Aptly Overview

This guide is designed to help new Aptly users quickly understand what each part of the platform does and how they fit together. By the end of this article, you should be able to:

If you’re looking for step-by-step setup instructions, see our deeper guides linked throughout this article.

🎥 Prefer a visual walkthrough? Watch our 5-minute Aptly Product Tour to see these sections in action.

Aptly is built around workflows, not just data. Most work happens on Boards, supported by Contacts, Locations, Templates, and Automations.

Think of it like this:

The Dashboard gives you a real-time snapshot of what needs attention.

You’ll typically see:

When to use it

Pro tip: If something feels “missing,” it’s often because it there is no due date associated to the task. Any task created in Aptly should always contain a due date if you want to track it against your open projects.

The Inbox is where messages and communications appear when they are connected to a workflow.

Inbox is not where work lives - it’s where communication happens about work.

You can use Inbox to:

Important to know

Best practice

Use Inbox to communicate, then move or link that conversation to the appropriate card so it becomes actionable.

You can learn more about inbox capabilities here.

Locations act as Aptly’s central database and are where the majority of integrated data is imported. For most customers, 90% of workflows begin from a Location, making this one of the most important areas of the platform.

Locations include structured records for:

Because Locations are synced from your property management software, they serve as the foundation for downstream workflows like showings, applications, maintenance, renewals, and access management.

Why this is important

Starting work from a Location ensures:

Learn more about which property management software we sync with and how to connect your data here.

Boards are the core of Aptly. Each board represents a workflow (for example: Renter Leads, Move-Ins, Renewals, Workorders).

On a board, you’ll see:

Common actions

If you’re ever unsure where to do something — start with the Board.

Learn more about Aptly boards here.

A card is where all information and activity for one item lives.

Inside a card you’ll find:

Why this matters:

Instead of searching emails, spreadsheets, or other tools, everything related to that item lives in one place.

Learn more about Aptly cards here.

The Calendar section shows your synced schedules—either personal or shared.

To view a calendar, click the “+” icon and select which one to display.

You can also view team member calendars, which show blocked-off time periods (but keep event details private). This makes coordination easy without compromising privacy.

Learn more about Aptly Calendar here.

Contacts represent people, such as:

Contacts can be linked to multiple boards and cards, so updates stay consistent everywhere.

Use Contacts when

Learn more about Aptly’s contact directory here.

The Communication Template Library is a centralized collection of reusable templates that can be used across all workflows in Aptly, not tied to any single board or process.

In this section, you’ll find templates for:

Templates can be used anywhere communication or documentation is triggered, including automations, manual sends, and workflows that span multiple boards.

Templates are organized into folders, which can be:

This structure helps ensure consistent messaging, branding, and documentation across your entire organization.

Learn more about how to create and manage your templates in Aptly here.

Aptly Sign is Aptly’s centralized eSignature hub, available with Premium subscriptions, and is best used for compiling property management agreements (PMAs), lease agreements, and lease renewals.

From here, you can:

Once a document is signed, it is automatically attached to the associated lease or portfolio, ensuring records stay organized and easy to access.

Aptly Sign enables a streamlined, end-to-end signing workflow without needing to jump to external tools like DocuSign or HelloSign.

Learn more about Aptly sign here.

Knowledge is where you document how work should be done in Aptly. It’s used to store SOPs, FAQs, training materials, and process documentation, ensuring your team follows the same guidelines and structure across workflows.

Similar to tools like Notion, Knowledge allows you to clearly document your business processes and capture the context behind your workflows. This is especially valuable for onboarding new team members and reducing tribal knowledge.

Knowledge also supports a deep, AI-powered search experience. Team members can ask questions in natural language, similar to ChatGPT, and receive real-time answers sourced directly from your Knowledge documents, making it easy to find the right information without digging through pages.

Knowledge is also critical if you leverage Aptly AI. Well-structured Knowledge ensures AI Agents understand your terminology, processes, and best practices so they can respond accurately and act consistently on your behalf.

The Knowledge section is available on all Aptly subscription plans.

Here, you can:

Think of Knowledge as your internal wiki and operational playbook, keeping both your team and your AI aligned.

Learn more about Aptly Knowledge here.

AI Agents are virtual team members that help handle common conversations, questions, and tasks on your behalf. They are designed to respond instantly, follow your documented processes, and ensure consistent communication without adding workload to your team.

Teams use AI Agents to:

AI Agents rely heavily on your Knowledge content, which allows them to understand your terminology, best practices, and workflows.

If AI Agents are enabled on your account, you’ll find them under the star icon.

From the AI Agents Dashboard, you can:

This dashboard acts as your control center for monitoring, refining, and improving AI-driven interactions over time.

Interested in enabling AI Agents? Contact sales@getaptly.com to or click here to learn more.

If this is your first time in Aptly, try this:

Depending on your role, these guides may be helpful:

👉 Visit the Getting Started section to continue