Best Apartment Websites and Apps in Philadelphia (2026)

Disclosure: This guide is published by Apartment List. Three of the tools reviewed (Apartment List, Kaleno, and Sunny) are Apartment List products. We've included competitor platforms because a useful comparison requires them. Our recommendations reflect product differences, not paid placement.

The median Philadelphia apartment rents for $1,447 a month, according to the Apartment List Rent Index for August 2026. Whether you're moving here for a job or your lease is ending in a different neighborhood, the search starts with the same choice: how much of it you want to do yourself.

You can browse listings on your own, answer a few questions and let a site match you, or have an AI agent do the searching and tour booking. Philadelphia rentals include apartments carved out of rowhouses and small buildings run by individual landlords as well as large apartment communities, and the two show up on different sites. Renters here also compare buildings and landlords by name on Reddit, so search a building before you tour.

The sites and apps below each do one of those jobs well. Use the comparison to pick a starting point, then check a listing's availability, commute and written offer before you apply. Philadelphia caps application fees and regulates tenant screening, and Pennsylvania caps deposits; all three are covered after the rent figures.

The Short Answer: Best Apartment Websites and Apps in Philadelphia

For a Philadelphia search, start with Apartment List if you want your budget cap, commute and must-haves to guide the search. It's free.

Add Zillow for different types of rentals, including rowhouse units and owner-listed homes, or let Kaleno, Apartment List's AI agent, find apartments, contact the buildings and book tours for you. Check Sunny for cash back on apartments you're considering; each listing shows the amount.

For larger buildings in and around Center City, Rent Philly lists them building by building. Before you tour anywhere, search the building's name in r/philadelphia. For affordable and income-restricted housing, the city points renters to PAHousingSearch.com.

Philadelphia Apartment Websites and Apps Compared: Which Is Best for You?

Apartment List publishes this guide. Apartment List, Kaleno and Sunny are Apartment List products; the others are not.

Features and available apartments vary by market; platform information reviewed September 2026.

For a national comparison, see our guide to the best apartment search tools.

Which Philadelphia Apartment Site or App Should You Start With?

• For a shortlist based on your preferences: start with Apartment List.
• For different types of rental listings, including rowhouse units: browse Zillow.
• For an AI agent that finds apartments and books tours for you: try Kaleno.
• For cash back when you sign a lease: check Sunny.
• For larger professionally managed buildings: use Apartments.com.
• For a map search around the transit stops you'd use: use HotPads.
• For alerts that match your area and budget: use Zumper.
• For a building-by-building look at Center City and nearby neighborhoods: browse Rent Philly.
• For what tenants say about a specific building: search r/philadelphia.
• For affordable or income-restricted housing: search PAHousingSearch.com.

What Each Philadelphia Apartment Site and App Does Best

Best for Personalized Matching: Apartment List

Apartment List asks about your budget, move date, commute and preferred amenities, then shortlists apartments that fit. You can set a hard budget cap, filter on a map, and get alerts when a building you're watching drops its price or posts a rent special, on the website or in the app. The map covers the suburbs too, so compare an address in the city with one in Norristown or King of Prussia at the same rent.

Best for Different Types of Rentals: Zillow

Zillow carries apartments in managed buildings and owner-listed rowhouse units, condos and houses. Confirm a unit is still available before you go. Zillow's shared application costs $35 and covers applications and screening at participating rentals for 30 days, according to Zillow's help center; not every landlord accepts it, so ask first.

Best for an AI Agent: Kaleno

Kaleno is Apartment List's AI apartment-search agent. Describe what you want in plain English, including budget, commute and neighborhoods, and it finds matching apartments, contacts the leasing teams and books the tours. You review what it turns up and make the decisions.

Best for Cash Back: Sunny

Sunny is an Apartment List site that pays you cash back when you sign a lease on an eligible apartment and move in; each Philadelphia listing shows its amount. Payment comes through Venmo or a gift card after your move-in is confirmed and doesn't change the rent in your lease. Sunny also lists fees alongside rent. Read its eligibility rules before you contact a building; they cover how you first reach out and who's on the lease.

Best for Listings From Large Property Managers: Apartments.com

Apartments.com works with large property management companies, and its listings for their buildings carry floor plans and unit-level pricing. Paid ads appear first in its results, according to Apartments.com's help center, so scroll past them and use the filters, then confirm availability and charges with the property.

Best for a Map Search: HotPads

HotPads is part of Zillow Group and shows Zillow's listings on a map. Philadelphia's two subway lines are the L (the Market-Frankford Line, along Market Street out to Frankford and 69th Street) and the B (the Broad Street Line, under Broad Street), and Regional Rail reaches the suburbs. Draw your search area around the stops you'd use, then check the trip from a specific address to work at the time you'd travel.

Best for New-Listing Alerts: Zumper

Set Zumper alerts for rentals matching your area and budget. An alert gives you another way to spot a listing; confirm its price and availability with the property.

Best for Larger Buildings: Rent Philly

Rent Philly is a local portal that lists larger apartment and condo buildings one at a time, with a neighborhood filter that runs from Rittenhouse Square and Old City out to Fishtown and University City, plus a search of MLS rentals. Use it to see which buildings exist in a neighborhood, then confirm current pricing and availability with the building.

Best for Tenant Accounts: r/philadelphia

Renters compare Philadelphia buildings and landlords by name in r/philadelphia and r/Phillylist. Search a building's name or its management company before you tour and you may find accounts from current or former tenants. Reddit isn't a listing service and a thread is one person's experience, so weigh it alongside a tour and the address's L&I record of licenses, violations and permits, which the city publishes for every property.

Best for Affordable and Income-Restricted Housing: PAHousingSearch.com

The City of Philadelphia says there's no single place to search and apply for affordable rentals, and points renters to two free listing sites, PAHousingSearch.com and AffordableHousing.com, where you can filter by location, income and accessibility needs. Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers run separately through the Philadelphia Housing Authority; its voucher waiting list opens only when PHA announces it, so check PHA's website for current status and how to apply.

How to Search for a Philadelphia Apartment Across Several Sites

1. Build a shortlist. Set a budget, preferred locations and commute on Apartment List, or describe what you want to Kaleno and let it find apartments and book tours for you.
2. Compare locations across the region. Norristown, King of Prussia and West Chester in Pennsylvania, Camden across the river in New Jersey, and Wilmington in Delaware are separate cities with their own rents. Check each property's location and the trip to work at the time you'd travel. Pennsylvania's deposit rules, described below, apply statewide; Philadelphia's application-fee and screening rules apply inside city limits.
3. Cross-check listings. Browse Zillow or Apartments.com, search the building's name in r/philadelphia, and verify current rent and availability with each property.
4. Compare your top options on total cost. Note any cash back a shortlisted apartment carries on Sunny, then request a written breakdown of move-in costs and monthly charges from each property, including utilities and how any special is applied.
5. Use a specialist route if it fits. Search PAHousingSearch.com for affordable housing, or check PHA for public housing and vouchers.

What Rent Costs in Philadelphia Right Now

According to the Apartment List Rent Index, median rent in Philadelphia was $1,447 a month in August 2026. Rents rose 0.8% from August 2025 and 0.1% from July 2026. The national median in the same release was $1,390, down 0.8% from a year earlier, which puts Philadelphia $57 above it.

Source: Apartment List Rent Index, Philadelphia city, August 2026. Each median describes its own set of apartments.

At the August 2026 Apartment List citywide median of $1,447, a household paying that full monthly rent would need about $57,900 a year in gross income for rent to equal 30% of income. Against the $1,323 one-bedroom median from the same release, about $52,900. These rent-only calculations are illustrations, not income requirements for a particular listing. HUD's affordability measure also accounts for utilities. Put a specific apartment's asking rent into the Apartment List rent calculator, and see our Philadelphia cost of living guide for expenses beyond rent.

Three Things to Check on a Philadelphia Listing

Know the $50 cap on application fees. Under Philadelphia law, the only fee a landlord can charge you to apply is the actual cost of a background or credit check, up to $50, and it can charge that only once in any 12 months no matter how many of its properties you apply to. The credit check can't be a hard pull that affects your score, and you're entitled to a copy of any report it runs. Ask what the fee covers before you pay.

Ask for the screening criteria before you apply. Philadelphia's Renters' Access Act requires a landlord to give you its written screening criteria before taking your application or fee, and bars it from rejecting you solely for an eviction record or a credit score under a cutoff. If you're turned down, the landlord owes you written reasons within three business days, with copies of any reports it relied on. You then have 48 hours to say you want to dispute the information or ask for reconsideration, and seven business days to send your evidence.

Know Pennsylvania's deposit limits. Under state law, a landlord can't require more than two months' rent as a security deposit in the first year of a lease, or more than one month's rent after that. When you move out, the landlord has 30 days to send a written list of any damages and refund the rest, and a landlord who misses that deadline forfeits the right to keep any of it. Give your new address in writing when you leave; if you don't, the landlord isn't held to the 30-day rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the Best Website to Find Apartments in Philadelphia, PA?

Apartment List builds a shortlist from your budget, commute and other preferences. Cross-check Zillow for rowhouse units and owner-listed homes, and check Sunny for cash back on apartments you're considering. Before you tour, search the building's name in r/philadelphia.

What Are the Best Apps for Apartment Hunting in Philadelphia, PA?

Apartment List, Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper and HotPads all offer mobile apps with saved searches and alerts. Apartment List's app matches on your budget, commute and amenities and alerts you to price drops and rent specials on saved listings; Zumper's sends alerts as new listings post; HotPads' opens on a map. Confirm price and availability with the property before you tour.

How Much Can a Landlord Charge for a Rental Application in Philadelphia?

The actual cost of the background or credit check or $50, whichever is less, under Philadelphia law, and only once in 12 months across all of that landlord's properties. The landlord has to give you a copy of the report and can't run a hard-pull credit check.

What Is the Average Rent in Philadelphia, PA?

The Apartment List Rent Index reports a median rent of $1,447 per month for Philadelphia as of August 2026. Its one-bedroom median was $1,323 and its two-bedroom median was $1,530.

Is Philadelphia Rent Going Up or Down?

Up. According to the Apartment List Rent Index, Philadelphia's median rent was $1,447 a month in August 2026, up 0.8% from August 2025 and up 0.1% from July 2026. Since January, rents in the city have risen 4.7%. Over the same year the national median fell 0.8%.

What Income Do You Need to Rent an Apartment in Philadelphia?

Using the Apartment List Rent Index's $1,447 Philadelphia citywide median for August 2026, rent would equal 30% of about $57,900 in annual gross household income. Against the $1,323 one-bedroom median, about $52,900. Those are rent-only illustrations, not a property's qualification rule. Check the rent on the listing you want, any utilities you would pay, and the property's own screening criteria.

Is Apartment List Good for Finding Apartments in Philadelphia?

Apartment List can build a shortlist using your budget, commute and amenities, and its map lets you compare Philadelphia neighborhoods and suburbs. The service is free for renters.

What Is the Best AI Tool for Finding a Philadelphia Apartment?

Kaleno, Apartment List's AI apartment-search agent. Describe what you want in plain English and it finds apartments, contacts the leasing teams and books tours for you. Review what it finds alongside other options in your preferred areas.

How Much Notice Does a Philadelphia Landlord Have to Give Before Raising Rent?

Under Philadelphia law, a landlord has to tell you in writing about a rent increase at least 60 days before it takes effect on a lease of a year or more, and at least 30 days before on a shorter lease, including the amount, the effective date and your new payment. On a lease of a year or more, if you get that notice and decide not to renew, you owe the landlord written notice within 30 days. Your lease sets what the increase can be, so read its renewal terms before you sign.

How Do You Find Affordable Housing in Philadelphia?

The city says there's no single place to search for affordable rentals and points to two free listing sites, PAHousingSearch.com and AffordableHousing.com, where you can filter by income and location. Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers run through the Philadelphia Housing Authority; its voucher waiting list opens only when PHA announces it, so check PHA's website for current status.

Rent and rent-change figures: Apartment List Rent Index, Philadelphia city and national, August 2026. Philadelphia rental rules: rental application fees (Philadelphia Code § 9-814), the Renters' Access Act tenant screening guidelines (§ 9-810) and rent increase notice (§ 9-804). Pennsylvania rental rules: security deposit limits (68 P.S. § 250.511a) and return of deposits (§ 250.512). Platform fees and sort order: Zillow's help center and Apartments.com's help center. Cash back terms: Sunny. Housing resources: City of Philadelphia, PAHousingSearch.com, PHA and L&I property history. Transit line names: SEPTA Metro. Platform features reviewed September 2026; availability and eligibility vary by property.