What is Cozy?

Cozy is a property management system used by thousands of landlords nationwide. Cozy has several useful features including automatic listing syndication, automated rent collection, tenant screening, and maintenance management tools. Cozy is best for independent landlords managing small portfolios with a limited budget.

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Table of Contents

• What is Cozy?
• Full Review
• Cozy Pricing & Cost
• Cozy Features
  • Property Marketing
  • Applicant Management
  • Resident Management
  • Rent Collections and Payments
  • Accounting
• Cozy Alternatives & Competitors
  • Cozy vs. Avail
  • Cozy vs. Buildium
• Is Cozy Right For You?

Full Review

Cozy was founded in March 2012 by Gino Zahnd. It is utilized by over 50,000 landlords and services more than 120,000 tenants.

Cozy is equipped with several features that help independent landlords manage their properties. This includes custom property listings, credit and background checks, online tenant portal, rent collection & payments, and maintenance management tools.

Although Cozy does not offer as many features as other property management solutions, its pricing makes it an ideal solution for landlords with smaller portfolios and limited budget. For property managers who currently do not use any software tools, implementing a solution like Cozy will significantly reduce workload.

Overall, Cozy is a free property management solution typically used by independent landlords with smaller portfolios. If you have more than 50 units and desire features like accounting and reporting, consider testing more powerful systems such as AppFolio and Buildium.

Cozy Pricing & Cost

Cozy's platform is free to access ($0 price), but several tools and services do cost extra.

Cozy Features

Below, we'll discuss the key features of Cozy, and how it can help you manage your properties. We include screenshots of the product to give you a sense of its design and layout.

Property Marketing

Cozy helps reduce vacancies by helping you create rental listings, and making them visible to your prospective tenants. A few features include custom property listings, automatic listing syndication, and the Cozy Rent Estimate tool.

Custom Property Listings

You can create rental listings directly in Cozy. Here are the major details you can share in your listings:

Cozy generates a unique URL where your prospective tenants can apply to your listing. You can send this link directly to your prospective tenants, or through other marketing channels like your website and social media.

Automatic Listing Syndication

With a single click, you can syndicate your listings to Doorstep and Realtor.com. Cozy will send you an email notification when a prospective tenant applies to your listing.

Cozy Rent Estimate

The Cozy Rent Estimate tool analyzes nearby properties to help you set accurate rent prices. This tool generates a useful report that will show you the rent estimate for your property, rent amounts of comparable nearby units, local vacancy rates, and recent rent trends.

Applicant Management

Once prospects apply for your listings, you can manage the applications directly in Cozy. Cozy helps you screen and compare applicants, so you can find the best tenants for your properties.

Rental Application

Prospective tenants will be prompted to fill out an application when they respond to your listing. They are asked the standard questions found in most rental applications including renter profile, contact information, residence history, and employment history. The application also includes a variety of screening questions about pets, smoking, bankruptcies, and felonies.

Unfortunately, the rental application is not customizable, so any additional information will have to be requested manually. Additionally, applicants must create a Cozy account to complete the application, which can be an annoyance to your prospective tenants.

Tenant Screening

You can require credit reports and background checks as part of your listing application. These screening reports will show you the applicant’s credit score, criminal history, and eviction history. The results can be viewed directly in Cozy. The cost of these screening reports are covered by the applicant. Credit and background checks can be purchased in a bundle for $39.99 or individually for $24.99.

Lease Management

Unfortunately, Cozy does not have an electronic lease feature. However, you can store leases into Cozy, and attach relevant documents.

Resident Management

Cozy provides tools to help connect landlords to their tenants, so tasks get done faster and easier. Here is a breakdown of Cozy’s online tenant portal and maintenance management feature.

Online Tenant Portal

Cozy’s online tenant portal is your tenant’s primary way of connecting with you. In this portal, they are able to submit payments, view payment history, and review their lease & renter’s insurance details. Tenants can also use this portal to submit maintenance requests. They can add notes, photos, and videos to these requests.

Additionally, tenants can communicate with you directly in Cozy using the chat box. Tenants can set up email notifications to be alerted when they receive a message from you in Cozy.

Maintenance Management

Cozy allows you to track maintenance requests, so you can efficiently address issues. Like we mentioned above, you can communicate with your tenants directly in Cozy, and update them about maintenance statuses and contractor visits. You can also keep records of past requests, attach receipts, and add notes.

Rent Collections and Payments

Cozy allows you to collect rent and payments through its online payment processing feature. You can set up a variety of payment options in Cozy including recurring payments for monthly rent collection. Also, you can set one-time payments for move-in costs, security deposits, and utilities. One-time payments are useful for tenants who would rather pay on a weekly or biweekly schedule. Additionally, you can set up automatic late fees in Cozy.

Tenants enter their debit, credit, or bank account information into the online tenant portal, and Cozy supports all banks and checking accounts in the US. Payment processing is free if the tenant connects their bank account, and charges a 2.75% fee for debit and credit transactions.

Payments are deposited directly into your bank account. You can set up multiple checking accounts, if you want to separate rent payments and security deposits. You can set up email notifications to alert you when you receive a payment, and notify tenants when payments are due.

Accounting

With Cozy’s accounting feature, you can track and manage your property expenses. You can assign tax categories, and attach images & receipts. You can export your expenses summarized by property and tax category in CSV and PDF formats.

Cozy Alternatives & Competitors

Cozy competes with many other property management solutions that offer similar functionality. The best choice for you will depend on your budget, volume of properties, and feature preference.

Cozy's top competitors are:

We've analyzed Cozy compared to its top competitors. Read these in-depth analyses that evaluate Cozy's cost, features and ease of use compared to alternatives:

In this section, we'll help you make the right decision by exploring how Cozy compares to two of their competitors: Avail and Buildium.

Cozy vs. Avail

Cozy and Avail are popular property management systems used by thousands of landlords nationwide. Both solutions offer free plans which makes them ideal for independent landlords who do not want to purchase a complex property management system. The best solution for you will likely come down to whether you prefer a solution that offers more tenant or landlord features. Cozy is the more tenant-friendly option because they charge lower fees for bank transfers, credit card transactions, and tenant screenings. Avail is the better option for landlords because it includes faster payment processing, electronic leases, and syndicates to more property listing websites.

Cozy vs. Buildium

Cozy and Buildium are both popular property management systems used by thousands of property managers to manage their residential properties. One of the biggest differentiators is their pricing. Cozy is a free to use solution, and Buildium starts at $50 per month depending on the number of units you manage. The best solution for you will likely come down to your budget and the features you desire. If you manage less than 50 units and want a free solution, Cozy is for you. If you manage more than 50 units and desire robust accounting, reporting, and communication tools, consider testing Buildium.

Is Cozy Right For You?

Cozy is a free property management system used by thousands of landlords nationwide. With Cozy, you will be able to create custom property listings, screen your tenants, collect rent & payments, and manage maintenance requests.

Cozy is a free product making it ideal for independent landlords who do not want to purchase a subscription to a software solution. However, Cozy does not include strong accounting and reporting capabilities which makes the solution less useful as you start to scale. If you manage more than 50 units, consider testing more powerful systems such as AppFolio and Buildium.

If you're interested, you can try Cozy today.