TENANT CLOUD VS COZY

Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes

I have been doing some research recently on property management software and I was curious to see what the BP community thought on the subject. From my initial finding's it seems that Tenant Cloud and Cozy are the main ones that landlords prefer to use.

I would like to hear your opinions on the pros/cons of both and which you prefer to use in your business.

(So far, I have come to the conclusion that both products have great user interface, however I believe Tenant Cloud has a leg up due to the ability to manage on the go from your smart phone.)

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

3 Reply

77 views

Most Popular Reply

Randy Bloch

Rental Property Investor · Minneapolis · Member since 2019 · 257 posts · 244 votes

@Mark F.

It is crazy cozy doesnt have an app or plan to have one. Having said that, the website is quite mobile friendly. I have saved their website as an icon on my phone (like an app icon) and I open it and can use the site very easily. Give this a try and I think u find it works okay.

3 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

33 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Satyam Mistry
Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2019 · 130 posts · 139 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger Hello Blaine, I do not have experience with Tenant Cloud so can only comment on Cozy. I have been using Cozy for a little of a year now and have really enjoyed how much more organized it has made my individual properties. It seems to be a very popular platform and I believe they will continue to roll out new features as their user base increases so it is nice to be able to grow with the software. It is very user friendly and easy to setup. Tenants have also told me they enjoy its convenience. The couple times I have had to reach out to their support team I have received prompt responses as well. For new investors looking for an easy way to get into online rent collection and simple property management software you can't go wrong with Cozy.
3 Reply
Scott JensenPro Member
Financial Advisor · Blaine, MN · Member since 2014 · 477 posts · 387 votes
6y
I switched from tenant cloud to cozy last year. For some reason my tenants always seemed to have trouble with tenant cloud. After we switched to cozy tenants aren't having as much trouble.
i can't explain exactly why cozy is better for tenants, but somehow clients have an easier time with it in my experience.
3 Reply
Julie MarquezPro Member
Investor · Skagit County, WA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 807 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger It all depends on what you want to do. Tenant Cloud has a lot more features, but I don't use them anymore. They were always glitchy and the application feature was never working for the tenant, always crashing. I have 20 units and use google sheets for my bookkeeping. I continue to use Cozy for application and screening and rent collection and it's simply, easy and does the job without being more complicated than it needs to be.
2 Reply
Mike McCarthy
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
I started out with Cozy and have loved it from day 1. About a year ago I decided to give TC a try, mostly because of the ‘better accounting’ features it had.
I liked it, but in the end stayed with Cozy because the additional features TC had I found weren’t really want I needed.
So now I’m using Cozy for applications, screening, and rent collection. And QuickBooks for financials. No one can beat QB for their automated pulling of bank and credit card data to make receipt tracking and financials.
Honestly, I think you’ll do great with either platform, but my vote is still with Cozy.
2 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
@Satyam Mistry Thank you for your response. From what I have seen, the ease of use of the platform seems a big positive for both tenants and landlords and I have also heard that their customer support is very responsive. It's good to know that they are continuing to improve by rolling out new features.
1 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Scott Jensen:
I switched from tenant cloud to cozy last year. For some reason my tenants always seemed to have trouble with tenant cloud. After we switched to cozy tenants aren't having as much trouble.
i can't explain exactly why cozy is better for tenants, but somehow clients have an easier time with it in my experience.

Thanks for the input Scott.
From what I have seen from this thread, it seems like Cozy is definitely the favorite in the eyes of the tenants.
Is there anything that you noticed from the landlord perspective when switching over? Is it difficult not being able to manage tenants through your phone like you could do with the Tenant Cloud app?

0 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Julie Marquez:
@Blaine Alger It all depends on what you want to do. Tenant Cloud has a lot more features, but I don't use them anymore. They were always glitchy and the application feature was never working for the tenant, always crashing. I have 20 units and use google sheets for my bookkeeping. I continue to use Cozy for application and screening and rent collection and it's simply, easy and does the job without being more complicated than it needs to be.

Julie,
I have not read into that much, but I saw something on the Cozy site that mentioned there is a couple day lag between when you receive rent and actually see it in your bank account. Is this a problem for you at all?

0 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y

@Mike McCarthy
Well so far it seems that Cozy is the resounding winner. Even though that Tenant Cloud has additional features, the simplicity of Cozy is what gives it an edge.
Thanks for the response.
0 Reply
Mark F.
Rental Property Investor · Northern NJ · Member since 2019 · 672 posts · 677 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger Cozy user here. Dont plan on changing but I only have one grip. They don't have an app nor do they plan on making one. That absolutely blows my mind. The CEO, I believe, was on Jake and Gino podcast years ago and I feel like if someone were to reach out to him and explain why that is a terrible idea he might listen to reason. So no app and the 5 day until rent money hits your bank are my downsides.
I was using Venmo and Zelle to collect which is in my account instantly or within a couple days. I've since adjusted my payments accordingly.
2 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
@Mark F.
Wow that is crazy that he came out and said that. I figured that they were just behind the curve on and they would be coming out with one eventually. It would seem to me that if they were able to translate their easy-to-use platform to an app, there would be nothing but upside.
In regards to the rent collection, are you able to tell if your tenant has paid by the 1st through your side of the portal or do you have to wait until it shows up in your bank account to know that your tenant has paid?
0 Reply
Scott B.
SF Bay Area · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 6 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger
Yeah, you can see when they initiate the transfer, both scheduled ones and manual. It stops the clock on "late" payments when the transfers is initiated. So as long as they initiate the payment on the first it's not late. And yeah, it's 5-6 days for me before it shows up in my account, which is totally fine by me.

Love Cozy.
1 Reply
Randy Bloch
Rental Property Investor · Minneapolis · Member since 2019 · 257 posts · 244 votes
6y
@Mark F.
It is crazy cozy doesnt have an app or plan to have one. Having said that, the website is quite mobile friendly. I have saved their website as an icon on my phone (like an app icon) and I open it and can use the site very easily. Give this a try and I think u find it works okay.
3 Reply
Account Closed
Homeowner · New Boston, NH · Member since 2014 · 9 posts · 6 votes
6y
@Randy Bloch
I only have an iPhone so I can only speak for that but I use cozy and saved the link as a shortcut. From there the website acts and looks like an app. Actually after logging in once, I’ve never had to login again from my phone and I click on the link as if it was an app and frankly could not see an app working better than what is going on right now.
2 Reply
Randy Bloch
Rental Property Investor · Minneapolis · Member since 2019 · 257 posts · 244 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
@Randy Bloch
I only have an iPhone so I can only speak for that but I use cozy and saved the link as a shortcut. From there the website acts and looks like an app. Actually after logging in once, I’ve never had to login again from my phone and I click on the link as if it was an app and frankly could not see an app working better than what is going on right now.

Agree...that was what I was trying to say as well, but you explained it better. I do have to login every time though.

0 Reply
Mark F.
Rental Property Investor · Northern NJ · Member since 2019 · 672 posts · 677 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger Yeah I agree. Personally I like the apps and buttons as oppose to websites but that's just me. And you cant beat free. On payment, like the others have said you get notified as soon as your tenants have paid rent or any bills.
To the others I cant tag for some reason, I'm aware of the website working on mobile version. It's just nice to have an app and is a preference. And the money transfer is just something I've noticed. No other system I've used has taken that long. Again, all of this isnt surprising since the app is free. But if someone wants to know the negatives, I'll tell them.
2 Reply
Dawn AnastasiPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
It actually makes a lot of sense for Cozy to NOT have an app, if you think of it from a software perspective. Not only would they have to maintain a web interface, but they'd have to maintain an Android app AND an iPhone app. This is 3 things to maintain. Rather, they can just maintain the web interface, and spend the extra time adding more features and providing customer service, or keeping the service FREE for most things.
Podcast Guest on Show #29
2 Reply
Connie Chan
Investor · Member since 2017 · 239 posts · 149 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger check out the app Tellus. I use it for managing my rentals and have found using the app to be really helpful to do things on the go. Especially things like taking pics of receipts. Renters like it too because the app sends them reminders to pay rent if they don’t turn on the AutoPay. It’s also free and full of features. I haven’t used all the features but so far it has scaled with my units nicely. Best feature for me is the ability to manage with my husband and mom, you can have multiple owners tied to the same properties.
1 Reply
Marita Jojo
Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2020 · 116 posts · 23 votes
6y
@Satyam Mistry I recently looked into cozy and created account for the tenant and they said it only can link a checking account and not a saving in which they get the pay. Also, fee is pretty steep 2.75% for someone who only have ssi debit card.
1 Reply
Thomas Fawcett
Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 8 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger I am the lone vote for Tenant Cloud so far. I was using Cozy but I wanted to streamline our business with some more features that tenant cloud offered. I looked into Buildium, appfoilo, and podio and went with TenantCloud because it had a lot of great features and was pretty cheap. The only thing I used Cozy for was collecting rent so I didn’t use all of their features.
Tenantcloud features
- all property details are stored in one location
- allows me to manage all “equipment” within a unit so I have details of the make and model of all of the appliances in one place.
- tenants can pay rent and submit maintenance requests
- even if the tenant calls or texts me they get automatic emails about their maintenance request when I submit it.
- I can set reminders such as furnace filters etc.
- I can share all lease information and documents with the tenant through the platform
- I can list my properties.
- I am using the accounting since it is wrapped into the platform but I think it is a little clunky so far.
The reason I went with a platform rather than continue to use google docs and cozy is because I was spending so much time perfecting my system all the time. I love google docs and would tend to want to spend hours building spreadsheets but since I am a pretty new Investor, 3 doors, and investing on the side of my full time career I need to focus most of my time Into income producing activities, finding new deals. So I am going all in with TenantCloud, hoping that they improve and I fall in love with the platform or at least I will learn how I want to build my own system in the future.
Thomas
2 Reply
Scott JensenPro Member
Financial Advisor · Blaine, MN · Member since 2014 · 477 posts · 387 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger Switching over was very easy to do. We just switched when we had a tenant turnover. I agree with @Randy Bloch and @Dawn Anastasi. Cozy's website is very good on my phone and I would rather not have another app on my phone. I fully support their decision not to make a phone app. For managing tenants we have our own systems and processes and for communication we use a separate email, but more often than not, we text the tenants using google voice.
1 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Dawn Anastasi:
It actually makes a lot of sense for Cozy to NOT have an app, if you think of it from a software perspective. Not only would they have to maintain a web interface, but they'd have to maintain an Android app AND an iPhone app. This is 3 things to maintain. Rather, they can just maintain the web interface, and spend the extra time adding more features and providing customer service, or keeping the service FREE for most things.

Dawn, that is a good point to make.
From what others have said, the website seems to translate over to your mobile device fairly easily. If by not having an app means they get to keep the service relatively free and continue to roll out new features, then I am all for it.

0 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Connie Chan:
@Blaine Alger check out the app Tellus. I use it for managing my rentals and have found using the app to be really helpful to do things on the go. Especially things like taking pics of receipts. Renters like it too because the app sends them reminders to pay rent if they don’t turn on the AutoPay. It’s also free and full of features. I haven’t used all the features but so far it has scaled with my units nicely. Best feature for me is the ability to manage with my husband and mom, you can have multiple owners tied to the same properties.

Thanks for the suggestion Connie.

I have not heard of this product before but when I checked it out in the app store, it looked very user friendly. It's interesting that it also enables you to manage your personal fiancees and invest.
I like the fact that you can also add multiple owners, I am not sure if the others do.

0 Reply
Blaine Alger
OP
Investor · Waco TX / Conroe, TX · Member since 2017 · 376 posts · 228 votes
6y
Originally posted by @Thomas Fawcett:
@Blaine Alger I am the lone vote for Tenant Cloud so far. I was using Cozy but I wanted to streamline our business with some more features that tenant cloud offered. I looked into Buildium, appfoilo, and podio and went with TenantCloud because it had a lot of great features and was pretty cheap. The only thing I used Cozy for was collecting rent so I didn’t use all of their features.
Tenantcloud features
- all property details are stored in one location
- allows me to manage all “equipment” within a unit so I have details of the make and model of all of the appliances in one place.
- tenants can pay rent and submit maintenance requests
- even if the tenant calls or texts me they get automatic emails about their maintenance request when I submit it.
- I can set reminders such as furnace filters etc.
- I can share all lease information and documents with the tenant through the platform
- I can list my properties.
- I am using the accounting since it is wrapped into the platform but I think it is a little clunky so far.
The reason I went with a platform rather than continue to use google docs and cozy is because I was spending so much time perfecting my system all the time. I love google docs and would tend to want to spend hours building spreadsheets but since I am a pretty new Investor, 3 doors, and investing on the side of my full time career I need to focus most of my time Into income producing activities, finding new deals. So I am going all in with TenantCloud, hoping that they improve and I fall in love with the platform or at least I will learn how I want to build my own system in the future.
Thomas, thanks for being the black sheep.
From all the details you mentioned, it definitely seems that TC has the fundamental advantage. And I get why it would be nice to have all that in one place, that is streamlined for sure.

Do you have any comment on the ability to use the mobile app or ease of use of the platform from the tenants side? (I have heard some say that tenants have more trouble with Tenant Cloud)

0 Reply
Thomas Fawcett
Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 8 votes
6y
@Blaine Alger we have just made the switch. So I don’t have a good review yet as to how well it will work for our tenants. So far things have gone smoothly but I am slightly concerned after reading these post :). I am giving it a year and then going to evaluate.
As far as signing a tenant up for payment I think it was about the same complexity at cozy. I will probably have a great answer to your question in a year.
1 Reply
Marques J.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Medford, OR · Member since 2016 · 70 posts · 27 votes
6y
I have used tenant cloud for years and love it. For 9.99 per month all my tenants can pay electronically for free and they have an instant payment option also included at no charge. So as soon as Tenant pays TCP sends me the rent and they wait for bank drafts to clear. It has application and portals to search for new tenants. I really like Tenant Cloud. I have never used Cozy though..
3 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.