Most landlords don't need enterprise software. They need a fast way to track rent, log expenses, store lease documents, and remember which unit needs the dishwasher fixed. The problem is that most "free" property management apps lock the useful features behind a paywall, force tenants to create accounts, or require a constant internet connection that fails the moment you walk into a basement utility room.
This roundup focuses on what independent landlords with 1–20 units actually need. We tested each app on a real portfolio, paid attention to the fine print, and ranked them based on what they let you do without handing over a credit card. Pricing was verified as of April 2026.
1. KeyLoft — Best Free Option
Pricing: Free. No subscription, no per-unit fee, no premium tier locking essential features.
KeyLoft is built for landlords who want to manage their rentals without learning a SaaS platform. You add your properties, log rent payments, track expenses by category, attach lease PDFs, and create maintenance reminders — all from your iPhone, all stored locally on your device.
The standout feature is that it works completely offline. If you're walking through a duplex in the country with no signal, you can still log a repair, snap a photo of a damaged baseboard, or check when the lease expires. Data syncs to iCloud if you want a backup, but nothing requires a server connection.
Pros:
- Genuinely free — no paywall on rent tracking, expense logging, or document storage
- Works offline; no account or email required to start
- Clean iOS-native interface, no learning curve
- Built-in expense categories aligned with Schedule E tax reporting
- Local-first data storage means no monthly server fees passed to you later
Cons:
- iOS only — no Android or web version
- No tenant-facing portal (tenants don't log in to pay rent through the app)
- No built-in ACH rent collection — you'll pair it with Zelle, Venmo, or a bank transfer
Best for: Independent landlords with 1–20 units who want a simple ledger and document vault without monthly fees or tenant onboarding friction.
KeyLoft is free to download. Download KeyLoft for Free — no account needed, works offline.
2. Avail — Best for Online Rent Collection
Pricing: Free for unlimited units on the Unlimited plan. Premium tier ("Unlimited Plus") runs $9 per unit per month and unlocks faster ACH, custom lease clauses, and waived application fees.
Avail (owned by Realtor.com) is the closest thing to "free" you'll find among full-service web platforms. The free plan genuinely lets you list a vacancy on partner sites, screen tenants (tenant pays the screening fee), sign leases digitally, and collect rent online via ACH.
The catch is that the free tier uses next-business-day ACH timing, charges tenants a fee for credit card rent payments, and pushes you toward the paid plan with frequent in-app prompts. Document customization is also gated behind Unlimited Plus.
Pros:
- Real online rent collection on the free plan
- State-specific lease templates included
- Web-based — works on any device
- Tenant screening reports are thorough (TransUnion-backed)
Cons:
- Constant upsell pressure to upgrade
- Slow ACH on free tier; faster payments cost extra
- Requires tenants to create an account and use the portal
- Web-only interface is fine but not as fast as a native app
Best for: Landlords who want tenants to pay rent through an online portal and don't mind a web-first experience.
3. TurboTenant — Best for Tenant Screening & Marketing
Pricing: Free core plan. Premium subscription is $99 per year and unlocks unlimited e-signatures, expense tracking, and a 1% ACH discount.
TurboTenant's free tier is built around the leasing pipeline: syndicating your vacancy to Zillow, Realtor.com, and Apartments.com, collecting applications, and pulling screening reports (paid by the applicant). Once a tenant moves in, the free plan also handles online rent collection via ACH.
Where it falls short is post-lease management. Bookkeeping, recurring expense tracking, and unlimited document storage live in the paid Premium plan. If you only need leasing tools, the free plan is excellent. If you need to actually run the property afterward, the math gets fuzzier.
Pros:
- Strongest free marketing syndication of any app on this list
- Online applications and screening included free
- Free ACH rent collection (with a small per-transaction fee)
- Clean, modern web interface
Cons:
- Real expense tracking and accounting require Premium
- Lease document customization is limited on the free tier
- Mobile app is functional but secondary to the web product
Best for: Landlords filling vacancies who want a one-stop pipeline from listing to signed lease.
4. Stessa — Best for Rental Property Accounting
Pricing: Free core plan. Stessa Pro is $20 per month (or $16 billed annually) and adds unlimited document storage, smart expense rules, and accelerated rent payouts.
Stessa is a different category than the others — it's a financial dashboard, not a leasing tool. The free plan automatically imports transactions from linked bank and mortgage accounts, categorizes them for Schedule E, tracks property performance, and generates tax-ready reports. For a landlord whose biggest pain is bookkeeping, Stessa is hard to beat at $0.
It does not handle leases, applications, screening, or maintenance requests in any meaningful way. Rent collection works on the free tier but with a 4–5 business day ACH delay that the Pro plan reduces.
Pros:
- Best-in-class free accounting and tax reporting for rentals
- Auto-imports bank and mortgage transactions
- Useful performance dashboards (cash flow, cap rate, NOI)
- Mobile receipt capture works well
Cons:
- Not a property management app — no leases, screening, or tenant communication
- Slow ACH payouts on the free tier
- Document storage capped on free plan
Best for: Landlords who already have a leasing workflow and want a dedicated tool for tracking the financials.
5. Innago — Best Free Web-Based Alternative
Pricing: Free for landlords. Tenants pay a small ACH or card fee for online rent payments.
Innago has quietly become a serious competitor to Avail and TurboTenant by offering an actually free full-service platform. Online rent collection, lease signing, tenant screening (paid by applicant), maintenance ticketing, and a tenant portal are all included without a paywall.
The tradeoff is interface polish. Innago feels like software built by landlords for landlords — functional, dense, and occasionally clunky. The mobile app exists but is a wrapper around the web product. Customer support, however, is genuinely responsive.
Pros:
- Truly free with no premium tier upsell
- Includes maintenance ticketing and tenant portal
- Works for landlords with growing portfolios (50+ units)
- Responsive customer support
Cons:
- Interface is dated compared to TurboTenant or Avail
- Mobile experience is web-wrapped, not native
- Onboarding has a steeper learning curve
Best for: Landlords who want a full-featured free platform and don't mind a less polished UI.
6. Landlord Studio — Best for Hybrid Mobile + Accounting
Pricing: Free plan covers up to 3 units. Pro starts at $12 per month for unlimited units.
Landlord Studio sits between KeyLoft and Stessa — it's a mobile-first app with strong expense tracking, mileage logging, and receipt scanning, plus light leasing tools. The free tier's 3-unit cap is the catch; once you grow past a triplex, you're on a paid plan.
Pros:
- Solid native mobile app on iOS and Android
- Mileage tracker and receipt OCR are genuinely useful
- Tenant rent reporting to credit bureaus available
Cons:
- Free plan limited to 3 units
- Many features locked behind Pro subscription
- Online rent collection requires paid plan
Best for: Landlords with a small portfolio (under 3 units) who want a mobile-first hybrid of accounting and management.
How We Picked These Apps
We started with a list of 22 apps marketed to landlords and cut anything that wasn't actually free at the entry tier or didn't have meaningful U.S. landlord users. Each remaining app was tested against four criteria:
- What's actually free. Many "free" apps gate rent tracking, document storage, or expense logging behind a subscription. We only counted features that work without a credit card on file.
- Onboarding friction. How long from install to logging your first rent payment? Apps requiring tenant invites or bank linking before you can use them lost points.
- Offline behavior. Most landlords work in the field. Apps that go blank without a signal aren't useful for property walkthroughs.
- Honest pricing escalation. We looked at what happens when you outgrow the free tier and whether the paid plans are reasonable for a small portfolio.
Property management isn't the only side hustle category where the right tool changes how the work feels. If you're a landlord who also freelances or contracts on the side, Stintly handles time tracking and self-employment finance with the same offline-first approach. Landlords who manage renovations or own a contracting business often pair their property tools with TrestleBook for construction project tracking and job costing — useful when a turnover becomes a full rehab.
Which App Is Right for You?
The right app depends on the part of landlording you want to make easier:
- If you want a simple ledger and document vault that just works: KeyLoft. No account, no monthly fee, no internet required.
- If your tenants want to pay rent online through a portal: Avail or TurboTenant. Avail edges out for the free ACH; TurboTenant edges out for marketing and screening.
- If your biggest headache is tax season and Schedule E: Stessa. Pair it with KeyLoft for the property-side workflow it doesn't cover.
- If you want a free full-service web platform and don't mind dated UI: Innago.
- If you have 1–3 units and want mobile-first with mileage tracking: Landlord Studio.
For most independent landlords managing under 20 units, the honest answer is that one app rarely covers everything. A common pattern is using KeyLoft for day-to-day property tracking, lease storage, and offline maintenance logging, then layering Stessa for accounting or TurboTenant for filling the next vacancy. None of those combinations cost a dollar — which is the whole point of a free stack.
Start with the workflow that's costing you the most time right now, pick the app that solves that one problem, and add tools only as they earn their place.