Choosing between liv.rent and rentboard.ca for an Alberta rental search or listing usually comes down to one question: how much verification does the platform actually build in, versus how much is left to the renter and landlord to sort out on their own? This liv.rent vs rentboard.ca comparison lays out how each platform screens tenants, verifies listings, prices its plans and handles Calgary and Edmonton rentals, so you can pick the one that fits.
What is rentboard.ca?
rentboard.ca launched online in July 1998 out of Red Deer, Alberta, according to its own about page, though its current terms of use identify the operator as Landlord Web Solutions Inc., doing business as Rentboard Canada, with a listed address in St. Catharines, Ontario. The platform lists apartments, condos and houses for rent across Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, and it positions itself primarily as a low-cost, high-reach listing board for landlords to fill a vacancy, with optional paid add-ons for identity verification and tenant screening.
Coverage in Alberta
rentboard.ca lists Alberta rentals in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, and Fort McMurray, based on the cities named on its own homepage. Property managers who control more than 100 units are directed away from the standard self-serve tool: rentboard.ca’s managers page states that “all sales for enterprise level landlords with greater than 100 units in their portfolio are procured by Rentsync.com,” a separate rental technology company.
How rentboard.ca prices listings
rentboard.ca combines an account subscription structure with pay-per-day advertising. Its terms of use state that a Property Holder account with three or fewer active listings can stay on a limited free subscription, but an account with more than three active listings must upgrade to a paid subscription, and a portfolio of more than 100 units requires a separate enterprise-level subscription. On top of that account tier, rentboard.ca also charges a pay-per-day fee to publish an individual listing, “as low as $0.90 per day,” according to its own managers page, with unused credit carrying forward to future postings. The platform additionally sells credit-check credits and lease-signing credits, each valid for 12 months from purchase per its terms of use, so some tenant-screening and e-signing capability does exist, though rentboard.ca does not publish a flat monthly price for either add-on the way liv.rent does.
What is liv.rent?
liv.rent is a rental platform built around identity verification on both sides of a lease: landlords verify their identity and documents to list a property, and renters can build a Trust Score that summarizes their reliability as a tenant. liv.rent publishes monthly rent reports for Metro Vancouver, Ontario, Alberta (Calgary and Edmonton), Montreal, and Winnipeg, and renter-side use of the platform, including browsing and applying, is free.
Verification and the Trust Score
The Trust Score is a 0 to 100 rating that combines credit history from Equifax (55 points), an algorithmic risk check that cross-references a renter’s submitted information against LinkedIn, photo ID and references (20 points), liv.rent’s own verification of ID documents plus income and employment (20 points), and income-to-rent ratio (5 points), according to liv.rent’s Trust Score explainer. Scores fall into four tiers: excellent (90 to 100), very good (75 to 89), average (60 to 74) and poor (0 to 59), and landlords can pull a report for $16.99 on a pay-per-use basis outside a paid plan.
Landlord tools and pricing
liv.rent’s Essentials plan is free and includes unlimited listings, standard digital contracts and one user seat, with screening and marketing sold separately on a pay-per-use basis. The Growth plan costs $48 a month billed annually (or $56 a month billed monthly) and includes two Trust Score reports with credit checks a month, two multi-platform ad pushes, and up to three users; the Business plan costs $399 a month billed annually (or $490 a month billed monthly) and includes 15 screening reports a month, six ad pushes, and up to 10 users. See liv.rent’s landlord resources for the full breakdown.
How do liv.rent and rentboard.ca compare at a glance?
liv.rent builds verification and screening into every plan, including the free tier, while rentboard.ca operates primarily as a listing board with limited screening and verification add-ons. The table below lines up the two platforms on the points that matter most to an Alberta renter or landlord choosing between them.
| Category | liv.rent | rentboard.ca |
| Tenant and listing verification | ID verification, Equifax-based Trust Score, and income and employment checks | Optional “verified” label for property holders after an identity check; does not confirm listing accuracy |
| Landlord pricing | Free Essentials tier; Growth $48/mo billed annually; Business $399/mo billed annually | Free subscription for up to three listings; paid subscription required beyond three listings or 100+ units, plus pay-per-day advertising from $0.90/day |
| Renter cost | Free to browse and apply | Free to browse |
| Alberta cities covered | Calgary and Edmonton, with a monthly rent report for each | Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, and Fort McMurray |
| Digital lease signing | Yes, with lawyer-vetted addenda | A signing tool may be available via purchased lease-signing credits (12-month validity) |
How does tenant screening and verification compare?
liv.rent screens tenants through the Trust Score and verifies landlord identity and listing documents before a unit goes live, while rentboard.ca’s screening and verification tools are optional add-ons rather than built into every listing. rentboard.ca’s own fraud and scams page states plainly that the platform “does not and cannot verify the authenticity or legitimacy of any renter, landlord or property advertised.”
What liv.rent verifies
liv.rent gives landlords an ID-verified badge once their identity and documents check out, and it verifies listings at different levels: a listing confirmed only through SMS may still display a “Not Verified” warning to renters, while full ownership verification requires official documents or a mailed verification code before that warning clears, aimed at cutting down on fake-listing scams. Renters get a one-click “Renter Resume” built from their verified profile, and both sides sign leases digitally with lawyer-vetted addenda through the platform. liv.rent’s guide on how to screen tenants walks landlords through using these tools before accepting an applicant.
What rentboard.ca leaves to the landlord and renter
rentboard.ca describes itself as “a forum in which potential renters can search listings” that “does not lease apartments or collect payments,” according to its fraud and scams page. Its terms of use separately offer property holders an optional “verified” label after an identity-verification process, but that label confirms the property holder’s identity rather than the accuracy of any specific listing, so inspecting a unit and confirming details in person is still largely left to the renter. Its own advice to renters is to view a property in person before sending money, deal with local landlords rather than ones overseas, and avoid wire transfers to strangers, which are reasonable habits but are not enforced by the platform itself.
Which platform does more to prevent rental scams in Alberta?
liv.rent’s verification steps and Trust Score exist specifically to make rental fraud harder to pull off, while rentboard.ca pairs an optional property-holder verification badge with general safety tips, leaving most checks to renters and landlords themselves. Rental scams remain a live problem in Alberta: the Edmonton Police Service’s rental scams advisory warns renters to confirm ownership before paying a deposit, and Calgary Police Service has issued similar warnings about fraudulent listings that reuse real addresses.
Neither platform can stop every scam, since fraud can originate off-platform through Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji ads that simply link to a rentboard.ca or liv.rent listing. But liv.rent’s manual listing verification and ID-verified badges give a renter something concrete to check before sending a deposit, where rentboard.ca gives only general advice plus an optional identity badge. Anyone who suspects a rental scam in Alberta can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre as well as local police.
What should Alberta renters and landlords know about rent increases either way?
Neither liv.rent nor rentboard.ca sets or caps rent, and Alberta itself has no rent cap: a landlord can raise rent by any amount, as long as they follow the notice rules in the Residential Tenancies Act. For a monthly periodic tenancy, a landlord must give at least three tenancy months’ written notice, and rent cannot go up again until 365 days have passed since the tenancy began or the last increase, whichever is later, according to Service Alberta’s guidance on rent increases.
This is general information, not legal advice, and the rule applies the same way whether a landlord found their tenant through liv.rent, rentboard.ca or a personal referral. liv.rent’s own explainer on Alberta’s rent increase limit covers the notice requirements in more depth, including what happens during a fixed-term lease.
liv.rent vs rentboard.ca: which should you choose?
Consider rentboard.ca if your priority is its listing exposure and pay-per-day advertising model and you are comfortable vetting a landlord or tenant yourself. Pick liv.rent if verification, screening and a documented Trust Score matter more than saving a few dollars a day, especially for a landlord renting out a property while living elsewhere or a renter who wants proof a listing and its landlord are real before handing over a deposit.
Renters can browse and apply on liv.rent at no cost, and liv.rent’s user guide for renters walks through setting up a profile and Trust Score before the search starts. For landlords weighing the two platforms side by side, the deciding factor is usually whether tenant screening is worth building into the monthly cost or worth paying for separately every time.
Is rentboard.ca a legitimate rental site?
Yes. rentboard.ca launched in Red Deer, Alberta in 1998, and its current terms of use identify Landlord Web Solutions Inc., doing business as Rentboard Canada, as the operator, listed at an address in St. Catharines, Ontario. It is a real listing marketplace, not a scam; it offers property holders an optional identity-verification label, per its terms of use, though it does not confirm that a specific listing itself is genuine, according to its fraud and scams page.
Does rentboard.ca screen tenants or verify listings?
Only partially. rentboard.ca’s fraud and scams page states it “does not and cannot verify the authenticity or legitimacy of any renter, landlord or property advertised,” but its terms of use separately offer an optional “verified” label for property holders after an identity check, plus purchasable credit-check and lease-signing credits. None of that guarantees a specific listing is accurate, so renters should still confirm details themselves.
Is liv.rent free for Alberta renters?
Yes. Browsing listings, applying to a rental and building a Trust Score all cost renters nothing on the platform. Landlords pay for liv.rent through free and paid tiers, including a $16.99 pay-per-use option to pull a single Trust Score report outside a subscription.
How much does liv.rent cost for Alberta landlords?
liv.rent’s Essentials plan is free with unlimited listings. The Growth plan costs $48 a month billed annually (or $56 a month billed monthly) and adds two Trust Score reports a month, while the Business plan costs $399 a month billed annually (or $490 a month billed monthly) with 15 reports a month.
Can a landlord in Alberta raise rent by any amount?
Yes, Alberta has no cap on how much a landlord can raise rent. They must give at least three tenancy months’ written notice for a monthly tenancy, and rent cannot go up again until 365 days have passed since the tenancy began or the last increase, per the Residential Tenancies Act.
Which site has more listings in Calgary and Edmonton?
rentboard.ca has been active longer and lists across more cities nationally, so its raw Alberta listing count may be higher at any given moment. liv.rent focuses on Calgary and Edmonton specifically, pairing listings with a monthly rent report and identity verification that rentboard.ca does not offer.
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