Buildium vs AppFolio for Larger Portfolio

[Howard Rubin]

Hello all, I am looking at the various property management software companies and believe I have narrowed down to Buildium and AppFolio for my needs (also considered Yardi Breeze, Rent Manager, Rentec Direct).

I have seen multiple people post to go with AppFolio for a larger portfolio over Buildium, specifically have seen people say to go with it if your portfolio is 150 units+.  I currently own and manage 300 units (made up of a few larger apartment complexes) and want software that will work well if I were to double or triple to 600-1,000 units.  In comparing the two, it seems to me that Buildium has more to offer at a slightly lower price point and want to ask if people could please elaborate on why they feel AppFolio is better for a larger size portfolio?

The benefits I am seeing with Buildium include:

-Free Website (whereas you have to pay for one with AppFolio)

-Seems to be better accounting program, with transaction automatically synced with your bank at reconciliation

-Quicker rent deposit processing time (1 business days vs 2-4 with AppFolio)

-Cheaper onboarding fees

-Application fees can be paid by prospective tenants using ACH (not just CC)

Those pros at a cheaper yearly fee and so far haven't seen a benefit AppFolio has that Buildium doesn't.  Would love to hear the reasons why multiple people have said that AppFolio is better the larger you get as I want to see what I am missing in my comparison!

Thanks so much!

[Howard Rubin]

Thanks for the comments.  

Simon, I looked into Yardi Breeze, but they charge $.95 for each ACH transfer for Tenant's to pay online... for 300 units, that's an additional $3,420 a year!!! Whereas Buildium and AppFolio are both free.  Even if we charged it to the Tenants, then it would presumably harder to incentivize them to switch to paying online with a fee.

Also, Yardi Breeze doesn't have a mobile app, that both Buildium and AppFolio have.

I know that Voyager is top notch, but from what I have read elsewhere, Breeze is trying to compete with Buildium and AppFolio, but just isn't there yet...

--

Would still love to hear from others why AppFolio is considered better as you scale!