StoopKeep + Avail: Why Smart Landlords Use Both (2026 Guide)
Avail handles leasing and tenant management beautifully. StoopKeep handles expense tracking and Schedule E. Together, they cover everything a DIY landlord needs.
Avail Is Genuinely Good — At What It Does
Before anything else: Avail (part of Apartments.com) is a well-built, widely used platform for independent landlords. If you're looking for a tool to handle tenant screening, online lease signing, and rent collection, Avail is one of the best free options available. It earns its reputation.
The catch is that Avail is built for the tenant-facing side of your rental business. When it comes to your side—tracking what you're spending, categorizing repairs for the IRS, and generating a clean Schedule E at tax time—Avail doesn't have tools for that. And that gap is where most landlords suffer most.
That's where StoopKeep comes in.
What Avail Does Well
Avail's core strength is managing the landlord-tenant relationship:
- Listing syndication. Post vacancies to Apartments.com, Zillow, Trulia, and more from one place.
- Tenant screening. Credit checks, background checks, and eviction history—all integrated into the application flow.
- Digital leases. State-specific lease templates with e-signature, no printer required.
- Online rent collection. ACH payments, automated late fee reminders, and payment history in one dashboard.
- Maintenance requests. Tenants submit requests through the Avail portal, with status tracking for landlords.
For a landlord onboarding new tenants or managing the rent-collection relationship, Avail is an excellent free-tier option.
Where Avail Leaves You Hanging
Avail doesn't track your expenses. It doesn't scan receipts. It doesn't know what Schedule E is.
When you pay a plumber, buy caulk at Home Depot, renew your landlord insurance, or pay property taxes—none of that flows into Avail. You're on your own to capture it, categorize it, and reconcile it at year end.
The result is the situation most independent landlords know too well: April arrives, and you're manually reconstructing 12 months of spending from bank statements, a folder of crumpled receipts, and your own hazy memory.
Avail also prices its Plus plan per unit ($9/unit/month = $108/unit/year), which adds up quickly as your portfolio grows:
| Portfolio | Avail Plus Cost |
|---|---|
| 2 units | $216/year |
| 5 units | $540/year |
| 10 units | $1,080/year |
StoopKeep Pro is $99/year regardless of how many units you own.
What StoopKeep Does Instead
StoopKeep is the expense-tracking companion that fills Avail's blind spot:
- Snap receipts as they happen. Home Depot run, contractor invoice, insurance renewal—photo captured, AI-categorized to the right Schedule E line in seconds.
- "Needs Review" inbox. AI surfaces each categorization for your approval. You stay in control without doing the work.
- Property-level tracking. Assign expenses to specific units. StoopKeep knows which property drove which cost.
- One-click Schedule E export. Clean CSV sorted by IRS line item and property. Hand it to your CPA or plug it into TurboTax.
- No-login tenant maintenance link. Tenants submit repair requests with a photo in 15 seconds—no Avail account, no app. The repair cost flows directly into your Schedule E.
How They Work Together
| Job to be Done | Best Tool |
|---|---|
| Listing a vacancy | Avail |
| Tenant screening (credit/background) | Avail |
| Lease signing | Avail |
| Online rent collection | Avail |
| Repair receipt capture | StoopKeep |
| Expense categorization (Schedule E) | StoopKeep |
| Schedule E export for taxes | StoopKeep |
These tools don't compete—they cover opposite ends of the landlord workflow. Use Avail to find and manage tenants. Use StoopKeep to track what you're spending and make tax time effortless.
Who This Combination Is For
This stack works best if you:
- Self-manage 1–10 units
- Use Avail for leasing and want a dedicated solution for expense tracking
- Are tired of the tax-season scramble to reconstruct a year of receipts
- Want flat, predictable pricing that doesn't scale with unit count
The Bottom Line
Avail and StoopKeep aren't alternatives—they're complements. Avail handles everything from listing to lease. StoopKeep handles everything from first receipt to finished Schedule E.
Most independent landlords need both halves of that equation. Now you have tools built for each.
Try StoopKeep free. Add it alongside Avail and cover every part of your rental business.