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Landlord Studio is the Buildium alternative for self-managing landlords who want full rental property accounting without property-management-company pricing or per-transaction ePay and eSignature fees. Built accounting-first for landlords running their own portfolios, it pairs online rent collection, tenant screening, and listings with automated bank feeds, AI receipt scanning, Xero integration, and one-click Schedule E reports in one app from $12 a month.
Compare Landlord Studio vs Buildium and the difference comes down to who each platform was built for. Buildium is property management software for management companies and licensed managers running rentals on behalf of multiple owners, with trust accounting, owner portals, and team workflows at its core. Landlord Studio is built accounting-first for self-managing landlords running their own portfolios — not for teams managing units for clients.
Landlord Studio pairs full rental property accounting with the day-to-day tools landlords use most — online rent collection, tenant screening, listings, lease tracking, and maintenance. Automated bank feeds, AI receipt scanning, GPS mileage tracking, Xero integration, and a one-click Schedule E export come standard on PRO at $12 a month, with a free GO plan for up to three units. There's no minimum, no per-transaction ePay or eSignature fees, and no separate QuickBooks subscription stacked on top — just one predictable price as your portfolio grows.
Buildium was built for property management companies. Its strengths are end-to-end leasing, work order management, owner and resident portals, trust accounting, and Lumina AI — the agentic AI workforce with agents for maintenance, leasing, accounting, and resident experience. The trade-off for a self-managing landlord is real: pricing starts at $62 a month on Essential, per-transaction ePay and eSignature fees stack on top, there's no native Xero integration (QuickBooks Online is the only native sync), and the feature set is built around staff workflows rather than a landlord's own tax prep. That's why self-managing landlords switching from Buildium to Landlord Studio cite price and rental-specific simplicity.
"I realized that QuickBooks wasn't quite sufficient and I started to look around for an affordable tool to replace my spreadsheets and chose Landlord Studio."
"We couldn't live as freely and easily without Landlord Studio. All my tenants are quite happy they get their notifications from Landlord Studio. It's dead easy."
“My dad’s 75 and has over 20 units – Airbnbs, apartments and commercial. We needed a software to help us and Landlord Studio’s been the one. It’s made it so easy for him.”
"I tested out several other programs before purchasing Landlord Studio and I'm very happy with it so far. One of my favorite features is the ability to just snap a picture of a receipt and put it in the correct rental unit expense."
“Never used software before and was worried, but Landlord Studio has been brilliant. Easy to add properties, simple to use — even my accountant loves it.”
"Managing 20 rentals alone was overwhelming, but Landlord Studio became my one-stop shop. It simplified bookkeeping, rent, leases, and taxes — even my CPA loves it."
"Landlord Studio makes property management effortless – tracks rent, expenses & tenant comms. Great for 1 or many properties, my accountant loves it too.”
"We were looking for an app to help us stay on top of everything, including the maintenance and everything in between. Landlord Studio has been great for that."
"I found Landlord Studio so much easier to understand after I looked at AppFolio, RentRedi, and Buildium. All three of them were so hard to understand."
"It has been an excellent way of tracking expenses all in one app. I had considered using AppFolio, but that was too complicated for me."
“I looked at Doorloop, RentRedi, and Appfolio and they all offer the same features, but the customer support was the absolute best on Landlord Studio.”
"I have chosen a Landlord Studio after going through several tools online. It's also reasonably priced which I like."
Tailored for landlords and property managers, Landlord Studio is a user-friendly software which offers a seamless approach to real estate accounting and property management. From automated rent collection to advanced tax reporting.
Buildium is rental property management software built for residential property management companies and licensed managers running rentals on behalf of multiple owners. It offers a deep toolkit for leasing, trust accounting, work orders, and owner reporting, plus Lumina AI, the agentic AI workforce that automates maintenance, leasing, accounting, and resident communication. The platform is powerful, but the pricing and property-management orientation make it a heavy lift for landlords running their own portfolio.
| Landlord Studio | Buildium | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & setup | ||
| Starting price | Free for up to 3 units, paid plans from $12/mo | From $62/mo (Essential) |
| Built for | Self-managing landlords | Property management companies |
| Per-transaction fees | None | ePay, eSignature & screening fees apply |
| Setup | Self-serve, minutes | $99 setup fee on Essential |
| Accounting & tax | ||
| Property-by-property tracking | Unlimited, built-in | Built-in (trust accounting) |
| Automated bank feeds | Included | Included |
| AI receipt scanning | Included | Not a core feature |
| Schedule E export | One-click | Not built for personal Schedule E |
| Xero integration | Native two-way sync | QuickBooks Online only |
| Day-to-day landlord tools | ||
| Online rent collection | Built-in, no per-transaction fee | Built-in (ePay fees) |
| Tenant screening | Built-in (TransUnion) | Built-in (per report) |
| Listings & leasing | Built-in | Built-in |
| GPS mileage tracking | Built-in | Not supported |
| Best for | Landlords managing their own rentals | Companies managing units for owners |
Landlord Studio ensures you give tenants multiple ways to pay along with the tools to ensure you get paid on time, every time.
Instantly generate and share professional reports. All our reports can be customized by date range, property, owner, expense categories, and payment categories.
At tax time, run our built in Schedule E report and share with your accountant with a few taps.
List, screen and sign documents all from the same platform without the hidden charges.
Manage your portfolio in one place and complete your end to end landlord lifecycle easily.
Manual expense tracking
Recurring expenses
Automated bank feeds
Smart receipt scanner
Automatic mileage tracker
Portfolio dashboard
Collect rent online
Receipts and reminders
Collect deposit online
Control partial payments
Tenant auto-pay
Integration with Xero
Tax reporting
Accountant collaboration
Create a listing
Manage applicants
Screen applicants
Track Maintenance Tasks
Tenant Portal
Document storage
Native iOS and Android app
From finding tenants and collecting rent to managing maintenance requests, our suite of features will help you save time and run a professional and scalable property portfolio.
Yes. Landlord Studio is a Buildium alternative built for self-managing landlords rather than property management companies. It pairs full rental accounting with online rent collection, tenant screening, listings, and a one-click Schedule E export, from $12 a month with no per-transaction ePay or eSignature fees.
Buildium starts at around $62 a month on Essential (up to 150 units), with Growth from $192 and Premium from $400, scaling by door count. ePay, tenant screening, and eSignature transactions carry separate per-transaction fees, plus a setup fee on Essential. Landlord Studio PRO is $12 a month with no per-transaction fees.
Buildium is built for property management companies managing units on behalf of owners, so much of its toolkit (trust accounting, owner portals, team workflows) goes unused for a landlord running their own portfolio, while the pricing stays high. Landlord Studio is sized and priced for the self-managing landlord.
No. Buildium's only native accounting integration is QuickBooks Online. Landlord Studio offers a native two-way Xero sync.
Yes. On top of the monthly subscription, Buildium applies per-transaction ePay, eSignature, and tenant screening fees, plus setup and bank account fees on Essential. Landlord Studio includes online rent collection without per-transaction fees.
Landlord Studio is built accounting-first, with a one-click Schedule E export and 15+ landlord-specific reports. Buildium's reporting is geared to company books and owner statements rather than a personal Schedule E return.
