Home · Commonwell vs Buildium
Comparison
Commonwell vs Buildium
Buildium is property-management software with an association edition; Commonwell is built for community associations first. The practical differences are pricing structure, the public website, voting, and how dues reach your bank.
Pricing: tiers plus per-transaction fees vs flat
Buildium starts around $62/month with tiered plans plus per-transaction fees on payments. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members and takes 0% of dues; only standard payment processing fees apply, and dues deposit straight into your community's own bank account rather than through a separate processor relationship.
Where Commonwell goes further
- A real public website with a drag-and-drop editor and your own domain; Buildium offers template-based sites.
- Voting & elections: secret-ballot elections and bylaw amendments with quorum tracking are built in; Buildium doesn't offer resident voting.
- Reserve-fund study built in; Buildium doesn't include one.
- Custom CSS and a code editor (Neighborhood and up).
- Concierge, an AI agent that drafts announcements, records payments, and answers residents, with every action confirmed by you. Buildium has no AI agent as of June 2026.
Where Buildium holds its own
Buildium has a mature accounting suite and a public REST API, and it covers ARC, violations, and maintenance workflows. Larger management companies already invested in Buildium's property-management stack (rentals plus associations under one roof) may prefer staying consolidated there.
Switching from Buildium
Send us your export and our team loads your members, balances, and history for you, free on annual plans. Keep your domain at its current registrar; we handle the routing and the SSL certificate.
Side by side: the full market
| Commonwell | PayHOA | Buildium | AppFolio | Vantaca | CINC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $39/mo | $54/mo | $62/mo | ~$280/mo | Quote | Quote |
| Pricing model | Flat | By units | Tier + per-txn | Per-door + min | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| No per-resident / unit fees | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Public site + custom domain | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Portal only | Portal only | Portal only |
| Drag-drop page editor | ✓ | ✓ | Templates | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dues land in your bank | ✓ | ✓ | Own processor | Own processor | Vantaca Pay | Lockbox |
| Accounting & general ledger | ✓ | Basic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reserve-fund study built in | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| ARC + violations + maintenance | ✓ Neighborhood+ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Voting & elections | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | n/a | ✓ |
| AI agent | Concierge | None | None | Realm-X | HOAi | Cephai |
| Custom CSS / code editor | ✓ Neighborhood+ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| REST API + webhooks | ✓ Estate | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | Open API | ✓ |
Features and pricing as of June 2026, from public vendor pages. We refresh this comparison annually.
Frequently asked
How does Commonwell's pricing compare to Buildium's?
Buildium starts around $62/month with tiered plans plus per-transaction fees. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members, takes 0% of dues, and only standard payment processing fees apply.
Does Buildium include resident voting?
No — Buildium does not offer resident voting or elections as of June 2026. Commonwell includes secret-ballot elections with quorum tracking on every plan.
Can I migrate from Buildium to Commonwell?
Yes. Send us your Buildium export and our team loads your members, balances, and history for you, free on annual plans.
Do both have an API?
Yes. Buildium offers a public API, and Commonwell's Estate plan includes a REST API with HMAC-signed webhooks plus SAML SSO.
More comparisons: Commonwell vs PayHOA · Commonwell vs AppFolio · Commonwell pricing
No credit card needed on Block · Book a demo at sales@commonwell.app