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Research study ·

Rent Payment Fee Transparency Report 2026

How four property-management software vendors document online rent payment fees, separating posted schedules from resident payment-flow disclosures where available.

Methodology

Research window 2026-09-24 to 2026-09-24

  • This is a desk review of first-party vendor pages, not a survey of residents or property managers. The current review window is 2026-09-24; each cited source below shows the date it was read.
  • A monetary amount or percentage is included only when it appears on the cited vendor page. Figures that appear only in news coverage, reviews or secondary summaries are excluded, even when widely repeated.
  • Vendor wording is paraphrased closely and hedges are kept: where a vendor says a fee “usually” applies, this report says so too.
  • The report identifies who pays only when the cited vendor page says so. A plan-level price table is not treated as a statement about who bears a fee.
  • Vendor prices change; verify before relying.

Findings

Buildium publishes per-plan online payment fees

Buildium’s pricing page lists incoming EFT at $2.35 per transaction on Essential and $1.35 on Growth. On Premium, incoming EFT is free for the first 12 months, then $0.60. Outgoing EFT is $0.99 and credit cards are 2.99% on all three plans. [Buildium, read 2026-09-24]

AppFolio discloses online fees at payment time and lists differing cash-payment amounts

AppFolio’s resident portal help says a fee for an online portal payment is displayed before submission. Any applicable online-payment fee appears separately on the resident’s bank statement as APPFOLIO_TXNFEE. [AppFolio, read 2026-09-24]

In its Certified Funds section, the page lists an electronic-cash payment fee of $4.99 per transaction. Its other cash-payment section lists $3.99 for up to $2,000 ($1,500 at 7-Eleven). The page does not explain the difference; confirm the applicable cash fee on your PaySlip or with your property manager. [AppFolio, read 2026-09-24]

Yardi Breeze states that ACH is free for clients and card fees usually pass to residents

Yardi states that ACH payments for Breeze clients are free and that credit card payments usually carry a processing fee of 2.5–3% passed to the resident. [Yardi Breeze, read 2026-09-24] The vendor’s “usually” is a hedge, so the range is not a fixed rate.

For context on subscription cost rather than payment fees, Yardi Breeze lists residential software at $1 per unit per month with a $100 monthly minimum on an annual agreement. [Yardi Breeze, read 2026-09-24]

DoorLoop publishes tenant platform fees by plan

DoorLoop states that tenant ACH bank transfer payments carry a platform fee of $2.49 per transaction on Starter, $0.99 on Pro and none on Premium, and that tenant credit and debit card payments carry a platform fee of 3.25% per transaction on all three plans, and 4% for international credit cards. [DoorLoop, read 2026-09-24]

Analysis of the sourced findings above

Disclosure varies by vendor and source type

Across these four vendors, fee information appears on a public pricing page (Buildium), help pages (AppFolio and DoorLoop), or a vendor blog and residential pricing page (Yardi Breeze). The pages report different kinds of information; this report does not infer who pays when the cited page does not identify the payer.

Limitations

  • Vendor prices change without notice. Every figure is as read on the date shown beside its source and may be out of date when you read this.
  • State surcharge and convenience-fee statutes are not summarized. Rules on whether and how much a resident can be charged to pay rent electronically vary by state and change; read the statute text and consult counsel for any property you manage.
  • Coverage is limited to these four vendors and the cited pages; negotiated or contract pricing is not reflected.
  • Card fee percentages apply to the payment amount; the report does not compute a dollar cost for any particular rent.

Sources

  1. Buildium: Pricingvendor page · read 2026-09-24
  2. AppFolio: Online Portal helpvendor page · read 2026-09-24
  3. Yardi Breeze: Online payments for rent (vendor blog)vendor page · read 2026-09-24
  4. Yardi Breeze: Residential features and pricingvendor page · read 2026-09-24
  5. DoorLoop: Tenant platform fees on the portal (support)vendor documentation · read 2026-09-24