A Rentor account is free and takes about a minute to create. Every new account starts as a member — the sign-up form asks what brings you here, and you can set yourself up as a landlord, host or service provider as you join (or skip the question and just browse).

Create your account

1. Open Rentor and tap "Get started" (or "Sign in", then "Create an account").
2. Under "What brings you here?", pick one: "Find a home", "Book a stay", "I own or manage property", "I host stays", "I offer services" or "Just browsing". It only decides where you land — you can add or change roles any time.
3. Fill in:

• Full name
• Email address (optional: you can sign up with just your phone, see below)
• Phone (M-Pesa) — the number you'll use for payments
• Password — at least 8 characters with a letter and a number

1. Optionally, tap "+ Add National ID now (optional — speeds up applications later)" and enter your ID number. It's encrypted and speeds up verification when you take on a role. You can also add it later.
2. Tap "Create account". If you picked a role, the button names it — "Create landlord account", for example.

Where you land

• Find a home or Just browsing — your own home page: a place search, your saved searches, and the places you looked at recently.
• Book a stay — straight into stays search.
• I own or manage property, I host stays or I offer services — your landlord, host or provider tools are set up the moment the account exists. Identity verification comes later, when you actually start. The same happens if you arrived through a "List your property" or "Offer services" link.
• No pick at all — a short "What brings you here?" page: browse homes and stays, connect a tenancy you already rent, or set yourself up as a landlord, agency, service provider or host.

Starting an agency? Use "For agencies" in the footer, or pick the agency card on the "What brings you here?" page — you'll name your agency right after the account is created.

Skipping is fine. The same page stays one click away — "Choose a role" on your home page, or "Become a landlord or partner" in the account menu on any public page — and roles can be managed any time from Profile. See Your account and roles.

On the phone app: sign-up asks for the same details — name, email, phone and password, plus an optional referral code — and then shows "What brings you to Rentor?": "I'm looking for a place", or set up a role — "I have a place to rent out", "I want to run short stays", "I offer a service" or "I manage property for others". "Not now — just let me look around" skips it; the same choices stay under More → Do more on Rentor.

One phone number, one account

A phone number can sit on only one Rentor account, because password-reset links and security codes are texted to it. If sign-up tells you the number is already on another Rentor account, sign in to that account or use "Forgot password?" — or use a different number.

One case looks similar but isn't a refusal: if your landlord already keeps a rent record on your number, Rentor texts that number a code and shows a "Code from SMS" box. Enter the code to prove the phone is yours and carry on. The record your landlord keeps (your unit, rent ledger and receipts) joins your new account the moment it is created, and your landlord is told. If it was not you they recorded, they have seven days to detach it; you keep your account and your number either way. See Adding a home you already rent.

Sign up with just your phone

No email address? Leave it out. Fill in your name, phone number and password and tap "Create account": Rentor texts a 6-digit code to the number, and entering it finishes the sign-up. From then on your phone number is your account. You sign in with it, password-reset codes and security codes are texted to it, and if you ever set a new password or close the account, a texted code stands in for the email you don't have. You can add an email address later from Profile.

Two things still need an email: an invitation that was sent to one (agency staff, caretaker and creator invites are accepted with the address they went to), and a Rentor staff account.

Sign up with Google

Tap "Continue with Google" instead of filling the form. Your name and email come from Google — you only add your phone number — and no password is needed. You can add one later from your account if you ever want to sign in with email too. If you already have a Rentor account on that email, Google simply signs you in.

On the phone app: the sign-in screen offers "Continue with Google" too, and on an iPhone "Sign in with Apple" beside it.

Joining from an invite

Some accounts start from an invite link:

• Tenant invite — your landlord invites you to your new home. The page shows the unit, rent and start date; your email is locked to the invited address. Tap "Accept invite & create account" and you're assigned to your home right away.
• Caretaker invite — a landlord or agency invites you to look after their buildings. You'll record meter readings and report maintenance; you'll never handle money.
• Agency staff invite — your agency invites you to their team with your own login.

If an invite link has expired or was already used, ask the sender for a fresh one — you can still create a normal account in the meantime.

Verify your email

When you sign up, Rentor emails you a verification code. A "Verify your email" banner appears with a box to enter the code — and a resend option if it didn't arrive (check your spam folder too).

• Verifying unlocks: booking viewings, posting and messaging, and other outreach actions.
• Never blocked: browsing listings and stays, and paying rent — you can always pay, verified or not.

Sign in with your email, phone or username

The sign-in page has one box for who you are. Type whichever you like:

• your email address;
• your phone number, in any spelling: 0712 345 678, +254712345678 and 254712345678 all find the same account;
• your username, with or without the @.

Then your password (or use "Continue with Google") and tap "Sign in". If you've turned on two-factor authentication, you'll also enter a 6-digit code from your authenticator app, or a code sent to your email (to your phone, if the account has no email); a backup code works too. See Account security.

A phone number or a username only ever finds the account that currently holds it. A closed account on the same number never answers for you.

Text me a code

Forgot the password, or just don't want to type it? Tap "Text me a code" on the sign-in page, enter your phone number, and Rentor texts a 6-digit code to it. Enter the code and you're in. The code lasts 10 minutes and works once; tapping again inside two minutes sends nothing new (the first code is still in your messages), and a number gets at most six codes an hour.

Codes only go to an account whose phone number has been proven with a code before (at sign-up, or under Phone in your settings). The page gives the same answer whether or not the number has an account, so nobody can use it to find out who is on Rentor.

Forgot your password? By SMS too

1. On the sign-in page, tap "Forgot password?".
2. Enter your email, phone number or username, and send it.
3. If you gave an email (or a username on an account that has one), a reset link goes to that email. Open it: it works once and expires in 30 minutes.
4. If you gave a phone number, or a username on an account with no email, Rentor texts a 6-digit code to the number on the account instead. Enter the code where the page asks for it. The code lasts 10 minutes and works once; ask for another if it has expired.
5. Choose a new password (at least 8 characters with a letter and a number) and tap "Set new password".

A code only goes to a number that has been proven before, and never while the number is under a dispute. For safety, all your devices are signed out when the password changes; just sign in again with the new one.

Choose a username

A username is optional. It gives you a shorter way to sign in and a friendlier link to your public profile than the code Rentor assigns. Set it under Profile: 3 to 20 characters, letters, digits, underscore and dot, no dot at the start or end and no two in a row, no product or role words (admin, rentor, support, landlord and the like), and not only digits. The box checks as you type whether the name is free.

You can change it once every 30 days. A name you give up is held for 90 days so nobody can take it over to look like you, though you can take your own old name back at any time. Once you have one, your public profile answers at /p/your-username as well as at its usual address.