Room hunting can be absolutely stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. Therefore, it is imperative to use a good room finder that simplifies the process for you. A big life-changing decision such as moving to another city is both exciting and scary, but being scammed or not making progress during your room search is only scary. So, you want to find out a truly legit room finder, and you want to find it fast. Well, you’re in the right place. Websites like Zumper and the Zumper alternative, Roomi are popular room finding portals. But which is the best? You probably want to find out things like, ‘Is Zumper legit?’ or ‘How easy is the room finding process on Roomi?’ Or, you may even be curious to know what Zumper reviews say about the website. Well, we’re here to help with that, so keep reading to find out.

Features: What filters & preferences do these room finders offer to help you find your perfect room?

Sites like Zumper and Roomi help their users find rooms available for rent. However, what truly makes a room finder good is how well it serves its users. Does it have an ‘amenities’ filter, offer no-fee apartments, subletting, and are you allowed to find roommates, too? We will consider all these as we compare Zumper, and the Zumper alternative, Roomi.

No fee apartments

All apartment and room listings on Roomi are no-fee, meaning you are not obligated to pay extra fees to real estate agents like you are on most room-finding portals. Websites like Zumper also provide no-fee apartments, but you still need to pay for services like screening and application.

Pet-Friendly Apartments

Your furry/feathery friends are important to you, and you can’t afford to leave them behind, can you? Websites like Zumper and Roomi allow you to filter apartments and choose ones that are pet-friendly. However, Zumper provides the ‘cats’ and ‘dogs’ filter, meanwhile, with Roomi, you have an ‘other pets’ filter.

Subletting

On Roomi, users can easily sublet apartments. Listers are eligible to have at least 2 active listings to make it easier to advertise rooms instead of an entire apartment. Zumper also allows you to sublet rooms and apartments from landlords and agents, although some Zumper reviews have revealed that several users have fallen prey to agents who have scammed them.

Filtering rooms based on amenities

You have needs, and Roomi wants to see that those needs are met. With an array of amenity filters such as air conditioning, WIFI, and more, you can make life easier and get a room suited to your needs. Zumper also offers this filter.

Filtering rooms based on Listing Type (entire place/shared rooms)

Roomi allows you to filter rooms through the listing type. Whether you desire to live in a shared room or a single room, the option is there for you to choose. This makes the room search easier and more convenient for you. If you’re comfortable with shared rooms, you can select to view only related listings. Sites like Zumper allows you to filter based on house type but doesn’t provide the option of filtering rooms based on listing type like Roomi does.

Filtering rooms based on House Rules

This is a feature that clearly sets Roomi apart from sites like Zumper. Users can filter rooms based on their preferences. This filter is very important, and few room finders offer it.

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

Zumper is a rental listing website where users can apply for listings they want, or post rental properties. Interested renters must pay for their application, reservation, and screening fees when they find a property they want.

For most landlords and agents on sites like Zumper, the screening fee is $30. However, most times, applicants can be charged extra depending on the landlord or listing agent. Also, applicants who choose to share their documents with a property they are interested in are obligated to pay an additional fee of $10.

Allowing 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. However, if you want to create a new listing or activate one, you can purchase a listing credit plan.

Compared to other room-finding portals, Roomi definitely comes out on top. Roomi requires no monthly subscription fees, no messaging costs, no listing fee, and no charges when searching for a room to rent. Not many room finders let you have so much for free. However, you can enjoy more goodies when you pay for the Roomi Gold Subscription such as background checks, identity verification, messaging plans, listing credits, profile boosts, and listing boosts. It’s priced at $29.99 per month or $14.99 per week.

In-app messaging

Zumper allows you to message a landlord or agent when you find a place you like. They provide pre-written messages for you as well, but this can be edited.

Roomi makes it easy to connect with listers and potential roomies with the in-app messaging feature, and as a free user, you are entitled to 5 free messages per day. The Gold subscription gets you instant access to unlimited in-app messaging to enable you to snag your dream place faster.

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

Your safety should come first. It’s not enough to find a room— it’s equally necessary to find a place that is safe. Roomi understands this, and so there are various measures put in place to safeguard your privacy.

If you’re in doubt of a particular listing, then you can report it to Roomi’s 24/7 content moderation team. Roomi also requires listers to provide details for identity verification so that you have access to only legit listings.

Websites like Zumper differ from Roomi in that background checks are run only on renters, not landlords or agents. For this service, the renter has to pay a $30 screening fee. This is to ensure that landlords don’t have to deal with fake renters. This is important, yes, but how can renters be sure that the agent is not fake, too? Zumper reviews have revealed that many have fallen prey to the scamming ventures of fake landlords and agents. Apparently, there have been many reports of Zumper scams.

Therefore, in this aspect, Roomi definitely stands out, as all paid users undergo identity verification to make sure that both listers and renters are not scammers.

So, which is the best room finder for you?

Well, there you have it! Comparing two websites like Zumper and Roomi is definitely difficult, but it’s clear that Roomi takes the cake as the best website to find rooms for rent. With a user-friendly app, no-fee listings, and high-standard security measures, Roomi makes your room search smoother and simpler, and is clearly the best Zumper alternative.

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