Landlory
Stessa
Free asset-management and accounting platform for rental investors.
Overview
Stessa is a free asset-management and accounting platform aimed at rental investors rather than day-to-day managers. It centers on financial tracking, dashboards, automated bookkeeping, and tax-ready reports, with unlimited properties on the free tier and paid tiers that add forecasting and custom reports.
What makes it different
Stessa treats rentals as assets to be measured, not just units to be managed: its dashboards and automated books are tuned to show portfolio performance and returns. That investor lens is the point — you reach for Stessa when the question is "how is my money doing," not "who's late on rent."
Who it's for
- Investors who judge their portfolio by returns and performance
- Owners who want hands-off bookkeeping and tax reports for free
- Buyers who'll pay for forecasting once the basics aren't enough
Who should look elsewhere
- Landlords who need leasing, maintenance, and tenant portals
- Owners whose central daily task is collecting rent reliably
Pros
- Best-in-class free financial tracking and dashboards for investors
- Automated bookkeeping and tax-ready reports
- Affiliate with a 2-year earning window
Cons
- Not a full PM tool (limited leasing/maintenance/tenant portal)
- Rent collection less robust than dedicated PM apps
What users say
Stessa carries a Capterra rating near 4.4, and investors generally rate its best-in-class free financial tracking, dashboards, and automated, tax-ready bookkeeping highly — it's the tool they reach for to gauge portfolio performance. The consistent caveat is scope rather than quality: reviewers note it isn't a full PM platform, with thin leasing, maintenance, and tenant portals and rent collection that lags dedicated apps.
Pricing
Essentials is free with unlimited properties and covers income/expense tracking, while Manage ($12/mo) and Pro ($28/mo, both paid annually) add custom reports and forecasting. There are no per-unit fees or minimums. The real limitation isn't price but scope: leasing, maintenance and tenant portals are thin, and rent collection lags dedicated PM apps.
- Unlimited properties
- Automatic bank feeds
- Basic financial reports
- Tenant screening & online rent
- Everything in Essentials
- Maintenance requests & tracking
- Schedule E report
- 60+ legal forms & templates
- Accelerated rent payments
- Everything in Manage
- Unlimited portfolios & advanced reports
- Budgeting & pro-forma
- Unlimited receipt scanning
- Priority tenant screening & support
Features
Rent & accounting
- Online rent collection✓
- Accounting✓
- Expense tracking✓
- Bank integration✓
- Reporting✓
Leasing & tenants
- Listing syndication✕
- Online applications✕
- Tenant screeningPartial
- Lease management✕
- Tenant portal✕
- Renters insurance✕
Management & ops
- Maintenance requests✕
- Owner portal✕
- Document storage✓
- AI featuresPartial
- Mobile app✓
Alternatives to Stessa
FAQ
If Stessa is free, how does it make money?
The free Essentials tier earns via financial-services partnerships and by upselling paid Manage ($12/mo) and Pro ($28/mo) tiers for custom reports and forecasting. Core financial tracking stays genuinely free with unlimited properties and no per-unit fees.
Can I run my whole rental business on Stessa alone?
Not really — it's an accounting and asset-tracking tool, not a full PM platform. Leasing, maintenance and tenant portals are absent or thin, and rent collection lags dedicated PM apps, so most landlords pair it with a leasing tool.
Is Stessa's rent collection robust enough to rely on?
It's serviceable but less robust than dedicated PM apps, so if reliable, full-featured rent collection is your central need, Stessa is better as the bookkeeping layer behind a tool that handles payments first.
Who is Stessa actually best for?
Rental investors who treat properties as assets to measure — its standout is best-in-class free dashboards, automated bookkeeping and tax-ready reports. It's the pick when performance and returns matter more than leasing or maintenance.
Does Stessa do tenant screening or leasing?
Tenant screening is only partial and there's no leasing or applications functionality, so those workflows need a separate tool — Stessa stays focused on the financial side.