RentCaddie vs PadSplit for room rental hosts
PadSplit is a marketplace. It finds members and takes a share of every payment. RentCaddie is software. It finds nobody for you and takes no share of rent. Which one is right depends on whether you need the renters or just the tools.
Facts about PadSplit are taken from their own public pages, as of 09/30/2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
The short answer
If you need PadSplit's members to fill your rooms, stay. RentCaddie does not bring you renters.
If you already fill rooms yourself (Facebook Marketplace, word of mouth, a waitlist), PadSplit's fee is paying for demand you do not need. On RentCaddie you keep 100% of the rent and pay a flat $236 a month, or $197 a month paid yearly, for 6 to 25 active leases.
Side by side
What it costs you
A flat plan. Pro is $236 a month ($197 paid yearly) for up to 25 active leases. Nothing taken from rent.
"10 days + 8%": PadSplit keeps 100% of the first 10 days of every new member's stay, then 8% of all transactions, on the room's base price before promotions.[1]
Who finds the renters
You do. RentCaddie gives each house a public page with its open rooms, prices and next open dates, and a waitlist.
PadSplit lists your rooms on its marketplace, where members search and book.[3]
Who picks the resident
You, with your own application, screening provider and criteria.
Hosts can review booking requests and "approve and deny booking requests ... at their own discretion."[2]
Protection if a member causes trouble
None. RentCaddie is software, not an insurer. You keep your own landlord insurance and deposit.
HostGuard, launched in September 2026, covers evictions, member liability claims, code violations and member-caused damage for new and transferring members.[4]
Leases
Your own room lease per resident, from your template, signed online.
Members book a membership on PadSplit's platform.[3]
What 10 days plus 8% comes to
An example, with a rent we picked to make the arithmetic easy, not a market figure: a 6-room house at $200 a week per room.
The 8% is $16 per room per week, which is about $416 a month for the house. On top of that, every new member's first 10 days, $285.71 at this rent, goes to PadSplit each time a room turns over.
The same house on RentCaddie is $236 a month, or $197 a month paid yearly, whatever the rent and however often rooms turn. Put your own rent into the same arithmetic before you decide.
What PadSplit's fee buys that RentCaddie does not
Be clear about what you would give up. PadSplit brings members who are already searching its marketplace, and as of September 2026 it covers certain eviction, damage and code-violation costs through HostGuard. RentCaddie does neither.
What you get instead is your own lease, your own residents, your own rent in your own account, and the day-to-day tools for a shared house: rent per room, house bills split across the leases, room turnovers, door codes, and books per house.
Running both
Many hosts keep some houses on PadSplit and run others themselves. RentCaddie can hold the houses you run yourself. Read your PadSplit host agreement before moving any current member off the platform.
When PadSplit is the better pick
- Your rooms sit empty without PadSplit's members.
- You want HostGuard's eviction and damage coverage more than you want the 8% back.
- You do not want to handle screening, leases or collections at all.
Common questions
What is PadSplit's fee for hosts?
As of 09/30/2026, PadSplit's help centre describes it as "10 days + 8%": it keeps 100% of the first 10 days of each new member's stay, then 8% of all transactions, calculated on the room's base price before promotions.
Does RentCaddie find tenants like PadSplit does?
No. RentCaddie gives each house a public page of its open rooms and a waitlist, but you bring the renters. If you depend on PadSplit's members, weigh that before switching.
What does RentCaddie take from rent?
Nothing. Rent goes to your own Stripe account. Stripe's processing fee applies, and you choose whether you or the resident pays it.
Can I run my PadSplit houses and my own houses together?
You can run the houses you manage yourself in RentCaddie while others stay on PadSplit. Check your PadSplit host agreement before moving any current member.
Sources
Prices and features change. Each link below was read on the date shown; check it before you decide.
- [1] PadSplit help: What is PadSplit's fee model for hosts? as of 09/30/2026
- [2] PadSplit help: What does it mean if a room requires additional approval by the host? as of 09/30/2026
- [3] PadSplit rooms for rent (marketplace) as of 09/30/2026
- [4] Coliving With Purpose: PadSplit just launched a protection program (09/08/2026) as of 09/30/2026