PayHOA vs. Mocha Manage: HOA Management Software Review [2026]

Key Takeaways

• PayHOA works best for small, self-managed HOAs under 300 units that prioritize simplicity over depth
• Mocha Manage offers a significantly stronger accounting and financial management suite with full general ledger capabilities
• PayHOA’s communication tools (mass texts, emails, phone calls, and message boards) are solid for community engagement
• Mocha Manage scales better for growing associations, management companies, and communities that need serious financial controls
• Both platforms offer online payment processing, but Mocha provides deeper automation for invoicing, late fees, and financial reporting

Your HOA board just voted to ditch spreadsheets and switch to real management software. Smart move.

But now you’re staring at a dozen platforms that all promise to “simplify community management.” And two names keep popping up: PayHOA and Mocha Manage.

Both handle the basics. Both claim to be all-in-one solutions. The difference? It’s hiding in the details most review sites never dig into.

Below, we’ll break down exactly how these two platforms compare across the features that actually matter to your community.

What Is PayHOA?

PayHOA is a cloud-based HOA management platform built for self-managed communities. The company has grown quickly over the past few years and currently serves more than 11,000 associations across the country.

Their approach is straightforward. Strip away complexity and give volunteer board members a platform they can learn in days, not weeks. PayHOA handles invoicing, payment processing, accounting, document management, violations, communication, and homeowner portals all in one place.

It’s a solid tool. Especially for smaller associations that need something simple and affordable.

But “simple and affordable” isn’t always the same thing as “complete.”

What Is Mocha Manage?

Mocha Manage is a property management platform with deep roots in accounting software. That distinction matters more than you’d think.

Where most HOA platforms bolt on basic financial features as an afterthought, Mocha was built from an accounting-first foundation. The result is a full general ledger system, customizable chart of accounts, automated bank reconciliation, and financial analytics that rival standalone accounting software.

But it’s not just an accounting tool. Mocha Manage covers the full spectrum of property management—rent collection, maintenance tracking, lease management, online leasing, communication tools, 1099 filing, and tenant screening through TransUnion.

For HOAs specifically, Mocha offers everything from automated dues collection and fee management to resident communication and maintenance coordination. And it does it all without requiring a separate accounting subscription on the side.

Accounting & Financial Management

This is where the comparison gets interesting. And honestly? Where the biggest gap between these two platforms lives.

PayHOA’s Accounting

PayHOA offers what they describe as “full HOA accounting” with cash and accrual reporting. You can code transactions when they occur, edit them anytime, and filter by date or chart of account category. They offer over 30 accounting reports, including general ledger, balance sheet, budget vs. actual, profit and loss, and aging of accounts.

It’s competent. For a small association with straightforward finances, it checks the essential boxes.

But there are some limitations worth noting. The reporting, while adequate, offers limited customization options. Several users on Capterra and Software Advice have flagged the budget builder as clunky and unintuitive. And if your association’s financial needs grow beyond the basics, you may find yourself bumping against the platform’s ceiling.

PayHOA also offers an optional bookkeeping service for an additional monthly fee if your board doesn’t want to handle the books internally. That’s a nice touch for volunteer-run communities.

Mocha Manage’s Accounting

This is Mocha’s home turf.

Built by real CPAs who are property managers themselves, Mocha Manage’s accounting suite was built for property managers and association managers who need a true all-in-one accounting tool, not a property management tool with a QuickBooks/Xero integration.

You’re getting a full general ledger with automated journal entries, a customizable chart of accounts tailored to property management workflows, and real-time financial analytics on a customizable dashboard.

The platform handles automated bank reconciliation, income and expense tracking with receipt attachments, work order and bill management, and in-depth financial reporting. You can attach receipts and bills directly to transactions, which makes audit prep dramatically easier.

Where PayHOA gives you 30+ reports, Mocha gives you the tools to build the reports you actually need. Custom analytics. Property-by-property breakdowns. Real-time insights that help boards make faster financial decisions.

For HOAs specifically, Mocha’s accounting handles assessment tracking, reserve fund management, and trust accounting. These are the areas where many HOA platforms fall short—and where financial mistakes carry the biggest consequences.

The Verdict: Accounting

Mocha Manage wins this category. It’s not particularly close.

PayHOA does have solid HOA/association-based accounting tools (not for general property management), but users often report having to integrate with an accounting tool for various accounting features.

If your HOA’s financial management needs go beyond basic invoicing and simple reports, Mocha’s accounting depth is a significant advantage.

Payment Processing & Dues Collection

Both platforms handle online payments. But they approach it differently.

PayHOA’s Payment Processing

PayHOA’s payment system is arguably its strongest feature. The platform handles ACH and credit card transactions, with processing fees of $2.45 per ACH payment and 3.5% + $0.50 per card payment. Those fees can be passed through to homeowners or absorbed by the association.

Automated invoicing, recurring payment setup, and autopay functionality make dues collection mostly hands-off. The Plaid integration connects directly to your bank account and automatically imports and categorizes transactions. Users consistently praise this bank integration as one of PayHOA’s best features.

There’s one notable limitation, though. As of early 2026, homeowners cannot make prepayments through the online portal. That’s a surprising gap for a platform centered around payment processing.

Mocha Manage’s Payment Processing

Mocha offers online payment collection through ACH, credit card, and debit card at no additional cost to the association. Homeowners can set up recurring payments, and the platform sends automated reminders for outstanding invoices.

What separates Mocha here is how tightly payments connect to the accounting backend. Every payment automatically posts to the correct ledger accounts, triggers the right journal entries, and updates financial reports in real time. No manual reconciliation step. No exporting data to a separate system.

Mocha also handles automated late fees and add-ons with more flexibility. You can configure exactly how and when late fees apply, and the system handles it from there.

The Verdict: Payments

This one’s closer. PayHOA’s Plaid integration and transparent fee structure are genuinely strong.

But Mocha’s advantage is in what happens after the payment hits. The accounting automation and financial reporting that flows from each transaction is more sophisticated.

For basic dues collection, either platform works well. For associations that need tight financial controls and automated accounting workflows, Mocha has the edge.

Communication Tools

This is one area where PayHOA has invested heavily. And it shows.

PayHOA’s Communication

PayHOA offers a surprisingly strong communication suite for its price point. Board members can send mass texts, emails, and even automated phone calls to community members. You can schedule messages for future delivery or send them on demand.

The platform also includes private message boards for community engagement, a mailroom feature for sending physical USPS mail directly from the platform, and a website builder (available for an additional $25/month) for creating a community-facing site.

For keeping homeowners in the loop on meeting announcements, events, reminders, and emergencies, PayHOA covers a lot of ground. Users consistently rate these communication tools as one of the platform’s highlights.

Mocha Manage’s Communication

Mocha includes a built-in messaging system with instant notifications and integrated request handling. The focus here is more on operational communication—maintenance requests, payment notifications, lease-related updates—than community broadcasting.

Mocha’s communication tools are functional and well-integrated. Having said that, they don’t match the breadth of PayHOA’s multi-channel approach. There’s no equivalent to PayHOA’s automated phone calls, physical mailroom service, or dedicated website builder.

With that said, PayHOA doesn’t have a dedicated mobile app, one of the strongest features of Mocha, which has a crisp and easy-to-navigate mobile app with full feature functionality.

The Verdict: Communication

PayHOA has strong communication features. Their multi-channel communication tools—text, email, phone, physical mail, and message boards—give HOA boards more ways to reach homeowners. 

However, Mocha Manage has all the basic communication features of PayHOA, as well as maintenance communication tools that match or outpace PayHOA’s and a stellar mobile app and cross-platform experience, making it an equally solid contender.

Community Management

Beyond finances and communication, HOA boards need tools for the day-to-day work of running a community.

PayHOA’s Management Features

PayHOA covers the core management tasks decently. The platform includes violation tracking for CC&R enforcement with automated notification sequences, digital request workflows for architectural requests, unlimited document storage with folder organization, online voting and surveys, and homeowner portals where residents can view their accounts and access community information.

These features are functional but generally described as “getting the job done” rather than offering deep customization. Violation management, for example, tracks infractions and automates notifications but lacks the granularity that larger or more complex communities might need.

PayHOA also allows customizable access levels for board members and managers across each module. Helpful for associations with multiple stakeholders.

With all that said, PayHOA is missing one glaring set of features: work order and maintenance management. This is a core gap in the tool that makes it similar to other property management tools requiring an accounting software integration.

Mocha Manage’s Management Features

Mocha approaches community management through a broader property management lens. The platform handles maintenance tracking with work order management, vendor payment coordination, lease and tenant management (useful for mixed-use communities), automated workflows for recurring operational tasks, and role-based access controls for team collaboration.

For HOAs specifically, Mocha offers resident portals, maintenance request handling, and document management. But the platform’s real strength is in how these operational tools tie back into the financial system.

A maintenance request generates a work order. That work order creates a vendor bill. That bill flows into the general ledger. All without manual data entry.

The Verdict: Community Management

This is a toss-up, and it depends on your association’s priorities.

PayHOA offers more HOA-specific management features out of the box—violations, voting, message boards.

Mocha provides stronger operational workflows and better integration between management tasks and financial tracking, giving a more all-in-one feel.

Associations that want tighter operational and financial integration will prefer Mocha, as well as smaller portfolios who prefer not to juggle multiple tools.

Reporting & Analytics

Reports are how your board communicates financial health to homeowners. The quality of those reports matters more than most boards realize.

PayHOA’s Reporting

PayHOA offers over 30 report types covering the essentials: general ledger, budget, balance sheet, budget vs. actual, profit and loss, aging of accounts, delinquent accounts, bank reconciliation, and expenses by vendor. Both cash and accrual reporting methods are supported.

The reporting is functional but has drawn mixed feedback from users. Several reviewers note that customization options are limited, and the reports—while adequate—don’t offer the flexibility that growing associations need.

Mocha Manage’s Reporting

Mocha’s reporting is one of its standout capabilities.

The platform offers customizable analytics dashboards with real-time financial data, property-by-property income and expense breakdowns, and the ability to build custom reports that match your association’s specific needs.

This isn’t just about having more reports. It’s about getting reports that actually tell the story your board needs to hear. When a homeowner asks, “Where is our money going?” at the annual meeting, Mocha gives you the answer in a format that makes sense.

The Verdict: Reporting

Mocha Manage takes this one. The customizable dashboards and analytics tools give HOA boards better visibility into their association’s financial health. PayHOA’s reporting covers the basics, but boards that need deeper insights or custom formats will feel limited.

Pricing Comparison

Let’s talk numbers. Pricing is straightforward for both platforms.

PayHOA Pricing

PayHOA uses transparent, published tiered pricing based on community size:

• 1-50 units: $49/month
• 51-150 units: $99/month
• 151-300 units: $179/month
• 301-500 units: $199/month
• 500+ units: $0.50 per unit/month

All plans include core features with no hidden limitations. The community website builder costs an additional $25/month. PayHOA also offers an optional bookkeeping service for an extra monthly fee. A 30-day free trial is available with no credit card required.

Payment processing fees: $2.45 per ACH transaction, 3.5% + $0.50 per card payment.

Mocha Manage Pricing

Mocha Manage offers a scalable pricing model that’s friendly to all portfolio sizes. It’s one of the most affordable all-in-one property management tools in the industry at just $1 per unit with no minimums.

What’s worth noting is that Mocha’s pricing includes the full accounting suite as a core feature—not an add-on. You’re not paying for basic property management on one tier and then upgrading for real accounting capabilities. The financial tools are built into the platform from the start.

You’re also not paying for property management features with a QuickBooks integration.

Many property management tools sell themselves as an all-in-one tool, when in reality, they only offer the most basic accounting features.

Tax filing? Complex reports you can use during association or owner meetings? In reality, most property management tools are two tools in one: their tool + QuickBooks (or Xero, etc.), with only some level of integration between the two. Not to mention, you’re paying for both (add that to your cost to PayHOA).

Mocha Manage was built by real CPAs and property managers who understand what it’s like dealing with this common painpoint, and they set out to solve it with their own tool.

The Verdict: Pricing

Mocha Manage comes out ahead in most pricing tiers. PayHOA matches its affordability if you have somewhere in the range of 50-100 properties.

However, consider the cost of potential integrations (accounting and maintenance management for PayHOA) as additional costs that will weigh down PayHOA.

Integrations & Scalability

PayHOA Integrations

PayHOA integrates with Google Calendar, Stripe (payment processing), Weebly (website builder), Twilio (SMS/voice), SendGrid (email), Plaid (banking), and Lob (direct mail). All integrations are included in the subscription at no extra cost.

One notable gap: PayHOA does not currently offer an API. That means you can’t build custom integrations or connect the platform to other tools in your tech stack. For small associations, this is rarely an issue. But it becomes a limitation as your needs grow.

Mocha Manage Integrations

Mocha integrates with the IRS for 1099 filing, TransUnion for tenant screening, and various banking and payment platforms. The platform also connects with insurance providers and offers integration capabilities that support more complex operational workflows.

Mocha’s scalability is a clear differentiator here. The platform is designed to grow alongside your association, supporting everything from small self-managed communities to large management companies overseeing multiple properties across residential, commercial, and HOA portfolios.

The Verdict: Integrations

PayHOA has more visible third-party integrations for communication and community features. Mocha’s integrations lean toward operational and financial workflows.

For scalability, though, Mocha wins. Its architecture supports growth in a way that PayHOA’s self-managed focus doesn’t always accommodate.

Who Should Choose PayHOA?

PayHOA is a strong choice for lean communities whose needs aren’t too complex:

• Small, self-managed HOAs (under 150 units) that prioritize simplicity
• Communities that value communication tools and want multi-channel outreach (text, email, phone, mail)
• Associations with straightforward finances that don’t require complex reporting or deep accounting

PayHOA does what it does well. The community management and communication tools are genuinely solid. Customer support gets excellent reviews. And the platform’s simplicity is a real advantage for boards that don’t want to wrestle with complex software.

Who Should Choose Mocha Manage?

Mocha Manage is the better fit for associations that need more under the hood or are looking for a true all-in-one solution (not missing a comprehensive accounting suite or maintenance tracking and management):

• HOAs that take financial management seriously and need full general ledger accounting
• Growing associations that don’t want to outgrow their software in two years
• Management companies overseeing multiple communities or mixed portfolios
• Boards that need custom reporting and real-time financial analytics for decision-making
• Communities preparing for audits that need clean books with receipt attachments and proper documentation
• Associations managing reserve funds that need accurate tracking and fund accounting

If your HOA’s biggest pain point is financial accuracy, reporting depth, or scaling beyond a simple community, Mocha Manage is the stronger choice.

Final Verdict

Both are capable HOA management platforms, but PayHOA’s missing maintenance management and thin accounting features make it fall short for small to mid-sized portfolios looking for an all-in-one solution.

Mocha Manage is not only a more well-rounded option for small-to-mid-sized portfolios, with a true accounting suite designed so that you don’t need a separate QuickBooks or Xero integration. It’s better suited for larger portfolios due to its more comprehensive accounting suite, tax tools, and unique customized reporting.

Ready to see how Mocha Manage handles your HOA’s accounting and operations? Schedule a free demo and see the difference a purpose-built financial platform makes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PayHOA good for large HOAs?

PayHOA’s published pricing covers communities up to 500 units, with per-unit pricing above that. However, the platform is primarily designed for smaller, self-managed associations. Communities with complex financial needs, multiple funds, or advanced reporting requirements may outgrow PayHOA’s capabilities. Mocha Manage is generally a better fit for larger or growing associations.

Does PayHOA replace QuickBooks?

PayHOA positions its accounting module as comparable to QuickBooks for basic HOA needs, but it falls short as a dedicated accounting tool for associations. 

Can Mocha Manage handle both rental properties and HOAs?

Yes. Mocha Manage supports residential, commercial, and HOA portfolios within the same platform. This makes it particularly useful for property management companies or organizations that manage mixed property types and need unified financial reporting across all of them.

Does PayHOA have a mobile app?

As of early 2026, PayHOA does not have a dedicated mobile app, though the platform is mobile-friendly and accessible through a web browser. Mocha Manage is also cloud-based with a convenient mobile-app and accessible across devices.

Which platform has better customer support?

Both platforms get strong marks for customer support. PayHOA offers free, unlimited support via chat, email, phone, and one-on-one screenshare meetings (Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm ET). They also provide a dedicated onboarding specialist and free training. Mocha Manage offers support through their help center and direct contact options. PayHOA’s support responsiveness is frequently highlighted in user reviews as a standout feature.

Can I switch from PayHOA to Mocha Manage?

Yes. Mocha Manage supports data migration from other platforms. Their team can assist with importing unit information, owner records, and financial data. Most organizations can transition without disrupting community operations.