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Landlord Studio is the Stessa alternative for landlords who want serious rental property accounting — Xero integration, transaction-level reporting, and unlimited AI receipt scanning on the entry-level paid plan — not just a free portfolio dashboard. Automated bank feeds, GPS mileage tracking, online rent collection, tenant screening, and one-click Schedule E reports come standard, so your books and your tax prep stay one step ahead.
Compare Landlord Studio vs Stessa and the real difference is what each platform was built to do. Landlord Studio is rental property accounting software built accounting-first for self-managing landlords who treat their rentals like the business they are. Stessa started as a free portfolio dashboard for real estate investors who wanted to monitor performance, then layered on rent collection, tenant screening, and an embedded banking account. Both track income and expenses, but only one was engineered to give you audit-ready books and tax-ready reports without compromise.
Landlord Studio pairs full rental property accounting with the day-to-day tools landlords actually use — online rent collection, tenant screening, listings, lease tracking, and maintenance. Automated bank feeds, AI receipt scanning, GPS mileage tracking, Xero integration, and one-click Schedule E reports come standard on PRO at $12 a month, with a free GO plan for up to three units. You get transaction-level reporting and unlimited receipt capture on the entry-level paid plan — no waiting until the top tier, and no second subscription to keep the books clean as your portfolio grows.
Stessa is built around portfolio monitoring and embedded banking. Its strengths are a genuinely useful free Essentials tier with unlimited properties, automatic bank feeds, and a Stessa Cash Management account paying competitive APY with FDIC pass-through coverage, plus screening through sister company RentPrep and a place inside the Roofstock investor ecosystem. The trade-off for landlords serious about their books: no Xero integration, simplified single-entry accounting with limited transaction-level customization, and unlimited receipt scanning and advanced reports locked behind the $28-a-month Pro tier. At the same $12 price point, Landlord Studio PRO already includes unlimited receipts, full reporting, and the Xero sync, which is why landlords switching from Stessa most often cite accounting depth as the deciding factor.
"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.
Stessa is rental portfolio software built for investors who want a free starting point, a tax-ready dashboard, and banking built in. It now offers online rent collection, tenant screening through RentPrep, listing-site syndication, and maintenance requests alongside its core income and expense tracking, all inside the Roofstock group.
| Landlord Studio | Stessa | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & setup | ||
| Starting price | Free for up to 3 units, paid plans from $12/mo | Free Essentials, paid plans from $12/mo (billed annually) |
| Built for landlords | Purpose-built, accounting-first | Investor portfolio dashboard |
| Xero integration | Yes, two-way sync | Not supported |
| Income & expense tracking | ||
| Automated bank feeds | Included on all paid plans | Included, even on free |
| AI receipt scanning | Unlimited on PRO ($12/mo) | Unlimited only on Pro ($28/mo) |
| Transaction-level reporting | Full and customizable | Simplified single-entry |
| GPS mileage tracking | Built-in | Not supported |
| Reporting & tax | ||
| Landlord-specific reports | 15+ built-in | Core reports; advanced on Pro |
| Schedule E export | One-click on paid plans | On Manage and Pro |
| Accountant access | Direct accountant portal | Report sharing |
| Rent & tenants | ||
| Online rent collection | Built-in | Built-in |
| Tenant screening | Built-in (TransUnion) | Via RentPrep |
| Native mobile app | iOS & Android | iOS & Android |
| Best for | Landlords who want real accounting depth | Investors who want a free dashboard and banking |
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 strong Stessa alternative for landlords who want serious accounting. It adds Xero integration, transaction-level reporting, and unlimited AI receipt scanning on the $12-a-month PRO plan, alongside online rent collection, tenant screening, and one-click Schedule E reports.
No. Stessa does not offer a Xero integration. Landlord Studio includes a two-way Xero sync on its paid plans, so your rental bookkeeping stays connected to your wider accounting.
Stessa's Essentials plan is free and includes unlimited properties, bank feeds, and online rent collection. Advanced reporting, Schedule E, and unlimited receipt scanning require the paid Manage ($12/mo annually) or Pro ($28/mo annually) plans.
Yes, both track income and expenses by property. Landlord Studio offers fuller, customizable transaction-level reporting, while Stessa uses a simplified single-entry approach designed for portfolio monitoring.
Landlord Studio includes one-click Schedule E reports on its entry-level paid plan plus a direct accountant portal. Stessa offers Schedule E reporting on its Manage and Pro tiers.
Yes. You can set up your properties in minutes, connect your bank feeds, and import historical transactions, with guided onboarding and support to help you move across.
