Is PandaGuarantee Cheaper than TheGuarantors? | PandaGuarantee Blog
November 10, 2026
Is PandaGuarantee Cheaper than TheGuarantors?
Free to landlords. Fill units faster with great tenants. PandaGuarantee and PandaDeposit reduce what your applicant needs at signing by thousands of dollars in savings.
Is PandaGuarantee Cheaper Than Other Rent Guarantor Services?
PandaGuarantee is a rent guarantor: an insurance product, issued as a surety bond, that guarantees a tenant’s lease at no cost to the landlord. Renters typically pay a one-time fee of about 65% of one month’s rent, compared with about 80% at legacy rent guarantor services.
For owners, that matters at signing. When you pair PandaGuarantee with PandaDeposit, an applicant for a $3,500 apartment needs about $2,800 less cash to sign. Fewer approved applicants back out, and your units spend fewer days empty.
Why your applicant’s fee matters to you
You’ve approved the applicant and sent the lease, and then the applicant goes quiet. They often have the income. What they don’t have is $9,800 in cash this week for rent, the deposit and the guarantor fee.
This happens most with recent grads, people relocating for work, and international renters waiting on a wire. These are applicants you wanted.
Every day a $3,500 unit sits empty costs you about $117. A week of vacancy costs you $817. Whatever the applicant has to pay at signing affects how quickly you fill the unit.
How much less your applicants pay
On a $3,500 one-bedroom:
Legacy guarantor at 80%: $2,800
PandaGuarantee at 65%: $2,275
Your applicant saves $525. On a $5,000 unit, they save $750.
The savings carry into the next lease. Renters who renew their PandaGuarantee get 15% off, which gives your good tenants one more reason to stay.
PandaDeposit lowers what your applicant pays at signing
The security deposit is the second-largest check at signing, and in New York it is often as much as a full month’s rent. PandaDeposit replaces that cash with a one-time fee that is a fraction of the deposit. The fee offers coverage for the whole tenancy, including renewals.
You receive a deposit bond for the full lease term. At move-out, you file a claim with the same documents you’d use to deduct from a cash deposit.
What your applicant needs at signing
Here’s what the same $3,500 apartment costs the applicant at signing:
Legacy guarantor plus cash deposit: $9,800
PandaGuarantee plus PandaDeposit: about $7,000 (first month’s rent, plus about one month of rent in combined guarantee and deposit fees)
With PandaGuarantee and PandaDeposit, your applicant saves $2,800 in move-in costs at signing. This is a big difference and can make increase leasing velocity.
Why is PandaGuarantee cheaper?
Precise risk pricing and lean, AI-assisted operations let PandaGuarantee charge your applicants less.
Precise risk measurement. Many guarantors price on a few broad inputs, such as income-to-rent ratio and a credit score cutoff, and charge everyone in the same bucket the same fee. An applicant with steady income and a short U.S. credit history ends up paying for risk they don’t carry. PandaGuarantee looks closer and prices each applicant on what their finances actually show.
Real financial data. Bank data is verified directly via our partnership with Plaid, so underwriting reads actual cash flow instead of a stated salary. Roommates are underwritten together on one combined credit score. Applicants can also add a personal guarantor to their application, which lowers their premium without that person signing the lease. Every premium comes from one regulated pricing model, applied the same way to every applicant.
A lean, AI-first operation. PandaGuarantee built its underwriting platform around AI from the start. Software handles the routine checks, and underwriters spend their time on the files that need a human. That keeps the cost of each application low, and the savings go into the renter’s premium.
The platform is also fast. From January through October 2026, 42.4% of applicants were approved within 10 seconds and 85.7% within minutes. The underwriting team reviewed the rest by hand the same day.
For you, that means a lower fee for your applicant and a decision before they move on to the next listing.
What you get
With PandaGuarantee:
Coverage that can include unpaid rent for the full lease term
4 months of holdover coverage if a tenant stays past the lease end
Claims paid in 3 business days, with a defined claim trigger
Underwriting on every applicant, which gives you a second check on top of your own screening
With PandaDeposit:
A deposit bond for the full lease term
Claims filed with the same documents you’d use for a deposit deduction
Both products are free to you. The renter pays, and the bonds are emailed to you.
Rent guarantor vs. personal guarantor
A parent who co-signs costs your applicant nothing. For you, it can cost a lot.
A personal guarantor in NYC usually needs to earn about 80x the monthly rent, or $280,000 a year for a $3,500 apartment. Even when a family qualifies, collecting their tax returns and bank statements slows the lease down.
If the tenant defaults, what you hold is a signed promise. Collecting on it means suing someone who may live in another state. Hemlane estimates that legal fees for a simple New York nonpayment case run $3,000 to $7,000. Lost rent during a long case can reach $15,000 to $40,000.
With PandaGuarantee, you file a claim online and get paid in 3 business days.
Already accept another guarantor?
Keep it. Many owners accept more than one rent guarantor and let the renter choose. Adding PandaGuarantee and PandaDeposit gives your applicants a lower-cost option without changing how you lease.
Registering a building takes a few minutes, and PandaGuarantee integrates with Rent Manager.
What to ask before adding a guarantor to your list
How many business days does a claim take to pay, and what triggers it?
How many months of holdover are covered?
Is there a deposit alternative under the same account?
With both products, how much does your applicant pay at signing?
How long does setup take, and does it work with your property management software?
FAQ
How much does a rent guarantor cost in NYC? Renters typically pay a one-time fee of about 60% to 110% of one month’s rent. PandaGuarantee typically charges about 65%. It’s free to landlords.
Why is PandaGuarantee cheaper than other rent guarantors? It prices each applicant on a fuller view of their risk, including verified bank data and combined roommate credit. Its pricing formula is filed with state insurance regulators and applies the same way to every applicant.
How much less does my applicant need at signing with PandaGuarantee and PandaDeposit? On a $3,500 apartment, about $2,800 less than with a legacy guarantor and a cash deposit.
Do I need to change my leasing process to offer PandaDeposit? No. You invite applicants from your dashboard or send them your invite link. They apply and pay, and the bond is emailed to you.
Does PandaDeposit change what I can claim at move-out? No. You file a claim with the same documents you’d use to deduct from a cash deposit.
Who pays for PandaGuarantee? The renter. PandaGuarantee and PandaDeposit are free to landlords and property managers.
Is PandaGuarantee insurance? Yes. It’s an insurance product, issued to the landlord as a lease surety bond.
How fast does PandaGuarantee pay claims? In 3 business days.
Can I accept PandaGuarantee alongside another guarantor? Yes. Many owners accept more than one and let the renter choose.
