Pilot Light
For your first rental. The small flame that’s always on.
R0free, for as long as you like
- 1 home
- 5 GB storage
No card needed
Pricing
Simple, honest pricing
Every plan gets every feature. Your plan only depends on how many homes you run and how much storage you need. Tenants are always free.
Founding owner offer. Join during the pilot and get Lantern free for your first 12 months. No card needed to start.
Lantern
For owners with a flat, a cottage and a house.
R89per month, cancel any time
- Up to 3 homes
- 25 GB storage
Free for 12 months for founding owners
Floodlight
For a growing portfolio you still run yourself.
R229per month, cancel any time
- Up to 10 homes
- 100 GB storage
7-day cooling-off on every paid plan
Beacon
For full-time owners with a bigger book of homes.
R549per month, cancel any time
- Up to 30 homes
- 300 GB storage
Priority email support
More than 30 homes? Talk to us about a plan that fits. Need more space on any plan? Add 50 GB for R25 a month.
Included in every plan, even the free one
- Owner and tenant dashboards
- Unlimited tenants, always free
- Lease, documents and home guide
- Inspections with photos, video and signatures
- Rent ledger, receipts and proof of payment
- Deposit and interest tracker
- Repairs, messages and formal notices
- CPA renewal flow and the legal check
- Utilities recharged at cost
- Expenses and the SARS rental statement
- Shared calendar and reminders
- Two-step sign-in, audit log, data export
How storage works
Inspections and repairs are where photos and videos add up, so every plan comes with its own secure storage in South Africa.
- Photos are made small, not blurry. We resize them on upload to about 1 MB each and remove the location data hidden in the file. 5 GB holds roughly 4 000 photos.
- Short videos, up to 2 minutes each. Perfect for a room walk-through or showing a leak. A one-minute clip uses about 60 to 100 MB.
- Nothing is ever deleted for going over. If you reach your limit, new uploads pause and we let you know. Archive an old tenancy, add 50 GB, or move up a plan.
- Old tenancies don’t count. Ended tenancies stay readable for five years, as the law expects, and they don’t use your storage.
Questions owners ask
Why is there a free plan, and what’s the catch?
Most private owners have one rental. We want Porchlight to be the normal way to run it, so your first home is free with every feature. Paid plans are for owners with more homes or more media, and they keep the lights on here.
Is Porchlight a letting agent?
No. We don’t find tenants, manage your property or collect your rent. Porchlight is the tool you and your tenant use to run the tenancy yourselves.
Does my tenant pay anything?
Never. Tenants are free on every plan, and you can add every person on the lease.
Where is my information stored?
On encrypted servers in South Africa. Owners and tenants only see their own tenancy, and every action is recorded in an audit log, in line with POPIA.
What happens if I stop paying for a plan?
You drop back to Pilot Light. Nothing is deleted: you keep reading everything, and you choose which home stays active.
Can I bring an existing lease?
Yes. Upload the signed lease and fill in the key dates. Porchlight builds the rent schedule and reminders from there.
How do I pay for a plan?
By card or debit order through a registered South African payment provider. We never see or store your card number.