Your Options for Collecting Rent Online
There are several ways to collect rent online, each with different costs and trade-offs. Person-to-person payment apps like Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal are free but offer no tracking, no automation, and no lease integration. Free PM platforms like Avail and TurboTenant offer rent collection but often pass fees to tenants or charge for premium features.
Dedicated payment platforms like RentSolve AI via Stripe Connect offer professional rent collection with zero platform fees.
The Real Cost of Free Rent Collection
Nothing is truly free in payment processing. Every platform involves some cost. Venmo and Zelle are free but expose you to disputes and offer zero documentation.
Avail is free but charges tenants $2.50/transaction for expedited deposits. TurboTenant is free for landlords but charges tenants for every ACH payment. RentSolve AI charges zero platform fees with Stripe's standard processing of 0.8% for ACH ($12 on $1,500 rent).
The question isn't which is free, it's which gives you the most value for the lowest total cost.
Setting Up Rent Collection in RentSolve AI
Step 1: Create a free account at app.rentsolve.ai. Step 2: Add your property and unit. Step 3: Connect your Stripe account (Stripe setup is free).
Step 4: Add your tenant to the platform. Step 5: Tenant receives a portal invitation, adds their payment method, and optionally enrolls in auto-pay. Step 6: Rent is collected automatically each month.
The entire setup takes under 15 minutes. Rent collection is available on the Starter plan at $12/month with zero additional platform fees per transaction.
Auto-Pay vs Manual Payment
Auto-pay is the most reliable method. Tenants authorize automatic charges on the due date. You never send a reminder, never follow up, never manually record a payment.
If a charge fails, both parties are notified automatically. For tenants who prefer to pay manually, the portal accepts one-time payments at any time. Both methods result in automatic financial recording and receipt generation.