Aldea HQ is a community platform that excels with HOAs.
PayHOA is HOA accounting software. Compare pricing, mobile experience, and what's included on every plan.
Aldea HQ vs PayHOA — at a glance
- Effective monthly cost (100 homes, $15k dues)Aldea HQ:~$274/moPayHOA:~$344/mo
- Currency supportAldea HQ:Native USD + CADPayHOA:USD only
- Pricing modelAldea HQ:Flat to 2,000 membersPayHOA:Per-home billing above 500
Is Aldea HQ right for your community?
Volunteer board, not a property manager
Your board is volunteers giving up evenings and weekends — not full-time staff running a portfolio. Aldea sets up self-serve in about 30 minutes, no sales call, no setup fee. Every feature is on every plan, so a treasurer never has to argue for an upgrade just to do their job. The lighter operational footprint is the point.
You run more than just dues collection
Your board does more than collect money. You publish announcements, maintain bylaws, field maintenance requests, and keep a member roster current. Aldea is a community platform first — community feed, digital handbook with versioning, member directory with role-based access, support tickets — with Aldea Pay built in. PayHOA is excellent accounting software; Aldea is the broader operating system the board reaches for every week.
You need full general-ledger accounting or 1120-H tax filing
If your treasurer needs full GL accounting, fund accounting for reserves, or annual 1120-H filing, PayHOA is genuinely strong here and we don't try to be. Their bookkeeping add-on and $399 tax filing service are real, working features. Pair Aldea with QuickBooks Online if you also want the community side — most boards we talk to do exactly that.
Feature comparison
Where each platform is genuinely strong. PayHOA wins on full accounting, tax filing, e-voting, and a longer trial. Aldea HQ wins on community operations, USD + CAD, every-feature-on-every-plan, and pricing that doesn't scale with home count.
| Feature | Aldea | PayHOA |
|---|---|---|
| Community feed & announcements | ||
| Digital community handbook | Document storage only | |
| Member directory with role-based access | Limited | |
| Support ticket system | Request forms | |
| Custom branded subdomain | Website builder add-on | |
| Online dues collection (included) | ||
| Native USD support | ||
| Native CAD support | ||
| Autopay for recurring dues | ||
| Automated overdue reminders | ||
| Full and partial refunds from dashboard | ||
| Activity log / audit trail | ||
| Full general-ledger accounting | ||
| Fund accounting (reserves) | ||
| 1120-H tax filing | Add-on $399/filing | |
| 1099 filing | Add-on $15/filing | |
| Violation tracking | ||
| Architectural review (ARC) | ||
| E-voting / digital ballots | ||
| USPS mail delivery | Add-on $1.25/letter | |
| Free trial length | 14 days, no credit card | 30 days, no credit card |
| Every feature on every plan | ||
| No setup fee | ||
| No cancellation fee |
Community feed & announcements
Digital community handbook
Member directory with role-based access
Support ticket system
Custom branded subdomain
Online dues collection (included)
Native USD support
Native CAD support
Autopay for recurring dues
Automated overdue reminders
Full and partial refunds from dashboard
Activity log / audit trail
Full general-ledger accounting
Fund accounting (reserves)
1120-H tax filing
1099 filing
Violation tracking
Architectural review (ARC)
E-voting / digital ballots
USPS mail delivery
Free trial length
Every feature on every plan
No setup fee
No cancellation fee
Pricing last verified: 2026-04-27
Pricing comparison
PayHOA is one of the few HOA platforms that publishes pricing openly — so the math here is real and verifiable. Aldea HQ is flat-rate by member count; PayHOA is tiered by home count with a per-payment ACH fee on top.
| Tier | Aldea HQ | Capacity | PayHOA tier | PayHOA price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Starter · $49/mo | Up to 150 members | 0–25 homes (annual) | $49/mo |
| Tier 2 | Professional · $99/mo | Up to 500 members | 51–100 homes (annual) | $99/mo |
| Tier 3 | Business · $199/mo | Up to 2,000 members | 201–300 homes (annual) | $199/mo |
| Tier 4 | Enterprise · Custom | Contact sales@aldeahq.com | 500+ homes (annual) | $0.55/home/mo · $275 floor |
| Fee type | Aldea HQ | PayHOA |
|---|---|---|
| ACH | Included (1–1.5% on dues) | $2.45 per ACH payment |
| Card | Included (1–1.5% on dues) | 3.5% + $0.50 per card payment |
| Lockbox | Not applicable | $2.50 per lockbox payment |
At 100 homes · $15,000 monthly dues
~$840/year savings
in savings on Aldea vs PayHOA
Aldea HQ
From $49/month
Flat plans from $49–$199/mo, plus custom Enterprise pricing.
- ✓Every feature on every plan
- ✓Aldea Pay included — 1–1.5% on dues
- ✓USD + CAD native
- ✓No setup fee, no cancellation fee
PayHOA
$49–$275+/month
9 published tiers scaling by home count. Figures shown use PayHOA's annual-billed rate; their monthly-billed rate is roughly 10% higher.
- •$2.45 per ACH payment on every collected dues payment
- •3.5% + $0.50 per card payment on card payments
- •Bookkeeping, 1120-H, USPS mail are paid add-ons
- •USD only — no native CAD support
Pricing captured 2026-04-27 from payhoa.com/pricing and aldeahq.com/pricing. PayHOA publishes 9 home-count tiers; see payhoa.com/pricing for the full schedule. PayHOA figures here use the annual-billed rate (their monthly-billed rate is roughly 10% higher) for like-for-like comparison with Aldea's annual option. Verify on competitor sites before deciding.
What you get with Aldea HQ
A community feed your residents actually open
PayHOA is accounting software — there is no resident-facing news feed. Aldea publishes board announcements, policy changes, and event updates with email and in-app delivery, plus engagement tracking so the board can tell who saw what. The annual meeting recap stops getting buried in everyone's inbox.
A digital handbook with versioning, not a file cabinet
PayHOA stores documents — Aldea organizes them. CC&Rs, bylaws, architectural guidelines, and parking rules live in a structured handbook your residents can search like a website. Every revision is timestamped, so when a homeowner asks which rule was current in March, the answer is one click away. Fewer 'where do I find the rules?' emails reaching the board.
Member directory with real role-based access
Your treasurer, secretary, and president each log in under their own account with the right permissions for their role. When the board rotates next year, you grant the new co-treasurer their own access — no shared password, no risk of one person holding the keys. PayHOA's member records are limited to dues-status fields; Aldea's directory is the operational backbone of the board.
Flat plan pricing — every feature on every tier
PayHOA publishes 9 pricing tiers that scale with home count, capping at $0.55 per home per month above 500 homes. At 800 homes that is $440/mo; at 1,200 homes, $660/mo. Aldea Business covers up to 2,000 members for $199/mo flat, with every feature included. The decision becomes about fit, not which add-ons you can afford this quarter.
Native USD and CAD, not a workaround
PayHOA is USD only. Aldea Pay collects in USD or CAD natively, with payouts routed to a US or Canadian bank account through Stripe Connect. For Canadian community associations or cross-border boards, that removes a meaningful integration tax — no third-party FX, no surprise reconciliation work.
Aldea Pay: dues collection on every plan, in USD and CAD
Aldea Pay is the dues-collection layer in every Aldea HQ plan — no separate platform, no monthly add-on, no surprise invoice at tax time. Built on Stripe Connect, payouts go directly to your community's bank, properly segregated from Aldea.
- Aldea HQ$274
- PayHOA$344
Effective monthly platform cost for a 100-home HOA collecting $15,000 in monthly dues. Subscription + each platform's own transaction fees, captured 2026-04-27 from aldeahq.com/pricing and payhoa.com/pricing. Stripe processing fees pass through identically on both sides and are excluded to keep the comparison apples-to-apples.
- ✓Dues collection included on every plan — 1–1.5% on top of Stripe passthrough
- ✓Native USD and CAD support, payouts via Stripe Connect to your community's bank
- ✓Autopay for monthly, quarterly, or annual recurring dues
- ✓Automated overdue reminders go out daily at 09:00 UTC, no manual chasing
- ✓One-time payment requests for special assessments, initiation fees, and event fees
- ✓Full and partial refunds issued from the admin dashboard
- ✓Activity log timestamps every payment, refund, and Stripe Connect change
- ✓Member payment history with paid / pending / overdue status
Specifically on autopay: Aldea Pay's autopay handles partial payments cleanly — no surprise multi-charge events when a member's autopay amount differs from the dues amount. PayHOA's BBB complaint summary specifically calls this out as a recurring frustration.
What Aldea HQ doesn't do
Six places where PayHOA is the better tool. Each comes with the honest recommendation we give boards when we're on the phone with them.
No general-ledger accounting
Instead: Pair Aldea with QuickBooks Online — most of our communities do exactly that.
No 1120-H tax filing
Instead: We recommend a CPA service or PayHOA's $399/filing add-on if your community needs this.
No fund accounting for reserves
Instead: Not for communities running formal reserve studies — a reserve specialist or PayHOA's bookkeeping add-on is the right tool.
No violations enforcement workflow
Instead: We track resident requests and conversations through support tickets; we don't run a formal violations queue with fines.
No e-voting or digital ballots
Instead: Not for communities running formal annual elections — a dedicated voting service or PayHOA's e-voting tool is purpose-built.
No architectural review (ARC) workflow
Instead: Not for HOAs running ARC submission queues — that workflow lives better in PayHOA or a specialized ARC tool.
Switching from PayHOA to Aldea HQ
Aldea HQ does not currently have a CSV member-list importer. For most communities under 200 members, the switch takes about an evening: export your member roster from PayHOA as a spreadsheet, then add members manually in Aldea's member management UI. PayHOA is month-to-month (so is Aldea), so both platforms can run in parallel during the transition — no forced cutover. Historical PayHOA payment records stay archived in PayHOA; Aldea Pay starts fresh on the day you switch billing over. Most boards do this on a Saturday afternoon and are accepting their first Aldea Pay dues by Monday.
Or email us at sales@aldeahq.com — we're happy to help you get set up.
Trust signals
- No setup fee
- No cancellation fee
- Every feature on every plan
- USD + CAD
- Real human support
- CSV export anytime
Frequently asked questions
How much does PayHOA cost vs Aldea HQ?
For a 100-home HOA collecting $15,000 in monthly dues, Aldea lands around $274/mo effective ($49 subscription plus roughly 1.5% on dues). PayHOA publishes $99/mo on the 51–100 home tier plus $2.45 per ACH payment, working out to about $344/mo effective. Aldea saves roughly $840 per year at that scale.
Are there transaction fees on Aldea HQ?
Yes — transparent from day one. Aldea Pay charges 1–1.5% per payment on top of Stripe's standard processing fees. There are no monthly add-ons, no setup fees, and no surprise invoices. The fee applies only when your community collects money — your subscription itself is flat. Stripe publishes its current rates at stripe.com/pricing.
How does mobile work on Aldea HQ vs PayHOA?
Both platforms are web apps — neither ships a native mobile app today. The wedge is mobile experience quality. Aldea HQ is built mobile-first responsive: the admin dashboard, payments, and handbook all work on a phone. PayHOA reviewers on Capterra (March 2026) describe their mobile web as cramped and frustrating for board members on the go.
Will Aldea HQ scale with our HOA?
Yes. Aldea Business covers up to 2,000 members at $199/mo flat — every feature included, no per-home surcharge. By comparison, at 800 homes PayHOA's per-home billing reaches $440/mo, and at 1,200 homes it climbs to $660/mo. For larger communities, Aldea Enterprise offers custom pricing and dedicated support — contact sales@aldeahq.com.
How do I switch from PayHOA to Aldea HQ?
Honestly, manually. Aldea does not have a CSV member-list importer today. Most communities under 200 members complete the switch in an evening: export your PayHOA roster, add members in Aldea's UI, and run both platforms in parallel during the transition. PayHOA payment history stays archived; Aldea Pay starts fresh the day you switch.
Will Aldea Pay work with our HOA's bank?
Yes — Aldea Pay is built on Stripe Connect, which supports any US or Canadian bank account, plus most credit unions. Payouts go directly to your HOA's bank, properly segregated from Aldea. Setup takes about 10 minutes through Stripe's onboarding flow. There's no manual reconciliation against a separate processor — every payment, refund, and payout posts to your activity log.
Can I keep using QuickBooks alongside Aldea HQ?
Yes — and most of our communities do. Aldea handles community operations (announcements, handbook, dues collection, member management), and QuickBooks Online handles full general-ledger accounting and tax-prep. Aldea Pay payouts land in your bank account; you reconcile them in QuickBooks like any other deposit. The pairing is the standard self-managed-board recommendation when your treasurer needs both.
What does Aldea HQ NOT do that PayHOA does?
Aldea has no full general-ledger accounting, no fund accounting for reserves, no 1120-H tax filing, no violations enforcement workflow, no e-voting, and no architectural review queue. PayHOA covers all of those — some natively, some as add-ons. If those are central to your board's job, PayHOA is genuinely the better fit.
Explore Aldea's features
Not an HOA? Aldea HQ also serves condos, co-ops, neighborhood clubs, and homeschool groups — PayHOA does not.
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