1–20 unit landlords
Tenant payment fees on DIY landlord software — ACH, card, cash
Subscription price is only half the story. For a 1–20 unit DIY landlord, the quieter line item is payment processing: ACH flat fees, card percentages, and whether cash/retail is even available. Those fees usually hit the tenant by default — but they still shape on-time rates, ACH-only policies, and whether a “free” plan is actually free once you waive fees yourself.
What this page is (and is not)
- Is: a side-by-side of published ACH / card / cash behavior for RentRedi, TurboTenant, and Avail, plus worked math on a $1,500 rent payment.
- Is not: a ranking, legal advice on fee disclosure, or a promise that processors never change rates overnight.
- Uncertainty rule: card % and ACH flats drift. Confirm in each vendor’s help center and in your live fee settings before you tell tenants a number.
Fee snapshot (verify on vendor pages)
| Channel | RentRedi | TurboTenant | Avail |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACH / bank | ~$1.00 per payment (tenant by default; landlord can cover) | ~$2.00 per payment on free; waived on paid Premium plan; landlord can cover $2 on free | ~$2.50 per payment on Unlimited (free); waived on Unlimited Plus; landlord cannot absorb |
| Credit / debit card | ~3.1% + $0.30 (tenant by default; landlord can cover; ACH-only mode available) | ~3.49% tenant-paid; not waivable | ~3.5% tenant-paid; not waivable / not absorbable by landlord |
| Cash / retail | Cash via Chime retail deposit, then pay as ACH (~$1 ACH fee). Retailer cash-load fees may apply separately — verify with Chime/retailer. | No in-platform cash retail network. Offline cash/check can be logged manually. | No in-platform cash retail network documented on pricing/help. Offline payments are outside Avail processing. |
| Who pays by default | Tenant; landlord can flip ACH and/or card coverage in settings | Tenant; landlord can cover ACH $2 on free; card stays tenant | Tenant; Plus waives ACH only — card always tenant |
Sources (Sep 2026): RentRedi help “Convenience Fees for Rent Payments” and debit-card fee article; TurboTenant landlord rent-payment FAQs / ACH guides; Avail pricing page + support articles on card fees and tenant fees. Plan names (e.g. TurboTenant “Premium” vs older Essentials/Pro labels) drift — match the live pricing table.
Worked example: one $1,500 rent payment
Approximate tenant-side convenience fee if they pay the full charge in one transaction. Card math uses the published % (plus RentRedi’s $0.30 where stated).
| Method | RentRedi | TurboTenant | Avail |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACH (default free/paid rules) | ~$1.00 | ~$2.00 free · ~$0 on Premium | ~$2.50 Unlimited · ~$0 on Plus |
| Card | ~3.1% + $0.30 ≈ $46.80 | ~3.49% ≈ $52.35 | ~3.5% ≈ $52.50 |
| Cash path | Chime load + ACH (~$1) + any retailer load fee | Offline only (no platform cash fee) | Offline only (no platform cash fee) |
Portfolio view: ACH fees add up quietly
Assume every unit pays once per month by ACH, landlord does not cover fees, and you stay on the free / default ACH rule (not the waived paid tier).
| Units | Payments / year | RentRedi @ $1 | TurboTenant @ $2 | Avail @ $2.50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 36 | ~$36/yr (tenant-paid) | ~$72/yr | ~$90/yr |
| 8 | 96 | ~$96/yr | ~$192/yr | ~$240/yr |
| 15 | 180 | ~$180/yr | ~$360/yr | ~$450/yr |
Those dollars usually come from tenants — not your subscription invoice. Still worth modeling if you plan to cover ACH yourself (RentRedi / TurboTenant free) or upgrade to a plan that waives ACH (TurboTenant Premium; Avail Unlimited Plus at ~$9/unit/mo).
How this interacts with subscription math
- Flat RentRedi (~$144/yr annual): low ACH ($1) and landlord can cover fees without buying a higher unit band. Card is expensive for tenants unless you cover it or turn cards off.
- TurboTenant free-first: free ACH still costs tenants ~$2 unless you cover it or move to Premium (waived ACH + faster deposit). Card ~3.49% stays tenant-paid.
- Avail Unlimited vs Plus: free Unlimited leaves ~$2.50 ACH on tenants; Plus (~$9/unit/mo) waives ACH and adds FastPay — but card ~3.5% never moves to the landlord.
Stack this page with per-unit vs flat-rate break-even and tenant screening costs: subscription first, then payment fees, then screening volume.
Policy choices that matter more than the brand
- ACH-first culture: encourage bank pay / autopay; treat card as a convenience option with the fee shown before submit.
- ACH-only mode: RentRedi documents disabling cards. Confirm whether TurboTenant / Avail offer the same control in your account before promising tenants “no cards.”
- Who covers ACH: covering $1–$2 per payment can reduce friction; covering card % on $1,500 rent is a different budget decision (~$47–$53 per payment).
- Cash reality: only RentRedi has a documented cash→retail→ACH path among these three. For unbanked tenants elsewhere, plan an offline cash/money-order workflow and log it in the ledger.
- NSF / returns: Avail documents a ~$15 returned ACH fee on the tenant’s next payment — see the full bounce workflow on NSF & returned payment fees before you set late-fee automation.
15-minute fee audit
- Open payment / rent settings in your current tool; screenshot who pays ACH and card.
- Run one $1,500-style quote in the tenant pay UI (or help-center numbers) for ACH and card.
- Ask: do any of your tenants need cash/retail? If yes, does the tool support it — or is that an offline process?
- Add annual ACH-fee exposure (fee × units × 12) to the same sheet as your subscription quote.
- Decide cover / waive / ACH-only before you invite the next lease to autopay.
Related
- NSF & returned payment fees — ACH bounce, processor return fees vs lease NSF, clawbacks
- Prorated rent & move-in charges — first-month proration, move-in bundles, mid-month credits
- Bank reconciliation & deposit matching — matching payouts net of fees to bank deposits
- Partial payments, credits & balance adjustments — short pays, landlord credits, ledger fixes
- Section 8 / HAP payments — HAP vs tenant portion; offline recording; method labels
- Renewals & lease extensions — notice windows, e-sign renewals vs new lease, rent bumps, free vs paid gates
- Security deposits & move-out — held vs returned, deductions, ACH vs external refunds, free vs paid ledger depth
- Tenant notices & communication logs — late rent reminders, entry notices, portal history, export vs statutory proof
- Per-unit vs flat-rate break-even — subscription math at 3 / 8 / 15 units
- RentRedi vs TurboTenant vs Avail — full criteria table
- Best PMS for 1–5 units — shortlist before you price fees
- Switch checklist — export balances before you change payment processors
- Tenant screening costs — who pays for credit / criminal / eviction, what’s in the bundle
- Where DIY tools list vacancies — Zillow, Apartments.com, Realtor.com syndication + paid boosts
- Late fees & autopay — grace periods, auto fees, who controls tenant autopay
- Maintenance & work orders — tenant submit, photos, vendor / work-order paths
- Lease & e-sign — state forms, wet vs e-sign, free vs paid gaps
- Accounting & Schedule E — expense categories, CSV/PDF exports, free vs paid books depth
- Owner statements & 1099 — investor packets, vendor totals for 1099-NEC prep, free vs paid gaps
- Rent roll & occupancy — what each exports (CSV/PDF/email), free vs paid gates, cutover handoff
- Utility billing & charge-backs — small utility charges and who pays the fee
- Small Portfolio Desk home
Educational product research only — not legal, tax, or fair-housing advice. Payment fees, plan names, and who-can-absorb rules change. Verify current figures in each vendor’s help center and your live dashboard before you advertise a fee to tenants or change autopay settings.