Accounting & Tax
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Full-service lodging tax compliance for short-term rental operators
Best for Scale
Set-and-forget tax compliance for operators who can absorb the per-property cost
From $27/listing • No free trial
Comparison
Avalara MyLodgeTax vs Patriot Software
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Accounting & Tax
Patriot Software
Affordable small-business accounting that handles rental books
Solid Option
Solid budget ledger, but not built for rental operations
From $20/mo • Free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which Should You Pick: Avalara MyLodgeTax or Patriot Software?
Pick Avalara MyLodgeTax if your real problem is multi-jurisdiction lodging tax compliance — registration, calculation, filing, and remittance — across 5+ properties. Pick Patriot if you want a flat $20/mo general ledger for a rental run as one of several small-business income streams and you'll handle tax filings yourself or via a CPA.
Editorial perspective from the Avalara MyLodgeTax side; factual claims about Patriot Software are drawn from its review.
Pricing Side-by-Side
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Full pricing →From $27/listing • No free trial
Standard
$27/property/mo
One-time $299 setup fee per property
1-5 properties
- Automated tax calculation across 11,000+ jurisdictions
- License and permit registration management
- End-to-end tax return filing and remittance
- Native PMS integrations (OwnerRez, Streamline)
Commercial
Custom quote
6+ properties (commercial pricing)
- Everything in Standard
- Volume-based discounts on per-property fee
- Dedicated account support
- Multi-state portfolio reporting
Patriot Software
Full pricing →From $20/mo • Free trial
Flat monthly
Accounting Basic plan at $20/mo. 30-day free trial and introductory 50% discount for first 3 months available.
Try Patriot SoftwareWhat each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Avalara MyLodgeTax does well
Manages the entire tax lifecycle from registration through remittance
Avalara handles license registration, tax calculation, return filing, and payment to applicable jurisdictions — eliminating the need to manually navigate multi-state obligations.
PMS integrations enable hands-off compliance workflows
Native connections to OwnerRez and Streamline automatically import booking data, removing manual entry from the compliance process.
Enterprise infrastructure supporting up to 40,000+ properties
Commercial pricing tiers for 6+ property portfolios and architecture built for scale mean the platform grows with your business.
Covers 11,000+ tax jurisdictions across the US
Operators expanding into new markets don't need to research local tax requirements manually — Avalara's jurisdiction database handles the complexity.
What Patriot Software does well
Flat $20/mo with no per-listing fees keeps costs predictable at any portfolio size
Unlike STR-specific tools that charge per listing, Patriot's accounting plan is a single flat rate. For operators who only need bookkeeping, total cost stays at $20 whether you have 1 or 50 properties.
Users consistently rate support quality and interface simplicity highly
Software Advice reviewers describe the platform as easy to use with quick, efficient, and friendly support — accessible for property owners without accounting backgrounds.
Stripe integration enables credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay collection
Property owners can accept guest payments through modern channels without setting up a separate merchant account, streamlining rent and booking fee collection.
Where Avalara MyLodgeTax falls short
Per-property costs compound quickly for growing portfolios
At $27/month plus $299 one-time setup per property, a 10-property portfolio runs $270/month and $2,990 upfront before any volume discounts apply.
Customer support receives consistent negative feedback
Users report long wait times, unclear escalation paths, and being directed to paid third-party support to resolve issues.
Scope limited strictly to lodging and occupancy taxes
Won't handle 1099 filing, HOA applications, or zoning compliance — operators still need separate solutions for those obligations.
Where Patriot Software falls short
No purpose-built STR functionality — everything rental-specific is manual
As iGMS notes, Patriot can be used for rental accounting but requires manual workarounds for channel management, guest communication, and dynamic pricing that dedicated platforms handle natively.
Customer support is unavailable on weekends and outside business hours
STR operations often involve weekend guest issues and time-sensitive booking problems. Software Advice reviewers flag that questions arising over the weekend must wait until Monday.
Reporting capabilities fall short for complex multi-property portfolios
Capterra reviewers note limited reporting options. Operators needing occupancy analytics, revenue management dashboards, or multi-property performance comparisons will find the platform insufficient.
Which Should You Pick
Pick Avalara MyLodgeTax if
Professional property managers with 5+ properties needing comprehensive compliance automation across multiple jurisdictions.
Skip Avalara MyLodgeTax if
You have 1–4 properties — the $299 setup fee and $27/month per listing make the math hard to justify at small scale.
Pick Patriot Software if
Small property owners needing basic accounting who already use general business software and want an affordable, easy-to-learn ledger.
Skip Patriot Software if
You need channel management, guest communication, automated pricing, or any rental-specific workflow — Patriot handles none of these.
Where Avalara MyLodgeTax and Patriot Software actually differ
- Avalara is single-purpose lodging tax compliance at $27/mo per listing plus a $299 one-time setup fee per property; Patriot is general-purpose accounting at $20/mo flat regardless of property count.
- Avalara files and remits returns across 11,000+ tax jurisdictions and manages license registration; Patriot does no tax filing for lodging or occupancy taxes — it only tracks income and expenses.
- Avalara integrates with OwnerRez and Streamline to pull booking data automatically; Patriot has no PMS or OTA integrations and connects only to Stripe, Plaid, and a few benefits partners.
- Avalara is built for portfolios from 5 up to 40,000+ properties with commercial pricing at 6+ listings; Patriot has no portfolio scaling features, no owner statements, and no trust accounting.
- Patriot offers a 30-day free trial plus a 50% intro discount on the first 3 months; Avalara has no free trial and requires the $299/property setup fee upfront.
Common objections
- Patriot is $20/mo flat while Avalara is $27/mo per listing — isn't Patriot the obvious win on price?
- Only if you don't actually need lodging tax compliance. Patriot's $20 buys a general ledger; Avalara's per-property fee buys active filing and remittance across jurisdictions. A single missed lodging tax return can trigger penalties that exceed a year of Avalara fees, and Patriot can't prevent that because it doesn't touch lodging taxes.
- Can I just use Patriot for books and skip Avalara if my OTA collects taxes?
- Sometimes — it depends on your jurisdictions. Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit in many areas but coverage isn't universal, and direct bookings are always your responsibility. If all your listings are in jurisdictions where the OTA fully handles collection, Patriot plus a CPA may be enough. If not, Avalara fills a gap Patriot was never designed to cover.
- Can I run Patriot and Avalara together as a stack?
- Yes, and for small operators it's a reasonable combo — Patriot for the books, Avalara for tax filing. Just know that Patriot has no integration with Avalara or any PMS, so you'll be reconciling booking data manually between systems. Past a couple of properties that double entry gets painful, and most growing operators end up moving to a real PMS plus integrated accounting.
Keep Digging
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Set-and-forget tax compliance for operators who can absorb the per-property cost
Patriot Software
Solid budget ledger, but not built for rental operations