If you run 1 to 50 doors, AppFolio's $280/mo minimum, generic "AppFolio" tenant portal, and 6-week onboarding are overkill. Tenantory gives you the same capability for $99/mo, with your brand on every tenant surface — and we migrate you in 48 hours, free.
We pulled these from 40+ switch-conversations with independent PMs running 5 to 50 units. Every one of these was named as a direct reason.
AppFolio's minimum is $280/mo before add-ons — that's $28 per door if you only have 10 units. Tenantory Pro is $99/mo for up to 50 doors. At 20 units you save $2,172/year; at 50 you save $9,600+.
Your applicants log into a generic AppFolio subdomain with AppFolio colors. Tenantory gives every PM a branded subdomain on Pro (yourco.tenantory.com) and a full custom domain on Scale. Tenants see you, not us.
AppFolio screening returns a credit score and a background check. That's it. Tenantory scores every applicant on 7 signals (income-to-rent, employment stability, prior evictions, pet/smoker flags, app completeness) and surfaces duplicate applications across your units.
AppFolio's accounting exports a generic P&L. Your CPA still has to re-categorize everything for Schedule E. Tenantory ships a one-click Schedule-E export grouped by property, with mortgage interest, depreciation, and repair/capex split out the way the IRS wants it.
AppFolio charges a $400+ onboarding fee and schedules you 3–4 weeks out for implementation. Tenantory's wizard is 6 steps, ~15 minutes, and every single bit of it is skippable except your workspace name.
If you manage units for other investors, AppFolio makes you export-to-Excel and pretty it up yourself. Tenantory auto-generates a per-owner monthly statement (rent collected, expenses, NOI, reserves) as a shareable PDF they can pull anytime.
AppFolio requires you to export vendor payment data, W-9s, and bank info to a third-party filer. Tenantory tracks W-9s at onboarding, auto-totals payments per vendor, and files 1099-NECs with the IRS for you in January. One click.
AppFolio models a unit as a unit. If you're running co-living or student rentals with per-bedroom leases, you end up hacking it with fake sub-units. Tenantory has native room-level leases, rent, and photos inside one property — no workarounds.
AppFolio is annual, non-refundable, and you negotiate through your CSM to cancel. Tenantory is month-to-month, cancel in one click in Settings. Plus our guarantee: if Tenantory doesn't save you 10 hours in the first 30 paid days, we refund every dollar and wire you $100.
We tried to be fair. Where AppFolio genuinely wins (scale, accountant certifications, mature API) we say so. Everywhere else, the gap is real.
| Feature | AppFolioCore plan | TenantoryPro · $99/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & commitment | ||
| Starting price | $280/mo | $99/mo for life |
| Minimum unit count | 50 units (soft) | 1 unit |
| Per-unit fee on top | $1.40–$1.50 / unit / mo | None (flat) |
| Setup / onboarding fee | $400+ one-time | $0 |
| Contract length | Annual | Month-to-month |
| Free trial without a card | ||
| 10-hour money-back guarantee | ||
| Your brand | ||
| Branded subdomain (yourco.xxx.com) | ||
| Full custom domain + SSL | Add-on | Scale plan ($299) |
| Tenant-facing logo & colors | Logo only | Logo + accent + email |
| "Powered by" removal | Scale plan | |
| Applications & leasing | ||
| Online rental application | ||
| AI application scoring | ||
| Duplicate applicant detection | ||
| Lease e-sign | Via add-on ($45/mo) | Unlimited, included |
| State-specific lease templates | Generic only | 20-section AL/TN/GA/FL |
| Room-level / co-living leases | ||
| Rent & accounting | ||
| ACH rent collection | ||
| Autopay with retry logic | Basic | Smart retry + late fees |
| Schedule-E tax export | ||
| Built-in 1099-NEC e-file | ||
| Investor / owner statements | Manual build | Auto monthly PDF |
| A/R aging 30/60/90+ | ||
| Onboarding & support | ||
| Time to first value | 4–6 weeks | 15 minutes |
| Free data migration | Paid, $500+ | Free, 48 hours |
| We'll buy out your existing contract | ||
| Direct support (no ticket queue) | CSM on Plus+ only | Founder email, 24h |
| Where AppFolio still wins | ||
| Enterprise scale (1000+ units) | Enterprise tier only | |
| Certified by large CPA firms | Smaller firms only | |
| Mature public API | Scale plan (beta) | |
Tell us you're ready, email us an export from AppFolio, and our migration team rebuilds your workspace inside Tenantory the same week. You keep using AppFolio until we say go-live. No downtime, no data loss, no double-entry. If you're stuck on an annual AppFolio contract, we'll credit up to $500 of buyout into your first invoice.
These are real operators in the 5–40 unit range who moved off AppFolio in the last six months.
"I was paying AppFolio $312/mo for 11 doors and my tenants thought they were paying some company called AppFolio. On Tenantory I pay $99, my logo is on everything, and the Schedule-E export cut my CPA bill by $400 at tax time. No-brainer."
"The migration was the part I was dreading, and it took 36 hours end-to-end. They reconciled every tenant balance against AppFolio before cutover. We went live on a Monday and three tenants emailed asking if we'd rebranded — they had no idea we'd switched software."
"I run co-living houses — 6 bedrooms per property, 18 tenants across 3 houses. AppFolio treats that like 3 units, which means I was faking sub-units with garbage workarounds. Tenantory has room-level leases out of the box. Saved me probably 6 hours a week just on the accounting alone."
"We had 14 months left on our AppFolio annual contract. Tenantory credited $500 toward the buyout on the first invoice and that plus the $213/mo I'm saving means I broke even in under 2 months. The owner statements going out to my investors look three times more professional, too."
We handle the migration, we credit your AppFolio buyout, and if Tenantory doesn't save you 10 hours in the first 30 paid days, we refund every dollar and wire you $100 for the inconvenience.