Stessa Pricing (2026): Plans, Fees and What Landlords Really Pay

Is Stessa worth paying for at your size

Stessa is accounting-first software for rental owners. It pulls in bank transactions, sorts income and expenses by property, and builds reports for tax time. It also offers rent collection, screening and listings, but most landlords choose it for the books.

Because no plan charges per unit, the question is which features you need, not how many doors you have.

Essentials (free) covers a single portfolio with unlimited properties, bank feeds, basic reports and online rent. The main limits are five receipt scans a month, no e-signatures and $15 per state lease. For a landlord with one to five units and simple finances, it’s enough.

Manage ($12 a month annually, $15 monthly) adds Schedule E reports, more than 60 legal forms, faster rent payouts, unlimited state leases and one e-signature a month. On lease fees alone, the break-even is high: $144 divided by $15 is 9.6, so you’d need to sign 10 or more leases a year on the free plan before Manage costs less. Three leases a year cost 3 x $15 = $45. For most owners, the real reason to upgrade is the ready-made Schedule E.

Pro ($28 a month annually, $35 monthly) adds unlimited portfolios, advanced reports, budgeting and pro-forma analysis, priority screening, phone support, RocketLawyer Pro and seven e-signatures a month. It’s built for investors who hold properties in several LLCs or partnerships and need separate books for each.

Landlord-paid and tenant-paid fees

Fee	Amount	Who pays
ACH rent to an outside bank	$2 per payment	Tenant
ACH rent into a Stessa Cash Management account	$0	n/a
Card rent payment	3%	Tenant
State lease on Essentials	$15 each	Landlord
Credit-only screening (RentPrep)	$29	Landlord or tenant
Background-only screening (RentPrep)	$29	Landlord only
Complete screening (RentPrep)	$49	Landlord or tenant

Screening is now delivered by RentPrep through Stessa. The prices above come from RentPrep’s own pricing page; Stessa’s page doesn’t list them. RentPrep also sells income verification add-ons at $10 (bank-linked) and $15 (payroll).

The real yearly cost at 1, 5 and 20 units

Assuming a $1,650 rent paid by ACH each month into an outside bank account:

Units	Essentials (you / tenants)	Manage annual (you / tenants)	Pro annual (you / tenants)
1	$0 / 12 x $2 = $24	$144 / $24	$336 / $24
5	$0 / 60 x $2 = $120	$144 / $120	$336 / $120
20	$0 / 240 x $2 = $480	$144 / $480	$336 / $480

If rent goes into a Stessa Cash Management account instead, the tenant column drops to $0 on every plan. At 20 units, that saves your tenants $480 a year.

Monthly billing costs more: Manage is 12 x $15 = $180 a year and Pro is 12 x $35 = $420.

A 5-unit year on the free plan

Here’s what a typical year costs on Essentials for five units at $1,650 rent, with one turnover:

• Subscription: $0.
• Rent: five tenants paying by ACH into an outside bank account pay 60 x $2 = $120 a year between them. Paid into a Stessa Cash Management account, it’s $0.
• One new lease: $15 for the state lease. With no e-signature on Essentials, you’ll sign it some other way.
• Screening for the turnover: three applicants buying the $49 complete package pay $147 between them.
• Receipts: five scans a month covers most small landlords; enter the rest manually.

Your cost for the year: $15. On Manage at $144, you’d add Schedule E reports, more than 60 legal forms, faster payouts and one e-signature a month.

Stessa vs other bookkeeping options at 20 units

Option	Cost per year	What you get
Stessa Essentials	$0	Bank feeds, basic reports, one portfolio
Stessa Manage (annual)	$144	Adds Schedule E, legal forms, unlimited state leases
Stessa Pro (annual)	$336	Adds unlimited portfolios, advanced reports, budgeting
Baselane Core	$0	Banking, property-level bookkeeping, Schedule E
Baselane Smart (annual)	$240	Adds auto-tagging, receipt matching, balance sheet
Buildium Essential (monthly)	$744	Full property management with double-entry accounting

Limits that act like hidden costs

Public reviews raise a few issues that cost time rather than money:

• Bank feeds. Some landlords report transactions removed automatically or connections that need frequent refreshing.
• Receipt scans. Essentials allows five a month. If you scan every hardware-store receipt, you’ll hit it.
• E-signature caps. Manage gives one e-signature a month and Pro seven. A lease with two tenants may use more than one.
• No refunds. Reviewers note that Stessa doesn’t refund subscriptions, so try the free plan before paying for a year.
• Single-entry accounting. Stessa’s books are simpler than a double-entry system like Buildium’s. That’s fine for your own properties but not for managing other people’s money.

Ways to pay less

• Start on Essentials. It covers bank feeds and basic reports for unlimited properties at $0.
• Pay annually. Manage drops from $180 to $144 a year, and Pro from $420 to $336.
• Have tenants pay into a Stessa Cash Management account to remove the $2 ACH fee.
• Buy leases one at a time if you sign fewer than ten a year on the free plan.
• Use a free rent app alongside it. Some landlords keep the books in Stessa and collect rent elsewhere.

Cheaper options than Stessa

Baselane’s Core plan is free and combines bank accounts, property-level bookkeeping, Schedule E reports and automated rent collection. Its Smart plan is $20 a month billed annually.

TurboTenant, Avail and Innago are free landlord apps with basic income and expense tracking, though their accounting is lighter than Stessa’s.

RentRedi costs $144 a year, the same as Stessa Manage, and covers listing, screening, leases and rent for unlimited units, with lighter bookkeeping.

If you outgrow single-entry books, Buildium Essential costs $62 a month and adds double-entry accounting and owner portals.