A practical comparison
This page is published by homwarden, so read it with that in mind. We have tried to describe every app the way its own users would, including where another app is the better fit.
iPhone · iOS 17 or later · United States · Free
Four ways homeowners actually manage a house today, and the situation each one suits. Price and platform are the two facts that narrow the field fastest.
homwarden builds a maintenance schedule from your home, keeps appliance records and paperwork in one place, and includes its AI features at no cost. There is no subscription and no paid tier. It is iPhone only for now, which is its main limit.
HomeZada has been around for years and covers home inventory, projects, and home finances, including home value tracking. Its free plan covers inventory and documents. The maintenance schedule sits in the Premium plan at $99 a year, and it runs on web, iPhone, and Android.
Centriq shut down on January 31, 2026 and directed its users to Homer. While it was active it focused on appliance manuals, parts, and recall notices, so it is no longer an option to choose.
Plenty of homeowners run their house from the Notes app and a few phone reminders. It costs nothing and starts in a minute. It also goes stale fast: nothing reads an equipment label, nothing warns you before a warranty lapses, and the record is only as good as your last update.
Decide what job you are hiring the app to do. If the job is remembering maintenance and keeping the paperwork, pick the app that builds the schedule for you and keeps documents attached to the right appliance. If the job is tracking your home as a financial asset, HomeZada's finance tools go deeper than homwarden does. Centriq covered appliance manuals and recall notices before it shut down on January 31, 2026, and it directed its users to Homer. Whatever you pick, set it up while you are motivated. An app with your real house in it beats a perfect app left empty.
Start with the schedule. The app should remind you when maintenance is due without you building the calendar yourself. Then check the record keeping: appliance details, receipts, and warranties should be searchable in seconds. Finally, read the pricing page closely, because the features you need most are often the ones in the paid tier.
For iPhone owners, homwarden is the free option that includes the full job: maintenance scheduling, appliance records, document storage, warranty tracking, and AI help, with no subscription. HomeZada offers a free plan too, although its maintenance features require the paid Premium plan.
One home is exactly the case these apps are built for. A single house still has a furnace filter, a water heater, a roof warranty, and a drawer of receipts. The app earns its place the first time it answers a question you would otherwise dig through paper for.
HomeZada runs on Android as well as iPhone and the web. homwarden is available on iPhone only.
See the side-by-side in homwarden vs HomeZada, or check the free home management app page for what homwarden includes at no cost.