Both cover the same core job: accounting, maintenance, listings and leasing. The first difference a buyer meets is pricing posture. As of August 2026 Buildium publishes plans from $62 a month and prices as little as one unit; AppFolio publishes no figures and requires 50 units. Under 50 units, the choice is made for you.
What is the difference between AppFolio and Buildium?
Both are residential property management software built around accounting: rent ledgers, owner statements, work orders, listings and applications. The tiers say who each vendor is aiming at. AppFolio sells Core, Plus and Max, calling Core its out of the box option and Max an enterprise solution for large operators; affordable and student housing appear at the Plus level. Buildium sells Essential, Growth and Premium, and sends community associations or portfolios over 5,000 units to a quote by phone.
How is the pricing structured differently?
One publishes numbers, the other does not, and that shapes the evaluation. Buildium lists Essential starting at $62 a month, Growth at $192 and Premium at $400, then prices the account off a unit count you type into a calculator. AppFolio's pricing page carries no dollar figure on any tier. All three say Get a Quote, and the Core footnote reads "Minimum spend and 50 unit minimum apply." Both pages were checked in August 2026.
| What you are comparing | AppFolio, August 2026 | Buildium, August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | None; every tier links to a quote form | Essential $62, Growth $192, Premium $400 a month, all "starting at" |
| Entry requirement | Core: "Minimum spend and 50 unit minimum apply" | Calculator accepts one unit; no minimum stated |
| Onboarding | Not priced on the pricing page | Required on Growth and Premium, included there, not on Essential |
| Metered extras | Not priced on the pricing page | eSignature $5 a document on Essential, $1 on Growth; screening $17 to $20 |
Read the last row before comparing headline numbers: a busy leasing month moves the invoice more than the plan tier does.
Which one fits your portfolio?
Under 50 units the published rules decide it: Buildium's calculator takes a count of one, AppFolio's Core note asks for 50. Between 50 doors and a few hundred both are real options, and the work is getting AppFolio's minimum spend in writing beside a tier you can already read. Affordable or student housing points at the AppFolio level that names it. Past 5,000 units, or with associations in the mix, Buildium hands you to its sales line.
Neither published number is your bill. Buildium's plan is a floor that moves with unit count and metered extras; AppFolio's quote is built around a minimum spend, worth asking about if your count dips in a slow winter.
What does switching involve?
The one setup fact either pricing page states is Buildium's: onboarding is required for new Growth and Premium customers, included with those plans and not included with Essential. AppFolio's page does not price onboarding, so ask in the quote conversation.
Four questions decide your first month more than the feature grid. How many months of history come across. Who keys the opening balances. Whether tenant ledgers and owner statements arrive intact. How long you keep read access to the old system after cutover.
What neither one does at 9pm
Both ship leasing features, and both stop at the same line. A plan does not answer the phone at 9pm on a Sunday, and it does not reply to a portal inquiry in 30 seconds while the renter has six other listings open. It cannot check a stranger's ID before that stranger gets access to an empty unit.
LetHub does that part. It answers rental inquiries by text, chat or phone in about 30 seconds, around the clock, books the showing, and verifies ID at bank level before access. Self-showings work with smart lockboxes and with offline locks, where the access code is rotated after use, so no fleet of smart locks is required. Leasing runs in LetHub's own system, which syncs with both, and it syncs back to most major property management software. Whether it belongs inside your PMS or beside it is a separate comparison.
If the 9pm calls are the part you want fixed, book a demo and bring your slowest listing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AppFolio or Buildium cheaper?
Only one of them lets you answer that yourself. Buildium published Essential at $62 a month, Growth at $192 and Premium at $400 in August 2026, all of them "starting at" floors that rise with unit count. AppFolio's pricing page shows no dollar figure and adds a minimum spend, so a quote is the only way to compare.
Does AppFolio have a unit minimum?
Yes, on its entry tier. The Core column on appfolio.com/pricing reads "Minimum spend and 50 unit minimum apply. Contact us for details," checked in August 2026. Plus and Max say minimum spend and units apply without naming a count. Buildium's calculator, by contrast, accepts a unit count of one.
Is Buildium a fit for a small portfolio?
Its entry tier is priced for one: the calculator starts at a single unit and Essential is listed up to 150 units. Two things to price in first. Onboarding is not included at that tier, and eSignatures cost $5 a document on Essential against $1 on Growth.
