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Forge vs AppFolio vs MagicDoor

Three AI-era property management platforms, compared without spin. Forge wins on price and compliance depth - and we will tell you exactly where the others are still ahead.

The honest comparison - sourced and dated
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Pricing, side by side

As of 2026-07-12. AppFolio publishes no per-unit rates or minimums - its site is quote-only ("Contact us for details"); only the 50-unit floor on Core is confirmed on its own pricing page. MagicDoor figures are read live from magicdoor.com/pricing.

  • Price per unit / monthForge:$1.10
    AppFolio
    Quote-only¹
    MagicDoor
    $2.50 (Advanced)²
  • Monthly minimumForge:None
    AppFolio
    Implied by 50-unit floor (rate unpublished)¹
    MagicDoor
    $20 flat (Starter, <=10 leases)²
  • Units required to onboardForge:None
    AppFolio
    50 units (Core)¹
    MagicDoor
    None
  • Onboarding / setup feeForge:None
    AppFolio
    Unpublished¹
    MagicDoor
    $500 (Advanced)²
  • ContractForge:Month-to-month
    AppFolio
    Annual typical (industry-reported)
    MagicDoor
    Starter: none - Advanced: optional - Pro: 1-yr²
  • Free trial / entry tierForge:30-day full access
    AppFolio
    Demo only
    MagicDoor
    $20/mo Starter - no free tier²

What you would actually pay

Monthly subscription only (excludes payment and onboarding fees). Forge has a published price at every size; AppFolio does not publish one, so anything shown for AppFolio below 50 units does not exist as a real plan, and figures above that are third-party estimates, not AppFolio's own numbers.

  • 50 unitsForge:$55 / moAppFolio:Below AppFolio's 50-unit floor - quote requiredMagicDoor:$125 / mo
  • 200 unitsForge:$220 / moAppFolio:~$298+ / mo (estimated)¹MagicDoor:$500 / mo
  • 1,000 unitsForge:$1,100 / moAppFolio:~$1,490+ / mo (estimated)¹MagicDoor:$2,500 / mo

What residents are charged

The fee residents actually feel every month. Forge's published policy: the payment processor's fee is passed through to the resident at actual cost - never marked up - on every plan, with no tier gate, and each PM can choose to absorb it instead. Online resident payments are in development and not yet live, so this is our published pricing rather than a fee you can pay today.

  • ACH / bank-transfer rent paymentForge:Published rate: processor's cost passed through at cost - never marked up; PM can choose to cover it - online resident payments not yet live
    AppFolio
    ~$2.49 per eCheck (widely reported)¹
    MagicDoor
    $5.00 (Starter) / $3.50 (Advanced)²
  • Card rent paymentForge:Published rate: processor's cost passed through at cost - never marked up; PM can choose to cover it - online resident payments not yet live
    AppFolio
    ~2.99% + $0.25 (widely reported)¹
    MagicDoor
    Not publicly broken out²

Feature by feature

  • AI built into the base priceForgeYesAppFolioPartialMagicDoorYes6 agents, every plan
    AppFolio
    Realm-X, higher tiers
    MagicDoor
    Genie, every plan
  • AI you can trust on money & legalForgeYesAppFolioPartialMagicDoorPartialDeterministic-first, explainable, human-approve
    AppFolio
    Agentic
    MagicDoor
    Agentic / autonomous
  • State-specific statutory compliance engineForgeYesAppFolioNoMagicDoorNoAll 50 states + DC, cited to statute or left blank; AI-drafted, not yet reviewed by an attorney in any state
    AppFolio
    Generic, not statute-specific
    MagicDoor
    Generic, not statute-specific
  • Owner-acquisition engine (lead scraper + CRM + AI drip)ForgePartialAppFolioNoMagicDoorPartialLead scraping live in Denver metro only; CRM + AI drip nationwide
    MagicDoor
    CRM only - no lead-gen
  • Owner Wealth Optimizer (sell-vs-hold)ForgeYesAppFolioNoMagicDoorNo
  • Tenant screening (credit, criminal, eviction; applicant-pays)ForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorYesAI fraud analysis + FCRA adverse-action letter generator built in; bureau reports (credit/criminal/eviction) in provider onboarding - not yet live
  • Trust accounting (trust/operating separation + 3-way reconciliation)ForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorYesStatutory trust layer; QuickBooks syncs the corporate GL. Trust/operating separation and the book/beneficiary legs run today; the bank-feed leg of 3-way reconciliation is in rollout - not yet live
  • IRS 1099 e-file1099s (owners + vendors) + monthly owner report bundleForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorYesPrepare 1099s + bulk CSV export today; IRS e-file in development
    MagicDoor
    Via IRS IRIS
  • Listing syndicationForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorYesMITS-style feed built; each ILS network (Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper, Realtor.com) requires its own partnership - not yet live on any
    MagicDoor
    Zillow + Realtor.com + Apartments.com + MITS
  • Two-way SMS + owner repair-approval workflow + installable appForgePartialAppFolioNoMagicDoorYesBuilt - activating: SMS awaits carrier registration (no per-text fee when live); owner-approval + install polish in rollout
    MagicDoor
    $0.15/text on Starter²
  • Other verticals (commercial, student, affordable)ForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorYesResidential-focused today; other verticals on roadmap
  • Proven scale / track recordForgePartialAppFolioYesMagicDoorPartialNew - pilot stage
    AppFolio
    22,096 customers, 9.4M units, FY2025¹
    MagicDoor
    Only 2 Capterra / 1 G2 review as of 2026-07-12²

What's live and what isn't

2 of 9 live

What works today and what does not yet, checked against the same switches the product runs on. When a status flips, every page updates together.

Live today

  • State-law compliance enginelive

    State-aware compliance engine (50 states + DC) is live; every value is cited to statute or left blank, and every profile is AI-drafted and not yet reviewed by an attorney in any state.

  • Owner repair approvalslive

    Owner repair-approval workflow is live — approve/deny page, email + in-portal delivery.

Not yet live

  • Online rental applicationsactivating

    Online application links are being activated — magic-link resume, PTSR intake and co-applicant groups are built; ask your property manager how to apply.

    PTSR intake
    Portable tenant screening report: a screening report the applicant obtained themselves in the last 30 days, which Colorado statute (HB23-1099) requires landlords to accept; the application form takes one in.
    co-applicant groups
    Several applicants (roommates, a couple, a guarantor) applying for one unit as a single application.
  • Applicant screeningin rollout

    AI fraud analysis + FCRA adverse-action letter generator built in; bureau reports (credit/criminal/eviction) in provider onboarding - not yet live

    FCRA adverse-action
    FCRA is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law on using credit and background reports. An adverse action is declining an applicant, or offering worse terms, because of such a report; the applicant must be told in writing, with the source of the report.
  • Trust accounting & 3-way reconciliationin rollout

    Trust/operating separation and the book/beneficiary legs run today; the bank-feed leg of 3-way reconciliation is in rollout - not yet live

    3-way reconciliation
    Checking that three totals for a trust account agree: the ledger (book), the sum held for each owner and resident (beneficiary), and the bank's own statement (bank feed).
  • Online resident paymentsin development

    Rent ledger, statements and automatic late fees run today; online resident payments and owner disbursement are switched off while the custody model is reworked - not yet live

  • Text-message (SMS) notificationsactivating

    SMS awaits carrier registration (no per-text fee when live)

  • IRS 1099 e-filein development

    Prepare 1099s + bulk CSV export today; IRS e-file in development

  • Listing feed to rental networks (ILS)in progress

    MITS-style feed built; each ILS network (Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper, Realtor.com) requires its own partnership - not yet live on any

    MITS-style feed
    A listing file in the MITS format, the real-estate industry standard that rental websites read to import vacancies.

Forge is in open beta. The full side-by-side, including where competitors are ahead, is on the comparison page.

Where AppFolio and MagicDoor are ahead today

We would rather you hear it from us. Both AppFolio and MagicDoor have a materially longer operating track record, and both serve verticals Forge has not built for yet - commercial, student, and affordable housing. AppFolio in particular has real scale (22,096 customers and 9.4M units as of FY2025¹) that a new entrant cannot match on day one. Getting a listing feed accepted by an ILS network - Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper, Realtor.com - is a partnership/BD process for every vendor, not purely an engineering one - Forge's MITS-style feed is built and we're pursuing those partnerships, but we are not confirmed live on any of them yet.

Where Forge wins

Forge is the lowest published price at every size with no minimum and no onboarding fee - AppFolio does not publish a price to compare against, and will not even quote you below 50 units. It is the only one of the three that encodes state-specific statutes (deposit clocks, pay-or-quit notices, late-fee caps) into the workflow for all 50 states and DC. Its county-records lead engine finds new owner clients for you in the Denver metro today (other counties in rollout), it gives owners a sell-vs-hold Wealth Optimizer, and its AI is deterministic-first and explainable, so it never acts on money or legal matters without you.

See it on your own portfolio

30 days of full access, no credit card. Free white-glove migration from AppFolio or MagicDoor - see how it works.

Start your free trialCalculate your savings

1 AppFolio: appfolio.com/pricing is quote-only and publishes no per-unit rates or minimums; the 50-unit floor on Core and FY2025 scale figures (22,096 customers, 9.4M units, $951M revenue) are from AppFolio's own Q4/FY2025 investor release (ir.appfolioinc.com, Jan 29 2026). Per-unit price/minimum estimates and the ~$2.49 eCheck / ~2.99%+$0.25 card fees are widely reported by third parties, not published by AppFolio - treat as estimates. Checked 2026-07-12.

2 MagicDoor: magicdoor.com/pricing, read live 2026-07-12. Review counts from Capterra and G2 listings, same date.

Figures are for general comparison, not a quote, and may change after this date.

Common questions

How does Forge pricing compare to AppFolio?
The two price differently, so compare structures rather than rates. Forge is a flat $1.10 per unit per month with no monthly minimum and no minimum unit count. AppFolio publishes no rates at all - its pricing page is quote-only and states that a minimum spend and a 50 unit minimum apply to its Core plan. That means the practical difference for a smaller portfolio is not a percentage, it is that Forge has no floor to clear and no unit threshold to meet before you can buy.
Does AppFolio have a minimum?
Yes. AppFolio's own pricing page states a 50-unit minimum on its Core plan, so smaller or growing managers pay for capacity they do not use. Forge has no unit minimum and no monthly minimum.
What is the cheapest property management software for a small portfolio?
For small residential portfolios, Forge is typically the lowest cost: $1.10 per unit per month, no minimum, no onboarding fee, and a 30-day full-access trial. A 50-unit manager pays about $55/month on Forge versus MagicDoor's $125/month (50 x $2.50) - AppFolio's Core plan will not take a 50-unit account at all without a custom quote.
Forge vs MagicDoor: which is better for compliance depth?
Both are AI-native, but MagicDoor is $2.50 per unit with a $500 onboarding fee (Advanced plan) and treats every state generically. Forge is $1.10 per unit, no onboarding fee, and encodes state-specific statutes (deposits, pay-or-quit, late-fee caps) into the workflow for all 50 states and DC, every value cited to its statute or left blank where none could be sourced. Every profile, Colorado included, is AI-drafted and cited to statute; not yet reviewed by an attorney in any state.
Where are AppFolio and MagicDoor still ahead of Forge?
Both have a materially longer operating track record and serve verticals Forge does not yet touch (commercial, student, affordable housing). AppFolio in particular has scale (9.4M units, 22,096 customers as of FY2025) that a new entrant cannot match yet. Getting a listing feed accepted by any ILS network - Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper, Realtor.com - is a partnership/BD process for every vendor, not a pure engineering one; Forge has built the feed and is pursuing those partnerships but is not confirmed live on any of them yet.