Independent living software, compared
What a small independent living operator can run the houses on.
There are four real options. Here is how each one handles the bed, the rent, the referral and the price. And who each one is right for.
By Joseph Surgeon, founder of Royalty Group Homes, who runs independent living homes in Oceanside.
Independent living software is a system for running homes where residents rent a bed and live on their own. It tracks which beds are full, what each resident owes, and who refers new residents. It does not chart care the way an electronic health record does.
Most of these homes do not need a state care license. California’s housing department says many, if not most, group homes do not require one. Its health care department does not license sober living homes that provide no treatment. A home that gives 24-hour non-medical care and supervision is licensed, for example as an adult residential facility.
A small operator usually weighs four kinds of tool. The table compares them on the six things that cost money or sleep in a small house.
| Question | A spreadsheet | A clinical EHR | A demo-and-quote platform | Royalty Group Homes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built around | Whatever you typed. | The patient chart. | The facility and the individuals served. | The bed: what it earns, what it costs, who is in it. |
| How you start | Open a file. | Demo, quote, contract, implementation. | Book a demo first. | Sign in with a work email; the workspace exists. |
| Price | Free. | Quoted, often per individual. | Quoted, or a base price plus add-ons. | One house free. $99/mo for 2–3, $199/mo for 4+. |
| An empty bed | A row that says open. | A field on a chart. | Varies. | Priced at its monthly rate on the first screen you open. |
| Rent and corrections | Overwrite a cell; the history is gone. | Built to bill payers, not residents. | Varies. | Ledger by resident and month; a correction keeps the original visible. |
| Open-bed list for case managers | Emailed, and stale by next week. | Usually somewhere else. | Varies. | Date-stamped public board; beds drop off unless reconfirmed in two weeks. |
| Right for | One house where it has never cost you a bed. | Licensed clinical facilities that document care. | Larger organizations with a buying process. | Operators of 1 to about 10 homes. |
What does each option cost for three houses?
Say you run three houses with 18 beds between them. A spreadsheet costs nothing to buy. What it costs is the empty bed nobody priced and the payment nobody can place.
A clinical EHR and most demo-first platforms quote a price after a call. Many charge per resident or per bed, so the bill grows as you fill the houses.
Royalty Group Homes is $99 a month for two or three houses, whatever the bed count. Paid yearly it is $1,089, one month free. A fourth house moves you to $199 a month, with no house limit after that.
The first house is free, with every feature and no end date. Paid plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
How long does it take to start?
A spreadsheet starts the moment you open it. That is its real strength.
A clinical EHR or a demo-first platform starts with a demo, then a quote, a contract and an implementation project, before the first resident is in it.
Here, signing in with a work email creates the workspace. One house goes in over an afternoon. Several houses are loaded with you on a call, the same week you pay.
Which option is right for you?
- One house, and the sheet has never cost you a bed or a payment: keep the spreadsheet.
- A licensed clinical facility where care must be documented: you need a clinical EHR.
- A large organization with a buying committee and many sites: a demo-first platform fits how you buy.
- One to about ten independent living, sober living or shared houses: this is what Royalty Group Homes is built for.
What should you ask before you pick one?
Whatever you choose, ask the same five questions. Each one maps to a way a small house loses money.
- Does an empty bed show as money, or only as a status? Here it shows at its monthly rate.
- Can a wrong payment be fixed without erasing the original? Here a correction is signed, and the original stays visible.
- Does the price go up as you fill beds? Here it depends only on how many houses you run.
- Can a case manager see your open beds without calling? Here they are on a public board, dated, and they drop off unless reconfirmed.
- Can you take everything with you? Here the ledger exports to CSV in every billing state, including after a failed payment.
What will Royalty Group Homes not do?
It does not chart care, track medications or bill insurance. It is not your accounting system: the ledger exports to CSV for your bookkeeper.
It does not score or rank applicants. Who you house stays your decision. There is no spreadsheet import yet; a house is entered by hand or loaded with you on a call.
Where are the detailed comparisons?
- Royalty Group Homes vs a spreadsheet: the empty bed, the payment entered twice, the vacancy list three weeks stale.
- Royalty Group Homes vs a clinical EHR: why a small independent living home needs operations software. And when the EHR is the right call.
- The public board of open independent living beds: what a case manager sees when your beds are listed.
- What shipped recently, by date: every change, so you can see the product is maintained.
Sources
- Electronic Health Records, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. What an electronic health record is and what it holds.
- Group Home Technical Advisory (2022), page 33, California Department of Housing and Community Development. Many, if not most, group homes do not require a state license.
- Licensing and Certification: Sober Living/Transitional Housing, California Department of Health Care Services. Sober living homes that provide no treatment do not need a DHCS license.
- Adult Facility Types Licensed by CDSS, California Department of Social Services. Which homes need a state care license, such as an adult residential facility.
- Spreadsheet Errors: What We Know. What We Think We Can Do, Raymond R. Panko, University of Hawaii. Fifteen years of studies found spreadsheet errors common and non-trivial.
One house is free with every feature, no card and no end date. If it is not the right fit for what you run, tell us and we will say what is.