# Obligo vs Rhino for Property Managers > Obligo vs Rhino for a 300-door manager on AppFolio: a payment method on file against deposit insurance, and only one names your PMS. Canonical: https://webpossible.com/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/obligo-vs-rhino/ Source: https://webpossible.com/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/obligo-vs-rhino/ Format: Markdown version for AI agents. The canonical HTML page is at the source URL above. Last verified: 2026-11-05 --- Property Management Software · Security Deposit Alternatives # Obligo vs Rhino for Property Managers By Ryan York · published 2026-10-04 · last verified 2026-11-05 ## Short answer - **Different instruments.** Obligo draws on a billing authorization backed by bank letters of credit. Rhino, now sold as Greenlight Rent, sells deposit insurance. - **Only one names AppFolio.** Obligo's partner page lists AppFolio and Buildium. Greenlight's current pages say it integrates with your PMS but name no system. - **The resident repays either way.** Obligo's resident repays Obligo, and Greenlight's renter reimburses an approved claim. The difference is the limit and the claims step. Obligo and Rhino, fact by fact, from the shared vendor database. Each fact links to its source and shows the date it was checked. | Fact | Obligo | Rhino | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Deposit-free leasing built on a payment method on file (bill authorization, not insurance): renters choose no deposit, reduced deposit or installments, with electronic move-out refunds; used in over 1 million homes. [source](https://www.obligo.com/) | Rhino's deposit platform, now sold as Greenlight Rent: Rhino and Jetty describe themselves as one company with one name. Greenlight Deposit is an insurance-based security deposit alternative, sold alongside Greenlight Guarantee (guarantor replacement), Greenlight Bridge (job-loss rent cover) and cash deposit management; 3M rental units, used by 47 of the top 100 owners and operators. [source](https://www.greenlightrent.com/about) | | Pricing model | Renter-paid non-refundable fee, a percentage of the deposit requirement set by the renter's profile, typically paid upfront for up to 12 months; renters repay move-out charges to Obligo [source](https://www.obligo.com/faq) | Resident-paid premium in place of a cash deposit, priced per renter (monthly plans not available to every renter); no cost to the partner property; renters stay responsible for excessive damage or unpaid rent; figures not published [source](https://www.greenlightrent.com/partners) | | PMS integrations | [Yardi](/property-management-software/integrations/yardi/), [RealPage](/property-management-software/integrations/realpage/), [Entrata](/property-management-software/integrations/entrata/), [AppFolio](/property-management-software/integrations/appfolio/), [Buildium](/property-management-software/integrations/buildium/), [MRI Software](/property-management-software/integrations/mri/) [source](https://www.obligo.com/for-software-partners) | Not published | | Segments | Institutional Multifamily, Small Multifamily, Single-Family Rental | Institutional Multifamily | | Also known as | – | Rhino Labs, Rhino deposit insurance, Greenlight, Greenlight Rent | | Website | [obligo.com](https://www.obligo.com/) | [greenlightrent.com](https://www.greenlightrent.com/) | | Profile | [Obligo review](/vendors/obligo/) | [Rhino review](/vendors/rhino/) | Obligo and Rhino both let a resident move in without a full cash deposit, and they do it with different instruments. Obligo keeps a payment method on file and insures nothing. Rhino, which now sells as Greenlight Rent, sells deposit insurance. A buyer usually puts it this way: for a property manager with 300 doors on AppFolio, which one fits? The PMS and the instrument do most of the deciding, and this page walks through both from the vendors’ own pages. ## How does Obligo work? [Obligo](/vendors/obligo/) calls its product deposit-free leasing. The resident authorizes charges on a payment method, and its [FAQ](https://www.obligo.com/faq) says bank letters of credit from Wells Fargo back the program. Obligo says it is neither insurance nor a surety bond. There is no claim to file at move-out. Once you close the move-out record, Obligo starts an ACH payment for damage or missed rent, up to the deposit amount. The resident then repays Obligo in a lump sum or interest-free installments. Renters choose no deposit, a reduced deposit, installments, or a full deposit that earns up to 2 percent interest. Obligo says it is used in over a million homes. ## How does Rhino work now? [Rhino](/vendors/rhino/) merged with Jetty in February 2025, and its products now sell as Greenlight Rent. The deposit product, Greenlight Deposit, is insurance placed by Rhino’s agency with carriers its site does not name. Greenlight cites 3 million rental units and 47 of the top 100 owners and operators. The renter pays a premium in place of the deposit, monthly or once, priced per renter. If there is a loss, the renter must reimburse Greenlight for the approved claim. Greenlight advertises a four-day claims process and lets a landlord set a coverage limit above the cash deposit. The Second Nature blog files Rhino under non-pooled surety bonds, while Greenlight calls its product insurance. Rhino’s merger partner Jetty sells the company’s surety bond, and [the two products side by side](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/jetty-vs-rhino/) shows how they differ. Ask Greenlight which document your residents would sign. ## Which one works with AppFolio? Obligo names it. Its [software-partner page](https://www.obligo.com/for-software-partners) lists Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, AppFolio, Buildium and MRI. Rent Manager, which an earlier version of our record listed, is not on it. Greenlight’s current pages say it integrates directly into your PMS without naming a system. Older Rhino posts named Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, Rent Manager and MRI, but they date from 2021, so our record leaves the list empty. For a 300-door AppFolio shop, that means Obligo’s integration is on paper and Greenlight’s has to be shown. Ask Greenlight for a reference customer on AppFolio at a similar size. The [AppFolio integrations page](/property-management-software/integrations/appfolio/) lists the vendors in every category that name AppFolio, and the [Buildium integrations page](/property-management-software/integrations/buildium/) does the same. ## How are they priced? Both are paid by the renter, and both say the property pays nothing. Neither publishes a dollar figure for the resident. Obligo’s fee is non-refundable and set as a percentage of the deposit, based on the renter’s profile, usually paid up front for the lease term. Greenlight’s premium is priced per renter, and it says monthly plans are not available to every renter. Peter Lohmann, a property manager who writes about the category, notes that a premium is non-refundable and does not count toward losses the resident later owes. Lay the resident’s total cost over an average tenancy beside the deposit you would have collected. ## Who carries the risk? The resident does, in both cases, and the instrument decides how. Under Obligo, Obligo advances the charge to you and the resident repays Obligo. Charges stop at the deposit amount, so damage above it is collected the way it would be with cash. Under Greenlight, the carrier pays your approved claim up to the limit you chose, and the renter reimburses Greenlight. The limit can exceed the deposit. The questions are which carrier is named and whether it is admitted in your state. ## What should you ask in the demo? 1. **When damage exceeds the deposit, then what?** Ask Obligo how you collect above its cap. Ask Greenlight what limit you can set and how claims are reviewed. 2. **What do my owners hear?** Lohmann’s moral hazard question is the one an owner will raise: with no cash at stake, why return the unit in good condition? Write down both answers. 3. **Who stands behind the payment?** Ask Obligo about its letter of credit banks. Ask Greenlight to name the carrier and its rating in your states. 4. **Who qualifies?** Ask each for its decline rule and what happens to applicants who do not qualify. 5. **What does the resident sign?** Ask for the addendum and which state deposit protections the resident gives up. 6. **Show it in AppFolio.** Ask both to show enrollment and a move-out charge or claim landing on the resident ledger without a manual step. ## Which fits you? Obligo fits a manager who wants residents to keep responsibility for their own damage and wants to keep collecting cash deposits from some residents. It also needs you on one of the six systems it names. The thing to test is collection above the deposit amount. Greenlight fits an operator who wants an insurer to pay the claim, wants a limit above the deposit, and may also buy the guarantor and job-loss products the company sells. The things to test are the carrier and the integration, because its pages name neither. For a 300-door AppFolio manager, Obligo’s pages answer the question and Greenlight’s leave gaps to close in the demo. For a large Yardi operator the choice is closer and turns on the instrument. The [Obligo alternatives page](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/obligo-alternatives/) and the [Rhino alternatives page](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/rhino-alternatives/) group the rest of the category by mechanism. If you are choosing between two insurance products instead, read [Rhino against LeaseLock](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/rhino-vs-leaselock/). The [category vendor list](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/vendors/) shows every record in one table, and the profiles for [Obligo](/vendors/obligo/) and [Rhino](/vendors/rhino/) carry the dated sources. Vendors in this category who want to know how AI answers describe them can see [what our AI visibility work for proptech vendors covers](/ai-visibility-for-proptech-companies/). ## How often do AI answers put Obligo and Rhino side by side? In the October 2026 edition, ChatGPT and Claude gave 50 answers to the Security Deposit Alternatives questions, and 35 of them named both Obligo and Rhino. When both were named, Obligo came first in 14 and Rhino in 21. Obligo and Rhino in the Security Deposit Alternatives answers, October 2026 edition, one run per prompt on each engine. | Answers that | ChatGPT | Claude | All | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | named Obligo | 22 of 25 | 20 of 25 | 42 of 50 | | named Rhino | 17 of 25 | 23 of 25 | 40 of 50 | | named both | 16 of 25 | 19 of 25 | 35 of 50 | | put Obligo first | 6 | 8 | 14 | | put Rhino first | 10 | 11 | 21 | ### What the answers say about the pair > “If Rhino can’t demonstrate the workflow and Obligo’s fees and charge process check out, I’d pick Obligo.” > > ChatGPT, answering sda-cmp-02 “Obligo vs Rhino for a property manager with 300 doors on AppFolio: which deposit alternative is the better fit?” > “Short answer: For 300 doors on AppFolio, Obligo is probably the better fit, mainly because it is built into AppFolio's own product.” > > Claude, answering sda-cmp-02 “Obligo vs Rhino for a property manager with 300 doors on AppFolio: which deposit alternative is the better fit?” > “Rhino (now Greenlight) is still viable, so verify its integration and claims handling before you choose.” > > Claude, answering sda-cmp-02 “Obligo vs Rhino for a property manager with 300 doors on AppFolio: which deposit alternative is the better fit?” The answers that named both cited 241 sources: 104 vendor websites, 71 other sites, 56 roundup articles, 7 trade publications and 3 forums. These counts come from one run per prompt on each engine, so one answer moves them, and they update with each edition. Quotes are verbatim sentences from the recorded answers, picked by rule rather than by hand. Each vendor's prompts and sources are on its Index row: [Obligo](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/obligo/) and [Rhino](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/rhino/). All Security Deposit Alternatives rows: [Security Deposit Alternatives in the AI Shortlist Index](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/). ## Where do Obligo and Rhino rank in AI answers? Security Deposit Alternatives, October 2026 edition: 50 runs, one run per prompt on each engine. Mention rate is the share of runs that named the vendor, leaving out prompts that name it in their own text; rank is among all 18 vendors in the category's ranking. These figures update each edition. | Vendor | Mention rate | Rank | Prompts naming it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Obligo](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/obligo/) | 83% | 1 | 21 | | [Rhino](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/rhino/) | 77% | 2 | 20 | The prompts that named each vendor, and the sources behind them, are on its row. Full table: [Security Deposit Alternatives in the AI Shortlist Index](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/). ## What do these vendors leave off their own pages? - [Rhino](/vendors/rhino/#claim): no published property management system integrations Vendors can fill these in by claiming their profile; claimed details appear as a labeled vendor-supplied section next to the sourced facts. ## Which vendors do AI answers name most in this category? In the October 2026 edition, across 50 recorded runs, the engines named Obligo (83%), Rhino (77%) and Jetty (73%). The live ranking, source map and every vendor row: [Security Deposit Alternatives in the AI Shortlist Index](/ai-shortlist-index/security-deposit-alternatives/). ## Questions about Obligo vs Rhino ### Is Obligo or Rhino better for an AppFolio portfolio? On the vendors' own pages, Obligo. It names AppFolio and Buildium as integrations; Greenlight, the name Rhino now sells under, names no system. Ask Greenlight for an AppFolio reference customer before you decide. ### Is Rhino still called Rhino? Rhino's products now sell as Greenlight Rent, and sayrhino.com forwards to greenlightrent.com. Rhino merged with Jetty in February 2025, and Greenlight's About page calls them one company with one name. ### Does either one cost the property anything? Both say no. Obligo says it comes at no cost to the property, and Greenlight says there is no cost to partners because its revenue comes from what renters buy. ### What happens if damage exceeds the deposit? Obligo can charge only up to the deposit amount it replaced, so the rest is the resident's debt to you. Greenlight lets a landlord choose a coverage limit higher than the cash deposit. Part of [/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/](/property-management-software/security-deposit-alternatives/). Last verified 2026-11-05