If you've been apartment hunting recently and don't fit neatly into a landlord's income formula, you've probably run into at least one of these companies. Maybe your leasing agent mentioned them. Maybe you Googled "how to rent without a guarantor" at 11pm and ended up in a rabbit hole on Reddit. According to user reviews and information directly from the company’s websites, here are the most important thing to know upfront: PandaGuarantee, TheGuarantors, Rhino and Insurent all help you get approved for an apartment you might not otherwise qualify for.
PandaGuarantee
PandaGuarantee acts is an institutional guarantor, meaning it steps in where a parent, relative, or friend would normally have to co-sign. You pay a premium fee, PandaGuarantee policy backs your lease, and your landlord gets an insurance-backed guarantee instead of an individual's personal promise.
PandaGuarantee price tends to be lower than Insurent or TheGuarantors. Underwriting is personalized, so no two applicants pay exactly the same, but the savings can be meaningful, often more than 10% cheaper. When you're already paying close to a month's rent for the insurance policy just to get approved, that savings adds up!
The application is super fast. Most applicants get a pre-approval decision in minutes, not days. There's no paperwork chase or waiting around—you apply, you hear back, you move forward. Manual review is occasionally required, but that's the exception.
PandaGuarantee’s insurance backing is genuinely strong: their carrier partner is Crum & Forster, an A+ rated company by AM Best and one of the more established names in American insurance and they’re over 200 years old. That's a higher rating than what backs competitors in this space, which matters to landlords who actually look into these things.
And if something goes wrong or you have questions, you're not stuck in a support ticket queue. The founding team is reachable: the CEO, Tom DeRose, is active on Reddit and he’s known to handle customer issues directly by email and phone. For a regulated insurance product in a stressful situation, that kind of customer service and access is rare.
Based on this, PandaGuarantee is likely the best Insurent alternative NYC. PandaGuarantee is accepted by most landlords in New York City that accept guarantor insurance, so if you're renting in the five boroughs, apply for a quick and easy pre-approval letter here: pandaguarantee.com
TheGuarantors
TheGuarantors is the biggest name in this space by most measures, with over $2 billion in policies since 2015, operating in 40+ states, well-funded, and increasingly integrated into how large multifamily operators run their leasing programs. But big doesn’t always mean better.
The thing is, if you're a renter, TheGuarantors probably isn't thinking about you the same way PandaGuarantee or Insurent is. The product is fundamentally designed around the operator's balance sheet: reducing bad debt, improving NOI, accelerating lease-up velocity. Renters get access to apartments they might not otherwise qualify for, which is real and genuinely useful, but the underwriting, the technology, the sales motion, all of it is pointed at property management companies, not individual renters trying to figure out their options.
That's not a criticism, it's just useful context. If your building uses TheGuarantors already, you'll probably be funneled through their application as part of the leasing process and it'll work fine. Pricing ranges from 40% to 130% of one month's rent depending on your risk profile, paid upfront. On the high end, that's not cheap. But if you're a conditional applicant at a building that requires it, you don't have much choice, and the coverage does what it says it does. But it’s worth shopping around. In a head to head, PandaGuarantee vs. TheGuarantors, you could save money by getting a quote from both and comparing. Since they’re both backed by regulated, institutional insurers, go with the one that saves you money!
Before you commit to a guarantor service fee, it’s worth reading our detailed TheGuarantors reviews blog to understand common renter complaints, pricing expectations, and situations where another provider may be a better fit.
Insurent
Insurent has been doing this longer than anyone else in the U.S., and they make sure you know it. They call themselves the "first and leading" institutional lease guarantor, accepted at over 775,000 apartments across 8,000+ buildings. Their guarantee is backed by Argonaut Insurance Company, rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. For landlords who've never heard of any of these companies, that institutional credibility moves the needle.
For renters, Insurent works well if you're creditworthy but your income doesn't meet the landlord's threshold, the classic scenario for students, recent graduates, retirees living on assets, and international renters without a U.S. credit history. Applications are quick, pre-qualification typically takes under 30 minutes, and you can have a guaranty in hand within 24 hours.
The downsides are real, though. Insurent only operates in 10 states plus D.C.—mostly the Northeast, plus a few major coastal markets. Outside of that footprint, they're not an option. And the fees are steep: U.S. applicants generally pay 70%–110% of one month's rent, and international applicants without U.S. credit history can pay 98%–110%. For a $3,500/month apartment in New York, that's $3,400–$3,850 as a one-time fee just to get approved. It's worth it for a lot of people. But it's worth knowing going in. In a head to head comparison, PandaGuarantee vs. Insurent, you could save money by getting a quote from both of them and comparing. Many renters report saving money with PandaGuarantee.
Rhino
Rhino is different from the other three in a fundamental way: it doesn't help you get approved. If a landlord has turned down your application, Rhino doesn't change that. What it does is replace the security deposit once you're already in.
Worth knowing, though: some renters have found that even if they leave an apartment in good condition, claims disputes can be frustrating and it's worth reading reviews before signing up, like you would for any insurance product. In a head to head comparison, PandaGuarantee vs. Rhino, you could save money by getting a quote from both of them and comparing.
The actual differences
Insurent is well-established and widely accepted across New York and a handful of other major markets.
TheGuarantors works seamlessly for renters applying through large professionally managed buildings.
Rhino is a straightforward way to skip the upfront security deposit once you've already been approved. But for renters in New York who need a guarantor,
🐼 PandaGuarantee was built for the NYC market and is likely faster, cheaper, and with a great reputation among New York landlords to back it up.