Sahab Key: the Avail alternative for landlords running a real operation
Avail, a Realtor.com company, is a genuinely good free tool for the do-it-yourself landlord listing and leasing a few units. Sahab Key is built for the landlord running a management operation: per-building books and Stripe payouts, balanced to the cent, at two dollars a unit a month.
- $2 a unit a month
- $50 a month minimum
- No setup fees
- No free trial, no contract
Who each product is really for
The honest answer is that Avail and Sahab Key are aimed at different jobs, and the right pick follows from yours.
Avail is do-it-yourself landlord software from Realtor.com, and its center of gravity is listing and leasing a unit. As of August 2026 its free Unlimited plan covers unlimited units and includes listing syndication to top rental sites, rental applications with tenant-initiated TransUnion screening reports, state-specific lease templates with digital signing, online rent collection, maintenance request tracking, and income and expense tracking. The paid Unlimited Plus plan is nine dollars a unit a month and adds next-day FastPay deposits, waived bank-transfer fees for tenants, customizable lease templates, and a branded property website. For one landlord filling and running a few units, that is a lot of software for free.
Sahab Key is built as a management operation rather than a listing tool. Every building keeps its own books and its own Stripe payout account, so rent routes to the right owner and the ledger balances to the cent. Section 8 housing authority payments are tracked alongside tenant rent, owners and investors get their own portal, and your team works under roles. It is two dollars a unit a month, and the fifty-dollar minimum covers your first twenty-five units.
Pricing, side by side
Both companies publish their prices, so the math is easy to run. Sahab Key is two dollars per unit per month with a fifty-dollar monthly minimum that covers the first twenty-five units, plus flat monthly add-ons if you want them. Forty units is eighty dollars a month. One hundred units is two hundred. No setup fees, no contract, and the bill follows your portfolio up or down. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
Avail's software is free on its Unlimited plan, and the cost sits in the fees: as of August 2026, tenants on the free plan pay $2.50 for every bank transfer, and card payments carry a 3.5% processing fee on every plan. The paid Unlimited Plus plan removes the bank-transfer fee and costs nine dollars a unit a month. At twenty-five units that is $225 a month, against fifty dollars on Sahab Key.
Sahab Key and Avail, feature by feature
Only features Sahab Key genuinely offers are listed. Competitor details reflect Avail's published information as of August 2026.
| Sahab Key | Avail | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-unit price | $2 per unit a month | Free plan, or $9 a unit a month on Unlimited Plus |
| Monthly minimum | $50, covers first 25 units | None |
| Payment processing fees | Shown to the tenant by default; debit and prepaid cards never pay a fee; the manager can absorb fees | Tenants pay $2.50 per bank transfer on the free plan (waived on Unlimited Plus); 3.5% on card payments on every plan |
| Online rent collection (ACH and card) | Included | Included |
| Tenant portal with autopay | Included | Included |
| Autopay retries failed payments on its own | Included | Not published |
| Maintenance tracking with photos | Included | Included |
| Exact double-entry books, balanced to the cent | Included | Income and expense tracking |
| Per-building Stripe payout accounts | Included | Property-specific bank accounts |
| Owner and investor portal | Included | Not published |
| Team roles for staff | Included | Not published |
| Section 8 housing authority payment tracking | Included | Not published |
| Online rental applications | Add-on, $29 a month, as intake, application fee, and manager review. Sahab Key does not offer tenant screening. | Included, with TransUnion screening reports the applicant typically pays for |
| Lease e-signature | Add-on, $15 a month | Included; customizing lease templates requires Unlimited Plus |
| AI on your own portfolio data | Add-on, $49 a month | Not published |
Avail pricing, plan, and fee details are drawn from avail.co as of August 2026, which publishes a free Unlimited plan and Unlimited Plus at $9 a unit a month. Sahab Key add-ons are flat monthly prices: AI Insights $49, lease e-signature $15, online rental applications $29, texting $15, and AI and API access $49.
Avail and Realtor.com are trademarks of their respective owners. Sahab Key is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Avail or Realtor.com.
Nine dollars a unit, or two.
Once you pay to make the fees go away, the per-unit price is the comparison.
What this means at a growing portfolio
Put real numbers on it, comparing Avail's paid Unlimited Plus tier with Sahab Key.
- 25 units Avail Unlimited Plus runs $225 a month at $9 a unit. $50 a month
- 60 units Avail Unlimited Plus runs $540 a month. $120 a month
To be fair to the free plan: for a landlord with two or three units who does not mind tenants paying $2.50 per bank transfer, free software can genuinely be the cheaper path, and that is exactly who Avail is for.
The reason to pay two dollars a unit is not the rent button. It is the operation underneath: every building with its own books and its own Stripe payout account, a ledger balanced to the cent, Section 8 payments tracked alongside tenant rent, an owner and investor portal, and team roles. If you are early, read the plain-English breakdown for small portfolios.
When Avail is the better choice
Credibility matters more than a clean sweep. There are real cases where Avail is the right call, and we would rather you pick well.
A DIY landlord with a few units
If you self-manage a handful of units and want free software with a tenant portal, online rent collection, and state lease templates, Avail's Unlimited plan gives you all of that at no monthly cost, with the fees carried per transaction.
Advertising vacancies and screening applicants
Avail syndicates your listing to top rental sites through the Realtor.com network and offers TransUnion credit, criminal, and eviction reports. Sahab Key does not offer listing syndication or tenant screening, so if filling vacancies is your main job, Avail covers ground Sahab Key does not try to.
Switching to Sahab Key
Getting started is quick, not a project plan. You add your buildings, units, leases, and tenants in the app, connect a Stripe payout account for each building, which is required before your tenants can pay, and invite your tenants. They can pay online the same day, turn on autopay, and report maintenance with a photo. There is no data-import project and no onboarding fee, and if you get stuck, a person answers your email.
There is no free trial and no contract. You start when you are ready, the price follows your portfolio, and you can cancel anytime. When you want the full breakdown, the pricing page shows every number, including the add-ons.
Run your rentals on Sahab Key
Two dollars a unit a month, books balanced to the cent, and the whole operation in one place. Start with your first building.