Comparison · Structured data · Sourced
AppFolio vs Buildium: the 50 unit floor is the whole decision
First, a naming correction. The product most buyers still search for as AppFolio Property Manager is presented on the current AppFolio homepage and product page as the AppFolio Performance Platform, and the Property Manager name does not appear on either page. The plan structure is unchanged: Core, Plus and Max. Our data records the status as rebranded on the strength of that site evidence; no formal rename announcement was located.
Both products are classified residential, both are cloud, and both publish pricing. The difference that decides most evaluations is not a feature, it is a floor. AppFolio Core carries a 50 unit minimum plus a minimum monthly spend AppFolio does not publish. Buildium states no minimum unit count at all. If you manage fewer than 50 units, AppFolio has excluded you by its own terms and the comparison ends there.
Above that floor, the published figures are: AppFolio Core starting at 1.49 per unit per month, Plus at 3.20 and Max at 5.00, each labelled starting at and each with a Get a Quote button and a footnote stating minimum spend applies. Buildium Essential starts at 65 per month, Growth at 202 and Premium at 420. Both pages print a bare dollar sign with no ISO code, so US dollars is inferred from each being a US site rather than stated by the vendor. The AppFolio per unit rates are therefore floors with an unpublished minimum underneath them, which means a small AppFolio portfolio cannot calculate its bill from the published page. Review aggregators publish AppFolio minimum spend figures; they are not vendor sourced and are not used here.
Last reviewed 7 November 2026
The products
AppFolio Performance Platform
AppFolio, Inc.
AppFolio's property management platform, now marketed as the AppFolio Performance Platform rather than AppFolio Property Manager, sold in Core, Plus and Max plans with published starting per unit rates and a 50 unit minimum on Core.
Full profileBuildium
Buildium
Buildium is a cloud property management platform for residential managers, community associations and smaller commercial portfolios, with genuinely published tiered pricing starting at 65 per month and a 14 day free trial.
Full profileThe main differences
On verified capability the two are close, with one asymmetry worth money. Both verify accounting, maintenance requests, inspections, tenant and owner portals, reporting, lease management, unit level portfolio records and an API. AppFolio additionally documents marketing and leasing across the prospect to resident journey, unit turns, vendor coordination with AI automation, live chat and call requests, with affordable housing tooling, advanced leasing metrics, the AppFolio Stack Marketplace, live phone support and Accounting Performer on Plus, and a leasing CRM, leasing signals, custom fields, budgeting and the database API on Max. Buildium documents 1099 e filing, end to end payment processing, online leasing with templates and applicant eSignatures, a Maintenance Contact Center, a Resident Center, listing syndication, a free property management website and the Buildium Marketplace.
The asymmetry is where the API sits and what else is metered. On AppFolio the database API is a Max only item, which forces an integration requirement to the 5.00 per unit tier and changes the economics completely. On Buildium the Open API appears in the Premium plan highlights, so it is similarly a top tier entitlement. Buildium then meters more of the day to day: screening at 17 or 20 per report, eSignatures at 5 per document on Essential, card payments at 2.99 percent per transaction, inspections at a 99 setup plus 40 to 95 monthly on Essential, and required paid onboarding for new Growth and Premium customers. AppFolio says you only pay for what you need on value added services but does not list those prices at all, which is less transparent rather than cheaper.
Neither product has verified service charge handling. AppFolio lists commercial among its markets and Buildium lists commercial and mixed use, but in both cases recovery and apportionment handling is unverified, so a commercial led buyer should look at a commercial specialist instead.
Side by side
| Attribute | AppFolio Performance Platform | Buildium |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | AppFolio, Inc. | Buildium |
| Primary use | Residential property management | Residential property management |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Organisation size | Medium, Enterprise | Small, Medium |
| Licensing model | Commercial | Commercial |
| Free version | No | No |
| Trial | Not verified | Yes |
| Published price | USD 1.49 starting at, per unit per month, plus an unpublished minimum monthly spend | USD 65 per month, per plan, starting at, with several items charged separately per use |
| Product status | Rebranded | Active |
| Capabilities | ||
| Mobile app | Not verified | Not verified |
| Documented API | Yes source | Yes source |
| Listing and channel management | Not verified | Not verified |
| Reporting | Yes source | Yes source |
| Document management | Not verified | Not verified |
| Tenant portal | Yes source | Yes source |
| Owner portal | Yes source | Yes source |
| Inspections | Yes source | Yes source |
| Maintenance requests | Yes source | Yes source |
| Accounting and general ledger | Yes source | Yes source |
| Service charges and recoveries | Not verified | Not verified |
| Rent collection and payments | Not verified | Yes source |
| Lease management and renewals | Yes source | Yes source |
| Tenant management | Not verified | Yes source |
| Portfolio and unit management | Yes source | Yes source |
| Last reviewed | 7 November 2026 | 7 November 2026 |
| Profile | View profile | View profile |
Not verified means the capability has not been checked for that product. It does not mean the product lacks it. Blank cells and unverified rows are never counted as a "no".
Strengths and limitations
Drawn from each product's own profile, where every item is labelled a verified fact or an editorial judgement.
AppFolio Performance Platform
Read the full assessmentBuildium
Read the full assessmentWhich to choose
Buy Buildium below 50 units, because AppFolio will not sell to you, and buy it anywhere up to a few hundred units if you want to evaluate on your own data before committing. The 14 day trial with sample data and no card is the single most useful thing either vendor offers a cautious buyer. Buildium is also the choice for community association management, which it names as a property type and prices by phone.
Buy the AppFolio Performance Platform if you are a professional residential manager comfortably above the 50 unit floor, roughly in the 200 to 2,000 unit range, and your priority is automation across marketing, leasing, resident communication, maintenance triage and unit turns rather than configurability. Single family, multifamily, student and affordable operators are all explicitly addressed, and the owner portal and reporting suit third party managers answering to owners.
Run the evaluation on cost structure, not headline rate. With AppFolio, make the minimum monthly spend your first question and get it in writing with the term, then price the value added services you will actually use. With Buildium, model your screening, eSignature and card payment volumes into the monthly figure and ask for the onboarding price. With both, decide early whether you need API access, because on each product that decision pushes you to the most expensive tier. And verify any third party pricing you have already seen against the vendor pages only: several review sites publish AppFolio rates and minimums that conflict with each other and with the AppFolio page itself. If maintenance throughput is the problem you are actually solving, our guide to work order software for maintenance teams is a useful second lens.
Frequently asked questions
Not on the current AppFolio site. The homepage and product page present the AppFolio Performance Platform and the Property Manager name does not appear on either. The plans are still Core, Plus and Max. The rename is recorded from site evidence; no formal announcement was found.
No, on the published terms. AppFolio Core states that a minimum spend and a 50 unit minimum apply. Below that threshold Buildium, which states no minimum unit count, is the practical comparison.
It cannot be settled from published pages. AppFolio publishes per unit rates but not the minimum monthly spend. Buildium publishes plan prices but meters screening, eSignatures, card payments and inspections separately and requires paid onboarding on upper plans whose price is not published.
Effectively yes on both. The AppFolio database API is listed only under the Max plan at a starting 5.00 per unit per month. The Buildium Open API appears in the Premium plan highlights, which starts at 420 per month. Treat API access as a tier decision on either product.
Related comparisons
Sources and review basis
Attribute values come from each product's structured profile rather than being written into this page, so a correction made once appears everywhere. This comparison was last reviewed on 7 November 2026. Assessment of this category is documentation-based, not hands-on testing of every product.
- AppFolio pricing accessed 7 November 2026
- AppFolio Performance Platform accessed 7 November 2026
- Buildium pricing accessed 7 November 2026
- Buildium features accessed 7 November 2026
Disclosure
Alongside advisory work I also build a CMMS and CAFM platform, so I have a commercial interest in enterprise software generally. No vendor here has paid for inclusion, placement or wording, and there are no reseller or affiliate arrangements.
Deciding between these?
Independent help scoring them against your actual requirement rather than a feature list, and designing the integration work that follows. No reseller arrangements.
Book a conversationWant a different pairing? Build your own comparison from any products in the directory.