The internet is a giant ocean of Facebook groups, Craiglist listings, and Google ads. If you’ve swum your way here, chances are that you’ve struck out on many of these websites. Don’t worry, you’re not out of luck! When you’re on the hunt to find rooms to rents, there are several questions that might pop up. Is the listing legitimate? Will the new apartment be pet-friendly? Are there rooms with private bathrooms? This is where Roomi comes in. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best room finder, Roomi, and why it’s the most wonderful Apartments.com alternative!

Features: What Filters & Preferences Do These Room Finders Have to Help you Find your Perfect Room?

Roomi’s algorithm is designed to help you find your ideal room in seconds. While moving into a new neighborhood is a tedious task, finding rooms for rent shouldn’t be. This best Apartments.com alternative comes with basic filters such as price and location, but also more advanced filters to narrow down your search. Let’s take a look below at how these two-room finders fare side by side.

Pet-Friendly Apartments

A furry companion is like a family member. You can’t imagine your life without your pet, and with Roomi, you don’t have to! Fortunately, both Roomi and Apartments.com offer pet-friendly listings. However, if your companion isn’t a canine or a feline, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a listing on Apartments.com. The website only allows the filters of “Cat Friendly” and “Dog Friendly”. Meanwhile, Roomi strives to make your experience in a new rental comfortable and accessible to pets of all kinds. This great Apartments.com alternative offers three filters for pets: “Dogs OK”, “Cats OK”, and “Other Pets OK”. So, whether you have a pet bird or a pet tortoise, you can easily find listings on Roomi!

Related: 8 Boxes to Tick on Roomi’s Moving in Checklist

Filtering Rooms Based on Amenities

Would you like an on-site security guard for safety? Are you looking for an apartment with power backup? Whatever your wishes might be, Roomi is your genie! While Apartments.com also has advanced filters, you’ll notice that these are less thorough than Roomi’s.

Filtering Rooms Based on Listing Type (Entire Place/Shared Rooms)

Are you looking to find rooms to rent as a couple? Do you want to save money by sharing a room? The powerful Apartments.com alternative, Roomi, offers the following filters for your privacy and budgeting needs:

• Entire Place
• Private Room
• Shared Room

However, while Apartments.com allows for filtering based on listing type, they are a tad harder to navigate and pin down. Cue lots of frustrated mouse tapping.

Related: Meet Roomi: The #1 Badi Alternative To Find Rooms For Rent

Filtering Rooms Based on House Rules

If you’re a college student or ever were one, the mention of house rules might give you dorm room flashbacks. However, it’s important to remember that you’ll be staying in someone else’s property. For this reason, Roomi has a comprehensive checklist of house rules that you can tick off to lead you to your perfect room. Don’t want to bunk in a house that allows smoking? Tick! Want an en-suite bathroom? Tick!

Meanwhile, Apartments.com has the option to filter listings broadly categorised under “Lifestyle”. This limited list includes only five lifestyle options: Student, Short-Term, Corporate Housing, Military Housing, Senior Housing. Here, Roomi is the clear winner to find rooms for rent based on the nitty-gritty details that are important to you.

No-Fee Apartments

All listings are no-fee on the best room finder, Roomi. What does this mean? It means you can start browsing and viewing listings for free! Similarly, Apartments.com also offers no-fee listings. However, as we’ve seen above, Roomi’s comprehensive and thoughtful checklist makes the room finder the best Apartments.com alternative there is!

Subletting

Are you looking to make some money on the side? Subletting is a wonderful way to establish a passive channel of income for yourself. However, the process is often tricky to navigate. Basically, you’ll be renting out a space within the space you’ve rented. This means that the subtenant signs a lease with you, rather than with your landlord. Fortunately, the best room finder Roomi makes subletting easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Related: A Guide to Subletting in Los Angeles

Pricing: Which App Offers the Best Free and Paid Features?

You’ll come to find that Roomi offers free members a lot more than they would find on other websites such as Apartments.com. With Roomi, you can find rooms for rent for free! Want a little bit more? You can also unlock more features with affordable paid plans.

• Free Members on Roomi: Free to download and sign up to activate listings for rent.
• Roomi’s Gold Subscription: The Gold Subscription is available at $29.99 per month or $14.99 per week. You can choose to pay monthly or weekly, depending on your budget.

Let’s dive in to explore the free and paid plans on Roomi which make it the best Apartments.com alternative!

Allowing Free Listings

Roomi offers an easy way to find the perfect room for rent free of charge. It’s quick and free to post a listing, search listings, and contact two listings in any location Roomi covers. However, if you’re looking for more features, you might want to consider signing up to Roomi’s Gold subscription. With Roomi Gold, here’s what you get:

• A ranking boost for 7x more views on your profile and listings!
• 5 active listings to post all the empty rooms in your apartment.

However, Apartments.com is an online apartment marketplace of listings compiled from third-party portals. This makes advertising listings on the website complicated and expensive, with the possible threat of private information leaks.

Ready to list a room with the best room finder, Roomi? Get started with the help of this wonderfully easy guide!

In-App Messaging

The powerful Aparments.com alternative allows you to message listings and set up times for apartment viewings, all for free! On Roomi, the free plan also lets you ask questions to get a better feel for the place you’re interested in.

With Roomi’s Gold subscription, you have access to the super helpful features below:

• Access to unlimited messages with potential roomies. (On mobile, you also get unlimited swipes!)
• A Fully Verified status upgrade which gets you 5x more messages!

However, Apartments.com is a subsidiary of the larger corporation of CoStar. This means that your messages are routed to a third-party service provider. Websites like Apartments.com aren’t the best portals for in-app communication because they can compromise your cybersecurity. In this comparison, Roomi shines as the best room finder!

Security: How Do These Apps Ensure That Listings Are Credible?

Most websites like Apartments.com fall short of Roomi when it comes to vigorous data monitoring. Roomi thoroughly screens user profiles, encrypts your data, and deletes your account if you want them to.

Roomi is committed to your physical and cyber security in three significant ways:

1. ID Verification: Verifying accounts is a friendly way to make sure the person living in the apartment you’re about to rent from is credible. This account verification process includes providing a copy of your lease, utility bill, or government-issued ID.
2. Location Protection: Roomi never shows your exact address on the platform. Instead, only your approximate location is visible to other users.
3. Content Moderation: The best room finder has a 24×7 in-house content moderation team to weed out scammers and fraudulent profiles. Furthermore, if you’re having doubts about a listing or a user, you can always contact Roomi’s support team.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, Apartments.com is one of the brands under the major real-estate organization, CoStar. CoStar’s privacy policies clearly state that they might use your personal information for their third-party service providers. Therefore, when it comes down to your security while browsing rooms for rent, Roomi is the best room finder.

So, Which Is the Best Room Finder For You?

If you’re looking for a home, you want to feel safe and secure when sharing your information. Roomi grants you complete control of your data, while vetting listings rigorously. Ultimately, what makes Roomi the best Apartments.com alternative is the comprehensive checklist of features. You can filter based on amenities, pet-friendly listings, house rules, and so much more! Say hello to your new room genie, Roomi, and have fun browsing for your perfect room!

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