GnomeOwner vs. PayHOA for self-managed HOA boards.
GnomeOwner starts at $29/month (a founding rate the first 150 HOAs lock for life; $39 standard) versus PayHOA’s $49/month for a board of the same size, and includes a compliance calendar and an assistant that answers from your own documents on every plan (25 questions a month on the free plan, many more on paid). PayHOA’s Gable AI assistant is a paid add-on after 3 free months. On payment fees, GnomeOwner charges 0.75% of each payment, capped at $5 plus Stripe’s own bank-transfer cost, meaning never more than $10 all-in on a bank payment; PayHOA charges the association a flat $2.45 per ACH payment by default, which is cheaper than ours above about $158 per payment. No surcharges for residents on GnomeOwner, on either rail — PayHOA lets a board pass its fee to homeowners instead.
Every PayHOA number on this page was checked on payhoa.com/pricing on 2026-10-08 — pricing changes, so verify current terms on PayHOA's own site before deciding.
The subscription, by community size.
GnomeOwner’s four bands (Starter/Growth/Community/Large) against PayHOA’s six published unit-count bands, at the top of each PayHOA band.
| Units | GnomeOwner | PayHOA |
|---|---|---|
| 0–25 units | $29/mo (Starter) | $49/mo billed annually ($54/mo month-to-month) |
| 26–50 units | $59/mo (Growth) | $59/mo billed annually ($65/mo month-to-month) |
| 51–100 units | $59/mo (Growth) | $99/mo billed annually ($109/mo month-to-month) |
| 101–150 units | $99/mo (Community) | $129/mo billed annually ($142/mo month-to-month) |
| 151–200 units | $99/mo (Community) | $169/mo billed annually ($186/mo month-to-month) |
| 201–300 units | $199/mo (Large) | $199/mo billed annually ($219/mo month-to-month) |
| 301–400 units | $199/mo (Large) | $229/mo billed annually ($252/mo month-to-month) |
| 401–500 units | $199/mo (Large) | $249/mo billed annually ($275/mo month-to-month) |
GnomeOwner's price shown is at the founding rate ($29/mo standard becomes $39/mo for Starter after the first 150 HOAs). PayHOA also publishes 500+ units: $0.55/unit, $275/mo minimum — no GnomeOwner self-serve band goes that high yet.
What a bank payment actually costs the HOA.
GnomeOwner charges 0.75% of each payment, capped at $5, on top of Stripe’s own bank-transfer cost (0.8%, also capped at $5) — so never more than $10 all-in on a bank payment. PayHOA charges the association a flat $2.45 per ACH payment, regardless of size. Below is what each actually costs the HOA, computed at five payment sizes.
| Payment size | GnomeOwner (bank transfer, all-in) | PayHOA (flat ACH) |
|---|---|---|
| $150 | $2.33 | $2.45 |
| $250 | $3.88 | $2.45 |
| $500 | $7.75 | $2.45 |
| $1,000 | $10.00 | $2.45 |
| $5,000 | $10.00 | $2.45 |
Crossover: GnomeOwner's all-in bank-transfer cost first reaches PayHOA's flat $2.45 fee at a $158 payment (computed from the real fee formulas, not a rounded estimate) — below that, GnomeOwner is cheaper per payment; above it, PayHOA's flat fee wins. A $5,000 special assessment costs $10.00 on GnomeOwner (both caps bind) versus PayHOA's flat $2.45. No surcharges for residents: they pay exactly their dues on GnomeOwner; PayHOA bills the association by default but lets the board pass its fee to homeowners instead.
A 25-unit board, all bank transfer, all-in monthly.
Subscription plus 25 payments’ worth of fees, computed the same way as the per-payment table — not a hypothetical.
| Monthly dues per unit | GnomeOwner all-in (subscription + fees) | PayHOA all-in (subscription + fees + Gable AI) |
|---|---|---|
| $150/unit | $87.25 | $134.75 |
| $250/unit | $126.00 | $134.75 |
PayHOA's all-in monthly figure doesn't change between the two rows because its ACH fee is flat per payment, not a percentage — GnomeOwner's scales with the dues amount. Both use GnomeOwner's founding Starter rate and PayHOA's 0–25-unit annual-billed rate. PayHOA's figure includes its Gable AI add-on ($24.50 a month on that plan after the free months), since GnomeOwner's assistant is included; a board that turns Gable off pays $24.50 less.
Neither of us is best at everything.
A flat per-transaction ACH fee that’s cheaper than ours above about $158 per payment; every core feature on every plan, with no tier-gating (Gable AI is a separate add-on); storage published as unlimited; and a real review track record (G2 (280 reviews) and Capterra (720 reviews), 2026-10-08) versus GnomeOwner’s pilot stage.
An AI assistant that cites your own governing documents, on every plan, 25 questions a month free and many more on paid (PayHOA’s Gable AI is an add-on from $24.50 a month after 3 free months); a 50-state compliance calendar with the actual statute quoted for every item; meeting minutes drafted from the recording; a direct-charge design so money never touches us; and no surcharges for residents: they pay exactly their dues, with no board setting that changes it.
The questions boards actually ask.
Is GnomeOwner cheaper than PayHOA?
On the subscription, yes at every published size — GnomeOwner starts at $29/month for boards up to 25 units (a founding rate the first 150 HOAs lock for life; $39/month standard after) versus PayHOA's $49/month for the same size. Per payment, it depends on size: below about $158, GnomeOwner's 0.75% of each payment, capped at $5 plus Stripe's own bank-transfer cost is cheaper than PayHOA's flat $2.45 ACH fee; above that, PayHOA's flat fee wins per transaction. We don't claim to be cheapest on every single payment — our honest claims are the lower subscription, never more than $10 all-in on a bank payment, and residents paying $0.
Does PayHOA charge my residents a fee to pay dues?
Not by default — PayHOA bills the association $2.45 per ACH payment, the same as GnomeOwner's approach of billing the HOA rather than the resident. The difference: PayHOA's help center says a board can choose to pass that fee to homeowners instead. GnomeOwner has no pass-through option for our platform fee — no surcharges for residents: they pay exactly their dues, on every plan, with no board setting that changes it.
What does a $5,000 special assessment cost on each platform?
On GnomeOwner, never more than $10 all-in on a bank payment — a $5,000 ACH payment costs the HOA exactly $10, because both our 0.75% platform fee and Stripe's own processing fee are capped at $5 each. On PayHOA, the flat $2.45 ACH fee doesn't scale with payment size either, so a $5,000 payment there also costs a flat $2.45 (or is passed to the resident, if the board opted into that). PayHOA is cheaper on this specific large payment; our advantage is the promise never changes with size, and it's capped by construction, not by policy.
Which has a better free tier?
GnomeOwner's free “Neighbor” tier includes the AI assistant (25 questions a month), document search, and the compliance calendar — online payments that record themselves are the paid unlock. PayHOA publishes no free tier, only a 30-day trial with no card required.
