Lotly vs. AppFolio for Mobile Home Parks

AppFolio is a modern, well-designed residential and commercial PMS with strong accounting, marketing, mobile, and a fast-growing AI suite (Realm-X). But its data model is unit-centric and apartment-tuned: there's no lot model, no lot-vs-home rent split, no park-owned-home tracking, and no infill home-sales pipeline. Lotly is purpose-built for mobile home parks from day one, with MHP-native screening, certified mail, an eviction manager, and per-lot pricing where vacant lots are free.

Feature	Lotly	AppFolio
Built specifically for mobile home parks	Yes — designed for parks from day one	No — residential/commercial platform, not MHP-native
Lot-level occupancy tracking	Native	Unit/property-centric, not lot-native
Lot rent vs. home rent split	Native, billed separately	Not modeled; single unit rent
Park-owned home (POH) tracking	Native	Not MHP-native
Infill / home-sales pipeline	Native multi-stage pipeline (inquiry → closing)	No native home-sales CRM
Built-in tenant screening	Native: TransUnion credit + criminal + eviction/housing records	Yes — credit/criminal/eviction + income/ID, per-report fee
ACH-first rent collection	Default; sub-$1 per transaction	Online payments incl. ACH; per-transaction fee
Mobile-first tenant portal	Yes; sub-90-second pay flow	Yes — resident portal app
One-click certified mail + state notices	Native (LetterStream) + state-specific templates	Notices logged in-app; certified mail not native, no MHP templates
Eviction case manager	Native, state-law-aware + AI-assisted	Eviction history in screening only; no case manager
Automated past-due outreach	AI-drafted, days-past-due ladder (email/portal/SMS)	Automated reminders (email/SMS); not an AI DPD ladder
In-app AI suite	Native: AI assistant, maintenance agent, doc OCR, AI drafting	Realm-X AI — apartment-tuned
Lease e-signature	Built-in, included	Built-in, included
AI-assisted data onboarding	AI-mapped import from any PMS (CSV/Excel/ZIP)	Guided migration; paid onboarding
MHP-formatted owner statements	Native, no QuickBooks required	Owner statements, not MHP-formatted
Pricing model	Per-lot, vacant lots free, month-to-month (no annual lock-in)	Per-unit, monthly minimums, annual contract

What AppFolio does well

AppFolio is a genuinely strong residential and commercial platform, and it earns its reputation. The UX is clean and modern, the mobile resident portal is polished, and the accounting, marketing, and reporting tools are deep enough to run large apartment portfolios end to end. Built-in tenant screening (credit, criminal, eviction history, plus income and ID verification), native lease e-signature, and a fast-maturing AI layer in Realm-X — including Leasing, Maintenance, and Resident Messenger agents, with an Anthropic Claude connector on the way — make it a capable, enterprise-grade choice. But every one of those strengths is designed around the apartment unit: the data model, the workflows, and the AI are all tuned for apartments and conventional residential, not for parks.

Why Lotly wins for mobile home parks

Mobile home parks don't fit the apartment model, and that mismatch shows up everywhere in day-to-day operations. A park manager has to track the lot and the home as separate things — bill lot rent apart from home rent, follow which homes are park-owned, and keep vacant lots moving through an infill sales pipeline. AppFolio's unit-centric structure wasn't designed for any of that, so park operators end up bending the software to fit.

Lotly was built for parks from day one. The data model is lot-level, not unit-level, so occupancy, lot rent versus home rent, and park-owned-home status are all first-class concepts instead of workarounds. Then it layers on the MHP-specific tooling AppFolio simply doesn't ship: one-click certified mail, a real eviction manager, and an infill home-sales CRM.

A true lot-level model

Lots (not apartment units), separate lot rent vs. home rent, and native park-owned-home tracking — the core MHP concepts AppFolio's unit-centric model doesn't represent.
One-click certified mail + state notices

Native certified mail via LetterStream with state-specific legal notice templates, built right into the workflow. AppFolio lets you log and email notices, but certified mailing is handled off-platform with no MHP templates.
Eviction Manager + automated past-due outreach

A state-law-aware, AI-assisted eviction case manager plus an AI-drafted, escalating days-past-due reminder ladder across email, tenant portal, and SMS. AppFolio surfaces eviction history in screening and sends fixed-schedule late reminders, but has no dedicated eviction case manager and no AI-drafted delinquency ladder.
Native infill home-sales pipeline + MHP AI

A multi-stage sales CRM (inquiry → showing → application → financing → docs → closing) for filling vacant lots, backed by an AI suite tuned for park operations rather than apartments.

The bottom line

AppFolio is priced per unit across tiered plans, with monthly minimums, onboarding fees, and a 12-month auto-renewing subscription — and vacant units still count toward that minimum. Lotly is per-lot, month-to-month with no annual lock-in, and vacant lots are free, so your bill tracks the lots you actually earn rent on.

If you run conventional apartments or commercial and want a deep, polished platform with strong accounting and marketing, AppFolio is a serious option. But if you operate mobile home parks — with lots, park-owned homes, lot-vs-home rent, certified-mail notices, evictions, and infill sales to manage — Lotly fits the way parks actually work, and only charges you for occupied lots.

Best for

AppFolio: Larger apartment, residential, and commercial operators who want a polished, full-featured platform with strong accounting, marketing, and AI — and don't need a true lot-level mobile-home-park model.

Lotly: Mobile-home-park-first operators who want lot-level workflows, certified mail, infill stage tracking, and per-lot vacant-free pricing without the apartment-DNA workarounds.

Pricing

AppFolio: Per-unit pricing across tiered plans (Core, Plus, Max) with monthly minimums and onboarding/implementation fees, on a 12-month auto-renewing subscription; vacant units still count toward the minimum. Pricing is quote-based.

Lotly: Per-lot pricing with vacant lots free. Month-to-month contract — no annual lock-in. See pricing →