PayHOA Review (2026): Pricing, Fees and Who It Fits

PayHOA fits a self-managed homeowners association (HOA) that wants dues collection, a general ledger, violation tracking, and an owner portal in one subscription. PayHOA starts at $49 a month for communities up to 25 units, and larger communities pay by unit tier.

In our PayHOA review, the bigger cost question is what you pay beyond the subscription. Automated Clearing House (ACH) and card payment fees, mailed letters, and optional bookkeeping and tax filing all sit outside the tier price. A 30-day free trial with no credit card lets a board test PayHOA on its own dues before paying anything.

PayHOA Review: The Short Verdict

PayHOA sells all-in-one HOA management software for self-managed associations and for management companies. PayHOA offers full HOA accounting built for community associations. PayHOA says more than 6,000 communities use it, and its homepage shows a 4.7 rating from 720 Capterra reviews and a 4.7 from 280 G2 reviews.

PayHOA says its accounting module is comparable to QuickBooks, so an HOA does not need two subscriptions.

The cost answer has three parts. Your subscription is the tier price for your unit count, less 10% if you pay for the year up front. On top of that come payment processing fees and any add-on services your board chooses.

If your board is still deciding whether to stay self-managed, start with our guide to running a self-managed HOA.

Core Features for Accounting, Payments, and Communication

PayHOA covers keeping the books, collecting dues, tracking rule violations, and giving owners a portal.

Accounting and Owner Ledgers

PayHOA’s accounting records the association’s transactions, coded when they occur and editable, with cash and accrual reporting. Invoices and payments write to the ledger automatically, and reports filter by date and chart-of-account category.

For the basics of how association books work, read our guide to HOA accounting. To see how PayHOA’s ledger stacks up against other tools, use our HOA accounting software roundup.

Dues Collection and Payments

PayHOA sends automated invoices for dues, fees, fines and late fees. Owners can pay by ACH bank transfer or by card, and each method carries a processing fee covered in the fees section below. Homeowners can pay online and set up autopay, and payments write to the ledger automatically.

Violations and the Homeowner Portal

PayHOA includes violation tracking, maintenance and architectural request forms, document storage, online voting and surveys, and an owner portal for homeowners.

Texts, emails and phone calls to owners are free and unlimited, and PayHOA can also mail letters through the United States Postal Service (USPS), billed per letter. Boards that also run online elections or want a public community website should compare PayHOA’s portal with the tools in our roundups of HOA voting software and HOA website builders.

PayHOA Pricing by Community Size

PayHOA prices by unit count. Each tier of units has a set price, communities above 500 units pay a per-unit rate, and paying yearly takes 10% off month-to-month billing. The entry tier starts at $49 a month for up to 25 units.

Here is every self-managed tier from PayHOA’s pricing page.

Units in your community	Billed yearly	Month-to-month
0 to 25	$49/month	$54/month
26 to 50	$59/month	$65/month
51 to 100	$99/month	$109/month
101 to 150	$129/month	$142/month
151 to 200	$169/month	$186/month
201 to 300	$199/month	$219/month
301 to 400	$229/month	$252/month
401 to 500	$249/month	$275/month
500+	$0.55 per unit per month ($275 monthly minimum)

Every plan includes unlimited homeowners, administrators, violations, request forms, document storage, messaging, surveys, website hosting and reports. Management companies get separate pricing on PayHOA’s pricing page.

On a bigger tier the saving grows with the price. A board still testing fit can start month-to-month and switch to yearly billing once the software has run through a full dues cycle.

Fees and Add-Ons to Budget For

PayHOA’s subscription covers the software, and five charges sit outside it:

• Incoming ACH payment: $2.45 per payment.
• Incoming card payment: 3.5% + $0.50 per payment.
• USPS letters (printing and postage): $1.25 First Class, $1.05 Standard Class.
• Bookkeeping service: starting at $199/month.
• Tax filing: 1120-H from $399 per filing, full 1120 from $995 per filing, 1099 at $15 per filing.

PayHOA’s pricing page does not say whether the owner or the association pays the card fee, so get that answer in writing from PayHOA before you set your payment policy.

Add each charge as its own line in next year’s budget. Size the payment lines by how many owners you expect to pay by ACH versus card, and size the letter line from how many notices the board mailed last year.

If your association already pays a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to prepare its returns, compare that bill with PayHOA’s tax filing add-on before you switch. Keeping an outside CPA for the annual review while PayHOA handles daily books is also an option.

Onboarding, Support, and the Free Trial

PayHOA offers a 30-day free trial that needs no credit card, and month-to-month billing comes with no contract. PayHOA says a dedicated Onboarding Specialist handles basic data migration (units, owners, starting balances and custom fields) and that most organizations are running within a few days.

Thirty days is short, so plan the trial before you start it. Run these six tests in the first two weeks:

1. Prepare a clean owner and unit list with current contact details, and ask PayHOA’s migration help how it wants the file formatted.
2. Enter opening balances for the operating account and the reserve account, then confirm the two balances show up in separate books.
3. Set up two board members as test owners and run one dues cycle, with one paying by ACH and one by card.
4. Log a test violation and see how the record reads when you pull it back up.
5. Send PayHOA’s support team a question at the time of day your treasurer usually works, and note how long the answer takes.
6. Pull a ledger report and show it to whoever reviews your books, such as a CPA or the full board.

PayHOA lists support by chat, email, phone and 1-on-1 screenshare meetings, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm ET, plus a knowledge base.

Decide before day 30 whether to keep PayHOA, and on which billing schedule. If the dues cycle, the fund separation, and the support test all passed, the remaining question is cost at your tier.

Pros and Cons From Our PayHOA Review

PayHOA’s strengths come from its pricing structure and its association-specific accounting.

Pros:

• The starting price is $49 a month billed yearly for up to 25 units.
• The 30-day free trial needs no credit card, so testing costs nothing.
• Month-to-month billing has no contract.
• Accounting is built for community associations, with cash and accrual reporting.
• Dues collection, a general ledger, violation tracking, and an owner portal come in one subscription.
• Paying yearly saves 10%.

Cons:

• Check printing is listed as coming soon.
• ACH and card fees add cost beyond the subscription price.
• Bookkeeping, tax filing, and mailed letters are billed as extras.
• Above 500 units, the per-unit rate means the bill rises with every unit added.

Communities PayHOA Fits and Those That Should Look Elsewhere

PayHOA is sold to self-managed associations and management companies, with three buyers standing out:

• A self-managed association at 25 units or fewer, where the $49 starting tier applies.
• A self-managed board moving off QuickBooks, since PayHOA says its accounting module is comparable to QuickBooks so an HOA does not need two subscriptions.
• A management company, which PayHOA names as part of its audience.

Other buyers should look at different tools. A board or manager that needs a resident app can price TownSq, whose Pro plan is $90 a month per community. An organization that manages rental properties alongside associations can look at Buildium, which The HOA Guide’s comparison lists for mixed rental and association portfolios, with plans from $62 a month.

A management company with a larger portfolio can compare quote-based tools such as Vantaca, FRONTSTEPS and AppFolio in our HOA management software roundup.

Our verdict would change once PayHOA’s tier price for your unit count reaches a larger tool’s range. TownSq’s Pro plan is $90 a month per community, and Buildium plans start at $62 a month. PayHOA’s 51-100 unit tier costs $99 a month billed yearly or $109 month-to-month, so at that size put TownSq and Buildium on the same shortlist and compare features at that price.

PayHOA Alternatives Compared

The table compares PayHOA with four alternatives.

Software	Pricing	Best for
PayHOA	Starts at $49 a month up to 25 units; 30-day free trial	Self-managed HOAs and management companies
Condo Control	Low end of $50 to $300 a month flat, or $1 to $5 per unit	Small to mid-size self-managed communities
TownSq	Pro plan $90 a month per community	Boards and managers needing a resident app
Buildium	Plans from $62 a month	Mixed rental and association portfolios
HOALife	Starting at $199 a month, final price set after demo	Self-managed HOAs and association managers

These alternative figures come from The HOA Guide’s own comparison table. At 100 units, Condo Control’s per-unit option runs $100 to $500 a month, so a board can line it up against PayHOA’s 51-100 unit tier at $99 a month billed yearly and TownSq’s $90 Pro plan.

For a full side-by-side, read our guide to PayHOA alternatives or the head-to-head PayHOA vs Buildium comparison. Start your own PayHOA review with the free trial: load your owner list and run one dues cycle in the first week.