Mature and widely used
A long time in market, a large customer base, deep documentation, and an established accounting core.
Comparison · verified August 2026
SMPLR HOA vs Buildium
Buildium is a rental-first platform, now part of RealPage, with association features added on. SMPLR is association-only. That difference explains most of what follows — and the per-transaction fees explain much of the rest.
The short version
Buildium is capable software with a long track record in residential property management. For an association the friction is that the object model and the fee structure were designed around leases and tenants: per-transaction payment fees add up fast when 300 homeowners pay every month, and the governance workflows — violations escalation, architectural review — are lighter than an association-first product.
- Buildium is best forProperty managers whose portfolio is mostly rentals, with associations as a secondary line of business.
- SMPLR is best forAssociations as the whole business — self-managed boards, and association-only management companies running thousands of units.
- The deciding questionCount your monthly payment transactions and multiply by the per-item fee before you compare plan prices. Then compare what happens to a violation after the second notice.
SMPLR HOA and Buildium, line by line.
Every row is one capability. A mark says how each product covers it; the words underneath say how far that cover goes.
| Feature | SMPLR HOA | Buildium |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Sliding scale per home, one plan | Flat plan tiers |
| Entry price | $54 / mo at 25 homes, then about $1.05 per additional home | ~$62 / mo (Essential) |
| Minimum | 25 homes — our minimum community size | Plan floor, plus per-transaction and per-bank-account fees |
| Scale | To 4,000 homes in one association; thousands of units across a Multi-Portfolio account | Rental and association portfolios at enterprise size |
- Included
- Included · per use
- Third-party
- Limited
- Add-on
- Not offered
- Roadmap
- Unverified
| Capability | SMPLR HOA | Buildium |
|---|---|---|
| PlatformWhat the product is, and who touches it. | ||
| Rental Property Management | RoadmapSMPLR Rentals | IncludedRental-first core |
| Multi-Portfolio | IncludedDozens of associations, thousands of units | Included |
| Website Builder | IncludedYour own domain | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Resident Portal | Included | IncludedResident Center |
| Native Mobile App | LimitedMobile web | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Money & accountingThe part a treasurer lives in. | ||
| Accounting Ledger | IncludedCash or accrual | IncludedProperty-management GL |
| Reserve Tracking | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Dues Invoicing | Included | Included |
| Autopay | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| ACH Payments | Included · per usePublished rate | Included · per usePer-transaction fee |
| Card Payments | Included · per usePublished rate | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Check Lockbox | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Bank Reconciliation | IncludedPlaid-linked | IncludedAutomatic reconciliation |
| Bill Payment | IncludedApproval-gated checks | IncludedOnline bill pay, vendor epay |
| Vendor Management | IncludedW-9s & COIs | Included |
| 1099 E-Filing | Included1099-NEC e-file | Included1099 e-filing |
| QuickBooks Sync | IncludedTwo-way sync | Not offeredNo native integration; Open API |
| Governance & complianceThe association-specific work. | ||
| Violation Tracking | Included | IncludedLighter escalation |
| Notice Automation | IncludedPer state | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Architectural Review | Included | IncludedRequests for board review |
| Work Orders | Included | IncludedMaintenance & tasks |
| Virtual Meeting Platform | IncludedHosted in the app, with dial-in | Third-partyZoom, Teams or Meet, outside the platform |
| Meeting Recording & Transcript | IncludedRecorded and transcribed to the file | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Agendas, Motions & Minutes | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Owner eVoting | IncludedWeighted ballots | Included |
| Document Library | Included | IncludedFinancials & minutes |
| Amenity Booking | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Volunteer Rewards | Roadmap | UnverifiedNot verified |
| CommunicationReaching every owner, including the offline ones. | ||
| Broadcast Notifications | Included | IncludedAssociation-wide |
| SMS Messaging | Included | Included |
| Shared Inbox | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Certified Mail | Included · per usePostage at cost | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Print & Mail | Included · per usePostage at cost | UnverifiedNot verified |
| AIWhat the AI is trusted to do. | ||
| AI Workflow Automation | IncludedMilo | IncludedLumina AI |
| AI Reconciliation | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| AI Voice Agent | IncludedSMPLR Voice | UnverifiedNot verified |
| AI Chat Agent | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| AI Meeting Minutes | Included | UnverifiedNot verified |
| AI Document Search | IncludedCited answers | UnverifiedNot verified |
| CommercialsTrying it, joining, and leaving. | ||
| Free Trial | Included30 days, no card | Included14 days, no card |
| Migration | IncludedWhite-glove | UnverifiedNot verified |
| Commitment | IncludedMonthly, cancel anytime | UnverifiedNot verified |
The Buildium column is compiled from that vendor's own published product, pricing and help pages, and from published comparisons, as of August 2026. Unverified means we could not confirm it publicly — not that the capability is missing; Not offered appears only where a source states the absence. Included · per use means it is in the plan but billed by usage, like postage or a per-check fee. Third-party means the job gets done, but on an outside tool the vendor points you to rather than inside the product — the vendor's own material has to say so before we mark it. The SMPLR column repeats what our own product and pricing pages already claim — including where our honest answer is “no.” Sources are at the foot of this page, and corrections are welcome.
Where Buildium is genuinely strong.
Strong rental tooling
Leasing, tenant screening and rent collection are first-class. If a real part of your portfolio is rental doors, that matters.
Real AI investment
The Lumina AI suite automates routine work and drafts communications — the same direction we are pushing, from a much larger company.
What you get on SMPLR that changes the week.
Association work is the point, not a module
Violation escalation with state notice timing, ARC with quorum logic and decision letters, board packets, reserve tracking and AGM minutes are the primary workflows here — not adaptations of a leasing flow.
Transaction fees you can see coming
Flat per-item payment fees are easy to overlook: at 300 homes paying monthly, $2.35 per EFT is $8,460 a year. SMPLR publishes payment and mail rates as pay-as-you-use lines with no markup games.
Elections and meetings included
Anonymous ballots, weighted voting, quorum logic and live results, plus recording, transcript and AI-drafted minutes — rather than a calendar entry and a separate voting vendor.
A volunteer can run it
The product is designed so a treasurer with a day job can close the month. That is a different design target from a trained operator sitting in it eight hours a day.
The meeting itself is in the product
Buildium's own guide to running a board meeting tells you to bring Zoom, Teams or Meet. SMPLR hosts the video instead: owners join from the portal they pay dues in, there is a dial-in number for the member with bad WiFi, attendance and quorum are counted as people arrive, motions and votes are recorded live, and the recording and transcript become the minutes without anybody downloading a file.
Switching
Migration is included, and we do it.
Hand us your last twelve months of bank statements, your owner roster, your governing documents, and your violation history. We migrate the ledger, the unit records, and the document vault — typically in under two weeks, with one email to homeowners at the end.
- No migration or setup fee, at any size
- Opening balances reconciled with your treasurer before go-live
- Autopay re-enrollment handled for owners, not restarted
- 30-day free trial, no card, cancel any time
Questions
Straight answers about the switch.
Still deciding? Tell us your home count and what you run today, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the better fit.
Talk to salesDoes SMPLR handle rentals?
Not yet. SMPLR Rentals is on the roadmap with a waitlist. If a meaningful share of your portfolio is rental doors today, a rental-first platform is still the right call for those doors.
How does the accounting compare?
SMPLR has an HOA-specific general ledger with reserve fund tracking, AR aging and auditor-ready reports, and it syncs two-way with QuickBooks nightly if your CPA would rather stay there.
Is migration from Buildium supported?
Yes, and it is included. Ledger history, owner roster, open balances, documents and violation history come across, typically in under two weeks.
Where do the Buildium details come from?
Buildium's published pricing and product pages and its own published comparisons, checked in August 2026. Confirm your own numbers in writing, including per-transaction payment fees and any per-bank-account charge.
The rest of the shortlist.
Sources
- Buildium pricing
- Buildium features
- Buildium Resident Center
- Buildium 1099 e-filing
- Buildium vs QuickBooks
- Buildium on running HOA board meetings
- What HOA software actually costs in 2026
Competitor pricing and capabilities change. We check these pages on a schedule and date them at the top — if something here is out of date or wrong, email hello@madesmplr.com and we will fix it.
Start with one community. Or all forty.
Free for thirty days. No card required.
For management companies with 500+ doors, ask about Multi-Portfolio onboarding.