Real Estate · head to head
Buildium vs Chime
Buildium
Real Estate
Property management software designed with you in mind
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Buildium prices are all quoted as starting figures, from $62 a month on Essential to $400 on Premium, so the real cost depends on unit count; Chime waiving the setup fee and contract deposit requires paying the annual plan in one lump sum rather than monthly
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Buildium and Chime actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Real Estate).
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Buildium
- Property management accounting and rent collectionnot Chime
- Maintenance requests and work order trackingnot Chime
- Tenant screening and lease signingnot Chime
- Owner and tenant portalsnot Chime
- Community association management on the Enterprise tiernot Chime
Chime
No use cases recorded yet. See the Chime review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Buildium
- Prices are all quoted as starting figures, from $62 a month on Essential to $400 on Premium, so the real cost depends on unit count
- Onboarding is mandatory on the Growth and Premium plans, adding a cost the monthly figure does not show
- Live phone support is withheld from the Essential tier
- The Open API is Premium only
- Portfolios above 5,000 units are pushed to a quote-only Enterprise arrangement
Chime
- Waiving the setup fee and contract deposit requires paying the annual plan in one lump sum rather than monthly
- Exceeding the monthly outgoing email limit costs $1 per additional 5,000 emails
- Lead generation ads carry a 20 percent ad management fee, and branding ads carry a 15 percent fee and require the CRM Professional plan or above
Pricing, plan by plan
Buildium
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Buildium review.
Chime
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Chime review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Buildium if
Nothing in the data separates Buildium from Chime on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Choose Chime if
Nothing in the data separates Chime from Buildium on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Questions people ask
- Is Buildium or Chime better?
- Neither clearly leads. Buildium starts at On request and Chime at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Buildium or Chime?
- Buildium starts at On request and Chime at On request.
- Does Buildium or Chime run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is Buildium best used for?
- Buildium is most often used for property management accounting and rent collection, maintenance requests and work order tracking, tenant screening and lease signing, owner and tenant portals. Of those, property management accounting and rent collection and maintenance requests and work order tracking are not what Chime is typically brought in for.