If you run a recovery house or a court-connected sober living residence, the right software should feel like a second set of hands — tracking beds, rent, drug screens, passes, maintenance, and the hundred small things that fall through the cracks on a busy week. The wrong one just adds another login you dread.
The marketing all sounds the same, so we cut through it. Below is a straight comparison of the five platforms recovery house operators most often weigh in 2026 — including our own, Recovery House HQ. We'll tell you where each one shines and where it doesn't, so you can pick the one that fits your house.
What actually matters when you choose
Before the head-to-head, here's the short list of what separates good recovery house software from a headache. Judge every option — including ours — against these five things:
1. Built for housing, not clinical treatment. A sober living house is a housing operation, not a treatment clinic. Software built around EHRs, insurance billing, and clinical charting can bury a house manager in fields they'll never use.
2. Ready for your standards. If you're GARR- or NARR-affiliated, the software should make certification and inspections easier — grievances, consents, testing logs, training records, court dates — not harder.
3. Everything in one place. Beds, rent, drug tests, passes, maintenance, and reports in one system — not five spreadsheets and a group text.
4. Honest, predictable pricing. You should be able to find the price without a sales call, and it shouldn't balloon per bed.
5. Support from people who actually know recovery housing. When something breaks on a Sunday, you want a human who's stood in that hallway.
The contenders at a glance
Recovery House HQ — our pick for most houses
Best for: independent recovery houses and court-connected residences that want everything in one modern system with a managed launch.
The newest platform of the group, and the most complete for day-to-day house operations. It covers residents, beds, rent and payments (card, ACH, cash e-receipts), drug screens, passes, and daily tasks — plus a full maintenance and vendor system most competitors don't offer, meeting & ride coordination, grievances, consents, training records, and court dates. What sets it apart: AI-assisted import, resident and house health scoring, and an Owner Command Center. The $129/month flat rate includes setup and staff training, a $250 value, with no per-resident charge. Explore Recovery House HQ recovery house software.
Sobriety Hub — Missouri
Best for: small houses that want something simple and cheap.
A clean, easy, purpose-built tool for sober living, publicly priced (around $65+/month) and used by 1,000+ residences. It handles residents, payments, drug tests, and chores well, with a free resident app and month-to-month, no-per-bed pricing. Its strength is simplicity; the trade-off is depth — you won't find a real maintenance system, health scoring, or an owner-level command center.
One Step — California
Best for: established operators already in its ecosystem.
One of the older, larger players, used by 2,000+ organizations, with intake, drug-test and medication tracking, GPS monitoring, meeting tracking, and payments. Capable and proven. The downsides in 2026: pricing is quote-only (you call to find out), and the experience feels more dated than the newer tools.
Sober Living App (Behave Health) — California
Best for: operators who want deep billing and 50-state licensing coverage.
A heavier, compliance-and-billing–focused platform ($99–399/month) with strong insurance billing, deep NARR and multi-state licensing support, and telehealth. If you lean clinical or bill insurance, it scales. For a straightforward housing operation, much of that is horsepower you'll pay for and never use.
Anchor Living — newcomer
Best for: houses that want ACH rent and alumni/credit-building features.
A newer entrant ($199–399/month) with ACH rent collection, NARR automation, an alumni network, and resident credit-building. Some genuinely nice ideas; the trade-off is the smallest track record of the group and a higher starting price.
Note: Behave Health's full clinical EHR (for licensed treatment centers) is left off this list on purpose — it's a medical-records system for a different kind of buyer than a sober living house.
Side-by-side comparison
Here's how the five stack up on the features that matter most to a working recovery house. (Based on each vendor's publicly listed features as of July 2026; where a rival doesn't publish a feature, it's marked unknown rather than assumed.)
| Feature | Recovery House HQ | Sobriety Hub | One Step | Sober Living App | Anchor Living |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose-built for housing (not clinical) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Billing-first | Yes |
| Residents, rent & payments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drug screens & passes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in maintenance & vendors | Yes | No | Limited | Limited | Unknown |
| AI-assisted data import | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Resident & house health scoring | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Owner Command Center | Yes | No | Reports | Reports | Reports |
| Meeting & ride coordination | Yes | No | Meetings | Meetings | Unknown |
| Court dates & supervision reports | Yes | No | Unknown | Compliance | Unknown |
| GARR / NARR documentation-ready | Yes | Basic | Basic | Deep | NARR |
| Resident mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transparent, published pricing | Yes | Yes | Quote only | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $129/mo flat† | ~$65+/mo | Quote | $99–399/mo | $199–399/mo |
| Home base | Georgia | Missouri | California | California | Out of state |
†One organization, up to 3 houses and 10 staff users, with unlimited resident records. Setup and staff training are included. Eligible Georgia recovery residences may apply to have the first-year software fee waived.
Recovery House HQ — the most complete fit for most recovery houses in 2026
If you also run licensed treatment and bill insurance, Sober Living App is the specialist. If you want the cheapest bare-bones option, Sobriety Hub is fine. But for the vast majority of recovery houses and court-connected residences — operators who want everything in one modern system, real visibility into how the house is doing, and support from someone who actually works in recovery — Recovery House HQ does more, out of the box, than anything else on this list. And if you're in Georgia, it's the only one built for your backyard.
The pricing reality
Sobriety Hub, Sober Living App, and Anchor Living publish pricing (roughly $65+/mo, $99–399/mo, and $199–399/mo respectively); One Step is quote-only. Recovery House HQ is $129/month flat for one organization, including up to 3 houses, 10 staff users, unlimited resident records, setup, and staff training. Eligible Georgia recovery residences can separately apply to have the first-year software fee waived.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best software for a small, independent sober living house?
For most independent houses in 2026, Recovery House HQ gives you the most in one place — residents, rent, drug screens, passes, maintenance, and health scoring — and eligible Georgia houses can request a separate one-year-free founding offer. If you truly want the simplest possible tool and price is the only factor, Sobriety Hub's public ~$65+/month is a reasonable pick.
Do I need clinical or EHR software for a recovery house?
Usually no. A sober living house is a housing operation, not a licensed clinical program, so a billing/EHR-heavy platform is more than most houses need. If you also run treatment and bill insurance, that's the exception where a platform like Sober Living App earns its keep.
What makes Recovery House HQ different?
Four things the others don't offer together: AI-assisted import so setup takes minutes, resident and house health scoring that flags trouble early, an Owner Command Center that shows the whole business at a glance, and a full maintenance/vendor system — all built in Georgia by a recovery professional. See the full alternatives breakdown →
How much does recovery house software cost in 2026?
It ranges from about $65/month (Sobriety Hub) to $99–399 (Sober Living App) and $199–399 (Anchor Living), with One Step quote-only. Recovery House HQ is $129/month flat, including setup and staff training, with no per-resident charge. Read the buyer's checklist →