7 Best Rental Websites in America (2024 Updates)

Zillow Rental Manager is the largest rental website in America.

For Landlords: 

• Free Listing: It allows you to post your property’s basic information, including photos, descriptions, and pricing.
• Premium Listing $29.99: It includes maximum exposure, customized insights, and priority support.

For Renters: 

• Online payments are free if they pay with ACH (bank transfer).
• If they pay rent with a credit card then 2.95% fee and a $9.95 convenience fee for debit payments.

👉 Our Take: Zillow offers landlords an on-demand experience for renting vacant properties. Its premium listing benefits are for 90 days. Moreover, other companies do not provide these benefits for such a long duration.

Here are some advantages of choosing Zillow:

• Huge Traffic: Zillow has over 30 million visitors each month. That makes Zillow the best website for rental listings.
• Tech Tools: It offers a built-in tenant screening tool, rent collection feature, owner portal, pricing suggestions, etc.
• Additional Exposure: Rental properties are listed on Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads for free.
• Nationwide Coverage: Zillow Rental Manager is present in all 50 states in America.

Here are some disadvantages of choosing Zillow:

• Poor Customer Reviews: It has low ratings on Trustpilot. Customers have complained about inaccurate listings.

Zillow has a rating of 1.5 out of 5 stars rating on Trustpilot.

Craigslist is a popular classifieds website with an astounding 50 million plus monthly visitors.

For Landlords:

• All Craigslist listings for landlords are free.
• Apartment rentals in Boston, Chicago, and NYC areas at $5 fee.

For Renters:

• Renters may easily browse nearby homes because Craigslist automatically picks a location based on the renter’s location when they visit the website.

👉  Our Take: Craigslist is one of the most visited rental websites. Because of the traffic, scammers may use this site to post fake ads or listings. However, Craiglist has updated its policies to avoid rental scams. So, landlords need to do a couple of extra steps for listing vacancies.

Here are some key pros to consider:

• Free To Use: Craigslist does not charge any fee to list property. This makes it an affordable option for landlords and renters.
• User-Friendly Website: Craigslist’s website is easy to navigate. This helps landlords to create their listings easily and add property information seamlessly.
• Huge Traffic: According to Similarweb, Craigslist is the most visited classified website in the USA.

Here are some disadvantages you should look at before choosing them.

• Scammers and Pranksters: Craigslist is infamous for being a playground for scammers.  Many people who list their homes on Craigslist get unsolicited calls from scammers.
• Short Lifespan of Ads: Craigslist ads are listed in reverse chronological order. The newest ones usually get the most traffic. The older ads get pushed down.

Craigslist has a rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars on Sitejabber.

Apartments.com is the best option for eager renters with more than 81 million visitors per month. It is one of the top rent-a-home websites.

For Landlords: 

• The listing fee is not disclosed on their website, you need to contact the company for it.

For Renters: 

• Application Fee: Apartments.com charges $29+ tax as an application fee from renters. This allows them to apply to 10 apartments in a 30-day period.

👉 Our Take: Apartments.com can be handy for apartment hunting, but it’s good to keep in mind its limits. It does not disclose listing fees on its website as other companies do.

Here are some advantages of Apartments.com:

• Comprehensive Search Criteria: It offers multiple search filters like location, pet-friendly apartments, etc.
• Online Rent Collection: Landlords can collect rent payments and security deposits online for all their rental listings.
• Free to Search Properties: Renters can research properties for free in both the mobile app and on the website.
• Travel Time Feature: The travel time feature lets tenants search for rentals in proximity to a specific address.

Here are some disadvantages you should look at before choosing Apartments.com.

• Less User-Friendly: The mobile application is less user-friendly than the website.
• Accuracy of Listings: Customers have complained about inaccurate or incomplete information about the property.
• Poor Customer Reviews: Its customers have faced difficulties in contacting landlords or property managers.

Apartments.com has 2.5 out of 5 stars on Sitejabber.

HotPads is a popular rental website in America. It is part of the Zillow Group.

For Landlords:

• HotPads offers free applications and tenant screening reports for landlords.

For Renters:

• Hotpads charges a $35 fee from renters which allows them to apply for unlimited rentals for 30 days.

👉 Our Take: Hotpads has an easy-to-use interface with very useful features for landlords and tenants. It also offers landlords free application and tenant screening reports.

Here are some advantages of choosing HotPads:

• Map-Based Search: Hotpads offers a map-based search feature that lets you look for neighborhood amenities.
• Comprehensive Search Criteria: It has many search filters like geography, pet-friendly apartments, etc.
• Custom Alerts: With your personal HotPads account, you can track your favorite properties and receive custom alerts about new listings.
• Mobile App: HotPads offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android users. It provides its users with search and contact features.

Here are some disadvantages of choosing HotPads:

• Poor Customer Reviews: HotPads has 1.6 stars from 30+ reviews. This indicates that most customers are dissatisfied with their purchases.
• Accuracy of Listings: Customers have complained about inaccurate or incomplete information about the property.

HotPads.com has 1.6 out of 5-star ratings on Sitejabber.

Rentometer offers detailed rental comparisons nationwide.

For Landlords:

• Basic Plan ($79): It includes quick views and 5 pro reports with an access duration of 1 year.
• Pro Plan ($199): It includes quick views, 200 pro reports, and Rentometer tools and API with an access duration of 1 year.
• Monthly Plan ($29): It includes quick views and 10 pro reports with monthly access.

For Renters:

Rentometer does not charge renters any fee.

👉 Our Take: Rentometer provides better and more detailed information than other websites to compare rental costs. It gives a wider range of options and more in-depth details about the renters.

Here are some advantages of Rentometer:

• Free Trial: Rentometer offers a 7-day free trial for landlords to list their rental properties.
• Batch Processor: It allows landlords to analyze a large number of rental properties at once.
• Rent Calculator: This tool allows landlords to estimate the rental rate for their property based on factors such as location, size, and amenities.
• Rent Comp Report: This tool provides landlords with a detailed report of comparable rental listings in their area.
• Report Branding: It allows landlords to customize their rent comp reports with their own branding.
• Lead Generation: Landlords can generate leads from potential tenants using this tool.

Here are some disadvantages you should look at before choosing Rentometer.

• Paid Subscription: For additional features, landlords require a paid subscription.
• Mobile App: Rentometer does not provide any mobile app service.

Rentometer has 4 out of 5 stars ratings on Google.

Zumper is an excellent rental website and has an average of 7 million monthly users.

For Landlords:

It offers 3 monthly listing plans:

• $9.90 /Listing: It includes 10 live listings for $99 per month.
• $9.27 /Listing: It includes 15 live listings for $139 per month.
• $7.96 /Listing: It includes 25 live listings for $199 per month.

For Renters:

• Application Fee: Zumper charges $30 as an application fee from renters.

👉 Our Take: Zumper offers a convenient platform for both landlords and renters. However, renters have to pay an additional charge other than an application fee if asked by the landlord.

Here are some advantages of Zumper:

• Listing Categories: It offers property features like number of rooms, price, property type, neighborhood, and amenities.
• Tools: It provides credit report, background check, eviction history, lease signing, and rent collection.

Here are some disadvantages you should look at before choosing them.

• Additional Charges: The application fee is $30 but it can vary depending on the landlord.
• Poor Customer Reviews: Zumper has very poor customer reviews. Customers have complained about non-responsive customer support.

Zumper has a rating of 1.6 out of 5 stars ratings on Trustpilot.

Avail is part of Realtor.com®. It is a platform designed for landlords and renters.

For Landlords:

• Unlimited Plan – $0/Unit (unlimited units): It includes listing syndication to Realtor.com, Apartments.com, and Rentable, background screening, online rent collection, etc.
• Unlimited Plus Plan – $7/Unit (per month): In addition to the Unlimited plan it includes “Fast pay” rent Payment, waived ACH fees, and much more.

For Renters:

• Application Fees: The cost of credit, criminal background, and eviction checks vary by location due to state laws.
• Payment Fees: With the Unlimited Plan, tenants have to pay $2.50 per bank transfer. If a credit or debit card is used, a 3.5% processing fee is added.
• Renters Insurance: This rate varies based on the tenant and the property.

👉 Our Take: Avail.co is a good option for landlords and renters. It helps landlords and renters manage their rental properties and streamline their rental experience. However, their additional costs make it a less-than-ideal choice. Other companies offer the same services at an affordable price.

Here are some advantages of Avail.co:

• FastPay: Avail FastPay feature allows landlords to receive rent payments the next business day.
• User-Friendly Website: Avail has an easy-to-navigate user interface. It is easy to manage property-related tasks.
• Track Maintenance: It allows landlords to track maintenance requests and expenses from start to finish.
• Avail Landlord Software: This software helps landlords find tenants, view credit history, sign leases, and collect rent from any device.

Here are some disadvantages you should look at before choosing them.

• Additional Charges: Avail charges $30 each for credit history, nationwide criminal background, and eviction checks or you can buy them as a bundle for $55.
• Short Listing Inventory: Avail has fewer features for the landlord to highlight their property. It has a minimum list of search filters that applicants may use to search for a property.
• Renters Pay a High Fee: Renters have to pay $2.50 for every bank transfer. They are also responsible for the screening report fees.

Avail has a rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars from 10+ users on Trustpilot.