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Landlord Bench

Stessa

Summary

Stessa is accounting and asset-tracking software for owners of United States residential rentals, with bank feeds, tax reports, listings, screening, leases, maintenance tracking and rent collection in one account. Its partner bank supplies deposit accounts tied to each property.

From
Freethen $15 monthly · $12 billed annually, 20% less
Open source
No
Best for
US landlords who self-manage a few rentals and want the books and rent in one place

What we checked

Pages last read
Price on its site
Free planFrom its pricing page

Stessa price and terms

Terms

Free plan
YesYes
The terms in full

Essentials is a standing free plan with unlimited properties, bank feeds, basic reports, listings, screening, maintenance and rent collection; it has no electronic signatures, no Schedule E or advanced reports, five receipt scans a month, one portfolio and charges $15 for each state lease.

Sign up without sales
YesYes

What needs a higher plan

Manage
Leases signed online, Schedule E report
Stessa's pricing page

Pricing page, captured

stessa.com/pricing, checked

What we checked on Stessa

YesPartlyNo

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

Cost for 25 units a month

$0 a month on Essentials for 25 units. Charged per 1 units: 25 × $0 (rent payment by bank transfer).

Essentials Free For newer investors looking to get organized and accomplish key tasks efficiently.

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

Cost for 5 units a month

$0 a month on Essentials for 5 units. Charged per 1 units: 5 × $0 (rent payment by bank transfer).

On the page: Essentials plan card

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

Cost for 50 units a month

$0 a month on Essentials for 50 units. Charged per 1 units: 50 × $0 (rent payment by bank transfer).

On the page: Essentials plan card

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

What the price is based on

One flat monthly fee covers an unlimited number of rental properties on every plan, so your price does not move with the unit count; the free plan charges you nothing and leaves the payment fees to tenants.

All plans include an unlimited number of properties.

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

Rent payment fees

Each rent payment by bank transfer into a Stessa cash management account is free; paid into your own outside bank it costs $2, and card payments cost 3% of the rent, with the tenant paying in every case.

ACH (bank transfer): $2 per transaction when paid to an external bank account.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/12092570…Checked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

What your tenants can be charged

A tenant pays nothing for twelve rent payments by bank transfer into a Stessa cash management account, so the first-year cost can be the screening alone, from $29 for a credit report to $49 for the full package where the landlord passes it on.

Screening fees are paid by tenants.

stessa.com/leasingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsNo

Minimum units or minimum fee

There is no floor on portfolio size or spend: every plan, the free one included, carries an unlimited number of properties and there is no stated monthly minimum a small landlord must pay.

On the page: Line above the plan comparison table

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsNo

Unit caps

No plan caps properties, leases or units, so adding a rental never pushes you onto a dearer plan; the paid plans differ on reports, signing and support instead.

On the page: Comparison table, Asset Management, Properties row

stessa.com/pricingChecked

What it costs for 25 unitsYes

Promotion and regular price

yearly shown monthly: the plan cards lead with $12 and $28 a month paid annually and print the month-to-month rates of $15 and $35 beside them, with 20% off for annual billing rather than a time-limited promotion.

Save 20% when billed annually

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Finding a tenantYes

Listing your vacancy

You publish a listing page from the property data already in Stessa and can switch on posting your listing on rental sites, which the help centre names as Zillow, Trulia and HotPads, with up to 48 hours before it appears.

Stessa offers syndication to: Zillow, Trulia, HotPads

support.stessa.com/en/articles/8719548-…Checked

Finding a tenantYes

Online applications

Every listing carries an application prospects complete from the listing page, with screening by RentPrep attached; the vendor publishes screening prices rather than a separate application charge, and says tenants pay the screening.

Every Stessa listing includes an integrated application and background check powered by RentPrep

support.stessa.com/en/articles/8719548-…Checked

Finding a tenantYes

Tenant screening

Screening is RentPrep's, sold inside Stessa at $29 for a credit report, $29 for a background check and $49 for both, and the vendor says landlord or tenant pay options exist except on the background check, which is landlord-pay only.

Complete Screening Package $49 … Everything in “Credit Report” Everything in “Background Check”

stessa.com/leasingChecked

Finding a tenantPartly

Income verification

Income checks exist only as paid extras on a screening order: $10 for a bank-connected income and assets report, or $15 for income plus employment pulled from the payroll provider.

Income Verification Add-on $10 Available as an add-on only

stessa.com/leasingChecked

Leases and rentPartly

Leases signed online

Leases are generated from templates and sent for signature inside Stessa, but signing is free only from the Manage plan up, which allows one signature a month against seven on Pro, and the free plan has none.

On the page: Comparison table, Document management, eSign row

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Leases and rentYes

State-specific leases

The vendor says the lease is built on attorney-drafted templates specific to your state; on the free plan each state lease costs $15, while Manage and Pro include unlimited ones.

generate a lease built on attorney-drafted state specific templates

stessa.com/leasingChecked

Leases and rentYes

Rent collected online

Tenants pay by bank transfer or by card in a resident portal, and the vendor says a bank transfer takes up to five business days while card payments take up to two, with a 3pm Eastern cut-off.

ACH: Up to 5 business days. Cutoff = 3 PM ET.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-…Checked

Leases and rentYes

Autopay and reminders

Tenants can set recurring payments themselves, and Stessa emails a reminder ten days before rent is due and again on the due date, whether or not autopay is on.

Residents get an email reminder 10 days before rent is due.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-…Checked

Leases and rentYes

Late fees

Automatic late fees are on every plan, including the free one, and the vendor says you can have them charged automatically, add them by hand, or not charge them at all.

Charge late fees automatically, manually, or not at all.

stessa.com/rent-collectionChecked

Leases and rentYes

Partial payments

Partial payments are allowed or required in full per lease through a toggle in the lease details, and a tenant cannot pay more than the balance showing on the ledger.

Use the toggle to switch Partial Payments ON (allow partial payments) or OFF (require full payment).

support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-…Checked

Leases and rentPartly

Security deposits

Deposits are tracked as transactions in a security deposit category and applied through the tenant ledger, but the vendor states it cannot pay a deposit back: refunds must be made outside Stessa.

Stessa does not process physical refunds. Any remaining portion of the deposit owed to the tenant must be refunded outside the platform.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/11954577…Checked

Leases and rentNo

Rent paid in cash

The payment methods the vendor lists for residents are a bank transfer, a credit card and a debit card, with no retail cash option anywhere in that table, and landlords cannot change which methods are offered.

On the page: Section 'Payment Methods' table

support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-…Checked

MaintenanceYes

Maintenance requests

Tenants invited to the resident portal raise requests with photos, and you move each one through statuses, filter by status and attach the spending to the job; the vendor says it is open to every plan.

Do I need a specific subscription to use Maintenance requests? No, Maintenance is open to all subscription levels.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/11739024…Checked

The booksYes

Income and expenses by property

Income and expenses are imported and categorised by property, and the vendor names the reports it produces, among them an income statement, net cash flow and a tax package for your accountant.

Stessa delivers a proper Income Statement, Net Cash Flow report, Schedule of Real Estate Owned, and Tenant Ledger

stessa.comChecked

The booksPartly

Schedule E report

A Schedule E report exists but not on the free plan: the comparison table gives the free tier a basic tax package and adds Schedule E from the Manage plan upward.

On the page: Comparison table, Reporting and taxes section

stessa.com/pricingChecked

The booksYes

Bank sync

Automated bank data feeds are unlimited on every plan, including the free one, and the vendor says it imports and categorises transactions from banks, lenders, credit cards and property managers.

Stessa securely imports, categorizes, and indexes all your expenses seamlessly. Connect to banks, lenders, credit cards, and property managers

stessa.com/bankingChecked

The booksYes

Bank accounts from the vendor

Stessa opens deposit accounts for you through its partner bank, as many as you want, with no minimum balance and no monthly maintenance fee, and rent can be paid straight into them.

Open as many personal and business accounts as you like, with no minimum balance. And you won’t pay maintenance or inbound wire fees.

stessa.com/bankingChecked

The booksYes

A bank account per property

You can tie a separate account to each property at no extra cost, or point individual leases at different outside bank accounts of your own.

You can even set up a separate bank account for each rental property or portfolio of assets.

stessa.com/bankingChecked

The booksYes

Receipts

Receipts are photographed and read into transactions against a property, with the free and Manage plans limited to five scans a month and Pro making them unlimited.

On the page: Comparison table, Accounting section

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Managing for other ownersPartly

Team users

You invite collaborators to a portfolio with roles covering tenants, listings, screening, leases, reports and transactions, and the vendor charges nothing extra for them, but they only get paid features inside the portfolio you shared.

Collaborators can help with the following, depending on the role you assign them: add, edit, and delete Tenants, Properties, and Maintenance Tasks;…

support.stessa.com/en/articles/8923940-…Checked

Your tenantsYes

Tenant app

Tenants get a resident portal of their own where they pay rent, set up autopay and raise maintenance requests with photos and status notifications; the vendor does not describe a messaging thread with you.

Once inside the resident portal, tenants can submit maintenance requests

support.stessa.com/en/articles/11739024…Checked

Your tenantsYes

Renters insurance

Marking insurance as required on a new lease makes Stessa email the tenant about the requirement and point them at its partner Sure for a quote; the vendor does not say how proof of a policy is recorded.

When you create a new lease in Stessa and indicate that renters insurance is required

support.stessa.com/en/articles/11826371…Checked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Free plan or trial

The Essentials plan is free for unlimited properties and covers rent collection, bank feeds, basic reports, screening, listings and maintenance; the tenant pays the payment fees, which are nothing for a bank transfer into a Stessa account.

On the page: Essentials plan card

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Sign up without a sales call

You sign yourself up from the website with an email address and a property address, set a first property up in minutes and upgrade or cancel in the subscription settings; no demo call is required.

Most users can fully set up their first property in 5–10 minutes.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-…Checked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Contract and cancelling

Both paid plans are sold monthly or annually, you cancel yourself in the subscription settings, and the vendor says cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing cycle with no refund for unused time.

Cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing cycle. No partial refunds or prorated credits are issued for cancellations.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/8923940-…Checked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Support

Everyone gets email and the in-app chat, priority chat comes with the Manage plan and live phone support only with Pro; the vendor publishes no hours for any of them.

On the page: Comparison table, Customer support section

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Getting your data out

A full data export is on every plan, the free one included, and the vendor says your data and portfolios stay intact if you cancel, with the account dropping back to the free tier.

On the page: Comparison table, Reporting and taxes section

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

United States

It is built for United States rentals and needs a United States bank: rent into your own account requires a US checking account with a social security or employer number, and the vendor says it serves no other country.

Stessa is currently available only for U.S. based residential income property owners.

support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-…Checked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Property types

The vendor says it is purpose-built for residential income property and names single-family rentals, duplexes and small apartment buildings, while declining office, industrial and complicated commercial leases.

Stessa is purpose-built for residential income properties, including: Single-family rentals Duplexes Small apartment buildings

support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-…Checked

Trying it, starting and getting helpYes

Still sold

live: the vendor sells all three plans to new customers today, publishes interest rates dated September 2026 and marks maintenance requests as newly shipped on the pricing page.

Essentials is a free plan and Manage and Pro are premium subscription plans.

stessa.com/pricingChecked

Stessa alternatives

All 9 alternatives

Is this yours?

Own this product? Claim the page free to see who reads it and show it is yours. You confirm it with an email at stessa.com.

Report an error if a fact is wrong.