AppFolio and Yardi provide property management software solutions, each offering unique features for real estate professionals. This article compares these platforms, their functionalities, pricing structures, and suitability for different portfolio sizes and property types.
AppFolio Property Manager overview
AppFolio’s property management software supports companies with 50 units and up. The suite covers several areas of operations for commercial and residential properties, including:
- Tenant screening
- Collecting online payments
- Accounting functionality
- Maintenance requests
- Marketing to fill vacant units
- Lease management
Yardi overview
Yardi offers three property management solutions: Yardi Breeze serves small and mid-sized portfolios, Voyager caters to large property management companies, and Genesis2 targets small to mid-sized property management companies. However, Yardi has stopped supporting new Genesis2 customers and now directs existing customers to use Breeze instead.
These solutions support residential properties like multifamily and commercial properties like self-storage, office, and industrial.
- Leasing tools like rental applications and screening
- Online rent payments
- Property management
- Maintenance management
- Marketing for vacancies
AppFolio vs Yardi: Pros and cons
Since Yardi has two active suites of property management software, we’ll compare each to AppFolio Property Manager.
| AppFolio | Yardi Breeze | Yardi Voyager | |||
| Pros | Cons | Pros | Cons | Pros | Cons |
| User friendly | Limited customization | Easy to learn | Lease management | Reporting features | Learning curve |
| Customer support | Lease management | Easy to navigate | Reporting issues | Accounting capability | Usability |
AppFolio Property Manager vs Yardi: Key differences
Pricing
AppFolio Property Manager pricing includes three models
Core plan
- $1.49/unit per month, minimum $298: This tier includes a tenant portal, integrated accounting, reports for property managers, and standard support for residential properties. The same tier for commercial properties is $1.50/unit per month, with a minimum of $298. Commercial includes the same capabilities as residential plus common area maintenance tracking.
Plus plan
- $3.20/unit per month: For residential and commercial, this tier includes everything in the Core plan, as well as affordable housing, enhanced leasing metrics, AppFolio Stack for integrations plus higher support levels.
Max plan
- $5.00/unit per month: The Max tier supports residential and commercial. It includes everything in the Plus plan and incremental features like a leasing CRM, leasing signals, custom fields, database API, and a dedicated customer success manager.
Yardi Breeze pricing models include
Yardi Breeze
- $1 per unit per month, with a minimum of $100 for residential properties. Capabilities include property accounting, vacancy and prospect tracking, ILS posting, online payments, and online maintenance requests. The system also offers email/text communication tools, walk-in payments, vendor and owner payments, and live chat support.
- $2/unit per month, with a minimum of $200 for commercial properties. This pricing level includes live chat support, training videos, property accounting and reporting, vacancy and prospect tracking, online payments, and online maintenance. The package also provides email communications, automated CAM reconciliation, vendor payments, owner payments and reports, percentage rents, and sales information tracking.
Yardi Breeze Premier – Residential
- $400 minimum monthly charge. Includes everything in the first tier of Yardi Breeze plus support for rent deferment, rent control, customer relationship management, and job cost tracking. This tier also offers invoice approval and tracking, corporate accounting, the ability to customize financial statements, menu-level security, and batch processing.
- Additional charge items for Yardi Breeze Premier include property websites, an AI-powered chatbot, online lease documents, online lease signatures, a maintenance call center, and investment management.
Yardi Breeze Premier – Commercial
- Contact Yardi for the base fee pricing, plus features like rent deferment, job cost tracking, invoice approval and tracking, and customizable financial statements. This package also offers menu-level security, batch processing, a commercial tenant portal, and text communications.
- Additional charge items for Yardi Breeze Premier commercial include investment management, full-service check scanning, and full-service invoice processing.
Yardi Breeze Industry Solutions
Yardi also has different features and pricing for affordable housing, self-storage, associations, and manufactured housing.
Yardi Voyager
- Yardi does not list pricing for the Voyager suite on their website.
Best for
AppFolio is best for residential, student housing, commercial, community associations, and mixed portfolio property managers who manage 50+ units.
Yardi Breeze is used by residential, commercial, HOA/condo, affordable housing, manufactured housing, self-storage, and mixed portfolio property managers.
Yardi Voyager supports portfolios that need accounting, property management, workflow automation, alerts/notifications, a centralized database, and more.
Market segments
AppFolio’s property management software supports the following markets:
- Single-family property managers
- Multi-family property managers
- Student housing
- Affordable housing
- Community associations
- Commercial property managers
Yardi Breeze supports property management companies in these industries:
- Residential property
- Commercial property
- Affordable housing
- Self-storage
- Housing associations
- Manufactured housing
Yardi Voyager supports all the property management markets as Yardi Breeze plus these additional property types:
- Senior housing
- Co-working spaces
- Student housing
- Corporate
- Social housing
- Military housing
- Government
- Ports
- Harbors
- Airports
- Parks and recreation
Value for money
AppFolio has an overall rating on Capterra for value for the money of 4.3/5.0.
Yardi Breeze and Voyager both have ratings of 4.0/5.0 on Capterra for value for the money.
Customer support and training
AppFolio provides support via FAQ, a user forum, a knowledge base, chat, email/help desk, and phone. Training and onboarding resources include on-screen tours, help videos, and tutorials.
Voyager offers chat, phone, email, and help desk support, as well as live virtual training, webinars, and documentation.
Yardi Breeze and Breeze Premier offer live chat support on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time, with email support available after hours. Breeze includes 8 hours of free phone support during setup, while Premier provides 16 hours and a dedicated account manager. Additional phone support can be purchased.
Ease of admin
AppFolio receives a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 for ease of use on Capterra, with reviewers sharing that the software is easy to use.
Many users find Yardi Breeze to be user-friendly and easy to navigate. The software receives high marks for ease of use, with an average rating of 4 out of 5 in this category across multiple review platforms.
Yardi Voyager receives a rating of 4.0 out of 5.0 on Capterra. Some users report that initial setup can be challenging, but the system becomes usable once implemented.
Ease of setup
Users share that AppFolio’s onboarding process is technology-oriented and that the company recommends allocating a minimum of two weeks for system setup.
Yardi Breeze reviewers noted that the setup process is simple and fast. One user mentioned the ease of getting started and adding integrations.
Yardi Voyager is not as easy to set up. Users’ feedback is that the system’s comprehensive nature offers many features, which can be overwhelming for new users.
User experience
AppFolio has many features and options. Users share that it takes time to get to know the system.
Yardi Breeze users consistently share how user-friendly the platform is.
Yardi Voyager reviewers note that the system includes role-based dashboards and customizable views, which can help users quickly access the information and tools they need
Platforms supported
All three property management software solutions are cloud-based SaaS platforms. They support web-based desktop and mobile devices.
Deployment & support
AppFolio’s support plans include standard support with access to online resources and phone/email support. Other support that varies by plan includes a dedicated account manager, priority support, and custom reporting.
Yardi Breeze’s support focuses on self-service with a built-in help center, live chat and email support, webinars, and events.
Yardi Voyager offers phone and email support, training resources, on-screen tours, help videos, tutorials, and a dedicated support team.
Integrations
AppFolio Plus users have access to premium integrations through its marketplace. These integrations support rental properties with third-party solutions for collections, compliance, accounts payable, marketing, IoT/smart property technology, maintenance, and utilities.
Property management integrations available include:
- NetVendor
- ButterflyMX
- zInspector
- Happy Property
- Knock
- Conservice EST
- Opiniion
- Homebase
- ShowMojo
- RentCheck
The Yardi Breeze version of Yardi software provides integrations with partners in areas such as tenant screening, marketing vacancies, and revenue management.
Yardi Voyager offers 450+ interfaces with integrations in each of these categories:
- Applicant screening
- Billing and payments
- Collections
- Commercial API
- Common data
- Internet listing service
- Guest card
- Job cost
- Renter’s insurance
- Revenue management
- Senior living EHR and eMAR
- Service requests
- Vendors and payables
Security measures
AppFolio Property Manager protects data through encryption, TLS technology, advanced firewalls, and two-factor authentication. It uses secure data centers, performs nightly backups, and employs a dedicated security team. The system also offers custom user permissions and complies with industry regulations to protect client data from unauthorized access and cyber threats.
Yardi’s cloud security for both solutions includes TLS encryption, IPS, and multiple firewalls. The software uses secure authentication, mobile access support, and protected data centers. It follows PCI, SSAE 18, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HIPAA regulations and undergoes regular security testing.
Ratings & reviews
AppFolio receives the highest ratings across both platforms, with scores of 4.6 on G2 and 4.5 on Capterra, backed by the highest number of reviews. Yardi Breeze and Yardi Voyager have similar ratings, both scoring around 4.0 on G2 and 4.1 on Capterra.
| AppFolio | Yardi Breeze | Yardi Voyager | |
| G2 | 4.6 (448 reviews) | 4.0 (302 reviews) | 3.9 (211 reviews) |
| Capterra | 4.5 (1898 reviews) | 4.1 (211 reviews) | 4.1 (229 reviews) |
Recognitions
Capterra places AppFolio Property Manager Yardi Breeze and Yardi Voyager in their shortlist rankings for 2024.
G2 badges for Summer 2024 include Yardi Breeze and AppFolio leaders, and Yardi Voyager, which have the highest user adoption.
IN 2024, Yardi also won the Proptech and Innovation Award at the Variety PROPS Awards in the United Kingdom for its residential and commercial real estate property management capabilities.
Alternatives
Other alternatives include Buildium for property management software. See our other AppFolio comparisons for investor management software, including SyndicationPro, RealPage IMS, and JuniperSquare.
For dedicated real-estate investor management software, consider Agora’s comprehensive solution. We recently won the Best FinTech Solution of 2024 at the SIIA CODiE Awards and recognition in G2’s top 100 fastest-growing products for 2024.
Users rave about our platform and give us 4.8/5.0 stars on both Capterra and G2. Agora’s all-in-one solution helps you raise capital faster and keep your LPs informed and engaged.
With over 32 badges from G2 in the past year alone, we invite you to book a demo and see why we’re the leading choice for real estate investor management.
AppFolio vs Yardi: Which platform is better for you?
The best property management software for your organization depends on your specific needs and portfolio characteristics. AppFolio caters to portfolios with 50+ units, offering an all-in-one solution with a user-friendly interface and quick setup.
Yardi provides options for various portfolio sizes: Breeze for small to mid-sized portfolios and Voyager for larger, more complex ones. Both platforms provide comprehensive property management tools but differ in their approach to scalability, customization, and market focus.
Consider your portfolio size, property types, customization needs, and future growth plans when choosing. Both AppFolio and Yardi are strong platforms in the property management software market.
Conclusion
AppFolio and Yardi offer property management solutions for various portfolio sizes and types. While AppFolio and Yardi focus on property management, alternatives like Agora specialize in investor management and fundraising.
Each platform has its strengths, and the best choice depends on your specific requirements. Consider factors such as user interface, scalability, customization options, and integration capabilities. Evaluate multiple options to help align your choices with current needs and growth plans.
