So Buildium makes money off of normal subscription payments like any SaaS business does by charging a monthly fee to property management companies for access to their software. They also make money by taking a small percentage of rent payments that are processed online via the platform. These are rent payments that tenants pay to their property management company, not Buildium itself. Said another way, the tenant has no obligation to pay Buildium whatsoever—but with rent payment being regular and recurring, Buildium captured predictable revenue by capturing these payment processing fees.

I think that’s the point. Recurring but not subscription. It’s a minor difference in this scenario since you probably know with great confidence a % will recur.

It’s just a weird wording distinction that made it a weak counter example of subscription revenue. Like if you pointed out that no American consumer has any obligation to shop at Walmart next month. But we know most will.

I believe Buildium's subscribers are the landlords, but, for a fee, they have a portal that renters can use. There is no subscription, but as the author acknowledges, these rent payments were considered as regular and recurring by some investors.

You got it!

Rent is a recurring payment, but it sounds like Buildium only made a cut when these payments occurred online. I assume renters sometimes pay the property manager directly in cash.

Correct.