My girlfriend rents out the rooms in her house. Roomline actually started from watching her do it. Rent showed up in her bank fine. The problem was figuring out who it was from, which room was still behind, and which utility bills had come in. So every month started with a spreadsheet. Now she uses two apps. Baselane is the bank side. Roomline is the house side. Here’s how that works, what it costs, and the other setups I looked at.
Short version: rent goes into Baselane. Roomline tells you which room paid and who’s still behind. For one house with up to 5 rooms, Roomline is free after the trial. Tenants don’t pay a fee either, as long as rent goes into a Baselane account.
Why Baselane and Roomline work well together
Baselane is where the money goes. Tenants pay by bank and it lands in an account just for the house. It also sorts everything for taxes. It’s free if rent goes into a Baselane account. It’s good at this, so I didn’t try to rebuild it.
But Baselane doesn’t know the house. It sees $1,100 from Jamie. It has no idea Jamie splits Room 02 with Sam, or that Room 03 is empty. It also doesn’t know the $195 electric bill just came in. Most landlord apps are like this. They count units, not rooms.
That’s why I built Roomline. Each room is on a floor plan with who lives there and what they pay. Each utility account gets tracked too: what bill came in, when it’s due, if it’s paid. Repairs go on the room they’re in. Each tenant gets their own page. Roomline reads the Baselane account and puts each payment on the right room. So she can see who’s late without opening the spreadsheet.
The downside is two apps and two logins. Honestly I think that’s fine. Each app sticks to its own job. Baselane doesn’t care about bedrooms, and Roomline never touches the money.
| Job | App | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A bank account for the property |  | Free |
| Collecting rent by bank | | Free into a Baselane account, $2 otherwise |
| Bookkeeping for taxes | | Free |
| Rooms, tenants and lease dates |  Roomline | Free for 1 house, up to 5 rooms |
| Knowing which room paid | Roomline | Included |
| Utility accounts and bills | Roomline | Included |
| Repairs and photos | Roomline | Included |
- Tenants
- AlexNot paid
- Jamie & Sam$1,100
- Priya$730
- Maple House account$1,8302 deposits this monthRent collection · banking · books
- Roomline
- Room 01Late
- Room 02Paid
- Room 04Paid
How do Baselane and Roomline connect?
They’re not officially connected, and she doesn’t need them to be. Roomline links to banks through Plaid, read-only, same as any bank. Baselane says its accounts link to things like QuickBooks Online too.
One thing I haven’t solved yet. If your Baselane account doesn’t show up in Plaid, nothing gets matched for you. You can still type each payment into Roomline yourself. It’s slower, but it works.
- In Baselane: open an account just for the house, so rent doesn’t mix with your own money.
- In Baselane: have tenants pay rent into that account. Bank payments are free.
- In Roomline: add the house, the rooms, and each tenant with their rent.
- In Roomline: go to Transactions, hit Connect bank, and pick the Baselane account.
- In Roomline: add a rule per tenant so their payment lands on their room.
- Every month: confirm the new payments and add the bills.
How it compares with other setups
I ranked five setups I see a lot. I looked at rooms in one house, a small building with 2 to 10 apartments, and offices. The yearly cost assumes five tenants paying by bank every month.
| Setup | Rooms | 2–10 units | Offices | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +Roomline | 1st | 1st | 1st | $0 |
 +Roomline | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | $0 |
| Roomline+your own bank | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | $0 |
 + | 5th | 2nd | 5th | $0 |
| Spreadsheet + Zelle | 4th | 5th | 4th | $0 |
| +Roomline | +Roomline | Roomline+your bank | + | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooms on a floor plan | – | – | |||
| Rent matched to each room | – | – | |||
| Utility accounts and bills | – | – | |||
| Rent collected by bank | Soon | – | |||
| No bank fee for tenants | |||||
| Tenant screening | paid | – | |||
| Listings on rental sites | – | – | – | ||
| Price a month | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Why I put Baselane + Roomline first
Paying by bank into Baselane is free for her and her tenants. Each property can have its own account too. Stessa’s free plan also takes bank payments with no fee, so Stessa + Roomline is a close second. If you already do your books in Stessa, just stay there.
Renting whole apartments and filling them a lot? TurboTenant + Baselane is a good free combo. TurboTenant does listings and screening, Baselane does the money. It just doesn’t get rooms. A spreadsheet and Zelle is fine for two rooms. By the fourth room, stuff starts slipping.
What about apartments and offices?
For a small building, I’d do one Baselane account per building and one Roomline property with a unit per apartment. Neither app posts listings, so use TurboTenant or Zillow when something opens up.
For offices, Roomline keeps each suite with its tenant, size and rent. Office tenants usually pay by transfer or check anyway, so Roomline plus the bank you already have works about as well.
What’s missing, and what she uses instead
Two things neither app does. For signing leases, Dropbox Sign’s free plan gives you 3 documents a month. That’s enough for a few rooms. For finding tenants, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and Zillow are where people look for rooms.
I’m working on paying rent by bank in Roomline, plus listing sites and an export for your accountant. None of that is done yet, so for now Baselane handles the money.
Common questions
Does Roomline connect to Baselane?
Not officially. If Plaid lists your Baselane account, Roomline reads it like any other bank (read-only). If not, you type payments in yourself.
Does Roomline move any money?
No. Tenants pay you through Baselane or whatever app you already use. Roomline just reads and records it.
How much does this setup cost?
Nothing, for one house with up to 5 rooms. Baselane’s free plan plus Roomline Free. Bank payments into Baselane are free. Bigger than that, Roomline is $12 a month or $96 a year for everything.