rents.ai vs Rentec Direct
A full general ledger, or the landlord half of one.
Rentec Direct is a complete accounting product with the operations attached: a general ledger, free ACH rent collection, screening at $10 to $18 a report, syndication, 1099 e-filing, work orders, a tenant portal and a mobile app, at $55/mo for Rentec Pro or $65/mo for Rentec PM with trust accounting. rents.ai is a third of that price and a fraction of that product. The case for it is one workflow, not a feature count.
Short answer
Rentec Pro is $55/mo for landlords and investors and Rentec PM is $65/mo with trust accounting, both with a full general ledger, free ACH rent collection, tenant screening at $10 to $18 a report, syndication, 1099 e-filing, a mobile app and a two-week no-card trial. rents.ai is $18/mo for unlimited properties and does none of the collection, screening or filing. It computes 27.5-year residential depreciation and keeps a per-property Schedule E rollup instead.
What each one costs
Published prices, both sides.
Rentec Direct
- Rentec Pro
- $55/mo
- Rentec PM
- $65/mo
for landlords and investors; annual discount offered
adds trust accounting and owner portals
rents.ai
- Basic
- $10/mo
- Pro
- $18/mo
- Trial
- $0
one property, every feature
unlimited properties, every feature
7 days
Rentec Direct figures read from rentecdirect.com/pricing on August 10, 2026. Products change. If a line here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
The $10 question
What the subscription actually buys.
A year-round record for each property: rent roll, ledger, work orders, documents, deposits, notes, and renewal dates. No bank login is required, no rent moves through the product, and nothing changes for your tenants. Keep collecting rent exactly how you do today. If that is not the gap you have, Rentec Directis very likely the better answer.
Side by side
Where each one actually earns its keep.
| What it does | Rentec Direct | rents.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Free plana plan you can stay on at $0, not a trial | two-week free trial, then paid | paid only, after a 7-day trial |
| Automatic bank feedspulls transactions from a connected bank login | not stated on the pricing page | manual entry or CSV import; no bank login |
| Online rent collectiontenant payments move through the product | free ACH; cards 2.95% | records rent you receive elsewhere |
| Tenant screeningcredit, background, and eviction reports | $10 to $18 per screening | not a leasing tool |
| Listings and syndicationposts a vacancy to the rental sites | syndication to the major rental sites | not a leasing tool |
| Schedule E reportincome and expenses arranged by tax line | 1099 e-filing and tax reports listed; Schedule E is not | per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export |
| Residential depreciation computedcost basis and land split on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule | not stated on the pricing page | computed from cost basis and land on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule |
| Mobile appa native iOS or Android app | listed on the pricing page | responsive web app, no native app |
| Maintenance and work orderswork orders with the vendor and what the job cost | work order tracking | Kanban work orders with vendor and cost tracking |
Free plan
a plan you can stay on at $0, not a trial
- Rentec Direct
- two-week free trial, then paid
- rents.ai
- paid only, after a 7-day trial
Automatic bank feeds
pulls transactions from a connected bank login
- Rentec Direct
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- manual entry or CSV import; no bank login
Online rent collection
tenant payments move through the product
- Rentec Direct
- free ACH; cards 2.95%
- rents.ai
- records rent you receive elsewhere
Tenant screening
credit, background, and eviction reports
- Rentec Direct
- $10 to $18 per screening
- rents.ai
- not a leasing tool
Listings and syndication
posts a vacancy to the rental sites
- Rentec Direct
- syndication to the major rental sites
- rents.ai
- not a leasing tool
Schedule E report
income and expenses arranged by tax line
- Rentec Direct
- 1099 e-filing and tax reports listed; Schedule E is not
- rents.ai
- per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export
Residential depreciation computed
cost basis and land split on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
- Rentec Direct
- not stated on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- computed from cost basis and land on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
Mobile app
a native iOS or Android app
- Rentec Direct
- listed on the pricing page
- rents.ai
- responsive web app, no native app
Maintenance and work orders
work orders with the vendor and what the job cost
- Rentec Direct
- work order tracking
- rents.ai
- Kanban work orders with vendor and cost tracking
How to read this
- Yes / nothe source page states it, in those words
- Partialincluded, with a real condition: a higher plan, or a separate fee
- Not publishedthe pricing page does not say. It is a fact about the source, never a mark against the product
Source
Rentec Direct figures read from rentecdirect.com/pricing on August 10, 2026. Products change. If a line here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Beyond the axes
What this table does not cover.
The rows above compare a narrow set of pricing-page features. rents.ai also keeps these records behind each rental.
- A per-property ledger, categorized to Schedule E lines all year rather than in April
- Rent roll with late fees computed from each lease's due day, grace period, and fee rule
- Residential depreciation from cost basis, land, and in-service date on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule
- Documents attached to the property, tenant, transaction, or property record they belong to
- Append-only tenant notes that become immutable after a 15-minute edit window
- Insurance, property tax, and rental licence records with an SMS renewal reminder before they lapse
- Per-property P&L, NOI, and cap rate, plus CSV import and export
The honest version
There's a right answer for you.
Sometimes it isn't us, and we'll say so. Here's the short way to tell.
Choose Rentec Direct if
- You want a real general ledger with trust accounting available.
- Free ACH rent collection changes your monthly cost meaningfully.
- You need 1099 e-filing for contractors or owners.
- You manage for other people and need owner portals and disbursements.
Choose rents.ai if
- $55/mo is more product than a small self-managed portfolio needs.
- You want depreciation computed on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule.
- You want per-property Schedule E rollups rather than general-ledger reports.
- You do not collect rent through software and do not intend to start.
On purpose
Two-thirds cheaper, and much less product.
Rentec Direct is a mature, capable system and $55/mo is a fair price for what it does. It is also more system than someone with four doors and a spreadsheet is asking for. rents.ai is $18/mo because it does one job: keep the books per property and get the tax lines right, including the depreciation line. If you need trust accounting or 1099 filing, this is not a close call and Rentec is the answer.
Questions
What landlords ask comparing the two.
How much is Rentec Direct?
As published on rentecdirect.com/pricing on August 10, 2026: Rentec Pro is $55/mo for landlords and investors, and Rentec PM is $65/mo adding trust account management, owner portals and ACH disbursements. Both offer a two-week free trial and an annual billing discount. Outgoing ACH is 50 cents per transaction, card payments are 2.95%, and screenings are $10 to $18.
Does Rentec Direct produce a Schedule E?
Its pricing page lists a full general ledger, 1099 e-filing and tax reports but does not state a Schedule E report specifically, so this page marks that row as not published. rents.ai produces a per-property Schedule E rollup by year with a print view and CSV export.
Is rents.ai a replacement for Rentec Direct?
No. Rentec Direct collects rent, screens tenants, syndicates listings, files 1099s and offers trust accounting; rents.ai does none of those. It is a replacement only for the spreadsheet you keep alongside whatever collects your rent.
Less product, on purpose.
See the whole of what $18 buys before you decide it is too little. The demo hides nothing behind a signup.
- Live demo: no signup or card
- No bank connection. Nothing changes for your tenants
- Trial: 7 days, card required, $0 today
- Then $10/mo for one or $18/mo for unlimited
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