Is Buildium or Chime better?

Neither clearly leads. Buildium starts at Free 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 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Buildium and On request for Chime.

Does Buildium or Chime run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Buildium for free?

Yes. Buildium has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Chime starts at On request.

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.

Real Estate · head to head

Buildium vs Chime

Buildium

Real Estate

Property management software designed with you in mind

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Chime

Real Estate

Boost Your Business with Just One Tool

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Buildium has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
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
Prices and features above were last checked on 28 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Buildium and Chime actually diverge.

Attributes where Buildium and Chime differ
Attribute	Buildium	Chime
Starting price	Free	On request
Free tier	Yes	No

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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

real estate team CRM and lead managementnot Buildium
sales pipeline managementnot Buildium
marketing automation for agentsnot Buildium

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

Free

Essential$62/month
- Basic accounting, maintenance, leasing
- Standard reporting
- Basic AI assistant
Growth$192/month
- Everything in Essential
- Customization and reporting automation
- Enhanced tenant screening
Premium$400/month
- Everything in Growth
- Open API access
- Free inspections

Chime

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Chime review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Buildium if

You want to start without paying.

Buildium review

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.

Chime review

Questions people ask

Is Buildium or Chime better?: Neither clearly leads. Buildium starts at Free 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 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Buildium and On request for Chime.
Does Buildium or Chime run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Buildium for free?: Yes. Buildium has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Chime starts at On request.
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.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Buildium: How much does Buildium cost for a small landlord?

Buildium starts at $62/month (Essential plan) and includes basic accounting, maintenance, and leasing. A 14-day free trial is available without credit card required.

Source

Chime: How much does Chime CRM cost?

Chime CRM pricing is not published; you must contact their sales team or request a demo to obtain pricing information for Core, Premier, or Enterprise tiers.

Source

Buildium: Are tenant screening and eSignatures included in Buildium plans?

No. Tenant screening costs $17–$35 per screening. eSignatures cost $1–$5 per document on Essential and Growth plans. Premium plan ($400/month) includes unlimited eSignatures and removes per-document charges.

Source

Chime: What does each Chime CRM tier include?

Chime offers Core for small teams, Premier for growing teams, and Enterprise for large organizations; features vary by tier including email limits and contact storage, but specific pricing is not published.

Source

Buildium: What do I get by upgrading from Essential to Premium?

Premium ($400/month) adds Open API access, free property inspections, unlimited free eSignatures, 12 months of free incoming EFT processing, and a full AI suite. Growth ($192/month) is the mid-tier with customization and reporting automation.

Source

Chime: Are there overage charges on Chime CRM?

Yes, Chime charges USD 1 per 5,000 additional emails beyond monthly tier limits; add-ons for AI Assistant, lead generation, and call/text packages carry separate custom pricing.

Source

Buildium: Does Buildium offer custom pricing for large portfolios?

Yes, Buildium offers Enterprise pricing for portfolios exceeding 5,000 units or community associations. Contact sales at 877-396-7876 for a quote.

Source

Chime: Does Chime offer a free trial?

Chime does not publish free trial information on the pricing page; trial availability would need to be confirmed by contacting their sales team directly.

Source

Buildium vs Chime

Buildium

Chime

The short version

Where they differ

What people use each for

Buildium

Chime

Where each one falls short

Buildium

Chime

Pricing, plan by plan

Buildium

Chime

Which should you pick?

Choose Buildium if

Choose Chime if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Buildium

More on Chime

Keep looking

Other head to heads