# Stessa — Free rental bookkeeping, banking, leasing and rent collection for US residential landlords. > Source: Landlord Bench — https://landlordbench.com/stessa (structured, researched, re-verified) 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. **Best for:** US landlords who self-manage a few rentals and want the books and rent in one place | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Website | https://www.stessa.com/ | | Category | Rental accounting, Cheapest for 25 units, Landlords who self-manage, Free landlord software | | Open source | No | | Price | Free | | Price checked | 27 October 2026 | Screenshot of Stessa: https://landlordbench.com/img/1920/screenshots/stessa.webp, captured 27 October 2026 **What we checked** - Pages last read: 27 October 2026 - Price on its site: Free plan (From its pricing page) ## Stessa price and terms **Terms** - Free plan: Yes — 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: Yes **What needs a higher plan** - Manage: Leases signed online, Schedule E report Pricing page as we captured it: https://landlordbench.com/img/1920/screenshots/stessa/pricing.webp, captured 27 October 2026 Read on https://www.stessa.com/pricing/, 27 October 2026. ## What we checked on Stessa ### What it costs for 25 units **Cost for 25 units a month** · Yes — $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. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Essentials plan card, checked 27 October 2026 **Cost for 5 units a month** · Yes — $0 a month on Essentials for 5 units. Charged per 1 units: 5 × $0 (rent payment by bank transfer). > Essentials Free For newer investors looking to get organized and accomplish key tasks efficiently. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Essentials plan card, checked 27 October 2026 **Cost for 50 units a month** · Yes — $0 a month on Essentials for 50 units. Charged per 1 units: 50 × $0 (rent payment by bank transfer). > Essentials Free For newer investors looking to get organized and accomplish key tasks efficiently. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Essentials plan card, checked 27 October 2026 **What the price is based on** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table intro line above 'What exactly is included?', checked 27 October 2026 **Rent payment fees** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/12092570-stessa-rent-payment-convenience-fee-faqs · Convenience Fee Details, 'How much is the convenience fee?', checked 27 October 2026 **What your tenants can be charged** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/leasing/ · Footnote beneath 'Experience seamless leasing with Stessa', checked 27 October 2026 **Minimum units or minimum fee** · No — 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. > All plans include an unlimited number of properties. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Line above the plan comparison table, checked 27 October 2026 **Unit caps** · No — 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. > Properties | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Asset Management, Properties row, checked 27 October 2026 **Promotion and regular price** · Yes — 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 > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Heading above the plan cards, 'Which plan is right for you?', checked 27 October 2026 ### Finding a tenant **Listing your vacancy** · Yes — 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 > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8719548-how-to-use-listings-applications · Section 'Zillow Syndication', checked 27 October 2026 **Online applications** · Yes — 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 > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8719548-how-to-use-listings-applications · Section 'Built-in Rental Applications & Screening', checked 27 October 2026 **Tenant screening** · Yes — 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” > — https://www.stessa.com/leasing/ · Screening price cards, Complete Screening Package, checked 27 October 2026 **Income verification** · Partly — 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 > — https://www.stessa.com/leasing/ · Optional Add-Ons section, checked 27 October 2026 ### Leases and rent **Leases signed online** · Partly — 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. > eSign leases, contracts, etc. | x | 1 / month | 7 / month > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Document management, eSign row, checked 27 October 2026 **State-specific leases** · Yes — 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 > — https://www.stessa.com/leasing/ · Lease agreements section, checked 27 October 2026 **Rent collected online** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-stessa-rent-collection · Section 'Timeline for Payments', checked 27 October 2026 **Autopay and reminders** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-stessa-rent-collection · Section 'Ongoing Rent Collection', checked 27 October 2026 **Late fees** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/rent-collection/ · Hero paragraph, checked 27 October 2026 **Partial payments** · Yes — 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). > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-stessa-rent-collection · Section 'How to Enable & Disable Partial Payments', checked 27 October 2026 **Security deposits** · Partly — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11954577-how-to-record-and-apply-a-security-deposit-in-stessa · Flow 1, note after Step 3, checked 27 October 2026 **Rent paid in cash** · No — 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. > Payment Method | ACH → Cash Management | ACH → External bank | Credit Card | Debit Card > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-stessa-rent-collection · Section 'Payment Methods' table, checked 27 October 2026 ### Maintenance **Maintenance requests** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11739024-stessa-maintenance · Frequently Asked Questions, checked 27 October 2026 ### The books **Income and expenses by property** · Yes — 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 > — https://www.stessa.com/ · Financial Reporting section, checked 27 October 2026 **Schedule E report** · Partly — 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. > Accountant tax package | Basic tax package | Plus Schedule E | Plus CapEx > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Reporting and taxes section, checked 27 October 2026 **Bank sync** · Yes — 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 > — https://www.stessa.com/banking/ · Reliable Data section, checked 27 October 2026 **Bank accounts from the vendor** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/banking/ · Section 'Grow your portfolio and keep more of what’s yours.', checked 27 October 2026 **A bank account per property** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/banking/ · Section 'Grow your portfolio and keep more of what’s yours.', checked 27 October 2026 **Receipts** · Yes — 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. > Smart receipt scanning | 5 / month | 5 / month | Unlimited > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Accounting section, checked 27 October 2026 ### Managing for other owners **Team users** · Partly — 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; create Listings; screen Applicants > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8923940-stessa-pro-faqs · FAQ 'Can I buy a subscription for a collaborator?', checked 27 October 2026 ### Your tenants **Tenant app** · Yes — 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 > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11739024-stessa-maintenance · Section 'Step 3: Tenant Creates a Maintenance Request', checked 27 October 2026 **Renters insurance** · Yes — 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 > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11826371-renters-insurance-with-stessa · Section 'Does Stessa offer renters insurance?', checked 27 October 2026 ### Trying it, starting and getting help **Free plan or trial** · Yes — 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. > Essentials Free For newer investors looking to get organized and accomplish key tasks efficiently. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Essentials plan card, checked 27 October 2026 **Sign up without a sales call** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-stessa-new-customer-faq · Section 'How Long Does Setup Take?', checked 27 October 2026 **Contract and cancelling** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8923940-stessa-pro-faqs · FAQ 'How do I cancel or downgrade?', checked 27 October 2026 **Support** · Yes — 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. > Basic support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ … Priority chat support | x | ✓ | ✓ … Live phone support | x | x | ✓ > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Customer support section, checked 27 October 2026 **Getting your data out** · Yes — 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. > Full data export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Comparison table, Reporting and taxes section, checked 27 October 2026 **United States** · Yes — 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. > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-stessa-new-customer-faq · Section 'Is Stessa Available Outside the U.S.?', checked 27 October 2026 **Property types** · Yes — 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 > — https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-stessa-new-customer-faq · Section 'Can I Use Stessa for Commercial Properties?', checked 27 October 2026 **Still sold** · Yes — 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. > — https://www.stessa.com/pricing/ · Footnote at the foot of the pricing page, checked 27 October 2026 ## Stessa alternatives - [TurboTenant](https://landlordbench.com/turbotenant) · Free plan, then $12.42 a month billed annually: US landlord software for posting rentals, screening, leases and online rent, free with renter-paid fees. - [Rentec Direct](https://landlordbench.com/rentec-direct) · From $25 a month: Property management software for landlords and small managers, priced per unit with free rent payments by bank transfer. - [TenantCloud](https://landlordbench.com/tenantcloud) · From $25 a month: All-in-one rental management: listings, screening, leases, rent collection, maintenance and accounting. - [Hemlane](https://landlordbench.com/hemlane) · Free plan, then $36.50 a month: Rental management software with optional 24/7 repair coordination and leasing help, priced per unit. - [Baselane](https://landlordbench.com/baselane) · Free plan, then $20 a month billed annually: Landlord banking, rent collection and bookkeeping for rental property owners in one account. - [Innago](https://landlordbench.com/innago) · Free plan: Free rental management software for small landlords, paid for by tenant payment and screening fees. - [Landlord Studio](https://landlordbench.com/landlord-studio) · Free plan, then $15 a month: Rental listings, screening, rent collection and landlord bookkeeping in one app, free for up to three units. - [DoorLoop](https://landlordbench.com/doorloop) · From $239 a month: AI agents answer tenants, run repairs and renewals inside the same system holding your leases and books. - [Avail](https://landlordbench.com/avail) · From $9 a seat a month: Free all-in-one software for do-it-yourself landlords: listings, screening, leases, rent and repairs. All 9 publish a price. [All 9 alternatives](https://landlordbench.com/stessa/alternatives/) ## Sources and changes Last changed 27 October 2026 **Sources** (13) - https://www.stessa.com/pricing/, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/6263584-stessa-rent-collection, read 27 October 2026 - https://www.stessa.com/leasing/, read 27 October 2026 - https://www.stessa.com/banking/, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/2680071-stessa-new-customer-faq, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11739024-stessa-maintenance, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8719548-how-to-use-listings-applications, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/8923940-stessa-pro-faqs, read 27 October 2026 - https://www.stessa.com/, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11826371-renters-insurance-with-stessa, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/11954577-how-to-record-and-apply-a-security-deposit-in-stessa, read 27 October 2026 - https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/12092570-stessa-rent-payment-convenience-fee-faqs, read 27 October 2026 - https://www.stessa.com/rent-collection/, read 27 October 2026 ## Is this yours? Claim Stessa: https://landlordbench.com/claim/stessa Report an error if a fact is wrong: hello@landlordbench.com, subject "Report an error: Stessa (stessa)".