Best rent collection apps in India compared: RentOk, Crib, RentOwl, Domvio and more

How we compared these apps

These are the questions that matter most to an Indian landlord or PG owner, whatever the size of the portfolio:

• Does the tenant need to install an app? Every extra download is a reason for a tenant to delay.
• Where does the rent money go? Straight to your UPI ID or bank account, or through a payment company first? Does anyone take a cut?
• Are there fees on each payment? And who pays them, you or the tenant?
• Do you get a rent receipt? Including for cash, which is where most disputes start.
• Are reminders sent on WhatsApp? That is where most Indian tenants read messages.
• Does it handle PG beds? Only matters if you run a PG or hostel.
• Can you run it from abroad? For NRIs: international phone numbers and access for a family member.
• Is the price published? Or do you have to book a sales call to find out?

Quick comparison: rent collection apps in India

Domvio: rent reminders on WhatsApp, rent straight to your UPI ID

Best for: Landlords and PG owners in India, with any number of flats, houses, rooms or beds, who want to run the whole rent cycle on WhatsApp without paying anything on the rent itself.

What it does: Three days before the due date, Domvio sends your tenant a WhatsApp reminder with the exact amount and a UPI link. The tenant pays straight to your UPI ID with Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm or any bank app, then shares the payment confirmation. You approve it with one tap and you both get a PDF receipt on WhatsApp. Cash is logged with one tap or a message like "paid Ravi". It covers flats, independent houses, rooms and PG beds.

Setup steps, more screenshots and what Domvio does not do yet are on the Domvio rent collection app page. This roundup stays a comparison.

• Good: Tenants never install an app or create an account.
• Good: Domvio never holds your money and takes no commission. The full rent lands in your account.
• Good: A PDF receipt for every confirmed payment, UPI or cash.
• Good: Run it from WhatsApp: message "status", "overdue" or "remind all".

• Watch out for: It is new and in early access, so it has fewer features than older tools.
• Watch out for: Not for owners living abroad yet. NRI mode (international sign-up, reminders timed for India, caretaker co-access) is coming soon.
• Watch out for: UPI and cash only. Tenants cannot pay by card or net banking.
• Watch out for: You approve each payment yourself. There is no automatic matching with your bank statement.
• Watch out for: No late fees, partial payments, rent agreements, police verification, electricity bill splitting or deposit settlement.
• Watch out for: Paid plans (Local Pro, NRI Essential, NRI Premium) are coming soon. Their prices are not announced yet.

Pricing (as listed on 9 October 2026): Free during early access. No credit card needed, and setup takes under 3 minutes.

RentOk: a full system for PGs, hostels and co-living

Best for: PG, hostel and co-living operators with many beds and staff, who want rent, KYC, occupancy and food menus in one system and do not mind a sales demo.

What it does: RentOk's home page lists automatic rent reminders on WhatsApp, SMS and app notifications, bulk WhatsApp reminders with a payment link, a live view of filled, vacant and under-notice beds, digital KYC, a food menu generator and a white-label app. RentOk's own guide says tenants can pay through the link by 20+ modes, including Paytm, PhonePe, credit and debit cards, net banking and NEFT, that rent is deposited into the owner's bank account, and that tenants can download receipts from the RentOk tenant app.

• Good: Built around PG beds and occupancy, not just flats.
• Good: Tenants can pay by card or net banking as well as UPI apps.
• Good: Covers more of a PG business: KYC, food menus, vacancy tracking.

• Watch out for: Prices are not on RentOk's site. You need to book a demo to get a quote.
• Watch out for: RentOk's tenant page mentions payment processing charges on debit card, credit card and net-banking payments. The amount is not stated there, so ask who pays them.
• Watch out for: Receipts sit in RentOk's tenant app, so tenants who want them may need to install it.
• Watch out for: For one or two flats it may be more system than you need.

Pricing (as listed on 9 October 2026): Not published. RentOk's pricing explainer says the price depends on things like the number of properties or beds and the size of your team.

Crib: PG and co-living software with attendance and verification

Best for: PG, hostel and student or co-living operators who want attendance, outpasses and verification alongside rent.

What it does: According to its App Store listing, Crib sends personalised rent reminders and receipts on WhatsApp and SMS and can add GST to rent and receipts. Its RentQR lets tenants pay by UPI from any app, with settlement to a designated account and automatic mark-as-paid. It also lists e-KYC, digital rent agreements, online police verification in selected states, attendance and outpass alerts to parents, complaints with staff tasks, and a separate Crib Tenant app.

• Good: UPI payments through RentQR are marked as paid automatically.
• Good: Covers paperwork that rent-only tools skip, such as agreements and, in some states, police verification.
• Good: GST on receipts, useful if you rent commercially.

• Watch out for: Pricing is not shown on the app listing.
• Watch out for: The listing does not say whether RentQR payments carry transaction charges. Ask before you sign up.
• Watch out for: Attendance and outpass features are aimed at student housing. A family landlord will not use them.

Pricing (as listed on 9 October 2026): The app is free to download. No rate card is published on the listing. Contact Crib for a quote.

RentOwl: a simple rent ledger for a few flats

Best for: A landlord with one to ten flats who wants a clean record of rent, tenant documents and receipts.

What it does: The RentOwl website describes a rent ledger where you mark each month paid, partial or unpaid, encrypted storage for Aadhaar, PAN, police verification and agreements, PDF receipts on your own letterhead, agreement expiry alerts at 60, 30 and 15 days, and CSV income reports for the year. Tenants can use a portal.

• Good: A free plan for one property with up to five tenants.
• Good: Agreement expiry alerts and yearly income reports.
• Good: Clear published prices, including GST.

• Watch out for: Its FAQ says WhatsApp reminders are not automatic; you open a pre-filled message yourself.
• Watch out for: Not built for PG beds yet, and there is no GST invoice for commercial rent.
• Watch out for: Rent is paid outside the app, so you record each payment.

Pricing (as listed on 20 October 2026): Free for 1 property and up to 5 tenants. Basic ₹299 a month for up to 10 properties, Pro ₹699 a month for unlimited properties, both with unlimited tenants and GST included.

Kiraya Setu: automatic reminders with online payment, priced by tenant

Best for: Landlords with up to a few dozen tenants who want reminders and receipts to run on their own.

What it does: The Kiraya Setu website lists automatic WhatsApp and SMS reminders before and on the due date, online rent by UPI, net banking or credit card, paid, pending and overdue tracking, an automatic receipt after every payment, tenant and lease records, expense tracking and reports for tax filing, in Hindi and English.

• Good: Reminders and receipts are automatic on the paid plans.
• Good: Tenants can pay by card or net banking as well as UPI.
• Good: Every plan starts with a one-month free trial.

• Watch out for: Online payments go through its payment system; any fee on them is not stated.
• Watch out for: The free tier covers 2 tenants with manual reminders only.
• Watch out for: Prices are shown as discounts from higher list prices, so check what renewal costs.

Pricing (as listed on 20 October 2026): Free for up to 2 tenants. Starter ₹149 a month for 10 tenants, Growth ₹299 for 25, Pro ₹499 for 60 and Unlimited ₹999.

NoBroker rent collection service: a portal handles it for you

Best for: Owners, including NRIs, who already use NoBroker and are comfortable with rent going through its payment system.

What it does: NoBroker's rent collection service page says it sends tenants automated reminders and tells you when a payment is late. Tenants pay by credit card, bank transfer or UPI through payment gateways, and the rent is credited to your bank account. Tenants get a digital receipt, and you get a payment history and monthly statements. It also mentions help with rent disputes.

• Good: Tenants can pay by credit card if they want to.
• Good: Monthly statements of what came in.
• Good: Part of a larger platform that also lists properties and offers legal help.

• Watch out for: The price of the service is not on the page.
• Watch out for: Rent passes through a payment system on its way to you, instead of going straight to your UPI ID.
• Watch out for: Rules on paying rent by credit card changed in 2025 (see below), so check what is available today.

Pricing (as listed on 9 October 2026): Not published on the service page. Ask NoBroker for a quote.

UPI and a spreadsheet: the free baseline

Best for: Landlords with one or two tenants who already pay on time.

What it does: Your tenant pays to your UPI ID or bank account from Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm or a bank app. You note each payment in Google Sheets or Excel and write a receipt when the tenant asks.

• Good: It costs nothing. Person-to-person UPI payments stay free, as the Finance Ministry confirmed in August 2026.
• Good: No new app for you or your tenant.
• Good: Rent reaches your account directly.

• Watch out for: You send every reminder yourself, every month.
• Watch out for: No receipt unless you make one, and cash is easy to dispute later.
• Watch out for: You match names and amounts against your bank statement by hand.

Pricing (as listed on 9 October 2026): Free. Start with our rent tracker template, copy a rent reminder message and use our rent receipt format.

NoBroker Pay, Housing.com and CRED: apps for tenants, not landlords

When people search for a "rent payment app", they often find apps that let tenants pay rent by credit card. These do not send you reminders or track who has paid. The tenant uses them, and the money reaches your bank account.

• NoBroker Pay: its App Store listing says tenants pay by credit card, debit card or e-wallet into the landlord's bank account. The landlord does not need to register. Money can take up to two working days to arrive, and the receipt is emailed to the tenant.
• Housing.com Pay Rent: Housing.com explains that its Pay Rent feature takes credit card, debit card and UPI payments and charges the tenant a convenience fee.
• CRED, PhonePe and Paytm: in September 2025, Entrackr reported that these apps stopped credit-card rent payments after new RBI rules for payment aggregators, and that NoBroker and Housing were expected to follow. We could not confirm what each app allows today.

Which rent collection app should you choose?

• One or two tenants who pay on time: UPI and a spreadsheet is fine. Add proper receipts. We weigh the two in rent tracking in Excel vs an app.
• A few flats and you want a paid app with published prices: RentOwl for a ledger and documents, or Kiraya Setu if you want automatic reminders and card payments.
• You are tired of chasing rent and want it all on WhatsApp: a rent collection app such as Domvio, which handles invites, reminders, payments, cash and receipts on WhatsApp for any number of properties. If you handle a few flats yourself, see our rent app for small landlords page, or the app for flat owners if you rent out an apartment.
• You live abroad: pick a tool that accepts an international number and lets a family member help. Read our guide to NRI property management.
• A PG with 20 or more beds: compare bed-level tools in our best PG management apps roundup, and see Domvio's PG management software.
• A large PG or co-living business with staff: RentOk or Crib, which add KYC, food, attendance and occupancy tools.
• Your tenants insist on paying by card: a landlord tool that supports cards, or let tenants use a pay-rent app themselves.

What to ask before you pick any rent app

• Does the rent go straight to my account, or does a payment company hold it first? How many days until it arrives?
• Is there a fee on each payment, and who pays it?
• Will my tenant have to download an app or create an account?
• Can I record cash and give a receipt for it?
• Is the price written down somewhere, or only quoted on a call?
• If I stop using it, can I take my tenant list and payment history with me?

For the step-by-step version of setting up online rent, read how to collect rent online.

Frequently asked questions