Picture this for a moment: you’ve just moved to a big city, with no family close by, pending bills to pay, and you’re searching for apartments. You might be a college student about to start a new semester, or just looking to start your life over. These circumstances are no joke, and the last thing you need are obstacles in your search for good room finders to help you look for rooms for rent or bag potential roommates.

You’ve probably already had your fair share of failed room and roommate searches over at Craigslists or Facebook. We get it. This article compares StreetEasy and Roomi, the StreetEasy alternative, showcasing each of their features to let you see which is right for you. Websites like StreetEasy and Roomi are examples of prominent room finders, but which is the best website to find rooms for rent? You may also have questions like, ‘Is StreetEasy legit?’ Keep reading and we’ll answer them all!

Related: 3 Best Features In A Roommate Finder

Features: How do these room finders help you find your perfect room?

An online room finder should filter by location, amenities, apartment types, price range and more. This means a user can simply jump on and input their preferences, making room finding fast, easy and stress-free.

No-fee apartments

If you’re a mover, your primary aim should be to search for listings on a reliable room finder. All listings on Roomi are no-fee, meaning that the Lister doesn’t charge an extra fee based on the percentage of the rent. StreetEasy, however, has mandated that its users pay a broker fee.

Pet-friendly apartments

You can’t leave your furry or feathery best friends behind, which is why there’s a pet-friendly filter on Roomi. There are distinct pet categories, where you can choose apartments suitable for dogs, cats or other pets. StreetEasy also provides the option to search pet-friendly apartments.

Subletting

Roomi is an easy-to-use room finder and roommate finding platform that allows you to sublet rooms safely, and find roommates who are perfect for you. StreetEasy also provides these same features, but it solely bases its services in New York City. Roomi operates in multiple cities in the United States and also boasts a wider international presence, available in countries like Mexico, Canada, and more.

Filtering rooms based on amenities

StreetEasy has a couple of amenities filters, but Roomi has covered all bases when it comes to filtering your search for apartments. Do you want to know whether a particular room has WiFi, air conditioning, private bathrooms, and other vital utilities? Well, you can find that out on your room search, without even stepping foot outside your door.

Filtering rooms based on listing type (entire place/shared rooms)

Roomi also allows users to filter listings based on the place they want to live in. For example, a couple that lives together would be able to browse for listings on the Roomi website and find a room suitable for a couple to share. StreetEasy, on the other hand, doesn’t provide this feature, so couples might run into more issues if they want to live together.

Filtering rooms based on House Rules

Everyone has their preferences, and most people want to live with roommates that have similar values and lifestyles as they do. With this in mind, Roomi allows you to filter choices for potential roommates. You can filter roommate searches based on age, gender and house rules — the pet-friendly filter comes in useful here, too.

Pricing: Which app offers the best free and paid features?

No one wants to fork out high fees for a room finder that doesn’t offer the best features. The great thing about Roomi is that they consider your needs first, and so they offer wonderful features at affordable prices. Here are some features that make Roomi stand out from StreetEasy, as one of the best websites to find rooms for rent.

Related: Is Roomi free to use?

Free listings

All Roomi users have 2 free credits that can be used to either create 2 listings or activate any pending or deactivated listings. It’s absolutely free to search for a room to rent. However, to get the best out of Roomi, subscribing to the Gold Package comes with several tantalizing benefits. That includes access to unlimited messages with potential roomies, a ranking boost for 7x more views on your profile, and more. The subscription also comes with an optional background check, an extra step to guarantee your safety. The Gold subscription is priced at $29.99 per month or $14.99 per week.

In-app messaging

Roomi, the StreetEasy alternative, offers secure in-app messaging to its users, keeping information shared between potential roomies private. Users can also request for Roomi to delete personal information after they’ve found a roommate match. They can do so under the General Data Protection Regulation by contacting Roomi customer support, or by filling a form. With Roomi, you can also message any lister for free – a feature that’s not available on StreetEasy.

Security: How do these apps ensure that the listings are credible?

Roomi, the StreetEasy alternative, takes its users’ privacy and security seriously. Your listing address is not visible to others on Roomi. Instead, the app provides an approximate location for listings in public search results.

Roomi makes sure that only real people with an actual room for rent can list a room on Roomi. Hence, most listers on Roomi verify their account by providing a copy of their lease, utility bill or government-issued ID. You will see certain badges on a user’s listing that showcases the forms of verification they have provided. The Security and Safety Team will also require verification of the address from the room lister.

Roomi has an in-house content moderation team that reviews listings and profiles for behavior that violates any of the Roomi policies, and you can report questionable users or listings too.

StreetEasy, in a bid to protect users from fake listings, does a background check on all proposed listings before posting it on their site. They also allow users to report suspicious listings. However, their customer service is not as extensive as Roomi’s and there may be a longer wait for a reply.

Related: The Do’s And Don’ts Of Sharing An Apartment For The First Time

So, Which Is the Best Room Finder For You?

It’s no surprise that a good room finder makes all the difference when setting out on your apartment hunt. StreetEasy is great for finding rooms, but Roomi makes the process a lot easier for you. They offer free services as well as paid services, like background checks, identity verifications, messaging plans, listing credits, profile boosts, and listing boosts.

Unlike Roomi, StreetEasy charges broker fees, a feature that has not fared well with its users, as many StreetEasy reviews show. And, considering the no-fee apartments feature, and wide variety of amenities and house rules filters, there’s no doubt that Roomi is the best room finder for you.

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