTenant, Innago, Baselane or Stessa for them, free.

ClaryBook is the books. You log bookkeeping in plain language: text "Home Depot 48.23 supplies for the Elm St unit" or snap a photo of a receipt, in the web app or the mobile app (iOS and Android), and it posts a proper double-entry journal entry. Expenses map to IRS Schedule E lines per property. At tax time you generate a per-property P&L and a tax package to hand to your CPA. ClaryBook prepares that package; it does not file your return.

For rent, you set up the rent you expect per tenant, with the amount, the day it is due and a grace period. Each month you press Generate (or ask the chat) to create the expected rows. When you log a payment, the payer matches the tenant and the amount is within 5% of what was due, ClaryBook marks that month received. Once a row is past its grace period, it shows as overdue. On the web app, the rent roll shows each tenant's year and your collection rate. One honest gap: rent you book from a bank feed transaction does not tick the expected row yet, so you mark that month received in the chat or link it on the web. The full walkthrough is in our guide to rent ledger software.

So the stack many 1 to 5 unit landlords run is simple: a free tool collects the rent, and ClaryBook keeps the books, including the expenses the free tool never sees. That costs nothing for the first month, then $6.50 a month for the ClaryBook plan, about what a coffee costs, or $1 a month on Starter, which covers up to 30 new entries a month.

Which free stack for 1, 3 and 5 units

A checklist by portfolio size. Pick the row that matches you, then check each tool's current plan.

1 unit

• Collect rent with any free tool your tenant is happy to use, or a plain bank transfer.
• Screen through a free tool only when the unit turns over. The applicant pays.
• Use a state-specific lease. Avail includes them free; elsewhere budget for a template.
• Books: a spreadsheet can work if you update it monthly. If you do not, that is the problem to solve first.

3 units

• Put all three tenants on one rent platform. Three platforms means three ledgers.
• Decide who pays the transfer fee and put it in the lease, so nobody argues about $2.
• Turn on late rent tracking somewhere, in the rent tool or in your books, with the same grace period your lease states.
• Books: per-property income and expenses stop being optional at three units. Pick a tool that maps to Schedule E per property.

5 units

• Use a free tool that covers listings, screening, leases and rent in one place, because turnover now happens every year.
• Price the paid tier honestly: at five units, a per-unit price adds up faster than a flat one.
• Log every expense the week it happens, by photo or message, so the repairs and supplies are in the right property.
• Books: keep the rent roll and Schedule E in the same place as the expenses, so April is a report, not a project.

Want to see what one property actually leaves you before you pick tools? Our free rental property cash flow calculator shows the cash you keep next to what goes on Schedule E. If you only want free accounting software rather than property management, read free rental property accounting software, and our rental property accounting software roundup covers the paid options.

FAQ

Is there free property management software for landlords?

Yes. TurboTenant, Avail, Innago, Baselane and Stessa all have a plan that costs the landlord $0 a month. RentRedi and TenantCloud do not show a free plan on their pricing pages. Free usually means the landlord pays nothing and the tenant or applicant pays fees on bank transfers, card payments and screening reports. Verify current pricing on each vendor's site, since free tiers change.

What is the best free property management software for a small landlord?

For 1 to 5 units, Avail and TurboTenant cover the most of the rental cycle for free: listings, applications, screening and online rent. Baselane is the free pick if you want rent collection and banking in one place, and its free plan lists Schedule E reports. Stessa's free plan suits landlords who mainly want to track a portfolio. Pick by which job you do most often, and check each vendor's current plan.

Who pays the fees on free landlord software?

Mostly the tenant and the applicant. On free plans, tenants commonly pay about $2 to $2.50 per bank transfer and around 3.5% on a card payment, and applicants pay for their own screening report, roughly $25 to $55 depending on the tool and the reports chosen. Several tools let the landlord cover these instead, and paid plans often waive the bank transfer fee. Verify current fees before you choose.

Does free rental property management software do Schedule E?

Some do, most do not on the free plan. Baselane's free Core plan lists Schedule E reports. Stessa puts Schedule E reports on its paid Manage and Pro plans, and TurboTenant lists tax-ready reports on Pro. Even where a report exists, it only knows the income and expenses that reached that tool, so expenses paid by card or cash elsewhere still have to be recorded somewhere.

Is ClaryBook property management software?

No. ClaryBook does not collect rent, screen tenants, hold leases or list units. It keeps the books: you set up the rent you expect per tenant, ClaryBook shows what is received and what is late, and expenses map to Schedule E lines per property. Many small landlords collect rent with a free tool and keep the books in ClaryBook. First month free, then $6.50 a month.

The bottom line

For a landlord with 1 to 5 units, free property management software is good enough for the tenant side, and Avail and TurboTenant give away the most of it. Read the fee table before you invite tenants, because the tenant is the one paying. Then look at what is left: the expenses, the per-property totals and Schedule E. That is the part free plans either skip or upgrade, and it is the part that costs you money when it is wrong. Which of your expenses from last year would a rent platform have seen?