How much does REI Today AI cost for landlords?

REI Today AI is free to start. The free plan includes property management, lease tracking, maintenance requests, and marketplace access. Paid plans with AI chatbot features start at $29/month — significantly less than AppFolio ($280/mo minimum) or Buildium ($58/mo).

Is REI Today AI free for contractors and handymen?

Yes. Contractors and handymen can join REI Today AI 100% free — forever. No fees, no commissions. You set your own rates and get paid directly via Stripe.

How does REI Today AI match landlords with contractors?

Our AI analyzes the maintenance request, contractor availability, ratings, and proximity to match property owners with the best-fit verified contractor — often within the same day.

How many properties can I manage with REI Today AI?

REI Today AI is designed for small landlords managing 1 to 100 units. All plans support unlimited properties and units within your portfolio.

Can tenants submit maintenance requests through REI Today AI?

Yes. Tenants can submit maintenance requests with photos, set priority levels, and track status from open to completed. Landlords receive instant notifications and can assign contractors directly from the marketplace.

What makes REI Today AI different from AppFolio or Buildium?

REI Today AI is built specifically for small landlords (1-100 units) who self-manage their properties. Unlike AppFolio and Buildium which target large property management companies with high minimums, REI Today AI starts free, includes an AI chatbot assistant, and has a built-in contractor marketplace.

REI Today vs DealMachine: Field Acquisitions vs Rental Operations

DealMachine and REI Today AI serve real estate operators, but they are strongest in different parts of the value chain. One is aligned with finding deals in the field. The other is aligned with running rentals after you own them.

DealMachine: field acquisitions positioning

DealMachine is commonly associated with driving for dollars workflows: capturing properties while you are in the field, tracking routes, and supporting outreach to owners. If your growth constraint is consistent prospecting, field tools can be central.

REI Today AI: operations after the deed

Once you own (or manage) rentals, the constraint shifts:

Rent must arrive predictably
Maintenance must be triaged quickly
Contractors must be scheduled and held accountable
Tenant communication must stay coherent

That is the world REI Today AI is built for.

What not to compare

Avoid comparing “number of map pins” vs “maintenance tickets.” Instead compare:

Are you optimizing top-of-funnel lead capture?
Or bottom-of-funnel portfolio execution?

Hybrid investor playbook

Use field acquisition tools to feed your deal pipeline.

Use landlord operations software to protect cashflow on the assets you keep.

Where AI fits on the operations side

REI Today AI includes an AI assistant aimed at reducing repetitive landlord and tenant questions—different from acquisition outreach AI, which is usually about message volume and personalization at the seller layer.

Metrics: field tools vs operations tools

For field acquisition apps, you might track addresses logged per hour, lead-to-contact rate, and appointments set.

For landlord operations, you should track rent collected on time, maintenance time-to-first-response, and repeat contractor utilization.

Mixing the metrics across categories confuses your weekly review.

Team training: keep roles clean

If you have VAs, split responsibilities:

Acquisition VAs live in CRM + outreach tools
Maintenance coordinators live in ticketing + vendor workflows

When everyone does everything, accountability disappears.

CTA

If operations is your next bottleneck, start free: Landlord signup. Read the full product surface area on features.