Overview

SpotHOA brings board administration together around a permanent, timestamped ledger: dues, votes and violations are recorded as append-only events. That recordkeeping focus is useful for volunteer boards that need continuity around payments and decisions. The product is not designed for paid property managers, landlords, enterprise property management or rental operations. Version 1 supports U.S.-based HOAs, and account creators must be at least 18 and located in the United States.

Key features

The document vault organizes CC&Rs, bylaws, minutes and financials with tags, categories and role-based access. That is a practical fit for boards that need to keep common association records together while limiting access by role. Dues can be collected by card or ACH through Stripe Connect Standard, or recorded manually for checks and cash. Funds flow through the HOA’s own Stripe account; SpotHOA does not hold, pool or route the money.

AI can draft violation letters, meeting summaries and dues reminders, which may reduce routine writing for volunteer officers. The community feed, threaded messages and daily email digest give residents several ways to follow association updates, while photos can be attached. These features bring communications into the same service as records and payments, though they do not change the product’s narrow HOA focus.

Data is partitioned by HOA, with isolation enforced by automated tests; it is encrypted in transit using TLS and hosted in the United States. Support access is read-only and sessions are logged. SpotHOA says it does not sell data, use advertising or retargeting cookies, or train machine-learning models on HOA data. Both plans allow ledger, vault, member-list and meeting-record exports as CSV and PDF. Account deletion has a 14-day grace period.

Pricing

The Free plan costs $0 / month and covers up to 50 active units, 500 MB of document storage and 1,000 emails per month. It includes ACH and card dues collection, homeowner records, the ledger, meeting minutes and votes. For a small board, that is a substantial starting set without a software charge, but the unit, storage and email ceilings can constrain a growing or document-heavy association. There is no free trial because the plan itself is free.

Pro costs $29 / month, billed monthly. It raises the limits to 100 active units, 10 GB of storage and 10,000 emails per month, and adds AI-drafted paperwork, a Texas compliance pack and priority email support. It is the more appropriate tier for a larger HOA within SpotHOA’s 100-unit ceiling, or a board that expects heavier document and email use. Boards needing more than 100 units or software for professional management should look elsewhere.

Platforms

SpotHOA is available on the web, Android and iOS, but it has no native mobile app. The web app can be installed to an Android home screen using Chrome or Edge, or to an iPhone or iPad home screen using Safari. That gives mobile access without a separate app, though boards seeking a native app should weigh that distinction.

Who it's for

SpotHOA is best for volunteer officers at small U.S. associations who want dues, documents, votes and resident messages in one system, especially when exporting records matters. It is a poor fit for non-U.S. HOAs, paid managers, landlords and rental operations. The company publishes phone and email contacts and says most customer feature requests ship in roughly one week, a potentially useful support approach for boards whose needs evolve.

Pros and cons

Useful free starting tier: payments, ledger, minutes and votes are included for up to 50 units.
Records remain portable: both plans export core records as CSV and PDF.
Payments retain HOA control: funds go through the association’s own Stripe account, and checks or cash can be recorded manually.
Hard ceiling at 100 units: even Pro does not suit larger associations.
Web-based mobile access: home-screen installation is supported, but there is no native mobile app.
Geographic and audience limits: it serves U.S. HOAs, not managers, landlords or rental operations.

Alternatives

HOA Messenger is worth considering when resident messaging is the priority: its free plan supports unlimited HOAs and residents with 90-day visibility, and it has a free trial. HOA Start is an alternative for readers comparing software that includes a marketing website and admin dashboard; its plans have custom pricing. HOAware may suit boards focused on ACC violations and applications, digital inspections and SMS notifications; its plans have custom pricing. ManageHOA is another paid option to compare.

For paid, web-based software, CINC is an alternative. Vantaca is another paid option, with web and mobile platforms. GateWatch is also a paid option with web and mobile platforms. totalHOA uses case-by-case early community pricing and is web-based. For broader category comparisons, see HOA Violation Management Software and HOA Management Software.

Verdict

Choose SpotHOA if you serve a small, self-managed U.S. HOA and want payment collection, a durable activity ledger, records and communications together, with exports on either plan. Its free tier makes the case particularly well for communities within 50 units. Look elsewhere if you need more than 100 units, a native mobile app, non-U.S. support or tools for professional property management and rentals.

	GateWatch	SpotHOA
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	—	$29/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Android, iOS, Web
Owner portal	Yes	—
Mobile app	Yes	No
Photo attachments	Yes	Yes
Free plan	—	Yes
Paid from	—	29 /mo
Unit limit	—	100 units

GateWatch vs SpotHOA

GateWatch

SpotHOA