Hi, Ravi from Cozy here.
I'm happy to answer any questions you have about Cozy. I've seen a few here already, so I'll try to address them (I've also addressed them in a little more detail on our blog, at
cozy.co/blog, and on our SparkRent comparison page, at
cozy.co/sparkrent).
The main question we get, particularly from SparkRent users, is how Cozy makes money, and how we can be a sustainable business by offering the rent collection for free. We make money on credit reports, which cost tenants $19.95 when a landlord requests one. We are also developing some premium features, like alternate rent payment methods, that will be available at an additional nominal charge. As mentioned above, we also have some large investors, like Google Ventures and The Social+Capital Partnership, that are helping fuel our growth.
That said, the core functionality that exists today for free will remain free. We built Cozy with independent landlords in mind, and we know margins are tight. Unlike SparkRent or some other services, we're squarely focused on the large number of independent landlords, and that's the segment we're serving. This is our core business.
The truth is, up until last September we used to charge $9 per unit per month for Cozy, and you can still find articles dotting the internet referencing that charge. Since we removed that monthly fee, we've seen unprecedented growth (both in terms of users and revenue), and we're planning to stick to this model. We're just getting started.
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend! Feel free to reply with any questions. Or sign up and try it out at
cozy.co/signup! (There's no cost!)
-Ravi