The community operations platform for self-managed HOA boards— without the property-management-software tax
Running an HOA shouldn't mean drowning in emails, spreadsheets, and binder-thick CC&Rs. Aldea gives your board one platform to communicate with homeowners, collect dues through Aldea Pay, and keep your community running — without enterprise software or a sales call.
Sound familiar?
Four things every self-managed HOA board deals with — and that enterprise property-management software wasn't designed to solve.
CC&Rs live in a PDF nobody opens
Your governing documents are scattered across email attachments and a dropbox link the last board president shared. When a homeowner asks about the short-term rental rule, nobody can find the current version.
Dues chasing eats your weekends
You’re texting three homeowners about this month’s check, reconciling a spreadsheet against the bank statement, and wondering why collecting money from your own neighbors feels like a part-time job.
Board inbox is the single point of failure
Maintenance requests, policy questions, and complaints all land in one person’s personal email. When they travel or step down, the entire community’s requests disappear with them.
Dues tracking lives in a spreadsheet only the last treasurer has
When the treasurer rotates out next year, their Excel workbook, their naming conventions, and their mental model of who owes what all walk out the door. The new treasurer inherits a mystery, not a ledger.
Collect dues without chasing anyone
Chasing homeowners for monthly dues is one of the most demoralizing parts of sitting on an HOA board. The reminder texts. The reconciling a spreadsheet against the bank statement. The awkward “hey neighbor” follow-ups at the mailbox. Your board volunteered to steward the community, not to run an unpaid collections agency.
Aldea Pay handles it end-to-end. Send one-time payment requests for special assessments, initiation fees, or event fees. Set up recurring subscriptions with autopay so homeowners are charged automatically every month, quarter, or year. Automated overdue reminders go out daily at 09:00 UTC to anyone who falls behind, so you don't have to. Admins can issue full and partial refunds from the dashboard. Every request, receipt, failed charge, and refund lands on a full activity-log audit trail.
Transparent transaction fees of 1–1.5% on top of Stripe's standard passthrough — no hidden markups, no monthly add-on, no surprise invoice at tax time. USD and CAD supported natively, not through a third party. Payouts go directly to your HOA's bank account via Stripe Connect, properly segregated from Aldea. And yes, it's included in every plan.
- Aldea HQ$274
- PayHOA (annual)$344
Effective monthly platform cost for a 100-home HOA collecting $150 monthly dues. Figures show subscription + each platform’s own transaction fee, captured 2026-04-20 from aldeahq.com/pricing and payhoa.com/pricing. Both platforms route payments through Stripe and pass Stripe’s standard processing fees (roughly 0.8% ACH, capped at $5/txn) through identically, so they are excluded on both sides to keep the comparison apples-to-apples.
The competitors that won't tell you what they cost
Buildium
Published HOA pricing: none. Requires a sales call for community associations.
AppFolio
Published HOA pricing: none. “Minimum spend and units apply. Contact us for details.”
Built for board turnover
Most HOA boards serve 1–2 year terms. Every 24 months, knowledge walks out the door: the treasurer who knew the spreadsheet quirks, the secretary who had the vendor contacts, the president who remembered exactly why the short-term rental policy was worded the way it was. Enterprise HOA software wasn't built for this — it serves management companies where staff is permanent. Aldea is built on the opposite assumption: your board will look completely different in two years, and the system should outlast any individual who sat on it.
What persists across board changes? Your digital handbook doesn't leave when the president does — it's searchable, timestamped, and still there. Your activity log shows every payment received, every refund issued, every policy change with a date and a reason, so the new treasurer doesn't inherit a mystery. Your member directory with role-based access means you grant your new co-treasurer their own credentials, not a shared password and a sticky note. Your news feed is a public record of every board decision, not an inbox thread only one person could find.
When your term ends, the next board should inherit a running system, not chaos. Aldea is the system. Explore the community handbook, member management, and admin dashboard to see exactly what the next board will inherit.
Everything your board actually uses
Three outcomes your board is on the hook for every week — and how Aldea handles each.
Track the money without chasing anyone
For the Burned Treasurer
Aldea Pay dues collection
One-time requests for special assessments and event fees; recurring subscriptions with autopay for monthly, quarterly, or annual dues. USD and CAD. 1–1.5% on top of Stripe.
Learn more →Collection rate and payment status
A real dashboard metric, not a spreadsheet guess. Per-homeowner badges (paid / pending / overdue) on the admin dashboard and in the member directory.
Learn more →Automated receipts, due notices, and overdue reminders
Daily 09:00 UTC cron sends reminder emails and in-app notifications to homeowners who fall behind. Failed payment emails trigger the past-due recovery flow.
Learn more →Full financial activity log
Every payment requested, received, failed, refunded, and every Stripe Connect activation or deactivation is timestamped and exportable.
Learn more →
Keep your community running, even through board changes
For the Reluctant New Board President
Digital community handbook
CC&Rs, bylaws, and architectural guidelines organized like a website — always searchable, always current, always inherited by the next board.
Learn more →Community news and announcements
Post board decisions and homeowner notices with email, in-app, and push notification delivery. Doubles as a public record of every decision the board made.
Learn more →Member directory with role-based access
Add your new co-treasurer without sharing a single password. Role permissions persist across elections so onboarding a new officer takes minutes, not weeks.
Learn more →
Handle resident requests without email chaos
For every board member
Support tickets as a formal paper trail
Maintenance requests, parking complaints, guest issues, policy questions — logged, categorized, and visible to the whole board. Not a service desk. A governance record.
Learn more →Priority tracking and resolution trail
When a complaint escalates, you have a dated paper trail of who responded, what was decided, and when it closed. HOAs get sued; a ticket log is evidence.
Learn more →Member-visible ticket status
Homeowners see real updates on their own requests without emailing a board member or showing up at the next meeting. Fewer pings, less work.
Learn more →
Compliance varies by state. Your paper trail shouldn't.
HOA compliance varies by state. Florida boards navigate HB 919 (2023) and HB 1203 (2024), the major recent amendments to Chapter 720; most Texas HOAs operate under Chapter 209 of the Property Code; and every state has nuances around fines, meeting notices, quorum, and records requests. Whatever your state, your board needs to document decisions, notify homeowners on record, and retain communications — not argue later about who said what when.
Aldea's digital handbook, activity log, and news feed give you the paper trail state compliance requires without turning your board into a legal-operations team. For a deep dive on Florida-specific HOA obligations, read our Florida HOA Laws 2026 guide. More state guides coming on the blog.
Your homeowners' data stays yours
Facebook groups, WhatsApp threads, and shared Google Drives all work — until you realize your HOA's private business is hosted on platforms whose business model depends on mining that data. Homeowner directories feeding ad algorithms. Dues discussions training AI models. Complaint threads visible to platform operators. Your neighbors' home addresses, payment records, and private governance discussions handled by companies whose incentive is to extract value from them.
Aldea is different. Your homeowner directory, your financial records, your governing documents — they exist to serve your HOA and nothing else. No ads. No data mining. No third-party access. No AI training on your content. Your community, your data, your control.
Board members are stewards of the trust homeowners place in them. When you collect names, addresses, and payment information, you're implicitly promising that data is handled responsibly. Aldea is built on that promise. For technical details on how we protect your HOA's data, visit our security page.
How Aldea compares
A named, dated comparison against the competitors HOA boards evaluate most often.
| Metric | Aldea HQ | PayHOA | Enterprise toolsBuildium, AppFolio, TownSq |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat by member count, transparent ∼1.5% + Stripe | Tiered by home count | Not publicly disclosed — sales call required |
| Effective monthly cost — 100-home HOA collecting $150 monthly dues | $0/mo effective$49 subscription + ∼1.5% transaction fees | $0/mo effective$99 annual subscription + $2.45 per ACH payment | Sales call required |
| Payment collection | Included (Aldea Pay) | Included, $2.45/ACH + 3.5%/card | Separate processor or premium tier; fees not published |
| Contract | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | Month-to-month or annual (∼10% annual discount) | Annual commitments typical |
| Onboarding | Self-serve, ∼30 min, no credit card for trial | Self-serve | Sales call, setup fees, multi-week |
| Features gated by tier | None — every feature on every plan | Some (bookkeeping, tax, USPS mail) are add-ons | Core features locked behind higher tiers |
| Supported currencies | USD and CAD, native | USD only | Varies — not publicly disclosed |
| Automated overdue reminders | Included — daily 09:00 UTC cron, email + in-app notification | Included | Varies by tier — not publicly disclosed |
| Payout architecture | Stripe Connect — payouts go directly to your HOA’s bank | Stripe-based, platform-routed | Varies — not publicly disclosed |
| Target customer | Self-managed HOA boards | Self-managed HOA boards | Property management companies |
Pricing model
Aldea HQ
Flat by member count, transparent ∼1.5% + Stripe
PayHOA
Tiered by home count
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Not publicly disclosed — sales call required
Effective monthly cost — 100-home HOA collecting $150 monthly dues
Aldea HQ
PayHOA
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Sales call required
Payment collection
Aldea HQ
Included (Aldea Pay)
PayHOA
Included, $2.45/ACH + 3.5%/card
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Separate processor or premium tier; fees not published
Contract
Aldea HQ
Month-to-month, cancel anytime
PayHOA
Month-to-month or annual (∼10% annual discount)
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Annual commitments typical
Onboarding
Aldea HQ
Self-serve, ∼30 min, no credit card for trial
PayHOA
Self-serve
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Sales call, setup fees, multi-week
Features gated by tier
Aldea HQ
None — every feature on every plan
PayHOA
Some (bookkeeping, tax, USPS mail) are add-ons
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Core features locked behind higher tiers
Supported currencies
Aldea HQ
USD and CAD, native
PayHOA
USD only
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Varies — not publicly disclosed
Automated overdue reminders
Aldea HQ
Included — daily 09:00 UTC cron, email + in-app notification
PayHOA
Included
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Varies by tier — not publicly disclosed
Payout architecture
Aldea HQ
Stripe Connect — payouts go directly to your HOA’s bank
PayHOA
Stripe-based, platform-routed
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Varies — not publicly disclosed
Target customer
Aldea HQ
Self-managed HOA boards
PayHOA
Self-managed HOA boards
Enterprise tools (Buildium, AppFolio, TownSq)
Property management companies
Pricing captured 2026-04-20 from public pricing pages: aldeahq.com/pricing, payhoa.com/pricing. Buildium, AppFolio, and TownSq do not publish HOA pricing — figures marked “sales call required” reflect their actual public posture. See /vs/townsq and /vs/payhoa for full comparisons. Verify on competitor sites before deciding.
See our full TownSq comparisonSee our full PayHOA comparison
What Aldea doesn't do
Honesty is faster than a sales cycle. Here's what you'll find missing on purpose, and where another tool may fit your HOA better.
- No violation tracking or fines enforcement. If your HOA issues fines on a routine schedule, a dedicated enforcement platform will serve you better.
- No full fund accounting or general ledger. Aldea tracks dues and Aldea Pay activity; it does not replace QuickBooks or a reserve-fund accounting system.
- No architectural review approval workflows. If your board runs a formal ARC queue, a purpose-built ARC tool is a better fit.
- No native mobile app. The entire platform is mobile-responsive web, so every feature works on a phone — but we don't ship an App Store binary today.
- No reserve studies or reserve fund management. Hire a specialist firm; Aldea will hold the documents and the minutes.
- No digital voting or e-ballot for board elections. Use a dedicated voting vendor and store the outcome in your Aldea handbook and news feed.
We focus on what self-managed HOA boards actually use every week — and we do those things well. If your community fines homeowners routinely, runs a formal ARC, or needs full fund accounting, you likely need a different tool, and we'll be the first to say so.
Trust signals
Frequently asked questions
Is Aldea a good fit if we already work with a property management company?
Aldea is built for self-managed HOA boards — boards that run their community directly without a professional property manager. If you’re already under a full-service contract with a management company, their enterprise software (Buildium, AppFolio, CINC, Vantaca) is likely a better fit for their workflows. If your board is considering leaving your management company or is self-managed today, Aldea is the system built for you.
How does Aldea Pay handle monthly HOA dues?
Aldea Pay collects dues, special assessments, and event fees directly in your Aldea platform. You can send one-time payment requests or set up recurring subscriptions with autopay so homeowners are charged automatically every month, quarter, or year. Automated overdue reminders go out daily at 09:00 UTC, admins issue full and partial refunds from the dashboard, and everything posts to your activity log. Transaction fees are 1–1.5% on top of Stripe passthrough, USD and CAD are supported natively, and payouts go to your HOA’s bank via Stripe Connect.
What happens to our data and history when the board turns over?
Everything persists. Your digital handbook (CC&Rs, bylaws, architectural guidelines) stays searchable, your activity log timestamps every payment, refund, and policy change with context, and your member directory with role-based access means the new treasurer logs in under their own credentials without anyone sharing a password. The new board inherits a running system, not a binder and a mystery spreadsheet.
Can we collect special assessments and event fees through Aldea Pay?
Yes. One-time payment requests cover special assessments, initiation fees, event fees, and anything else outside the normal dues cycle. You can target a single homeowner, a subset, or the entire community, and every request generates a receipt, reminder emails on a schedule, and a full audit trail on the activity log.
How does Aldea compare to PayHOA, Buildium, or TownSq on cost?
For a 100-home HOA collecting $150 monthly dues, Aldea comes in around $274/mo effective ($49 subscription plus roughly 1.5% on $15,000 in dues). PayHOA publishes $99/mo on the 51–100 home tier plus $2.45 per ACH, which works out to about $344/mo for the same HOA. Buildium, AppFolio, and TownSq do not publish HOA pricing at all — they require a sales call. See our comparison table and the TownSq and PayHOA pages for full detail.
Does Aldea handle violation tracking or architectural review?
No. Aldea does not track violations, issue fines, or run architectural review committee approval workflows. Those are specialized workflows that property management platforms implement for enforcement-heavy communities. Aldea focuses on the operations side every self-managed board uses weekly — communication, dues collection, a shared handbook, tickets, member records, and an audit trail. If routine fines enforcement or a formal ARC queue is central to your community, a different tool is probably a better fit.
Can our board have multiple admins with different permissions?
Yes. Aldea supports role-based access for board members, so the president, treasurer, and secretary can each log in under their own account with the right permissions for their responsibilities. When you elect a new co-treasurer next year, you grant them their own access — no shared login, no password handoff, no risk of one person holding the keys.
Do you handle state-specific HOA compliance (Florida HB 1203, Texas Chapter 209, etc.)?
Compliance with state HOA law is your board’s responsibility, not your software’s. What Aldea provides is the paper trail your state almost certainly requires: a digital handbook for governing documents, an activity log that timestamps every decision, a news feed that doubles as a notice archive, and role-based records of who did what and when. For a Florida-specific walkthrough of HB 919 (2023) and HB 1203 (2024) obligations, see our Florida HOA Laws 2026 guide.
What if we need to switch away from Aldea later?
You can leave anytime. Aldea is month-to-month by default, there’s no cancellation fee, and you can export your data (members, payments, handbook content) to CSV whenever you want. We’d rather earn your board’s business every month than lock you in.
How long does setup take? Do we need IT help?
Most boards are up and running in under 30 minutes — create your account, configure your HOA profile, and invite homeowners. Aldea Pay adds another 10–15 minutes via Stripe’s onboarding flow. No technical expertise required, no setup fee, and no sales call to get started.
Is there a free trial? Do I need a credit card?
Yes — 14 days, full access to every feature, no credit card required. You can invite your board, build out your handbook, and run a test payment through Aldea Pay before you ever enter a billing method.
Can homeowners pay dues in installments or catch up after missing a month?
Yes. Recurring subscriptions with autopay keep homeowners current automatically, automated overdue reminders go out to anyone who falls behind, and a past-due recovery flow lets a homeowner update their card and resume without re-subscribing from scratch. Admins can also issue full or partial refunds when circumstances call for it — all from the dashboard, all on the activity log.
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