Stessa vs HostBook vs Black Cat: Which Should Airbnb Hosts Use?
If you're trying to get your short-term rental finances out of your head (or out of a dying spreadsheet), you've probably run into these three names. They solve overlapping problems from very different starting points — and picking the wrong one means fighting your tool instead of your expenses.
Full disclosure: we build Black Cat Analytics, so we're biased and you should read this accordingly. We've tried to be genuinely fair — including telling you when a competitor (or a plain spreadsheet) is the better choice. Feature notes are based on each product's public materials as of mid-2026; software changes fast, so verify anything that matters on their sites before deciding.
The Short Version
- Long-term rental landlord (leases, tenants, maybe one Airbnb on the side)? Stessa is a strong, free place to start.
- Apple-devoted host who wants data on-device, especially one splitting payouts with a co-host? HostBook is built around exactly that.
- US short-term rental host who wants expenses to import themselves and tax season to be a button instead of a weekend? That's the job Black Cat was built for.
Stessa: Built for Landlords First
Stessa is the most established of the three, and its core product is free — that alone makes it worth knowing about. It grew up in the long-term rental investing world (it's part of the Roofstock family), and it shows in the best way: portfolio dashboards, bank feeds, receipt scanning, and reporting that long-term landlords genuinely like.
Where it shines: you own several long-term rentals, you think in terms of leases and tenants and portfolio value, and you want solid bookkeeping without paying for it.
Where it fits less well: short-term rentals are a different business — per-stay economics, platform service fees, cleaning per turnover, occupancy and nightly-rate questions, and STR-specific tax wrinkles like the 14-day rule and the 7-day average-stay question. You can track an Airbnb in Stessa, but that layer isn't its center of gravity. If most of your income is short-term stays, you'll feel the long-term-rental shape of the tool.
HostBook: Apple-Native and Privacy-First
HostBook is a newer, STR-specific entrant with a genuinely distinctive philosophy: your data lives on your device, not on someone's server. It's built natively for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and its headline feature — splitting payouts with a co-host — solves a real problem that most tools (ours included) don't tackle head-on.
Where it shines: you live in the Apple ecosystem, you co-host and need clean payout splits, and keeping financial data on your own device matters to you on principle.
The trade-offs to understand: the privacy-first, on-device design is a real architectural choice with real consequences — automatic bank-feed import isn't part of that model, so transactions are entered rather than synced. It's Apple-only, which matters if your accountant (or you) works on Windows or the web. And it's a UK product, so the US Schedule E workflow — the form your CPA actually files — isn't its focus. None of these are flaws in what HostBook is trying to be; they're the cost of what it's trying to be.
Black Cat: Bank Sync + Schedule E, for US STR Hosts
Black Cat is short-term-rental-specific and web-based, and it's organized around two convictions. First: you shouldn't type transactions. Connect your bank and card, and expenses import automatically — you review and approve them, so automation proposes and you stay in control. Second: the finish line is your tax return. Expenses are categorized to match Schedule E line items as they land, so the year-end export is something you hand a CPA, not a starting point for archaeology.
Around that core: receipt photos attached to transactions, booking sync from Airbnb/VRBO calendars, multi-property (and multi-unit) tracking, and owner statements if you manage properties for other people. There's a free tier; paid plans start at $29/month.
Where it fits less well: if you're a long-term landlord first, Stessa's lease-and-tenant world will fit better. If on-device data storage is a hard requirement, our bank-sync architecture is the opposite trade — that's HostBook's territory. And if you're outside the US, our tax tooling is built around a form you don't file.
Side by Side
As of mid-2026, per each product's public materials. Features change — verify before you decide.
| Stessa | HostBook | Black Cat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Long-term rental investors | STR hosts & co-hosts | US STR hosts & small PMs |
| Platform | Web + mobile | Apple only (iPhone/iPad/Mac) | Web (any device) |
| Bank-feed import | Yes | No — on-device by design | Yes, with review/approve |
| US Schedule E focus | General rental reporting | Not a focus (UK-based) | Core of the product |
| Co-host payout splits | Not a focus | Headline feature | Not built-in |
| Data location | Cloud | Your device | Cloud (encrypted, exportable, deletable) |
| Price | Free core, paid tiers | See their site | Free tier; paid from $29/mo |
Want to see if Black Cat fits?
The free tier takes about two minutes to set up — upload one Airbnb CSV and you'll see your real profit, not just revenue. No card required.
Try it free →How to Actually Decide
Ignore feature checklists (including ours, a little) and ask three questions:
- What's your portfolio, really? Mostly long-term leases → Stessa. Mostly nightly stays → an STR-specific tool.
- Will you actually type transactions every week? Be honest — this is where most systems die. If the answer is no, you want bank-feed import, which narrows the field quickly.
- What does April look like? If you (or your CPA) file a US Schedule E, work backwards from that form. If categories don't map to it during the year, you'll pay the mapping cost later, once a year, at the worst time.
And a genuinely non-salesy note: if you have one property and the discipline to log expenses weekly, our free spreadsheet may be all you need this year. Tools earn their keep when the spreadsheet stops being true.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stessa good for Airbnb hosts?
It's a capable, free tool — but it's built around long-term rental investing. Hosts can use it; per-stay economics, platform fees, and STR-flavored tax questions just aren't its sweet spot. If most of your income is short-term stays, an STR-specific tool will fit better.
What's the real difference between HostBook and Black Cat?
Philosophy. HostBook keeps data on your Apple device — great for privacy, but it means no bank-feed automation and no web access. Black Cat is web-based and automation-first: bank sync imports transactions, you review them, and everything maps to US Schedule E. Pick based on which trade you want, not on brand.
Do I need any of these, or is a spreadsheet enough?
One property + real discipline = a spreadsheet is fine, and we publish a free one. The upgrade moment is when entries start slipping, properties multiply, or tax season turns into reconstruction work.