SoShiny vs. RunHOA — $399 buys you a checkbox. SoShiny buys you a community.
Aggressive flat pricing, free website builder, 30-day no-CC trial, IRS 1120H tax form generation, simple 16-module feature list. Where they win, we'll say so. If your community is a condo, marina, campground, mobile home park, or co-op — RunHOA literally doesn't serve you. If your annual election needs more than a checkbox, or you have 25%+ renters, or you need searchable bylaws — SoShiny.
| RunHOA | SoShiny | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Sub-50-door self-managed HOAs where the deciding question is price. | Volunteer boards across condo, HOA, marina, campground, co-op, mobile home park |
| Pricing | $399/year flat, unlimited units | $50/mo base + $0.50/unit — every feature, no tier-gating |
| Free trial | 30 days | 30 days, no credit card |
When RunHOA is the right choice
If you run an HOA under 30 doors, only need basic dues + a community website, and price is the only factor — RunHOA wins.
Sub-50-door HOAs where the only question is price. We won't race them to the bottom — and we shouldn't. If your treasurer needs auto-generated 1120H tax forms and that's the deciding factor, pick RunHOA today and switch when you outgrow it.
When SoShiny is the right choice
If your community is a condo, marina, campground, mobile home park, or co-op — RunHOA literally doesn't serve you. If your annual election needs more than a checkbox, or you have 25%+ renters, or you need searchable bylaws — SoShiny.
Anywhere price isn't the only factor. Condos. Marinas. Campgrounds. Co-ops. Any HOA where the annual election actually matters. Any community with renters. Any board that's tired of opening a separate app for every workflow.
| Capability | RunHOA | SoShiny | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $399/year flat, unlimited units | $50/mo base + $0.50/unit — lower entry, every feature included | — Tie |
| Free trial | 30 days, no credit card | 30 days, no credit card | — Tie |
| Voting / E-voting | Basic ballots | Hero feature — depth, weighting, proxies, audit trail | ✓ Us |
| Searchable rules / bylaws | Document storage only | Full-text searchable with CC&R citations | ✓ Us |
| Forms + e-signature | Customizable forms | Forms + unlimited custom-PDF signing built in | ✓ Us |
| Tax forms (IRS 1120H) | Yes — auto-generate | On roadmap | ✗ Them |
| Website builder | Free bundled | Full association website built in, custom domain $99/yr | — Tie |
| Marina / dockominium | No | Native vertical | ✓ Us |
| Campground / RV park | No | Native vertical | ✓ Us |
| Co-op / shareholder voting | No | Native — weighted shareholder votes | ✓ Us |
| Renter / tenant workflow | Minimal | First-class — e-sign before keys | ✓ Us |
| Vertical positioning | Generic HOA only | Condo · HOA · Marina · Campground · Co-op · Mobile Home | ✓ Us |
What it looks like to switch from RunHOA
We've talked to dozens of boards that started on RunHOA and outgrew it within 18 months. The pattern: they added vertical-specific needs (a marina annex, a converted-to-condo building, an aging board that needed real voting), and RunHOA had no answer. Migration takes a weekend — we import your member list, your documents, and your past votes.
Frequently asked
- Is SoShiny more expensive than RunHOA?
- RunHOA is $399/year flat. SoShiny is $50/month base + $0.50/unit. For a 50-unit community, SoShiny is about $65/month or $780/year. The honest answer: yes, SoShiny costs more. The honest follow-up: SoShiny includes verticals (marina, campground, co-op) RunHOA doesn't serve, voting depth RunHOA doesn't have, and a renter workflow RunHOA barely acknowledges. If price is the only factor, pick RunHOA. If price is one of several factors, evaluate both.
- Does SoShiny generate IRS 1120H tax forms like RunHOA?
- Not yet — it's on the roadmap. RunHOA wins this comparison row today. If auto-generating 1120H is the deciding factor for your treasurer, pick RunHOA for now and switch when SoShiny ships it. We won't pretend otherwise.
- Can I migrate from RunHOA to SoShiny?
- Yes — typically a weekend project. We import your member list, your documents, your past votes, and your dues history. Most boards we've talked to started on RunHOA and outgrew it within 18 months — usually when they added a vertical-specific need RunHOA couldn't handle.
- Why does SoShiny serve marinas, campgrounds, and co-ops when RunHOA doesn't?
- RunHOA built a flat-priced generic HOA tool. SoShiny built a governance platform with vertical-specific workflows from day one — slip ownership for marinas, lot ownership for campgrounds, shareholder voting for co-ops. The verticals aren't add-ons; they're core. RunHOA's flat-pricing model makes that kind of depth economically impossible for them.
- Does SoShiny include a website builder like RunHOA's free one?
- Yes — SoShiny includes a full public community website out of the box, plus an optional custom domain add-on for $99/year (yourcondo.com instead of soshiny.com/yourcondo). The website isn't a separate product — it's the public face of your SoShiny account.
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