Property Management Software vs Spreadsheets: The Real Tradeoff

Every landlord forum has this debate. "Should I use property management software or just stick with spreadsheets?" The answers are usually polar: either "spreadsheets are for amateurs" or "PM software is a waste of money."

Both camps are wrong. The right answer depends on how many units you have, what problems you're actually trying to solve, and how much you're willing to spend. Let me break it down with real numbers.

The Cost Comparison

Let's look at actual costs across different portfolio sizes.

At 5 units:

Google Sheets: $0/year. Buildium: $660/year ($55/mo). TenantCloud Growth: $384/year ($32/mo). Avail Unlimited Plus: $540/year ($9/unit/mo). RentGuard + Sheet: $348/year ($15/mo). AppFolio: $3,576/year ($298/mo minimum).

At 5 units, PM software costs 97-1,000% more than a spreadsheet with monitoring. The math doesn't favor software at this scale.

At 10 units:

Google Sheets: $0/year. Buildium: $660/year. TenantCloud Growth: $384/year. Avail Unlimited Plus: $1,080/year ($9 x 10 units/mo). RentGuard + Sheet: $348/year. Rentec Direct Pro: $540/year ($45/mo). AppFolio: $3,576/year.

At 10 units, PM software is still significantly more expensive than spreadsheet monitoring. But the per-unit cost of software starts to make more sense. Buildium at $55/month across 10 units is $5.50 per unit. Not unreasonable if you're using all the features.

At 20 units:

Google Sheets: $0/year. Buildium: $996/year (price increases above 20 units). TenantCloud Pro: $660/year. Avail Unlimited Plus: $2,160/year. RentGuard + Sheet: $348/year. AppFolio: $3,576/year.

At 20 units, the gap narrows. PM software per-unit costs are reasonable, and the time savings from automation start to offset the price. But RentGuard + spreadsheet is still the cheapest option by a wide margin.

At 50 units:

This is where PM software clearly wins. You're spending significant time on admin. Tenant portals save hours. Automated accounting saves your sanity. The $55-100/month for software pays for itself in time savings.

The Feature Comparison

Cost only tells part of the story. Here's what each approach actually gives you.

Spreadsheet strengths: Zero cost. Unlimited customization. No learning curve. Portable data (export anytime). Works exactly the way you want it to. Full rent roll flexibility. I detail my full setup in the spreadsheet landlord toolkit.

Spreadsheet weaknesses: Zero alerting. No automation. No tenant-facing features. Manual data entry for everything. Only as reliable as your discipline to check it. Version control is basic.

PM software strengths: Automated alerts when rent is overdue. Tenant portals for payments and maintenance. Built-in accounting with reports. Lease management with e-signatures. Tenant screening integration. Multi-user access with permissions.

PM software weaknesses: $32-298+/month cost. Significant setup time (days to weeks). Learning curve. Vendor lock-in (your data is in their system). Rigid workflows (you adapt to the software, not the other way around). Overly complex for small portfolios.

The Real Tradeoff

When you strip away all the features, the core tradeoff is this:

Spreadsheet: Perfect data tracking. Zero alerting. You must check it manually.

PM software: Good data tracking (less flexible). Great alerting. But requires migration, learning, and monthly fees.

Most landlords under 20 units don't switch to PM software because they need better data tracking. Their spreadsheet tracks data fine. They switch because they need alerts. They're tired of catching late payments on day 8 instead of day 1.

But switching to a $55/month platform to solve a $15/month problem is inefficient. Especially when the switch requires 20 hours of setup and forces you to change your entire workflow.

The In-Between Option

What if you could keep your spreadsheet's flexibility and zero learning curve, but add the one thing it's missing: automated alerting?

That's the middle ground that most comparison articles miss. Your spreadsheet stays your source of truth. A monitoring layer watches it daily and sends you proactive alerts when something needs attention.

Spreadsheet + monitoring gives you:

Everything your spreadsheet already does well (data tracking, customization, portability). Plus daily automated monitoring for overdue rent. Plus maintenance aging alerts based on priority. Plus email and text notifications. Minus the migration headache. Minus the learning curve. Minus the $55-298/month price tag.

Cost: $15/month for the monitoring. $0 for the spreadsheet. Total: $15/month.

The Decision Framework

5 units or fewer: Use a spreadsheet. You can check it daily in 2 minutes. PM software is overkill. If you want a safety net, add RentGuard for $15/month. But at 5 units, disciplined daily checking honestly works.

5-20 units: This is the gray zone. A spreadsheet still works for data tracking, but you're more likely to miss things as complexity grows. Spreadsheet + monitoring is the sweet spot. You get alerting without giving up your workflow. Most landlords I talk to in this range are happiest with this approach.

20-50 units: Start seriously evaluating PM software. The automation savings begin to outweigh the cost. But if you have a good spreadsheet system and disciplined habits, spreadsheet + monitoring can still work. It depends on whether you need tenant-facing features.

50+ units: PM software. At this scale, you need the automation, multi-user access, and tenant portals. The per-unit cost is low and the time savings are real. Look at Buildium, Rentec Direct, or AppFolio depending on your needs.

What I Personally Use

12 units. Google Sheets for everything. RentGuard for monitoring. $15/month total software cost.

I tried Buildium (canceled after 8 days). I tried TenantCloud (used for 4 months, went back to sheets). My spreadsheet is faster, more flexible, and free. RentGuard adds the one thing it was missing. I wrote a full comparison in spreadsheet vs PM software.

Your mileage may vary. But before you spend $55/month on PM software, make sure the problem you're solving actually requires a whole new platform. It might just require a $15/month monitoring layer on top of what you already have.

Try it at descoshop.com. Free forever. 5 minutes to connect your sheet. Keep your spreadsheet exactly the way it is.