Quick Overview: Avail in 2026
Avail, now owned by Realtor.com, has been a popular free property management tool for independent landlords since its early days. It offers a free tier (Unlimited plan) that covers basic rent collection, maintenance tracking, and tenant screening. Their paid plan, Unlimited Plus, costs $7 per unit per month and unlocks features like custom lease templates, next-day rent payments, and waived ACH fees for tenants.
For landlords managing a few rentals, Avail has long been a go-to recommendation. But there are real pain points — especially around payment fees, a web-heavy interface, and features that feel like they've stagnated since the Realtor.com acquisition.
Where Avail Does Well
Let's be fair: Avail has genuine strengths that have made it popular.
- Established reputation: Avail has been around for years and has a large user base. There's plenty of documentation and community support.
- Tenant screening: Avail offers TransUnion-powered credit checks, criminal history, and eviction reports. Tenants pay for their own screening ($30–$55), keeping costs off your plate.
- Maintenance tracking: A built-in maintenance request system lets tenants submit issues and you can track resolution — all included on the free plan.
- State-specific lease templates: On the paid plan, Avail provides lawyer-reviewed, state-specific lease templates that save you from starting from scratch.
- Free tier available: You can manage unlimited properties for free, which makes it easy to get started.
Where Avail Falls Short
Despite its strengths, Avail has notable gaps — especially for landlords who want simplicity and low fees.
- Tenant payment fees: On the free plan, tenants pay roughly $2.50 per ACH transaction. That adds up to $30/year per tenant — and tenants notice. You can waive this on the $7/unit/month paid plan, but then you're paying instead.
- Web-first, not mobile-first: Avail doesn't have a dedicated mobile app. The web interface works on phones but feels clunky compared to apps designed for mobile from day one.
- No Zelle integration: Avail uses its own ACH processing. If your tenants already use Zelle (and millions do), there's no way to leverage that existing familiarity.
- Slow payment processing: Standard ACH deposits can take 3–5 business days on the free plan. Even the paid plan only promises "next-day" deposits.
- Limited financial reporting: Avail doesn't offer robust income/expense tracking or tax reporting tools. You'll need a separate bookkeeping solution.
- Feature stagnation: Since the Realtor.com acquisition, many users report that new features have slowed down significantly.
Where Rentlane Plans to Differ
The points below describe Rentlane's planned launch direction, not currently available features.
Rentlane was built specifically to address the frustrations small landlords face with tools like Avail:
- $0 payment fees via Zelle: Rentlane uses Zelle for rent collection — meaning zero transaction fees for both you and your tenants. No ACH surcharges, no credit card markups. Your tenants pay what they owe, period.
- Mobile-first design: Rentlane is built as a mobile app from the ground up. Manage properties, send leases, and collect rent from your phone — the way modern landlords actually work.
- SMS lease signing: Send leases via text message and get them signed without requiring tenants to create accounts or download apps. This alone saves hours of back-and-forth.
- Simpler experience: Rentlane focuses on what small landlords actually need: collecting rent, signing leases, and keeping things organized. No bloated feature set you'll never use.