These two sell software to the same buyer, a management company somewhere between 80 and 1,000 doors, and they price it in opposite ways. Buildium publishes a three-tier ladder down to the exact dollar at every unit count. Rentvine publishes one plan, one feature set and a single phrase: "as low as $1.50 per unit". So one side of this comparison is a lookup and the other is an estimate, and the estimate needs some history to be useful.
Both are back offices. If the pressure this month is empty units rather than owner statements, neither one fills them: you can list the vacant unit on RentPlace for $39 a month while the demos run, or score the ad in the Listing Grader first.
The short answer
On subscription alone, Rentvine and Buildium Growth cost about the same: at 200 units Buildium Growth is $301 a month and Rentvine at its $1.50 floor is $300. Once ACH rent is counted, Rentvine is cheaper at every size. Buildium bills $1.35 for each incoming EFT on Growth ($2.35 on Essential), while Rentvine sells ACH as fee-free. At 300 doors that one line is $405 a month.
Buildium's numbers come from its own pricing calculator, re-read this week. Rentvine's come from its pricing page and four years of archived copies of it; the full history is on our Rentvine pricing page, and every Buildium rung and fee is on the Buildium pricing page. What managers say once they are live is in our Buildium review.
Rentvine vs Buildium pricing at 100 to 1,000 units
Monthly bill before setup fees. Rentvine is shown as a range: the $1.50 floor it advertises today and the $2.50 rate it printed from October 2023 to November 2024. Buildium is billed monthly; the "with ACH" columns add its incoming EFT fee on one rent payment per door per month.
| Units | Rentvine | Buildium Growth | Growth with ACH | Buildium Premium | Premium with ACH, year 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $150 to $250 | $252 | $387 | $400 | $460 |
| 200 | $300 to $500 | $301 | $571 | $531 | $651 |
| 300 | $450 to $750 | $482 | $887 | $793 | $973 |
| 500 | $750 to $1,250 | $722 | $1,397 | $1,311 | $1,611 |
| 1,000 | $1,500 to $2,500 | $1,390 | $2,740 | $2,610 | $3,210 |
Buildium Essential is left out on purpose. It starts at $62 a month and is the cheapest thing either vendor sells, but it stops at 150 units, keeps the $2.35 EFT fee and has no open API. At 100 units it is $196, or $431 with ACH fees, which is already more than Growth with ACH. Essential is the right plan for a 40-door owner, not for the firm reading this comparison.
Buildium Premium waives incoming EFT fees for the first 12 months, then charges $0.60 each. That is why the last column says year 2: in year one, Premium's bill is just the subscription.
The ACH line decides it
Look at the Growth columns side by side and the subscription is almost a rounding error next to the payments line. A 300-door firm where every resident pays by ACH sends Buildium 300 incoming EFTs a month. At $1.35 each that is $405, or $4,860 a year, on top of $482 a month for the software. Rentvine, even at the old $2.50 rate, comes in $137 a month lower all-in at that size, and at the $1.50 floor $437 lower.
Two caveats keep this honest. First, Buildium bills those EFT fees to the manager, and many managers pass them to residents as a convenience fee, which moves the cost rather than removing it. Your residents notice either way. Second, Rentvine's "fee-free ACH" means Rentvine does not charge for it; a manager can still add a fee of their own. The fair comparison is the one where you make the same choice on both platforms, and on that basis Buildium Growth costs more at every door count in the table.
Cards are closer. Buildium prints 2.99% per card payment on every plan. Rentvine routes card fees to the processor, paid by the resident, and does not print the rate.
What each charges to get started
Neither vendor publishes its setup fee, and each has a rule worth knowing before the first call.
- Buildium requires onboarding on Growth and Premium and does not print the price. It does offer a 14-day trial with no card, which Rentvine does not, and bank account setup is $99 per account on Essential with 10 free on Growth and 100 on Premium.
- Rentvine calls migration, an onboarding specialist and a financial analyst "a one time setup fee". Earlier this year, from January to April 2026, the same FAQ answer said onboarding was included in the subscription. It has also run promotions: three months with no subscription fee for new customers in 2025, and today "months free" tied to enrolling in its tenant screening and reaching a unit threshold.
The minimum is the other unknown. Rentvine printed $99 a month in May 2022 and $199 from October 2022 through 2025. At $2.50 a unit, $199 covers about 80 doors, so below that every firm paid the same. Buildium has no minimum in that sense; its ladder simply starts at $192 on Growth for up to 50 units.
What your residents and applicants pay
| Fee | Rentvine | Buildium |
|---|---|---|
| Rent by ACH | Fee-free from Rentvine | $2.35 Essential, $1.35 Growth, Premium free 12 months then $0.60, billed to the manager |
| Rent by card | Resident pays the processor, rate not published | 2.99% |
| Screening | Pick credit, eviction and criminal reports; prices shown in the account | $17 per screening paid by the manager, or $35 paid by the applicant; enhanced $20 on Growth and up |
| Application fee processing | $10 to the applicant | Not charged separately |
| E-signature | Unlimited, included | $5 per document on Essential, $1 on Growth, included on Premium |
The $10 line is the one Rentvine customers most often miss. It is printed on Rentvine's tenant screening page: collecting the application fee through the platform carries "our $10 processing fee charged to the applicant", on top of the application fee you set.
Where Buildium is the better buy
- Under 80 doors. Buildium Growth is $192 up to 50 units and Essential starts at $62. Rentvine's last published minimum was $199 plus a setup fee.
- You want to try it before you talk to anyone. Buildium has a 14-day trial with no card. Rentvine is demo first.
- You need a price you can budget without a call. Buildium's calculator gives the exact monthly and annual figure at any count up to 5,000 units. Rentvine's page gives a floor.
- Associations are part of the book. Buildium has sold to HOA managers for years and quotes HOAs separately; Rentvine's market is residential management for owners.
Where Rentvine is the better buy
- Most residents pay by ACH. The payments line above is the whole argument, and it grows with every door you add.
- You need the API or integrations below the top tier. Buildium keeps the open API on Premium. Rentvine includes it in its one plan.
- You manage several properties for the same owner. Rentvine offers a portfolio-level ledger that combines an owner's funds on one ledger. By Rentvine's account, Buildium posts every transaction to an individual property.
- You want one website vendor and one software vendor to be the same company. Rentvine was built by the team behind Property Manager Websites, and its Smartsites run on that platform. If the rent-payment link on your company site is how most residents reach the portal, keep something checking that the site is up every 30 seconds, whoever hosts it.
Four numbers to get in writing
Put both vendors on the same email thread of questions and the comparison stops being guesswork:
- The per-unit rate at your current count and at 1.5 times it. Buildium's calculator answers this; make Rentvine do the same, and hold it against the $1.50 floor it advertises.
- The monthly minimum. Rentvine printed $199 for three years and no longer states it.
- The one-time setup fee. Neither vendor publishes it. Ask what data it migrates and how many months of history come across.
- Your ACH cost at 100% adoption. On Buildium multiply doors by the EFT fee on your plan. On Rentvine confirm in the contract that incoming ACH carries no platform fee.
Then remember the number neither quote covers. An $1,800 unit loses about $60 a day while it is empty, so one extra vacant week costs $420, more than a year of either platform per door. The back office runs the tenancy; RentPlace fills it, with inquiries that answer your screening questions before they send and a vacancy board that counts every empty day. The Landlord plan is $39 a month, management companies use the Manager plan on the pricing page, and if AppFolio is also on the shortlist, its last list rates are on our AppFolio pricing page.