Do I still need smart locks if the building entrance is automated?

For the unit door, usually yes, a lock or lockbox stays in the picture. The two layers solve different doors: entrance access gets guests and cleaners into the building, and the unit lock gets them into the apartment. Hosts in buzzer buildings need both, and the entrance is the layer lock platforms do not cover.

How does guest access expire at checkout on the entrance side?

Time-limited access windows expire on their own. A guest's entrance passcode or auto buzz-in works from check-in to checkout and then stops, the same pattern as a lock code that deactivates, so back-to-back turnovers do not overlap at the front door.

What about buildings where I can't install anything at all?

That is the normal case in condos and co-ops: hosts do not control the lobby and cannot mount hardware there. Because the entrance approach only changes which phone number the unit's buzzer dials, it works in exactly the buildings where lock platforms stop at the unit door.

Blog / RemoteLock Alternatives Without Hardware Installation

RemoteLock Alternatives Without Hardware Installation

By Ty · 2026-07-06

RemoteLock built a solid business managing smart locks at scale: codes per guest, schedules per cleaning crew, one dashboard across properties. If your rentals are houses, that can be the whole story. If they are units inside apartment or condo buildings, there is a door RemoteLock’s locks never touch: the building entrance, with its buzzer that rings somebody’s phone every time a guest, cleaner, or delivery arrives.

Hosts searching for alternatives are often really searching for that missing layer. The unit door has a lock code; the guest is still stranded in the lobby.

How to fix it

Option	Pros	Cons
RemoteLock	Per-guest lock codes, scheduling, multi-property dashboard	Lock hardware per door, subscription, does not cover the building entrance
Smart locks alone (August, Yale, Schlage)	Cheaper per door	Same gap: nothing for the lobby buzzer
Meeting guests or lending FOBs	Works anywhere	Defeats self check-in, FOBs go missing on turnovers
Asking the building to hand out codes	Free	Shared codes leak, buildings rarely cooperate per booking
Lowkey	Auto buzz-in and expiring passcodes at the entrance, across all your units	Quick one-time setup with your building

Keep whatever handles your unit doors; that layer works. The fix is giving the entrance the same treatment: access that starts at check-in, expires at checkout, and covers cleaners on turnover days without anyone answering a phone.

Where Lowkey helps

Lowkey is the entrance layer for short-term rentals in buzzer buildings. Each unit’s buzzer dials a virtual number, guests get 4-digit passcodes or auto buzz-in windows scoped to their stay, cleaners get recurring turnover access, and the activity history confirms arrivals across every property. It works with any buzzer that dials out to a phone number, which covers most apartment and condo buildings, and operators with several units or whole buildings run everything from one account, with nothing installed in buildings they do not own.