TurboTenant vs Avail
Vendor pages read live on 2026-09-04 · prices change without notice
Both call themselves free to landlords, and both are, at the entry tier. The difference is where the money comes from instead, and how much of it your tenant notices.
- Best overall
- AvailA genuinely free tier that keeps state-specific leases and screening, with a flat $9 per unit if you want the upgrade.
- Best free
- AvailTurboTenant's free tier pushes a $2 ACH fee and a higher screening fee onto the tenant.
- Best for many units
- TurboTenantIts plans are priced per portfolio band, not per unit — cheaper above roughly twenty doors.
What each one costs, read from the vendor's own page
| TurboTenant | Avail | |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord plan | Essentials $149/yr, Pro $199/yr (1–10 units) | Unlimited $0/unit; Unlimited Plus $9/unit/month |
| Scales by | Portfolio band (11–30, 31–60, 61+) | Per unit |
| Tenant screening fee | $55 on the free plan; $45 for upgraded landlords | Included in the workflow; charged to the applicant |
| Tenant ACH fee | $2 on the free plan | $2.50 on Unlimited; waived on Unlimited Plus |
| Card processing | 3.49% | 3.5% |
Read live from turbotenant.com/pricing and avail.co/pricing on 2026-09-04. Both vendors change these without notice.
The band pricing is where it flips
Avail's $9 per unit is simple and linear: ten units is $90 a month. TurboTenant's Pro tier is $199 a year for one to ten units and $399 for eleven to thirty — a portfolio of twenty doors pays roughly $33 a month rather than $180.
Below about five units the free tiers are indistinguishable in cost and you should choose on workflow. Above about twenty, the band pricing is decisive. Work your own break-even against the cash flow calculator — software is an operating expense like any other.
Who actually pays
"Free for landlords" means the tenant pays. On TurboTenant's free plan that is a $2 charge on every bank transfer plus a $55 screening fee; on Avail's free tier a $2.50 bank-transfer charge. Over a year, the ACH fee alone is $24 to $30 of your tenant's money — a real number in a rent negotiation, and one they will mention.
Paying the upgrade can be a tenant-relations decision
Avail's Unlimited Plus waives the ACH charge. On a single unit that is $108 a year to remove a monthly irritation the tenant sees every time they pay you.
Choosing
Buying checklist
Count your doors and price both against them. Check whether your state's lease is offered. Confirm who pays the screening fee and how much. Ask what happens to your documents if you leave. Then run one full cycle — application, screening, lease, first payment — before you move the whole portfolio.
Whichever you pick, the rental application template is the criteria set you should be applying inside it, and the adverse action duty in the tenant screening guide is yours, not the platform's.