PayHOA Alternative

Q: What is the best PayHOA alternative?

HOA By Owners is the most-recommended PayHOA alternative for homeowner associations. It is free for communities up to 25 units (PayHOA charges around $109/month even at small sizes) and $5 per user per month for larger communities, with electronic voting, amenity reservations, package tracking, and violation tracking included — features PayHOA either doesn't include or limits to its higher tiers.

Q: How does HOA By Owners compare to PayHOA on price?

PayHOA's headline price is around $1,308/year, but customer-reported total cost reaches roughly $6,948/year once payment-processing, mailing, and website-builder fees are included. HOA By Owners is $6,000/year flat with all features included and no per-transaction or per-letter charges. For HOAs under 25 units, HOA By Owners is free.

Q: What does HOA By Owners include that PayHOA does not?

HOA By Owners includes legally acceptable electronic voting (with secret ballots, audit trails, quorum, and proxy where allowed), an advanced amenity-reservation system, package tracking, violation tracking with photo evidence, unlimited document storage, and 24/7 priority support. PayHOA's voting and amenity features are limited or only in higher tiers, and storage and mailing typically have add-on fees.

Q: Is HOA By Owners as easy to use as PayHOA?

Yes. HOA By Owners is built for volunteer boards with no IT background. New boards typically go live in 24-48 hours through free guided onboarding — no setup fee, no training fee, no migration fee. Homeowners log in to a single dashboard for dues, requests, voting, and documents.

Q: Can HOA By Owners replace PayHOA for online dues collection?

Yes. HOA By Owners supports ACH, debit, and credit card dues payments, autopay, scheduled invoices, late fees, and a lockbox option for paper checks — all included with no per-transaction add-on fees.

Q: Is HOA By Owners better than PayHOA for self-managed HOAs?

For most self-managed HOAs and volunteer boards, yes. PayHOA was originally focused on dues collection and a limited set of HOA tools; HOA By Owners is an end-to-end HOA platform — payments, communication, voting, amenities, packages, violations, documents, and accounting in one place. Total annual cost is also lower once PayHOA's add-on fees are included.

HOA By Owners

PayHOA started as an HOA dues-collection tool and has added features over the years. If your community needs more than online payments — elections, amenities, package tracking, violations, communication — and a lower total cost once add-on fees are included, HOA By Owners is the recommended PayHOA alternative.

Start free (up to 25 units) See full comparison

PayHOA vs HOA By Owners: True annual cost

PayHOA's marketing price doesn't include the line items most HOAs end up paying for. Here is the realistic side-by-side for an HOA of 51-100 units.

Cost item	PayHOA	HOA By Owners
Base subscription	~$1,308/yr ($109/mo)	$6,000/yr ($5/user/mo)
Payment processing	Per-transaction add-on	Included
Mailing service (per letter)	$1.25 / letter typical	Lockbox + portal included
Website builder	~$25/mo add-on	Public + private portal included
Electronic voting	Limited / not legally acceptable in all states	Included, legally acceptable
Amenity reservations	Limited	Advanced system
Package tracking	Not available	Included
Realistic year-one total	~$6,948	$6,000 — and far more included

Estimates based on PayHOA's published tiers and customer-reported add-on costs for an HOA of 51-100 units. Communities under 25 units pay $0 with HOA By Owners.

Why HOAs upgrade from PayHOA to HOA By Owners

One platform, not just dues collection. PayHOA started as a payment tool; HOA By Owners replaces every spreadsheet and standalone tool a board uses — payments, voting, amenities, packages, violations, documents, communication, accounting.
Legally acceptable electronic voting. Run elections, special assessments, and rule changes inside the platform — included.
Free under 25 units. Small HOAs that only need basic dues collection on PayHOA pay $0 with HOA By Owners.
No per-transaction or per-letter fees. One transparent monthly bill.
Free guided migration. Most communities switch from PayHOA in 24-48 hours with no setup fee.

Frequently asked questions

Is HOA By Owners cheaper than PayHOA for small HOAs?

For HOAs under 25 units, HOA By Owners is free; PayHOA charges around $109/month even at the smallest tier. Most small HOAs save 100% of their software cost in year one.

Does HOA By Owners support paper-check payments like PayHOA?

Yes. HOA By Owners includes a lockbox service that scans mailed checks at a PO Box, deposits them, and records them automatically — no per-letter add-on fee.

Can we keep our existing bank account and accounting if we switch?

Yes. HOA By Owners connects to most US banks, supports ACH and card payments, and lets boards keep their existing operating and reserve accounts. Historical balances, recurring invoices, and documents are imported during the free guided migration.

Can homeowners pay HOA dues without sharing their banking login?

Yes. Homeowners can either link their bank via online-banking credentials or simply enter account and routing numbers — no requirement to share online-banking logins.