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Comparison
Commonwell vs HOA Express
HOA Express is a website and communication platform for HOAs, priced by household count. Commonwell covers the public website too, and adds the back office: dues and fund accounting, elections, architectural review, and violations.
Pricing: households vs flat
HOA Express prices by the number of households. When checked in October 2026, its paid plans started at $15/month (Inform) and $21/month (Engage), billed yearly, for up to 25 households, rising as the household count grows; a free plan covers basic website pages. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members, and the price doesn't change with your household count: plans differ by features and included email, storage, and SMS. For a very small community that only needs a website and announcements, HOA Express can cost less.
Where Commonwell goes further
- Dues and fund accounting: a real dues ledger with assessments, late fees, and payments, plus double-entry journals with funds, budgets vs. actual, and bank reconciliation. HOA Express's pricing page advertises online payment collection on Engage but not a general ledger.
- Elections: identity-separated elections and bylaw amendments with quorum tracking and keyed pseudonymous ballots. HOA Express advertises anonymous surveys and polls.
- Architectural review, violations, and maintenance workflows (Neighborhood and up), which HOA Express's pricing page did not advertise.
- Reserve-fund study built in to project reserves years out.
- Concierge, an AI agent (Neighborhood and up) wired into your community's data, with every write confirmed by you.
Where HOA Express holds its own
HOA Express is a focused, inexpensive way to run a community website: unlimited pages and storage, resident and pet directories, calendars, and, on Engage, blast emails and texts, mailed letters, and professional email accounts. A small community that mainly needs a website and announcements may find it enough.
Switching from HOA Express
Commonwell imports an HOA Express member roster directly. The built-in member-roster importer currently accepts PayHOA and HOA Express exports. Confirm the scope for balances, documents, history, or any other source with sales before planning a migration. Keep your domain at its current registrar; Commonwell handles routing and the SSL certificate.
Side by side: the other platforms boards compare
| Feature | Commonwell | PayHOA | Buildium | AppFolio | Vantaca | CINC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $39/mo | $54/mo | $62/mo | Quote | Quote | Quote |
| Pricing model | Flat | By units | Tier + per-txn | Plans + minimums | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Flat regardless of unit count | ✓ | No | Tiered | Minimums | Quote | Quote |
| Public website capability | Custom site | Website builder | Marketing site | Property sites | Branded portal/app | Branded site/app |
| Visual page editing | Drag-and-drop | Website builder | Templates | Property sites | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| Dues settled to connected account | Coming soon | ✓ | Own processor | Own processor | Vantaca Pay | Partner banks |
| Accounting & general ledger | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reserve-fund study built in | ✓ | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| ARC + violations + maintenance | ✓ Neighborhood+ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Voting & elections | ✓ | ✓ | ARC voting | Not advertised | ARC voting | ✓ |
| AI assistant / agent | ✓ Neighborhood+ | Penny AI chatbot | Lumina AI | Realm-X | HOAi | Cephai |
| Custom CSS / code editor | ✓ Neighborhood+ | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised | Portal CSS | Not advertised |
| REST API + webhooks | ✓ Estate | Not advertised | Premium | Plus / Max | Open API | 125+ APIs |
Features and pricing as of October 2026, from public vendor pages. We refresh this comparison annually.
Frequently asked
How does Commonwell's pricing compare to HOA Express's?
HOA Express prices by household count: when checked in October 2026 its paid plans started at $15/month (Inform) and $21/month (Engage), billed yearly, for up to 25 households. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members, whatever your household count.
Can I migrate from HOA Express to Commonwell?
Yes. Commonwell has a built-in HOA Express member-roster importer. Confirm any balances, documents, or history migration with sales before relying on that scope.
Does HOA Express include accounting?
HOA Express's pricing page advertised online payment collection but not a general ledger or fund accounting when checked in October 2026. Commonwell includes a dues ledger and fund accounting on every plan.
Can we keep our domain?
Yes. Keep your domain at its current registrar; Commonwell handles the routing and the SSL certificate on every plan.
More comparisons: Commonwell vs PayHOA · Commonwell vs Buildium · Commonwell vs AppFolio · Commonwell vs Vantaca · Commonwell vs CINC · All comparisons · Commonwell pricing
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