Stessa and DoorLoop are both well-regarded property management software solutions. 

Stessa is a cost-effective option designed specifically for residential rental properties and as of January 2024 is the #1 app for landlords, based on App Store ratings and total number of reviews.

DoorLoop is pricier but provides all-in-one software for a wide range of property types, such as affordable housing, commercial and residential properties, student housing, mobile homes, self-storage, and more.

In this article, we compare Stessa and DoorLoop’s features, strengths, and drawbacks to help guide you in choosing the ideal management solution for your rental business. Let’s begin with a quick overview of each platform:

Stessa and DoorLoop

Both Stessa and DoorLoop appear to understand typical landlords’ needs quite well, and their personalized solutions cater to the specific requirements of this audience.

Stessa, designed by and for residential real estate investors, has robust property management and accounting tools embedded within its software. Users can track income and expenses, screen tenants, sign leases, advertise vacant units, collect rent, and monitor crucial financial performance indicators across individual properties and/or large portfolios. 

DoorLoop is a versatile platform catering to commercial, residential, and special-use real estate. Its features include property listing and marketing, tenant screening, rent collection, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), and maintenance requests to improve the efficiency of the rental management process for landlords with mixed-use portfolios.

Stessa overview

Stessa is much more than an accounting platform that lets residential property investors easily track their assets’ performance.

It automatically categorizes income and expense transactions and can map them to the IRS Schedule E, generating financial reports seamlessly and eliminating the busywork of manual entry and juggling multiple documents. You can also open a landlord banking account for each property, further simplifying the financial management of your real estate investments.

Stessa works quite well for both novice property owners and experienced investors with numerous rentals. The software easily integrates with your current financial accounts and some property management applications to provide an immediate, detailed financial snapshot of your portfolio.

Stessa continually upgrades its features to bring more value to users. The company recently expanded its services to include listing vacant units, tenant applications and screening, digital eSigning (available with the premium Stessa Pro plan), rent collection, landlord banking, and document storage. 

The mobile app, compatible with both iOS and Android, ensures you stay linked to your portfolio from virtually anywhere. The added feature of automated receipt scanning is especially beneficial during tax season, helping to maximize your deductions and simplify your tax prep.

Pricing structure

Stessa’s tiered pricing model suits the diverse needs and budgets of residential rental property owners.

The Stessa Essentials plan lets landlords use its primary features at no cost. Users can create as many properties and bank accounts as needed, generate unlimited financial reports, and export their transaction data to Excel as often as they like.

For access to more features, Stessa paid plans come with several additional benefits:

Features summary

• • Automated income and expense tracking: Automatically sorts and classifies transactions from linked bank, lender, credit card, and property management accounts without additional fees or add-ons.
  • Financial reporting: Create income statements, net cash flow summaries, balance sheets (available with the paid Stessa Pro plan), and more, all within the platform.
  • Landlord banking: Open an FDIC-insured checking account for each property and seamlessly integrate with Stessa’s financial tracking features.
  • Unlimited properties: Add unlimited single-family rentals, short-term vacation properties, or multifamily units.
  • Tax resources: Access a suite of tax resources created in partnership with The Real Estate CPA.
  • Collaborative access: Allow business partners and stakeholders to monitor their shared investments through different access levels.
  • Rental applications and tenant screening: Use Stessa’s integrated RentPrep tenant screening tool and free rental applications.
  • Listing syndications: Publish a vacancy for rent across a variety of websites for maximum exposure to high quality tenants.
  • Free online rent collection: Collect rent through ACH payments – free for property owners and tenants.
  • Real-time performance metrics: Get round-the-clock insight into your portfolio’s performance with no third-party software required.
  • Property management integration: Connect to some property management software portals for a complete portfolio summary.
  • Data security: Industry-leading encryption keeps your data safe and secure.
  • Insurance quotes: Get insurance quotations and policies for rental properties within Stessa from Steadily, a technology-driven national landlord insurance provider.
  • eSigning (partnered with DocuSign): With the Stessa Pro plan, you can upload up to five documents monthly, assign them for digital signatures, and dispatch them to tenants, vendors, and collaborators.

Go here to create a free account.

Pros

Stessa boasts considerable unique benefits to residential property investors. Within its dashboard, you get a thorough snapshot of your entire investment portfolio, which is a benefit that many competitors have struggled to provide in a comprehensive way.

Live performance metrics and automated monitoring of income and expenses give landlords a detailed view of their financial standing 24/7. This transparency is vital for making informed decisions about your properties and strategizing future investments.

The platform’s user-friendly functionality allows seamless integration with your property management software and financial accounts, organizing all your investment information in one central location and saving you time and effort. The unlimited properties feature is ideal for landlords managing multiple properties across different regions.

Stessa’s free rent collection service removes the need for outside services, streamlining rental payments for tenants and landlords. Integrated eSigning rental application and screening tools add ease and convenience to the tenant selection process.

Leveraging tax resources and landlord insurance estimates within the platform assists with the more intricate aspects of property ownership, such as tax reporting and securing adequate protection against potential damage and liability risks.

Lastly, Stessa users can engage in a lively community forum that empowers real estate investors to exchange skills, knowledge, and interests.

Cons

Despite Stessa offering a broad array of tools and features for property owners at a very reasonable cost, its offering focuses entirely on residential rental properties. Also, it currently doesn’t accommodate maintenance requests or vendor management. These limitations may prompt some investors to explore other options.

DoorLoop overview

DoorLoop is an all-in-one cloud-based software that aims to simplify property management tasks and improve communication with tenants and vendors. The platform has grown to serve the needs of any type of portfolio, from traditional residential and commercial properties to community associations, affordable housing, student housing, self-storage, and non-traditional portfolios like mobile homes. 

Pricing structure

The company offers three pricing plans. Prices increase if you have more than 20 units under management, and there is a 20% discount with annual billing:

• Starter: $59/month

• Pro: $119/month

• Premium: $179/month

Features summary

• Works with affordable housing, commercial, community associations, mobile homes, residential, self-storage, and student housing
• Accounting and financial tools with features like rent collection, expense tracking, and financial reporting
• Integration with numerous third-party software platforms, including banks, credit cards, and QuickBooks
• Property listing management to create a custom website and syndicated listings on other websites (Pro and Premium plans)
• Tenant screening, including background checks, credit reports, bankruptcy checks, and eviction history
• Automated lease creation and management, rent reminders, recurring charges, and tracking lease renewals
• Online portals for viewing statements, paying rent, and communicating
• Tracks and resolves maintenance requests submitted through the platform 
• Mobile app for owners and tenants to access their accounts on the go
• Securely stores important documents like leases, inspection reports, and maintenance records in the cloud

Access to these features varies based on the pricing plan selected. For example, the Starter plan includes accounting and financials, a tenant portal for rent payments and maintenance requests, tenant screening, and eSignatures. 

The Pro plan includes all the Starter features plus an owner portal, bank account reconciliation, and data export through Excel. The Premium plan offers a free, personalized website and unlimited data storage, among other tools.

Pros

One of DoorLoop’s advantages is its user-friendly interface, making it easy for property owners and managers of various asset classes (commercial, residential, and special use) and all skill levels to use.

The accounting and real-time reporting features are also extensive, depending on the pricing plan selected. You can create a chart of accounts for each property, export data using Excel, and perform bank reconciliations (Pro and Premium plans only), allowing you to generate and track the performance of each property.

Additional features like a personalized website, listing syndication, CRM, and vendor management may appeal to landlords seeking an all-around property management solution.

Cons

DoorLoop’s pricing may be cost-prohibitive for small and medium-sized landlords. To share information with business partners or perform basic bank reconciliation, you must upgrade to the Pro or Premium price plan.

The lack of a landlord banking feature could be another disadvantage because landlords can’t track and manage property-related financial transactions within the platform. That could potentially lead to inefficiencies and challenges in consolidating financial data, making property management more time-consuming.

Finally, some reviews on Google Play report occasional technical glitches within the mobile app, which can disrupt day-to-day operations and communication with tenants. Other reviewers say they’ve encountered customer service issues.

Choosing the best platform for your portfolio

Both Stessa and DoorLoop bring unique strengths to property management, making them viable choices depending on your needs.

If a full suite of property management tools for a mixed-use portfolio is what you’re after, DoorLoop may be worth considering. If residential rental property is your top priority, Stessa could be your best bet.

However, one of Stessa’s significant benefits is its free accounting features, which automate income and expense tracking, offer immediate tax season reports, and quickly deliver live performance metrics for individual properties and entire portfolios. Stessa provides essential real estate metrics to help you make informed investment decisions.

Moreover, Stessa offers advanced portfolio optimization tools and banking services, including FDIC-insured accounts with a competitive APY and a cash management debit card. Its premium subscription, Stessa Pro, includes additional advanced features such as budgeting, project expense tracking, eSigning, unlimited receipt scanning, and comprehensive data exports.

Visit Stessa’s website to learn more about how Stessa can help you maximize returns and save time by managing your portfolio like a pro.

*Stessa is not a bank. Stessa is a financial technology company. Terms and conditions, features and pricing are subject to change. This article, and the Stessa Blog in general, is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is not investment, tax, financial planning, financial, legal, or real estate advice.