Built for your community, not your manager’s portfolio.
TownSq is a serious community-experience platform tied closely to the professional management world. Management companies deploy it widely, including some of the largest in the country. If your community is professionally managed, it may simply come with the package. Self-managed communities face a different situation. No management company brings the software. Lantern fills that gap.
Side by side
Capability differences only. Where TownSq is the better tool, we say so below.
| TownSq (management-aligned platform) | Lantern | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical route in | Commonly arrives via a professional management company | A resident or board member starts it directly, free |
| Designed around | Communities within a management relationship, at portfolio scale | Individual communities running themselves |
| Requires a board decision to try | Typically a management or association decision. Check their current plans | No. One resident can set up a community-run space today |
| Amenity booking, events, communication | Community-experience features are part of its pitch | Core features, free to start |
| Fit when you have no manager | Built with the management workflow in mind | Built exactly for this case |
| Association functions (dues, documents, passes) | Offered within its ecosystem. Check their current plans | Unlock when a verified board officially adopts |
| Switching away from a manager | Leaving the manager can mean revisiting the software | Independent of any management relationship |
When TownSq is genuinely the better fit
Maybe your association is professionally managed, and your management company offers TownSq as part of its service. Then using it is often the path of least resistance. It fits how your manager already works. The manager administers it. The community gets a full-featured app without running anything. At large, professionally managed scale, that model is exactly its design.
Our honest pitch is narrower. Communities without a management company, or communities that want their platform to stay theirs no matter who manages them. For current TownSq features and pricing, check their site. We do not speak for their product.
What residents actually see
No manager in the loop. Just the community’s own calendar, board, and amenities.
How to switch without a fight
Nobody has to announce a migration. Start with the part that hurts.
Check what actually comes with your management
If you are professionally managed, ask your manager what platform they provide and what it includes. It may already be paid for.
If you are self-managed, just start
No procurement and no manager needed. Set up the schedule, calendar, and board this week, free.
Let the board make it official when ready
A verified board officer claims the space, and the association functions unlock. The platform stays the community’s either way.
Common questions
We are leaving our management company. What happens to the manager-provided app?
Ask the manager and check your contract. Access, data, and cost after termination depend on the arrangement. It is one item on the transition checklist in our guide to leaving a management company. A platform the community holds directly avoids this problem. That is much of our pitch to self-managed boards.
Can a self-managed HOA buy TownSq directly?
We genuinely do not know their current go-to-market, and it may change. Check their current plans. Here is what we can say. Starting with Lantern needs no purchase, no manager, and no board vote.
Is Lantern trying to replace our management company?
No. Lantern is software, not management. Plenty of well-managed communities have both a manager and community software. Self-managed communities just should not need a manager to get the software.
What does it cost?
Starting is free, with no per-door fee to begin. We do not quote TownSq’s pricing. Check their current plans. Official adoption of Lantern by the association is a conversation with the board.
What do residents actually get?
Amenity booking with real rules. An events calendar with RSVPs that mean something. A neighbor marketplace and directory. Notices that arrive by push and email. That is the daily-use layer. Association functions like documents and dues unlock when the board officially adopts.
Is this comparison fair to TownSq?
We have kept to what is broadly known. It is a capable platform strongly tied to professional management. We avoid claims about specific current features or prices. Verify those on their site. The real difference is who the product assumes is in the room. They assume a manager. We do not.
Start with one thing
Tell us what your neighborhood is using now and what is not working. We will help you set up the piece that matters most, free.
- Help setting up your first schedule, calendar, or board
- A shareable link and printable QR code
- Keep your existing group for conversation
- No cost and no board approval needed
Where communities usually start
Pick the problem your neighborhood feels most.