Innago vs Rentec Direct: Which Fits Your Portfolio in 2027

Pick the cost model before the feature list

TL;DR: Innago suits a landlord who wants no software bill, because tenants and applicants pay its payment and screening fees by default. Rentec Direct suits a manager who needs ledger-level accounting, owner reporting and trust funds, and who will pay a monthly subscription for them.

Property management software is a hosted system that tracks rent, leases, maintenance and the owner and tenant records behind them. For Innago and Rentec Direct, the first question is who pays for the software, because that answer shapes most of the rest. Innago's pricing page says "No monthly fee. No setup fee. No contract." according to Innago. The per-payment costs move to the tenant: Tenant ACH fee: $2 per payment according to Innago (page checked 2026), and the same help page puts card payments at a 2.99% fee, paid by the tenant by default.

Rentec works the other way, with a flat subscription. Starter plan: $25 per month according to Rentec Direct (2026) covers up to 10 properties, and the Pro and PM plans start at $50 a month on the same page. Some third-party reviews quote higher Pro and PM prices than the vendor page shows, so confirm the live figure before you budget.

The category follows from the cost model. A small portfolio that can accept tenant-paid fees gets the simpler bill from Innago. A manager who needs general-ledger books and owner reporting pays Rentec's subscription for that work. Neither product appears renamed, merged or discontinued in the sources we checked, and both vendors' pricing pages describe live products with current terms.

Key Takeaways

• Innago's pricing page shows no paid landlord tier, and its help center puts ACH, card and screening fees on the tenant or applicant by default.

• Rentec Direct's Starter plan is a flat monthly rate for up to 10 properties, and its Pro and PM plans start at $50 a month.

• Trust accounting is the sharpest dividing line. One third-party review says Innago does not offer it, while Rentec's pricing page ties trust accounting to its PM plan.

• Rentec's Open API is included on Pro and PM at no additional cost. The Innago pages we opened do not document a public API.

• Review scores conflict across sites, and some reviewers report payout delays on Innago, so ratings alone will not settle the choice.

• Choose Innago for a small, cost-first portfolio with no owner funds. Choose Rentec Direct when accounting, owner reporting or an API connection carries real weight.

How we evaluated these two products

The comparison scores both products on seven criteria. The weights below are our judgment for a small landlord, not vendor data. Cost carries the largest weight because it decides who gets billed. Trust accounting sits high because a missing feature there can rule a product out entirely. Review signals carry the least weight because the sources we opened disagree on scores and review counts. Every price in this article comes from a vendor pricing or help page we opened, and every third-party claim is attributed to the page that made it.

The weights total 100%. A product that fails the trust-accounting criterion is a poor fit for a manager who holds owner funds, whatever its score elsewhere.

Feature matrix: what each vendor publishes

Table 2 compares the features buyers check first. Where Innago's pages say nothing, the cell reads "Not confirmed" rather than assuming the feature exists.

The Innago column draws on its pricing and help pages, with reviews filling gaps the pages leave. The Rentec column draws on its pricing, features and Open API pages. Rentec's features page describes full general-ledger accounting for properties, tenants and owners, plus trust account software for property managers who need it. Most of those features appear without a plan name, so confirm which plan includes each one before you buy.

Pricing and total cost: what each setup bills you

Pricing checked October 29, 2026. Every Rentec figure in the table comes from Rentec's pricing page, and every Innago figure comes from its pricing and help pages cited in the first section. For a second source on the entry price, Entry price: $25 per month for up to 10 properties according to Baselane (2026), which matches the vendor page. Rentec's Pro and PM screening runs from Pro and PM screening: $10 to $18 per report according to Rentec Direct (2026), while Innago's applicant screening runs $30 to $35 per report, according to iPropertyManagement (updated August 4, 2026).

Worked example (illustrative, not a real account): picture an owner with 3 properties, 12 units, 12 rent payments by ACH in one month and 4 applicants screened. On Innago, the tenants pay 12 × $2 = $24 in ACH fees across the month, and each applicant pays $30 for screening, which totals $120 on the applicant side, so the owner's software bill stays at $0 under the default setup. On Rentec's Pro plan, the subscription starts at $50, and the 3 properties each include one free incoming ACH, so 9 extra payments at $0.50 add $4.50, for $54.50 before screening. This assumes the owner carries Rentec's ACH charges. If the owner pays the $18 Premium screening for each of the 4 applicants, that adds $72 and brings the Rentec total to $126.50. Rentec's Open API getting-started guide names renter_id, the field that ties a message to a tenant, which is the join key any sync between a Rentec account and an outside system would need.

Innago: best fit, limits and setup

Innago fits the landlord who wants the lowest recurring software bill and accepts that tenants carry the card and ACH charges. Review sites rate it well: one review reports Capterra and G2 scores of 4.9, with 531 G2 reviews, according to AI Tools Bakery.

The limits sit in accounting and money movement. The same review says Innago does not offer trust accounting and calls it "the wrong tool" for managing other owners' funds. It also reports payout delay and hold complaints on BBB and BiggerPockets, and it describes reporting as basic, with no accounting module that handles classes or journal entries. Baselane's listing says Innago has no integrated banking. One iPropertyManagement reviewer wrote that "Customer service is almost impossible to reach," so support is worth testing before you commit.

Innago's owner portal is not confirmed on the pages we opened. A search result names one, but we did not verify it, so ask Innago to confirm it in writing before you rely on owner access.

Setup is account creation, property and tenant entry, and turning on online payments. Decide who carries the fees before the first rent cycle, because Innago's help center says the landlord can choose to cover either the ACH or the card fee instead of the tenant.

A proposed US Tech Automations build for an Innago account would run at month-end, after rent payments and tenant fees have posted. The configurable workflow would export the payment report, match each payment to its QuickBooks entry, and write an exceptions list of payments with no match. The prerequisites are confirming that a report export exists on your plan, since the Innago pages we opened do not document an API, and confirming the QuickBooks connection. The human review point is a bookkeeper who reviews every exception before the month closes, with nothing posting to the books automatically.

Rentec Direct: best fit, limits and setup

Rentec Direct fits the manager who needs accounting and owner work in one system. Its features page describes general-ledger accounting for properties, tenants and owners, and trust account software for property managers who must follow their state's real estate board rules. One third-party review gives it 4.6 on Capterra from 179 reviews, according to AI Tools Bakery (2026), and the same review praises responsive US-based support.

The same review lists the weak points. Access is through a mobile-responsive web interface rather than a dedicated manager app, accounting lacks QuickBooks-style classes, and the product offers little AI-driven leasing or maintenance triage. Autopay authorizations generally do not transfer, so residents must re-enroll if you switch. The review also quotes Pro and PM prices above the vendor page, which is one more reason to check the live page on the day you buy.

Setup starts with roles. Managers with Full Permissions can see API keys by default, and other users need "Allow access to Utilities: API Keys" set to Yes before they can generate one. Keys are created under Settings, then Utilities, then API Keys. Rentec's Open API page says you maintain control over which integrations are active and what permissions they have.

A configurable US Tech Automations workflow for a Rentec Pro or PM account would start when a new work order appears. Rentec's help guide lists a polled NEW WORK ORDER trigger for Zapier, so the workflow reads the work order's priority field and, at 4 or higher, prepares a vendor request and a draft owner notice. The output is a queue item for review, not an automatic send. The prerequisites are a Pro or PM plan, an API key created by a user with Full Permissions, and a named integration user with limited access. The human review points are the vendor spend and every owner notice, which a manager approves before anything leaves the system.

Who this is for

Innago fits an owner or operations lead who manages a small portfolio, wants no monthly software bill, and is comfortable with tenants paying transaction fees. Red flags: you hold or pay out owner funds, you need an API you can confirm in writing, or you need owner statements without a spreadsheet.

Rentec Direct fits a manager who needs ledger-level accounting, owner reporting or trust accounting and will pay a subscription to get them. Red flags: you want zero recurring software cost, you need AI-driven leasing or maintenance triage, or no one on your team will set up API keys and permissions.

Zapier, Make, n8n or in-house: the fair comparison

Many landlords would otherwise stitch these tools together in Zapier, Make or n8n, or build a script in-house. Those tools can keep run histories, retries, error branches and audit evidence when they are configured that way. The buyer still has to design and own idempotency, so a retried job does not create a duplicate vendor request. The buyer also owns escalation to a named person, access controls for the API key, and maintenance when a vendor changes an endpoint. Rentec's Open API documentation makes a Zapier connection practical, but the Innago pages we opened do not document a comparable connection, so an Innago build depends on exports. A proposed US Tech Automations design could configure the same work-order trigger with a run log, a retry limit and an escalation step to a named manager. The prerequisites are the ones listed above, and the review points stay with the owner of the account.

Common mistakes

• Comparing only subscription prices. Innago's zero line item looks cheapest until tenants push back on the fees they carry.

• Assuming "free" means no fees. Innago's ACH, card and screening charges are real, and Rentec's per-payment charges apply on Starter, Pro and PM.

• Buying Rentec's Starter plan for owner work. The pricing page ties owner ACH payments and trust accounting to the PM plan.

• Trusting one review score. Ratings and review counts differ across Capterra, G2 and Trustpilot pages.

• Forgetting the 2,500-unit line. Above 2,500 units, Rentec's pricing is quote-based.

• Assuming every user can create API keys. By default only managers with Full Permissions can see them.

Decision checklist before you sign

• Do you hold or pay out owner funds? If yes, Innago's trust-accounting gap rules it out.

• Do owners need statements or portal access? Get Innago's owner-portal answer in writing, and confirm which Rentec plan includes its owner portal.

• Do you need a QuickBooks sync? Both products list one, so confirm it is on the plan you will pay for.

• Will tenants carry the fees, or will you? Decide before setup, because Innago lets the landlord take either fee.

• Will you connect outside tools? The pages we opened document an Open API only for Rentec's Pro and PM plans.

• Have you read the live pricing pages on the day you buy?

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: it is not the right first step for a single property where Innago's built-in rent collection and reminders cover the work, for a manager who will not maintain an API key or a scheduled export, or for a team that only wants a bookkeeping product. In those cases the vendor's own tools, or a plain spreadsheet, are the simpler choice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Innago free for landlords?

Yes, Innago charges landlords no monthly, setup or contract fee, but tenants and applicants pay its ACH, card and screening fees by default.

Does Rentec Direct have a free plan?

No, Rentec Direct has no free plan; it offers a two-week free trial on all editions, and its cheapest paid plan, Starter, is $25 a month.

Which product handles trust accounting?

Rentec Direct does, on its PM plan, while the Innago review we opened says Innago does not offer trust accounting.

Does Innago have a public API?

The Innago pages we opened do not document a public API, so confirm that in writing before you plan an integration.

Can Rentec Direct connect to Zapier?

Yes, its Open API getting-started guide describes Zapier triggers and actions, including a polled NEW WORK ORDER trigger, and the Open API is included at no additional cost on Pro and PM.

What do tenants pay on each product?

On Innago, tenants pay $2 per ACH payment and 2.99% on cards by default, and applicants pay screening. On Rentec, the pricing page lets the tenant or the manager pay card fees and charges tenants $4.99 per cash payment on Pro and PM.

Bottom line

Pick Innago if the cost model matters most, the portfolio is small and no owner funds pass through the software. Pick Rentec Direct if accounting, owner reporting or an API connection carries real weight and you will pay a monthly subscription to get them. Before you sign, check both live pricing pages, get Innago's owner-portal and API answers in writing, and confirm the plan that includes each feature you need. For a workflow layer on either system, see how US Tech Automations configures this.