Property management website platforms, compared.
What is a property management website platform?
A property management website platform is the website product sold with your property management software, such as AppFolio Sites. We compare each one with a custom site the property owns, on the same eight questions, using only the vendor’s own pages, each linked and dated.
Property management website platform comparisons
One page per platform, published only when the vendor’s own documents answer our questions. More follow as they do.
Compare the approach, not just the vendor
The eight questions we ask of every platform
Fixed rows, in the same order, on every page, so no platform is judged on a different test.
Who owns the site
Does the property own the site, content and domain?
Code access
Can the property or its agency change the code, or take it with them?
Search control
Titles, descriptions, headings, URLs, schema, redirects and content.
Speed
Mobile performance on real community sites, from our dated benchmark only.
Design freedom
Templates only, theme options or fully custom.
Lead and data ownership
Who holds the leads, whether they export, which analytics you can install.
Switching cost
What happens to the site, domain and URLs when you change software.
5-year cost and return
The website cost on both sides, and what the site is worth to the asset.
Keep the software. Replace the website.
We move communities off platform templates onto sites they own: domain, redirects and integrations handled, with the old site live until the new one launches.
Website platform questions
Is the website from my property management software good enough?
It can be, for a community with steady demand and no plans to sell. When a community competes for renters, the limits on design, search control and ownership start to cost leases. Each platform page shows those limits in the vendor’s own words.
Where do the facts on these comparisons come from?
Only from the vendor’s own pages: product pages, help articles, terms and press releases. Each fact links to its source with the date we read it and an archived copy where one exists. Agency blogs and review sites are not used.
Why is there no speed score for each platform yet?
Because we publish speed figures only from our own dated benchmark, which tests real community sites on each platform the same way on the same day. Until it runs, the speed row says so.
Can I keep my property management software and get a custom website?
Yes. Most owners keep the software for operations and replace only the website. The custom site connects to the software for listings and leads.
Find out what your platform site costs you.
Bring your current site to a strategy session. We will compare it with what a custom build would do in your market, and put a number on the difference at a 5% cap rate.
- A working call on your property, not a pitch
- A strategist replies within one business day
- Clear priorities, whether or not you hire us