Billee provides property-level utility cost data to Engrain, feeding it into the SightMap fee calculator so prospective renters see real utility costs while shopping for an apartment instead of a generic estimate. Engrain announced the integration on January 22, 2026. This article covers what's been publicly confirmed about how it works, what it replaces, and what to ask if you're evaluating it for your own portfolio.

Key Takeaways

• Engrain announced the integration on January 22, 2026, naming Billee as a utility-cost data source for its SightMap fee calculator.
• This is a pre-lease, leasing-and-marketing integration. It's a different kind of connection than Billee's property management system integrations with Yardi, RealPage, and Entrata, which handle post-lease billing operations.
• SightMap's fee transparency feature already existed before this announcement, launched in January 2025 and built to pull fee data from three channels: property operators directly, PMS APIs, and third-party vendors. Billee's integration adds Billee as a source in that third channel, specifically for utility costs.
• Both companies frame the goal the same way: replace generic utility cost estimates with real, property-specific data during the apartment search, ahead of the fee-transparency scrutiny the industry is under following the FTC's $24 million settlement with Greystar over undisclosed fees.
• Public information describes property-level utility cost data. It doesn't specify unit-level or real-time usage-based figures, so operators evaluating this should confirm exact data granularity with their Billee account team.

What the Integration Includes

• Property-level utility cost data (water, gas, electric, and other utilities) shared from Billee into Engrain's systems
• Integration into SightMap's existing fee calculator, which organizes charges into recurring monthly, application, move-in, and anticipated move-out categories
• A renter-facing toggle that lets prospects compare base rent against total estimated monthly cost, utilities included
• What's not publicly confirmed: whether the data reflects unit-level detail or updates on a real-time basis, or is a periodic property-level figure. The announcement's language ("property-level utility data") points toward the latter, but this is worth confirming directly before including it in a proposal or RFP response.

How the Integration Works

Where Billee's data fits into SightMap's existing fee-transparency model

SightMap already had a framework for displaying fees before Billee joined it. Engrain's January 2025 announcement describes three data channels feeding that framework: fees entered by property operators directly, fees pulled through PMS APIs, and fees supplied by third-party vendors. Billee's integration slots into that third channel as a named, verified source specifically for utility costs, rather than requiring an operator to manually enter a utility estimate or leave the field blank.

What data Billee provides and how the fee calculator uses it

According to the announcement, Billee supplies property-level utility cost figures covering water, gas, electric, and other utility categories. SightMap's fee calculator was already built to display recurring monthly charges alongside application, move-in, and move-out fees, so Billee's contribution fills in one recurring-charge category, utilities, with data instead of an estimate or a blank field.

What a prospective renter actually sees

A renter using SightMap to shop a property can toggle fees on or off to see base rent next to a fuller monthly cost picture. With Billee's data included, the utility line in that picture reflects Billee's property-level figures instead of a generic range, which is the specific gap both companies' executives describe closing: Engrain CEO Brent Steiner called fee transparency "no longer optional for multifamily operators," and Billee CEO John Hinckley said the integration is about "replacing estimated costs with real data."

What changes for the operator's leasing team

For an operator already using SightMap, the practical change is that utility cost data can come from Billee automatically rather than needing to be entered or updated manually as part of the property's fee setup. That removes one recurring maintenance task from the leasing side and keeps the number shown to prospects aligned with what Billee's Billing & Recovery Engine uses to bill residents after move-in, rather than a separately maintained estimate that can drift out of sync.

Setup and Timeline

The January 2026 announcement describes "initial testing across select multifamily properties," targeting a first-quarter 2026 rollout. Public sources available at the time of writing don't include a later general-availability update, so the honest answer for a property considering this today is to confirm current rollout status, eligibility, and setup timeline directly with Billee or Engrain rather than assuming full availability across all customers.

What Stays Where: Billee vs. Engrain

Why This Matters Now

Fee transparency has moved from a nice-to-have to an active enforcement target. The FTC and the state of Colorado reached a $24 million settlement with Greystar over advertised rents that concealed mandatory recurring fees, including charges specifically identified as utility administration costs. Regulators and prospective renters are both pushing in the same direction: see the real total cost before signing, not after. An integration that puts verified utility cost data in front of a prospect during the shopping stage, rather than after a lease is signed, sits squarely inside that shift, alongside the broader regulatory compliance review Billee already runs on billing methodology itself.

Common Questions From Operators Evaluating This

• Does this replace Billee's resident billing process? No. It supplies data to a prospect-facing leasing tool. Resident billing, allocation, and recovery still run through Billee the same way they do today.
• Do I need to already use SightMap for this to matter? Yes, this integration is specifically a Billee-to-SightMap data connection. It has no bearing on properties that don't use SightMap for leasing.
• Does this affect what residents are actually billed? No. It affects what a prospect sees while shopping, based on the same underlying property-level data Billee also uses for billing, but it isn't itself a billing function.
• What if my property uses a different leasing or touring platform? Public information only describes a Billee-Engrain (SightMap) connection. If your leasing stack uses a different platform, that platform's own fee-display capabilities and data sources would apply instead.

How to Get Started

If you're already a Billee customer using SightMap, or considering either platform, the fastest path is to ask your Billee account team directly about current availability, eligible properties, and setup steps for the Engrain data connection.

FAQ

What is the Billee and Engrain integration? It's a data connection announced January 22, 2026, in which Billee provides property-level utility cost data to Engrain's SightMap platform, which displays it in SightMap's fee calculator for prospective renters.

When did the Billee-Engrain integration launch? Engrain announced it on January 22, 2026, describing initial testing across select multifamily properties targeting a first-quarter 2026 rollout. A later general-availability date hasn't been publicly confirmed.

Does the integration change how residents are billed? No. It supplies utility cost data to a prospect-facing leasing tool. Resident billing, allocation, and recovery continue to run through Billee's standard billing process.

Is this the same type of integration as Billee's Yardi or RealPage connections? No. Those are property management system integrations supporting post-lease billing operations. The Engrain integration is a pre-lease, leasing-and-marketing data connection.

Do I need to use SightMap for this integration to apply to my property? Yes. The integration is specifically between Billee and Engrain's SightMap platform, so it applies to properties using SightMap for leasing and touring.

Does Billee provide unit-level or real-time utility data to Engrain? Publicly available information describes property-level utility cost data. It doesn't specify unit-level detail or real-time updates, so confirm the exact data granularity with your Billee account team if that distinction matters for your evaluation.

Renters increasingly expect to see the real cost of an apartment before they sign a lease, and regulators are starting to require it. Talk to Billee about how your property's utility data can support that, whether through the Engrain integration or Billee's own resident billing tools.

Sources

1. PR Newswire, "Engrain Announces Integration with Billee to Deliver Data-Driven Utility Costs in Multifamily Fee Calculations," January 22, 2026.
2. PR Newswire, "Engrain Announces Robust Support of Fee Transparency in SightMap," January 2025.
3. Multifamily Dive, "Greystar to Pay FTC, Colorado $24M to Settle Rental Fee Suit."