Roofstock vs Mashvisor vs PropStream: 3-way deal discovery comparison
Roofstock sells turnkey rentals. Mashvisor scores neighborhoods. PropStream finds motivated sellers. Honest 3-way comparison plus where TrueCap fits after they each find you a property.
Published 2026-06-07
TL;DR
All three help you find rental property deals; none of them underwrite them. Roofstock is a marketplace selling curated turnkey single-family rentals (you bring the buyer, they bring the property). Mashvisor is market discovery — heatmaps, neighborhood Airbnb / LTR scores, comparable sales. PropStream is lead generation — skip-tracing, motivated-seller lists, pre-foreclosure data. Different ways to source. TrueCap isn't in this category — it's the underwriting calculator you'd use AFTER any of these finds you a property to decide if it actually cash flows.
The three in one sentence each
- Roofstock — turnkey SFR marketplace. Browse curated single-family rentals (often already tenanted), buy through Roofstock's brokerage, get matched with pre-vetted PM partners. Free to browse; 0.5% buyer marketplace fee at close (~$1-3k on a typical SFR).
- Mashvisor — market discovery + neighborhood scoring. Heatmaps for cap rate, cash-on-cash, and Airbnb potential by neighborhood. Comparable rental + sales data. Plans range from ~$70-$300/month (as of 2026) depending on data depth.
- PropStream — lead generation. Pull lists of motivated sellers (pre-foreclosure, probate, vacant, tax delinquent), skip-trace to find owner phone + email, run direct mail or cold call campaigns. ~$99/month (as of 2026).
How they differ — what each is actually good at
- Roofstock is the easiest path to owning a rental property if you don't want to find or operate it yourself. They handle inventory + brokerage + PM matching. Tradeoff: you're paying retail-plus (asking price + 0.5% buyer fee + the seller's margin since these are flipped or already cash-flowing properties).
- Mashvisor is great for the early "where should I invest?" phase. The heatmaps quickly answer questions like "which Phoenix zip codes have the best Airbnb cash flow?" or "is Memphis or Cleveland better for cash flow?". Once you've picked a market, the per-deal data is less differentiated.
- PropStream is the heavyweight for off-market deal sourcing. If you send direct mail or run cold-call campaigns, PropStream's lists + skip-tracing are the standard. Most wholesalers and serious off-market buy-and-hold investors run on PropStream.
Pricing comparison
- Roofstock — free to browse the marketplace. 0.5% buyer marketplace fee charged at close (typically $1-3k on an SFR). No monthly subscription.
- Mashvisor — ~$70-300/month depending on plan. The cheaper plans have rate limits and limited geographic coverage; the higher plans unlock full Airbnb data + commercial data.
- PropStream — ~$99/month for the standard plan. Add-ons for skip tracing, list pull volume, and team seats can push it to $150+/mo. No real free tier (trial only).
If you're buying one or two properties a year through Roofstock, the 0.5% fee is the cheapest of the three. If you're actively sourcing 5-10+ deals a year off-market, PropStream pays for itself in one closed deal. Mashvisor's subscription pays off if you're market-shopping across regions; if you're a hometown investor, it's often overkill.
Which combo to use?
- Just Roofstock — for passive out-of-state SFR investors who want curated inventory + done-for-you PM matching. Simplest path to ownership.
- Mashvisor + your MLS access — for investors who want to pick the right market first, then source on-market deals through a local agent.
- PropStream + your closing team — for active off-market buyers / wholesalers / fix-and-flippers. You source the deal, negotiate, close with a title company.
- Mashvisor + Roofstock — Mashvisor picks the markets, Roofstock has the inventory in those markets. Common combo for first-time out-of-state SFR investors.
Where TrueCap fits — after the deal is found
None of the three calculates whether a specific property actually cash flows under your assumptions. They surface deals; you still have to underwrite them.
That's the TrueCap job: paste the address, get HUD rent / FRED rate / state property tax pre-filled, override anything you have better data on, run cap rate / CoC / DSCR / cash flow, sensitize the inputs, decide.
Roofstock's listing pro-formas are marketing material — they assume optimistic vacancy + light capex. Mashvisor's neighborhood scores are directional, not deal-specific. PropStream gives you a lead, not an analysis. TrueCap turns any of those inputs into a decision.
Honest quick decision
- "I want to own a rental without managing the sourcing or operations." Roofstock + a property management partner.
- "I want to figure out which city / neighborhood to invest in." Mashvisor (then go local).
- "I want to find off-market deals + send direct mail." PropStream.
- "I have a deal in hand and want to know if it pencils." TrueCap (free).
FAQ
Roofstock, Mashvisor, or PropStream — which one for a beginner?
Do any of these underwrite deals?
Mashvisor vs Rentometer — what's the difference?
Is PropStream worth $99/month?
How does TrueCap relate to these three?
Try TrueCap free
However you source deals — turnkey marketplace, market heatmap, or off-market list — run them through TrueCap before you offer. 60 seconds, free, no signup. The deal you didn't buy because the numbers didn't work is the trade that made you money.
Weekly investor digest
Market notes + 3 deals a week. Unsubscribe anytime.