Avail is one of the best-known names in DIY landlord software, and it earned that spot. It gives small landlords listings, applications, screening, leases, and online rent collection in one place. But many independent landlords who sign up end up looking for something else after a few months. Some don't want another online account holding their tenants' personal data. Some get tired of the upsells that come with a per-unit pricing model. And some realize they never needed a full tenant-facing platform. They just wanted a clean, reliable way to track their properties, rent, and expenses.

If that sounds like you, this guide covers five free Avail alternatives, with honest pros and cons for each. These are the tools we'd point a landlord with one to twenty units toward, depending on how they actually work.

Why People Switch From Avail

Avail isn't a bad product. Its free tier is generous for what it covers. Still, the same frustrations come up again and again in landlord forums and reviews:

  • Per-unit pricing adds up. Avail's free Unlimited plan covers the basics, but features like custom lease templates, waived ACH fees, and faster rent deposits sit behind Unlimited Plus at about $7 per unit per month. At 10 units, that's $840 a year, which is real money on thin margins.
  • Tenant fees and friction. On the free plan, some costs, such as ACH transfer fees and screening fees, are passed to tenants. Some landlords don't like asking tenants to pay platform fees, especially long-term tenants who already pay by check or Zelle without trouble.
  • Your data lives on someone else's server. Every lease, ledger entry, and tenant record sits in a cloud account. That's convenient, but it also means your business records depend on a third party's uptime, pricing decisions, and data policies. Avail is owned by Realtor.com's parent company, and some landlords are uneasy about that.
  • More than you need. If your units are already filled with good tenants, listing syndication and applicant screening are features you'll touch maybe once every two or three years. Paying for them, or wading through them, every day gets old.
  • It requires connectivity. A web-based platform is hard to use in a basement mechanical room, a rural property with weak signal, or a unit where the internet hasn't been set up yet.

None of these is a dealbreaker on its own. Together, they're why "Avail alternatives free" is such a common search.

1. KeyLoft (Free)

Best for: Independent landlords who want private, simple, offline-first management of properties, tenants, rent, and expenses.

KeyLoft takes a different approach from Avail. It isn't a cloud platform that brings your tenants into a portal. It's an iPhone app that keeps your rental business in your pocket, completely offline and with no account required. You download it, add your properties, and start tracking. There's no sign-up form, no email verification, and no per-unit fee.

What you can do in KeyLoft:

  • Track properties and units with addresses, unit details, and notes all in one place.
  • Manage tenant records, including contact info, lease dates, rent amounts, and deposit details.
  • Log rent payments so you can see at a glance who's paid, who's late, and what's outstanding, whether rent arrives by check, cash, Zelle, or bank transfer.
  • Record expenses by property so tax time doesn't turn into a shoebox-of-receipts crisis.
  • Track maintenance so you have a history of what was fixed, when, and what it cost.

Pros:

  • Completely free, with no per-unit pricing or premium tier you're nudged toward.
  • 100% offline, so your data stays on your device and never touches a third-party server.
  • No account required, which means no passwords to manage and no marketing emails.
  • Fast and focused, built for the 90% of landlording that happens after the lease is signed.
  • Works anywhere, including basements, rural properties, and vacant units without Wi-Fi.

Cons:

  • App Store only, so it isn't an option for Android or web.
  • No built-in online rent collection, tenant screening, or listing syndication. You'd pair it with a separate tool, such as a screening service or Zelle, for those jobs.
  • No tenant portal. That's on purpose, for privacy and simplicity, but some landlords want one.

If you have stable tenants and mostly need a reliable system of record, KeyLoft does that job with less friction than anything else on this list. Many landlords also run a side business or do freelance work alongside their rentals. If that's you, KeyLoft's sister app Stintly handles time tracking and self-employment finances with the same no-account, offline approach.

Try KeyLoft free today. Download KeyLoft for Free — no subscription, no account, works 100% offline.

2. TurboTenant (Free + $9.92/month Premium)

Best for: Landlords who fill vacancies often and want strong marketing and screening tools.

TurboTenant is Avail's closest direct competitor, and in some areas it's stronger. Its free plan includes listing syndication to major rental sites, online applications, and tenant screening, with screening costs paid by the applicant. Its Premium plan runs about $9.92 per month, billed annually, and adds things like custom application questions, income insights, faster rent payouts, and lease templates.

Pros:

  • Flat pricing instead of per-unit, which works out cheaper than Avail as your portfolio grows.
  • Excellent listing and lead management for high-turnover properties.
  • Clean, modern interface that tenants generally find easy to use.

Cons:

  • Fees are still passed to tenants on the free plan, including application fees and some payment fees.
  • Requires an account and stores all your data in the cloud.
  • Bookkeeping and expense tracking are fairly light. Many users pair it with a separate accounting tool.

3. Stessa (Free + $20/month Premium)

Best for: Landlords focused on financial reporting and investment performance.

Stessa, owned by Roofstock, started as a rental-property accounting tool and still shines there. The free Essentials plan connects to your bank accounts, categorizes transactions automatically, and produces Schedule E-friendly reports. Paid tiers, starting around $20 per month, add things like receipt scanning, more advanced reporting, and expanded banking features.

Pros:

  • Best-in-class financial reporting among free tools.
  • Automatic bank feeds save time if you have a lot of transactions.
  • Portfolio-level dashboards are useful if you think of your rentals as investments.

Cons:

  • You have to link your bank accounts, and some landlords aren't comfortable with that.
  • Tenant and lease management is secondary to accounting.
  • Bank feed categorization still needs manual cleanup, and the premium push has grown stronger over time.

4. Baselane (Free)

Best for: Landlords who want banking, rent collection, and bookkeeping tied together.

Baselane is a banking-first platform built for landlords. You open landlord-specific bank accounts, often one per property, collect rent into them, and the platform handles bookkeeping on top. The core features are free because Baselane makes money through its banking relationships rather than subscriptions.

Pros:

  • Free online rent collection and bookkeeping with no per-unit fees.
  • Separate accounts per property make it easy to keep finances clean.
  • Good fit for landlords who want rent deposits and accounting to live in one place.

Cons:

  • You'll need to move your banking to them to get the most value, which is a bigger commitment than adopting an app.
  • Not a full leasing or screening solution.
  • It's a younger company, so its long-term feature roadmap is less proven.

5. A Well-Built Spreadsheet (Free)

Best for: Landlords with one or two units who love control and don't mind manual work.

Plenty of successful landlords run their whole business from Google Sheets or Excel: a tab for tenants, a tab for the rent ledger, a tab for expenses by category. It's free, flexible, and entirely yours.

Pros:

  • Total flexibility and no learning curve if you already know spreadsheets.
  • Easy to share with your accountant.
  • No vendor lock-in, ever.

Cons:

  • Everything is manual, and one bad formula can quietly break your ledger.
  • Clunky on a phone, which is exactly where you are when a tenant hands you a check.
  • No reminders or structure, so it only works as well as your discipline does.

A spreadsheet is a fine starting point. Most landlords outgrow it around unit three. A purpose-built app like KeyLoft gives you the same ownership of your data with far less upkeep.

What to Look for in an Alternative

Before you pick a tool, be honest about what you actually do each month. Most independent landlords spend their time logging rent, tracking expenses, and handling maintenance, not marketing vacancies. Use these questions to narrow it down:

  1. What's the real cost at your size? Multiply any per-unit fee by your unit count and by 12. Then add the fees your tenants pay. "Free" plans that shift costs onto tenants aren't truly free for your relationship with them.
  2. Where does your data live? Cloud tools are convenient. Offline tools are private and don't depend on a company staying in business. Decide which matters more to you.
  3. Do you need tenant-facing features? If your tenants are long-term and pay reliably, a tenant portal adds complexity without much benefit.
  4. How do you handle money? If you want automated bank feeds, look at Stessa or Baselane. If you'd rather log payments yourself and keep your bank login private, KeyLoft is the better fit.
  5. Is it usable on your phone? Landlording happens in driveways, hallways, and hardware stores. A tool you can't use one-handed on site won't get used.
  6. Can you get your data out? Whichever tool you choose, make sure you can export or back up your records.

One more thing: if you're tackling a big renovation or managing contractors across several units, don't force your rental app to double as a construction tracker. A dedicated tool like TrestleBook handles bids, contractor billing, and job costing far better, so you can keep your rental records clean and your project budget under control.

The best landlord software is the one you'll actually open every week. Simpler usually wins.

Making the Switch

Moving away from Avail is less painful than most landlords expect. Here's a practical approach:

  1. Export everything first. Download your rent ledgers, lease documents, tenant contact info, and expense records from Avail before you cancel or downgrade anything. Save copies of signed leases as PDFs somewhere you control.
  2. Time it with the calendar. The cleanest cutover point is the first of a month, or better yet, January 1, so your annual books aren't split across two systems.
  3. Set up properties and tenants in your new tool. In KeyLoft, this takes a few minutes per unit. Add each property, its tenants, lease dates, rent amounts, and security deposits.
  4. Enter opening balances. Record any outstanding rent balances or credits so your ledger starts accurate.
  5. Tell your tenants how rent works now. If they paid through Avail, give them clear written instructions for the new method, such as Zelle, check, or bank transfer, at least 30 days ahead. Check your lease and local laws for payment-method requirements.
  6. Run both systems briefly if needed. Keep Avail read-only for a month or two while you confirm nothing slipped through the cracks.
  7. Build a weekly habit. Spend 10 minutes a week logging payments and receipts. Consistency matters more than features.

Avail is a solid platform, but it isn't the only option and often isn't the simplest. If you want a free, private, no-account way to run your rentals from your phone, start with KeyLoft. If you need heavy listing and screening, look at TurboTenant. If deep financial reporting matters most, Stessa is worth a look. Pick the one that matches how you actually manage, and you'll spend less time on software and more time running your properties.