Using the best rental listing website can make a big difference in the time you spend showing your rental properties and finding your next tenant. But the number of property management software platforms continues to grow, so it can feel overwhelming to determine which site is best for your rental listings.
To help make things easier, we reviewed 20 of the best rental websites for advertising rental properties. Here are the basics of each offer so you can find the right site for your marketing strategy.
1. Avail
Getting eyes on your listings is where Avail (part of Realtor.com®) stands out. Avail rental listings automatically publish your listing on Zumper, Apartments.com, PadMapper, Apartment List, Doorsteps, Walk Score, Realtor.com®, and more — all with one click. You can also manage tenant leads on the platform, schedule in-person or virtual showings, and request rental applications to keep everything in one place.
Our system auto-generates a listing description for you and an eye-catching title when you answer a few simple questions about your property. Avail also offers online tenant screening, lawyer-reviewed and state-specific lease agreements, free rental property accounting tools, online rent collection, and additional features that can help you manage your rental.
2. PadMapper
Think of PadMapper as the apartment hunting equivalent of one of those super-maps on CSI where investigators can endlessly drill down on a grainy photo of a suspect by hitting “enhance.” It starts with a map dotted with listings, then lets users zoom in to focus on a smaller area, adding filters to weed out any rentals that don’t meet all the search criteria.
It’s free to add listings (through the company’s mobile app for single units or Zumper Pro for bulk uploads), and any listings that appear on PadMapper also get added to its parent site, Zumper.
3. Realtor.com®
In addition to a great market for buying and selling, Realtor.com® offers a great rental app experience for renters. You can easily reach thousands of tenants fast to reduce the chances of experiencing long vacancy periods.
4. Doorsteps
According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) study, the No. 1 way home sellers chose to list their properties in 2019 was through city and state multiple listing service, or MLS, sites.
In partnership with Realtor.com®, Doorsteps uses a combination of MLS listings from 25+ markets across the U.S., plus direct listings from landlords and Aparmentlist.com to round out its inventory. The site originated in 2012 as a guide for first-time homebuyers, but has expanded to serve tenants.
5. Zillow Rental Manager
Zillow Rental Manager allows you to publish your first rental listings on Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads for free. However, each additional active listing will cost $9.99/per week it is listed. The site is known to have one of the largest audiences of renters looking to find their next home, so posting your listings here can help you get more views on your property.
Zillow also offers tools for online tenant screening, customizable lease templates for specific states, and online rent payment options.
6. Trulia
Also owned by Zillow Group, Trulia’s expansive reach is its main draw. Listings for a rental unit or home are displayed on Trulia, Zillow and HotPads, but you also have the option to list a single room, which will then appear on Trulia and HotPads only.
Listing fees are the same on Trulia as on Zillow, but the sites offer different user experiences. Where Zillow’s marquee feature is its unique home estimates tool, Trulia touts its in-depth community preview with information on school rankings, crime statistics and public transit.
7. HotPads
Where its partner companies, Zillow and Trulia split their focus between homes and apartments, HotPads is more apartment-focused, emphasizing urban markets.
Prospective tenants like it for its fraud protection (as a landlord, you’ll be prompted to verify your identity) and push notifications when new listings match their search criteria. That tool can benefit landlords too, as it encourages strong leads to get in touch quickly.
8. Apartments.com Rental Manager
According to Apartments.com (previously Cozy), 35 million prospective renters visit annually, making it a great place to post your rental listing. The company advertises more than 1.1 million listings and — like Zillow Group — amplifies every listing by including it in its inventory plus that of partner sites ForRent.com, ApartmentFinder, Apartmenthomeliving, and Apartamentos.com.
The platform allows you to schedule property showings and request applications from tenant leads within the platform. Listing is quick and free at a base level, but landlords can also upgrade to a Premium listing to get their units featured in more prominent ads at the top of the search results for 30 days.
9. Apartment List
Apartment List’s model is unique in that fees only apply if your listing is successful. Prospective renters complete a survey of their rental priorities on the site, which then serves up a shortlist of matching units. Fees start at $359 per signed lease, but are discounted the more units you list.
Apartment List believes the targeted results not only improve the odds of a successful match, but could lead to more satisfied tenants — who would prove more likely to renew.
10. Walk Score
Walk Score makes non-car commuting the primary focus by ranking homes and apartment buildings based on their proximity to attractions and necessities like grocery stores and business districts. A strong walk score can act as shorthand for high desirability when tenants are searching for shorter commutes, dining, and entertainment within reach.
Listings on Walk Score come from listing providers rather than direct landlord submissions, but creating a free rental listing on Avail will automatically add your listing to the platform. The site also offers badges with your unit’s walk score number, which you can attach to your listings elsewhere to tout a great location.
11. Zumper
Zumper caters equally to landlords and tenants. The site uses two-way matching to let prospective renters search by their top criteria and let listing owners stipulate credit score minimums for applicants. It’s free to post on Zumper, and any listings added to their site are also added to PadMapper automatically.
12. Apartment Finder
Apartment Finder is the platform for renters to find the best deals. Listing is free for landlords and the site categorizes units with badges to indicate when prices drop, when a unit is listed for a lower rental rate than others in a highly ranked building, or if it comes with incentives like a free TV or discounted rent.
13. Craigslist
Craigslist is one of the best-known options for finding a rental (or a couch or a gig), but it’s also one of the least regulated. As a landlord, listing is free and easy, but it’s also easy for scammers to take advantage of your hard work through common schemes like cloning a listing — then intercepting interested renters and taking their security deposit.
If you list here, take extra steps to outline in your post the basics of your showing process so prospective renters can tell the difference between dealing with a legitimate landlord or falling for a fake. It’s also important to not rely on Craiglist to generate rental listings, as many users have experienced spammy listings and unfavorable experiences with the site.
14. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook itself is best known for connecting users, but the creation of Facebook Marketplace means users can now advertise available rental properties on the platform.
While Facebook Marketplace isn’t a traditional rental listing website, its biggest strength is increasing the visibility of a rental listing. The site is known for generating quick responses to rental ads, and landlords can take a closer look at applicant profiles through the platform to get a better idea of who has responded to their ad (and to ensure they aren’t a scammer).
15. RentDigs
RentDigs offers many of the other platforms’ perks — free listings for landlords on sites like Oodle.com, Trovit.com, claz.org, Mitula.com, and RentJungle.com. But its unique benefits include reports on the number of users who view your listings and no registration requirements for prospective renters to peruse the site.
The drawback to asking renters to create an account to view and respond to listings is an extra hurdle that can turn some renters off before they make it to your listing. But it can also weed out any prospects who aren’t serious about the search.
16. Rent.com
Rent.com (acquired by Redfin) allows landlords to advertise single-family homes and apartment communities with multiple units to find qualified tenants. With one click, your listing through Rent.com syndicates to their website, ApartmentGuide.com, Rentals.com, and Redfin. You can post your listing to 10 other sites for an additional charge.
Once prospective tenants submit an inquiry on your property, you can screen them and accept online rental applications to save time.
17. Dwellsy
Like Rent.com, Dwellsy is a platform that makes it easier to advertise single-family homes or buildings with multiple units for free. They offer two listing options — Dwellsy Direct for smaller landlords or Dwellsy Feed for professional property managers and investors. The type of rentals you own will influence the kind of options you go with.
18. RentalSource.com
RentalSource.com makes it easy to list your house, apartment, townhouse, or condo on Realtor.com®, Zillow, Housing Watch, Facebook, Trulia, HotPads, Walk Score, and Oodle for free (unless you own more than 50 units). You can manually create your listing or use their listing builder to streamline the process of advertising your rentals.
If you use this site, it’s important to note that you may need to outsource additional tools to screen prospective tenants and schedule property showings.
19. RentRedi
RentRedi is landlord software that allows you to publish your rental listing on Realtor.com® and Doorsteps.com at no additional cost. With more tenants opting for virtual tours, you can easily add virtual tour options when scheduling showings with prospective tenants to simplify the process.
20. DoorLoop
DoorLoop is designed for property managers, investors, and landlords looking to manage properties in the U.S. and abroad. They offer three subscription options: the Starter plan starts at $59/month, the Pro for $99/month, and Premium for $139/month.
With DoorLoop, you can post your listing on six sites: Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, StreetEasy, RealEstate.com, and Apartments.com. This feature is only available for their Pro and Premium subscriptions, meaning you’ll need to publish your listings with the Starter account manually.
Post Your Rental Listing With Avail
Ultimately, you’ll want to post your listing to a rental website that connects you with strong leads, saves you time on marketing, and gets a good tenant in the door fast. You’ll need to get your listing in front of as many prospective tenants as possible.
Create an account on Avail to syndicate your listings to a dozen of the top rental sites in minutes. Manage tenant leads, screen prospective tenants, request rental applications, and more with landlord software designed with you in mind.
