BoardStack vs PayHOA for HOA Management (2026)

Two platforms built for volunteer boards — with different priorities

PayHOA and BoardStack both target the same customer profile on the surface: self-managed HOA boards that do not use a professional property management company. Both publish transparent pricing. Both support self-service setup that a volunteer treasurer can complete without dedicated IT resources. Neither requires a sales call.

That surface-level similarity matters because it puts real tradeoffs into focus. These are not an enterprise platform versus a niche tool, or a management-company product versus a board-direct product. They are two platforms competing for the same buyer, and the difference between them is which problem each platform prioritizes solving.

What PayHOA is built around

PayHOA started as an online dues collection platform and expanded into full HOA management. The operational center of gravity is clear in the feature set: online payments, violation tracking with photo documentation and templated letters, homeowner portals, and community communication tools.

For a board that needs to modernize dues collection—move from paper checks to ACH transfers or credit cards—PayHOA handles that reliably. For a board managing an active violation program (exterior maintenance, parking, landscaping compliance), the violation workflow is purpose-built. For boards that want a single portal where homeowners can view meeting minutes, governing documents, and community announcements, PayHOA’s homeowner portal covers that.

The free tier is a genuine on-ramp for small communities. A community under 75 units can use PayHOA without a monthly fee, paying only per-transaction costs when dues are collected. For communities where dues volume is modest, that model is genuinely low-cost.

Where PayHOA stops short for compliance-focused treasurers

The gap we built BoardStack around is one PayHOA does not address: fund-level accounting enforcement. QuickBooks, PayHOA, and most general HOA platforms allow treasurers to create separate accounts for operating and reserve funds. They do not prevent a treasurer from recording a transaction in the wrong fund, transferring between funds without documentation, or running the reserve balance to zero to cover an operating shortfall.

That is not a hypothetical risk. Fund commingling is one of the most common compliance failures in self-managed HOAs. States including California, Florida, Washington, and Nevada have specific reserve fund disclosure requirements. Fannie Mae requires that condo project budgets allocate at least 10% to reserves for conforming loan eligibility. When a lender or prospective buyer requests reserve documentation, a commingled set of books creates problems that are difficult to unwind retroactively.

BoardStack enforces the separation structurally. The operating fund and reserve fund are distinct at the database layer. A transaction cannot be assigned to the wrong fund type. Reserve contributions and expenditures flow through a dedicated ledger. The platform tracks actual reserve balances against reserve study projections and calculates percent-funded status.

That is the specific problem we built BoardStack to solve, which is why PayHOA’s general accounting approach is a meaningful difference rather than a minor feature gap.

Pricing: how the models compare in practice

PayHOA’s free tier is appealing on paper but carries per-transaction costs. At 2.9% + $0.30 per credit card payment, a 50-unit community collecting $300/unit annually ($15,000 total) pays approximately $465 in transaction fees on top of the monthly fee. ACH rates are lower but still per-transaction. The free tier makes sense for communities with low dues volume or high ACH adoption.

PayHOA’s paid tiers, starting around $49/mo, remove transaction fees and add full feature access. That is the more predictable cost structure.

BoardStack is flat-tier with no per-transaction fees: $20/mo for Starter (up to 50 units), $49/mo for Growth (51–200 units), $99/mo for Scale (201–500 units). A community under 50 units pays $20/mo regardless of dues volume, number of transactions, or homeowner count within the tier.

For most communities, the all-in cost comparison is closer than the headline pricing suggests once transaction fees are factored into the PayHOA free and lower-tier model.

Which platform is right for your board

PayHOA is the stronger choice if your board’s primary needs are dues collection, violation management, and homeowner communication—and you are comfortable maintaining reserve compliance tracking separately in a spreadsheet or external tool. The feature set is well-developed for those operational workflows.

BoardStack is the stronger choice if reserve fund compliance is the primary concern: you need enforced fund separation, reserve adequacy tracking against a reserve study, or state-specific reserve reporting. We built BoardStack because no existing tool in this price range prevented commingling at the data layer. If that is the gap you are trying to close, that is what BoardStack addresses.

Both platforms offer self-service setup and transparent pricing that a volunteer board can evaluate and approve without a sales call. BoardStack includes a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

Verdict

PayHOA is the better fit for boards that need a capable general HOA administration tool—dues collection, violations, communications—and are comfortable managing reserve compliance separately. BoardStack is the better fit for treasurers and boards where reserve fund compliance, fund separation enforcement, and state-specific reserve requirements are the primary concern. Both publish pricing and sell directly to volunteer boards without requiring a sales call.