The best strata software in Australia: a 2026 buyer's guide

"Best strata software in Australia" has no single answer, because the right tool depends entirely on who you are. A professional managing agent overseeing 200 buildings needs something very different from a volunteer committee running one. This guide explains the categories, the criteria that actually matter, and how to choose.

Start here: who is choosing?

Before comparing products, answer one question: are you a professional strata manager, or a small to medium size strata scheme committee? It changes everything. If your scheme uses a managing agent, the agent chooses (and operates) the software — your job is to make sure you still get transparency and access to your records. If you self-manage, you are the buyer, and you want something built for owners, not for an agency back office.

Why software matters more than it used to

NSW strata has moved decisively toward transparency and accountability. Recent reforms have tightened record-keeping (increasingly electronic), shortened the time to produce documents on request, required minutes to be circulated quickly, and pushed schemes toward a standardised 10-year capital works fund plan. On top of that, every scheme must report annually to the NSW Strata Hub. Running all of this on a spreadsheet and a shoebox is getting harder — and riskier — every year. Good software is becoming less of a luxury and more of a compliance tool.

Two very different categories of "strata software"

1. Professional strata management platforms

These are built for licensed managing agents running many schemes at once — trust accounting across hundreds of buildings, agency workflows, bulk processing, and back-office administration. They are powerful and comprehensive, but they are designed around the agency, are typically sold to agencies, and are usually overkill (and not directly available) for a single small to medium size strata scheme. Owners often get a limited "portal" bolted on, rather than genuine transparency.

2. Self-management and owner-facing tools

These are built for the committee that runs its own building. The priorities are different: clarity over complexity, transparency for every owner, compliance-grade records, and a price that makes sense for one scheme. This is the category a small to medium size NSW strata committee should be shopping in — and the category OneStrata is built for.

What to look for

Whichever category fits you, judge a product against criteria that actually matter for NSW strata:

• Purpose-built for your situation. Software designed for small to medium size strata schemes will fit a volunteer committee far better than an agency platform in miniature.
• Real transparency for owners. Can every owner see their own levy, itemised, and the building's finances — without having to ask? This is the single biggest driver of trust (and the biggest reducer of committee email).
• Compliance-grade records. Separate administrative and capital works fund accounting, an immutable audit trail, electronic document storage, and easy production of records on request.
• Reconciliation that ties out. The books should reconcile to the bank, with drift flagged automatically — not hoped to match at year's end.
• Levy management. Contributions by unit entitlement, itemised notices, and arrears tracking.
• Meetings and voting. Support for AGM notices, motions, voting and minutes.
• Ease of use. Volunteers are not accountants. The tool has to be usable by an ordinary owner in an evening.
• Sensible pricing. A model that suits a single scheme — ideally with owners included free — and no long lock-in.
• Australian and NSW-aware, hosted in Australia. Built around NSW concepts (unit entitlement, the two funds, the SSMA) with data kept onshore.

A buyer's checklist

Use this to score any product you are considering — including ours.

Where OneStrata fits — and where it doesn't

OneStrata is built for one job and built for it well: helping small to medium size NSW strata committees run their building transparently. It gives every owner a clear, itemised view of where their levies go; gives the committee fund accounting, reconciliation, levies, maintenance, documents, notices, AGMs and voting in one place; and records everything to an immutable audit trail. It is hosted in Australia, priced from $8 per lot per month with owners free, and there is a 7-day free trial with no card and no lock-in.

It is honestly not the right tool if you use a professional managing agent who runs everything for you, or if you are an agency looking to administer hundreds of schemes with a trust account — that is what the big management platforms are for. OneStrata deliberately does not handle your money and is not a licensed strata managing agent; it is the record-keeping and transparency layer for committees who run things themselves.

How to choose, in four steps

1. Decide your category — small-to-medium-scheme tool or agency platform. For most committees reading this, it is the former.
2. Score against the checklist above, weighting transparency, compliance-grade records and ease of use heavily.
3. Trial it with real data. Put a quarter of your own levies and a few maintenance items in and see if it actually fits how your building runs.
4. Check the exit. Make sure you can get your data out and there is no painful lock-in. Good software earns its place every month.

This guide is general information for NSW strata committees, not legal, financial or tax advice. Strata law changes — the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, its Regulation and recent amendments are the authoritative source, alongside NSW Fair Trading (nsw.gov.au). Always confirm current requirements for your scheme, and seek professional advice on anything significant. OneStrata is record-keeping and management software for small to medium size strata schemes; it is not a licensed strata managing agent and never holds your funds.

Frequently asked questions