Home · Commonwell vs PayHOA
Comparison
Commonwell vs PayHOA
PayHOA and Commonwell both serve self-managed communities with a public website, online dues, and a resident portal. The differences that matter are how pricing scales, how deep the accounting goes, and how far you can customize.
Pricing: per-unit vs flat
PayHOA's plans start around $54/month and scale with your unit count, so the price grows as your community does. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members; you only move up a tier ($99 Neighborhood, $249 Estate) for more capability, never for headcount. Commonwell also takes 0% of dues; only standard payment processing fees apply.
Where Commonwell goes further
- Accounting depth: a real double-entry general ledger with funds, a trial balance, bank reconciliation, budgets vs. actual, and year-end 1099-NEC / 1120-H worksheets, where PayHOA's accounting is more basic.
- Reserve-fund study built in: project the reserve years out and catch underfunding early; PayHOA doesn't include one.
- Custom CSS and a code editor (Neighborhood and up) for per-community branding without a developer.
- A REST API with HMAC-signed webhooks and SAML SSO (Estate) for integrations PayHOA doesn't offer.
- Concierge, an AI agent wired into your real data: draft announcements, record payments, schedule events, with every write confirmed by you.
Where PayHOA holds its own
PayHOA also offers a real public website with a drag-and-drop editor, dues that deposit to your bank, and voting, and it covers ARC, violations, and maintenance on its standard plans. If your community is small, already comfortable in PayHOA, and doesn't need deeper accounting, a reserve study, custom code, or an API, it remains a credible choice.
Switching from PayHOA
Commonwell imports your members and data from PayHOA directly. 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 PayHOA's?
PayHOA starts around $54/month and prices by unit count. Commonwell is a flat $39/month on Block with unlimited members; higher tiers add capability (Neighborhood $99, Estate $249), not per-unit fees.
Can I migrate from PayHOA to Commonwell?
Yes. Commonwell imports members and data from PayHOA directly, and our team performs the migration for you, free on annual plans.
Does Commonwell include a reserve study like PayHOA?
Commonwell includes a built-in reserve-fund study with multi-year projections on every plan. PayHOA does not include one as of June 2026.
Does PayHOA have an API?
PayHOA does not offer a public REST API as of June 2026. Commonwell's Estate plan includes a REST API with HMAC-signed webhooks and SAML SSO.
More comparisons: Commonwell vs Buildium · Commonwell vs AppFolio · Commonwell pricing
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