Free HOA Software for Self-Managed HOAs

A self-managed HOA is run by a volunteer board with no management company. When a board searches for free HOA software, it is asking one thing: can we run the community without a monthly bill, and without losing the records the day a board member steps down?

The answer depends on what "free" means. Some free offers are a trial. Some are a plan with a cap that bites in the first year. Some are free because the work they leave undone lands on the treasurer. Below is the checklist we would use on any free HOA software, then what Unitify's free plan covers and where it stops.

What a self-managed board actually needs

Start with the work, not the feature list. A volunteer board has six jobs, and none of them is optional:

• Know who owes what. Assessments, reserve contributions and one-off special assessments tracked per home, so the treasurer reviews one list.
• Keep records that outlive the board. Notices, minutes, votes and contracts in one place the next board can open.
• Reach every homeowner. Notices that arrive without anyone chasing email addresses.
• Handle requests. Violation notices, architectural requests and maintenance issues as tracked items with a status, not threads in a shared inbox.
• Run votes and elections. And show what was recorded.
• Hand over cleanly. When the board changes, or the community hires a management company, the data stays with the association.

What counts as valid notice, a valid vote or a valid violation process is a question for your state's law and your governing documents. Software records and delivers. It does not make a meeting or a decision legally valid.

The checklist: what a free tier must include

Use it against any free HOA software, ours included.

1. It is a plan, not a trial. Look for "no expiry" in writing. A 30-day trial is not a free tier.
2. No cap that hits a one-community board. Check the limits on users, homes and communities.
3. Homeowners get their own access. A resident app or portal where owners read notices and file requests. If only the board can log in, the board still answers every question by hand.
4. Requests with a status. Every request is a ticket with an assignee and a history.
5. Notices that do not run out. Check how many notices a month the free plan allows. It is the limit boards hit first and the one most often buried.
6. A clear price for dues. Tracking assessments and sending invoices is where free tiers usually stop being free. Get the price of the payment step in writing.
7. Voting that records every vote, and a clear answer on who sets it up.
8. Records that stay yours. The data belongs to the association, not to whoever runs the software account this year.
9. No surprise meter. Anything paid is switched on by you, and any usage limit is one you set.

What Unitify's free plan covers

Against that checklist, this is what the pricing page states for the Free plan, at $0 per apartment per month:

• A plan, not a trial. No card, no expiry.
• Core features, including the resident app: the home screen and requests are included on every plan.
• Unlimited users and properties on every plan, so a one-community board hits no cap.
• One news post for residents per month. This is the limit to plan around. Unlimited news posts start on Base.
• No AI features. The AI request classifier is on Base. The AI concierge and AI reports are on Pro.

For a board that mainly needs to keep requests tidy and notify homeowners now and then, that is the daily work, and on the site we say most community association managers and self-managed boards run daily operations on the free plan alone. Sending assessment invoices is the billing add-on, priced below.

There are two paid steps. Base is $1 per apartment per month and adds unlimited news posts, digital passes and booking for shared spaces. Pro is $3 and adds AI reports, the AI concierge, API access and billing included. Exact plans are on the pricing page. AI features are billed per operation in AI credits on top of the plan price; Pro includes 500 credits a month, and you set the spending limit.

Collecting dues: the honest part

Billing is an optional add-on, charged only if you switch it on: $0.5 per invoice on Free and Base, included free on Pro. Where it is on, billing runs the monthly assessment and the reserve contribution, a flat amount per unit, a percentage share of common expenses or a one-off special assessment, and sends the invoice to the resident app. Owners pay by card or ACH bank debit through Stripe.

Two limits to know. ACH settles in up to four business days and is not a guaranteed payment, so Unitify tracks it through submission, settlement and return instead of marking it paid on click. And billing is not an accounting ledger: your accountant still keeps the books.

Requests, violations and votes

A violation notice or an architectural request comes in as a request: a ticket against the home with a status, an assignee and a history. Homeowners can file requests in the app and follow the status. See requests for how it works.

For an owner vote or survey, the administrator sets it up per building, owners vote in the app, and the board sees participation as it arrives. Voting records votes. It does not decide whether a vote is valid under your bylaws.

What Unitify does not do

• It is not for owners who rent out units to tenants. It is built for owner-occupied communities run by an association, a board or a management company.
• It does not make a meeting, a notice or a vote legally valid. Your state and governing documents do.
• In-app payment works only where a payment rail is integrated. Elsewhere residents get a PDF invoice with a QR code to pay outside the app.
• The free plan carries no AI features.

Try it on one community

You do not need a call to start. Sign up for the free plan and add your first community. To load the rest, send the registry (homes, owners and opening balances) as an Excel file or an export from your current system, and we set it up with you. Homeowners then add their own home in the app and the administrator verifies each one.

Read how this works for community association management in the United States, or look up terms in the United States HOA and condo glossary. For the board's own duties, see HOA board member duties and HOA budget and reserve fund basics.

Book a demo if you want to see the free plan on your community before you commit.