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Comparison · 10 min read

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?
Roofstock. It's the easiest path to ownership for a first-time investor — curated inventory, brokerage handles the transaction, PM partners are pre-vetted. Mashvisor and PropStream both assume you're going to find + close + operate yourself, which is more work.
Do any of these underwrite deals?
Not really. Roofstock provides listing pro-formas (marketing material — optimistic on vacancy and capex). Mashvisor gives neighborhood-level cap rate + Airbnb scores (directional, not deal-specific). PropStream gives you a lead and contact info, no analysis. For per-deal underwriting use TrueCap, DealCheck, or a spreadsheet.
Mashvisor vs Rentometer — what's the difference?
Rentometer is rent estimation only (comp-based, address-level). Mashvisor is broader market discovery — heatmaps, neighborhood scoring, Airbnb data, comparable sales. Use Rentometer when you need a tight rent estimate on a specific address; use Mashvisor when you're picking which market to invest in.
Is PropStream worth $99/month?
Depends on volume. If you send 1,000+ direct mail pieces a month or run an active wholesaling operation, yes — lists and skip-tracing pay for themselves quickly. If you buy 1-3 properties a year through MLS or your network, PropStream is overkill. For most TrueCap users (solo buy-and-hold investors), PropStream is too much tool.
How does TrueCap relate to these three?
TrueCap is downstream of all of them. They help you find deals; TrueCap helps you evaluate them. The recommended workflow: find a property (Roofstock listing / Mashvisor heatmap-driven MLS search / PropStream off-market lead) → underwrite in TrueCap → decide whether to make an offer.

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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.

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