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Last updated on: Nov 6, 2026
Published on: Nov 3, 2026

If you've decided to manage your rental yourself, the next question is which tools you'll use and how much backup you want behind you. TurboTenant is one of the most popular places to start. It's free to list, screen applicants and collect rent, and paid plans add leases, faster payouts and accounting tools. What TurboTenant doesn't cover is what happens when a tenant stops paying.
On TurboTenant's DIY plans and on Nomad, you keep the decisions: you set the rent, pick the tenant and decide on repairs. TurboTenant is landlord software with a free plan, two paid plans and a separate full-service option called Autopilot. Nomad is software you use to lease and manage the home yourself, with guaranteed rent, a 24/7 repair line and showing help included or available. Below we compare what each costs, how much of the work stays with you, how rent collection works, and what happens if a tenant stops paying.
TurboTenant and Nomad both give you the tools to list, screen, sign a lease and collect rent online; the main difference is what's behind you once the lease is signed.
Cost: TurboTenant's software is free, or starts at $12.42 a month for Essentials and $16.58 a month for Pro. Nomad costs more: 4% of the lease up front (or 6% of monthly rent) plus a $99 one-time onboarding fee.
The work: On any TurboTenant DIY plan you run the showings, coordinate repairs and chase late rent yourself. With Nomad your tenant has a 24/7 repair line, and you can hand off showings when you'd rather not run them.
Listings: TurboTenant doesn't list directly on Zillow. Nomad lists on 30+ sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com and Realtor.com.
Guaranteed rent: Nomad pays your rent on the 5th even when a tenant doesn't pay, and you keep the decisions. TurboTenant doesn't offer guaranteed rent on any plan.
Nomad | TurboTenant
| |
|---|---|---|
What it is | Digital property management: software you use to lease and manage the home yourself, with guaranteed rent | DIY landlord software (Free, Essentials, Pro), plus a separate flat-fee managed service (Autopilot) in 14 states |
Ongoing fee | 4% of the lease paid up front, or 6% of monthly rent ($75/mo minimum) | Free: $0. Essentials: from $12.42/mo. Pro: from $16.58/mo. Autopilot Fully Managed: $250/mo, plus $100/mo per additional unit |
Listing / setup | $99 one-time onboarding fee | No listing fee |
Tenant placement | $0 if you show the home, $900 resident-led tours, $1,500 agent-led tours | No placement fee on the DIY plans; you run the showings. Autopilot Tenant Placement: $1,500 per vacancy |
Listing sites | 30+ sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com and Realtor.com | 25+ partner sites, including Apartments.com, Realtor.com, Redfin and Zumper. Doesn't publish DIY listings directly to Zillow |
Showings | Your choice: you show it, self-guided lockbox tours, or licensed agent-led tours | You show the home on the DIY plans. TurboTenant's team schedules showings on Autopilot |
Lease | State-specific lease, generated by the platform | Lease agreements with unlimited e-signatures. The Landlord Forms Pack is $199 on Free and included on paid plans |
Guaranteed rent | Included. Rent paid on the 5th during the lease, whether or not the tenant pays | Not offered |
Repairs | 24/7 repair line for your tenant, a vetted repair network, and you decide how each request is handled | Maintenance request tracking; you find and manage the contractor. Repair coordination only on Autopilot Fully Managed |
Who decides | You: rent, tenant, repairs and renewals | You on the DIY plans. On Autopilot you approve the tenant and TurboTenant's team runs the day-to-day |
Where it works | Nationwide | DIY software nationwide. Autopilot in 14 states |
TurboTenant figures are from turbotenant.com/pricing and TurboTenant's help center, November 2026. Nomad figures are from nomadlease.com/pricing.
TurboTenant's Free plan costs $0 and covers listing, applications, screening and online rent collection. Essentials starts at $12.42 a month and adds online leases, faster rent payouts and quicker listing review. Pro starts at $16.58 a month and adds income verification, tax-ready reports and more financial tools. Your renters cover the per-transaction costs: applicants pay a $55 screening fee if you're on Free, or $45 on a paid plan, and tenants pay $2 per bank transfer on Free (free on paid plans) and 3.49% for card payments.
On TurboTenant's DIY plans, everything after move-in is on you: if rent is late or doesn't come, a repair can't wait, or a tenant damages the home, the cost and the follow-up are yours.
Nomad charges 4% of the lease up front (or 6% of monthly rent, with a $75 minimum), plus a $99 one-time onboarding fee. That fee includes:
Guaranteed rent, paid on the 5th of every month during the lease whether or not the tenant pays
A 24/7 repair line for your tenant, with flat-rate prices on common jobs
Listing on 30+ sites, applicant screening, a state-specific lease and rent collection
Showing help is optional: $0 if you show the home yourself, $900 for resident-led tours, or $1,500 for agent-led tours where they're offered. Your tenant's Resident Benefits Package also funds Property Protection for accidental tenant damage.
TurboTenant's free plan is the low-cost option if you only need a listing, a lease and online rent collection. Nomad's fee is for owners who want rent on a fixed date and backup when something goes wrong during the lease.
On TurboTenant's Free, Essentials and Pro plans, all of the work is yours. TurboTenant gives you the tools and you do each step: reply to inquiries, run every showing, find a contractor when something breaks, and follow up when rent is late. If you live near the home and like being hands-on, that's a workable setup, and plenty of landlords run it that way.
TurboTenant also sells Autopilot, a flat-fee service in 14 states where its team does the work. Tenant Placement costs $1,500 per vacancy and covers photos, the listing, inquiries, showing scheduling, screening, the lease and the deposit; you approve the applicant. Fully Managed costs $250 a month plus $100 for each additional unit and adds rent collection, repair coordination, renewals and annual inspections. Neither Autopilot option includes guaranteed rent.
With Nomad, you can do the work yourself or hand off the parts you'd rather not do, and you keep the decisions either way. Show the home yourself and pay no placement fee. Choose resident-led tours, and Nomad replies to renters, books tours and ships a self-guided lockbox; prospects pass a pre-screen and ID verification before they can book. Or pay for agent-led tours where they're offered (availability varies by city). Either way, you choose the tenant from screened applicants.
If you plan to run showings yourself on either platform, fast replies make the biggest difference, and our renter inquiry response templates give you wording you can send within minutes.
TurboTenant sends listings to more than 25 partner sites, including Apartments.com, Realtor.com, Redfin, Rent.com, Zumper and Craigslist (except in markets like Boston, New York and Chicago, where Craigslist charges to post). It doesn't publish self-managed listings directly to Zillow; some may appear on Zillow's sister sites, HotPads and Trulia, through partner distribution. That matters for how many inquiries you receive, as we typically see a high percentage come from Zillow. If you use TurboTenant and want to reach Zillow renters directly, you can post the home separately through Zillow Rental Manager.
If you list with Nomad, your listing goes to 30+ rental sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com and Realtor.com. All inquiries are funneled to one platform, where you can manage showings and track who you’ve contacted.
TurboTenant and Nomad both screen applicants. TurboTenant runs credit, criminal and eviction checks through TransUnion, paid by the applicant unless you choose to cover it, and adds income verification and fraud detection on Pro. You decide what to make of the reports. Nomad runs a 10-point screen on every applicant: it verifies identity to catch fraud, confirms income, checks credit and runs national background checks, then shows you a summarized risk profile in your portal. You choose the tenant, and the lease you sign is backed by guaranteed rent, so if that tenant stops paying, Nomad covers the rent.
TurboTenant collects rent online and pays it out to your bank account after the tenant pays, with expedited payouts on paid plans. In some states, eligible tenants can split their rent into two to four payments through a partner called Livble; when Livble approves and funds the payment, you get the full rent up front. That's a payment option your tenant applies for, not a guarantee: if the tenant doesn't pay and doesn't use Livble, rent doesn't arrive. TurboTenant can also send reminders, add late fees and report on-time rent to credit bureaus for tenants who opt in.
Nomad collects rent from your tenant and pays you on the 5th of every month, whether or not the tenant has paid. Payment timing is the main difference between TurboTenant and Nomad rent collection: with TurboTenant, your income arrives when the tenant pays. With Nomad, it arrives on schedule. For a wider look at the options, our guide to collecting rent online compares methods and fees.
TurboTenant doesn't include guaranteed rent on any plan, including Autopilot. Autopilot's "no-risk guarantee" means you don't pay the placement fee until a tenant is found; it isn't a rent guarantee.
Nomad includes guaranteed rent in its fee. Guaranteed rent here means you're paid on a fixed monthly schedule for the term of a signed lease, whether or not the tenant actually pays. Nomad pays 100% of the rent on the 5th of each month while the lease is in effect. If a tenant stops paying, Nomad pays the first two months, then payments pause, and Nomad reimburses eviction costs for non-payment up to $5,000. Nomad's guaranteed rent covers missed rent during a lease, not the time between tenants.
How Nomad handles this: See how Nomad's guaranteed rent works
For a wider look at who offers a rent guarantee today, see our comparison of guaranteed rent companies.
During the lease, Nomad pays your rent on the 5th and runs a 24/7 repair line for your tenant, while TurboTenant's DIY plans track payments and maintenance requests for you to act on. Most of a rental's life happens after move-in, so here's what each one does for you during the lease on TurboTenant's DIY plans.
Nomad | TurboTenant
| |
|---|---|---|
Rent | Paid to you on the 5th every month, whether or not the tenant has paid. | Paid out to your bank account after the tenant pays. Faster payouts on Essentials and Pro. |
If the tenant stops paying | Nomad pays the first two months and reimburses eviction legal fees for non-payment up to $5,000. | TurboTenant can add late fees and send reminders. Collection and any eviction are yours to handle and pay for. |
Repairs | 24/7 repair line by portal or phone, run with Nomad's maintenance partner, Lula. You choose a vetted pro or your own. Flat-rate prices for common jobs, a 30-day warranty on network repairs, and up to $500 to contain an emergency before you decide. | Tenants submit maintenance requests, and you track them and hire your own contractor (TurboTenant connects with Thumbtack to find one). |
Damage protection | Property Protection: up to $500,000 for accidental tenant damage and $100,000 in liability coverage, backed by Lloyd's of London, through the Resident Benefits Package your tenant pays for. | Not offered. Tenants can buy renters insurance through TurboTenant's partner, SURE. |
Cash up front | Rent Advance: take up to 11 months of future rent up front, for a flat 10% of the amount advanced. | Not offered. |
Bookkeeping | Payments and statements in your owner portal. | Income and expense tracking, with Schedule E reports and automatic transaction imports on Pro. |
Renewals | Send a renewal lease from your portal. | Prepare and sign a new lease in TurboTenant. |
If you're comfortable taking the 9 p.m. leak call and carrying a reserve for missed rent, TurboTenant's tools cover the paperwork. If you'd rather not be the one on call, or your mortgage depends on rent arriving on time, that's what Nomad's fee is for.
TurboTenant's DIY plans are built for landlords who want low-cost software and are happy to do every step themselves. They suit owners who live near the home, already have contractors they trust, and keep enough in reserve to ride out missed rent and an eviction. The paid plans add conveniences like online leases, faster payouts and tax reports. Autopilot is a separate, done-for-you service in 14 states, priced as a flat fee rather than a percentage of rent. None of TurboTenant's options include guaranteed rent.
Owners choose Nomad over TurboTenant for five reasons:
Your rent arrives on the 5th, whether or not the tenant pays. Guaranteed rent is part of Nomad's fee; TurboTenant doesn't offer one.
Your tenant has a 24/7 repair line. Requests come in at any hour, common jobs have flat-rate prices, and you decide who handles each one.
You can hand off showings when you want to. Show the home yourself with no placement fee, or add self-guided or agent-led tours.
Your listing reaches Zillow. Nomad syndicates to 30+ sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com and Realtor.com.
You still keep the decisions. You set the rent, choose the tenant from screened applicants and approve repairs.
If you're comparing other DIY tools, see how Nomad compares with Avail. If you're still deciding between self-managing and hiring help, our breakdown of property manager fees vs. self-managing compares the first-year cost of each. A good local property manager is the right answer for plenty of owners, especially with several homes or no time to spare. If you're also weighing full-service companies, see how Nomad compares with Belong and with Doorstead. To see all five options side by side, read how Nomad compares with TurboTenant, Avail, Belong and more.
How Nomad handles this: See what your home would cost on Nomad
Yes, Nomad is a good alternative to TurboTenant if you want guaranteed rent and backup after move-in. Like TurboTenant, Nomad lets you list the home, screen applicants, sign a lease and collect rent online while you keep every decision. Nomad adds rent paid on the 5th during the lease whether or not the tenant pays, a 24/7 repair line for your tenant, Rent Advance (up to 11 months of rent up front), and up to $500,000 in Property Protection. TurboTenant costs less: its Free plan is $0.
TurboTenant's Free plan is $0. Essentials starts at $12.42 a month and Pro starts at $16.58 a month (turbotenant.com/pricing, November 2026). Autopilot Tenant Placement is $1,500 per vacancy, and Autopilot Fully Managed is $250 a month plus $100 for each additional unit. Renters pay screening and card fees on top.
Yes, TurboTenant is free on its Free plan, which costs $0 with unlimited listings. Your renters pay some fees instead: applicants pay a $55 screening fee when you're on Free, and tenants pay $2 per bank transfer and 3.49% for card payments. On Essentials or Pro, the screening fee drops to $45 and bank transfers are free for tenants.
No, TurboTenant does not offer guaranteed rent. None of TurboTenant's plans, including Autopilot, include a rent guarantee. Autopilot's "no-risk guarantee" only means you don't pay the placement fee until a tenant is found. Nomad includes guaranteed rent, paying you on the 5th of each month during the lease whether or not the tenant pays.
TurboTenant doesn't publish self-managed listings directly to Zillow. Some listings may appear on Zillow's sister sites, HotPads and Trulia, through partner distribution. You can post the home to Zillow yourself through Zillow Rental Manager. Nomad syndicates to 30+ sites, including Zillow, Apartments.com and Realtor.com.
Autopilot is TurboTenant's flat-fee, done-for-you service, available in 14 states as of November 2026. Tenant Placement ($1,500 per vacancy) finds and screens a tenant for your approval and handles the lease. Fully Managed ($250 a month plus $100 per additional unit) adds rent collection, repair coordination, renewals and inspections. It doesn't include guaranteed rent.
Yes, TurboTenant is cheaper than Nomad. TurboTenant's software is free on its Free plan and starts at $12.42 a month on Essentials. Nomad charges 4% of the lease plus a $99 onboarding fee, and that fee includes guaranteed rent, a 24/7 repair line for your tenant and Rent Advance, none of which TurboTenant offers.
No. Nomad is software that owners use to lease and manage their own homes. You set the rent, choose the tenant and approve repairs; the platform handles syndication, screening, the lease, rent collection and maintenance triage, with guaranteed rent included.
Yes, Nomad guarantees rent if your tenant stops paying. Nomad pays rent on the 5th of each month during the lease whether or not the tenant pays. If a tenant stops paying, Nomad pays the first two months, then payments pause, and eviction costs for non-payment are reimbursed up to $5,000.

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