Independent review — last updated 2026.
Verdict in one line: Stessa is the best free option for landlords whose biggest headache is bookkeeping and taxes. Its automatic transaction tracking and tax-ready reports are excellent and genuinely free for unlimited properties — but it’s weaker than dedicated tools on rent collection and leasing, so many landlords pair it with a second app.
Our rating: 4.4 / 5 for accounting; 3.5 / 5 as an all-in-one.
| Best for | Bookkeeping, expense tracking, taxes |
| Price | Free; Pro ~$20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes — unusually generous |
| Standout feature | Automatic, tax-ready accounting |
| Biggest weakness | Rent/leasing features are secondary |
| Owned by | Roofstock (acquired 2022) |
What is Stessa?
Stessa is a financial-tracking platform built specifically for rental property owners. The easiest way to understand it: think of Mint or a personal-finance app, but designed for landlords. You connect your bank and credit card accounts through Plaid (a secure intermediary), and Stessa automatically imports your transactions, categorizes them by property, and produces financial reports — including the Schedule E figures you need at tax time.
It was acquired by Roofstock, the investment-property marketplace, in 2022. That matters in two ways: it makes Stessa financially stable and well-funded, and it means there’s a parent company with an interest in landlord data (there’s no evidence of misuse, but it’s a reasonable thing to be aware of).
Features
Automated accounting (the core). Connect your accounts and Stessa pulls in and categorizes transactions automatically — mortgage, insurance, property tax, repairs — assigning each to the right property. In testing by reviewers, auto-categorization runs around 85% accurate out of the box and improves as you correct it, because it learns your patterns.
Tax-ready reporting. Income statements, net cash flow, Schedule of Real Estate Owned, tenant ledgers, and Schedule E reports. This is where Stessa shines — tax season becomes export-and-go rather than a spreadsheet ordeal.
Dashboards. Real-time portfolio dashboards showing performance per property, all free.
Rent collection. Available, but generally routes through Stessa’s own banking product — which some landlords find limiting if they don’t want to open another account.
Leasing and screening. Lease templates with DocuSign e-signing, and tenant screening via RentPrep. These are newer additions and less mature than the accounting core.
Mobile app. Lets you categorize transactions, scan receipts, and check metrics on the go.
Pricing
The free Essentials plan is genuinely generous: unlimited properties, bank linking, automatic categorization, dashboards, and tax-ready reports — at no cost. Most landlords can run on the free tier indefinitely.
The Pro plan (around $20/month) adds nice-to-haves: net-worth tracking, market analysis, budgeting, pro-forma analysis, and QuickBooks export. There’s also a mid-tier in some configurations. For most small landlords, the free plan is enough and Pro is optional.
Pros and cons
Pros
– Outstanding free accounting and tax reporting
– Unlimited properties on the free plan
– Automatic transaction import and categorization that learns
– Clean, genuinely useful dashboards
– Financially stable (Roofstock-backed)
Cons
– Built as a financial tracker first — rent/leasing are secondary
– Rent collection generally pushes you to Stessa’s own banking
– Recurring complaints about bank-feed sync glitches
– Customer support is inconsistent
– Single-entry accounting; no double-entry or QuickBooks-grade depth
Who should use Stessa — and who shouldn’t
Use it if your biggest pain is tracking income and expenses and getting ready for taxes, and you want that for free across unlimited properties. It’s the strongest free accounting option for landlords, full stop.
Look elsewhere (or pair up) if you need robust rent collection and leasing as your primary workflow — in that case use TurboTenant or RentRedi for those tasks, and keep Stessa for the books. This combination is common and costs nothing if you stay on free tiers.
Stessa alternatives
For accounting specifically, the main alternatives are dedicated bookkeeping tools or the built-in accounting in RentRedi and TenantCloud. For an all-in-one that also handles money reasonably, TurboTenant is the broader pick. See our comparison for small landlords for the full picture.
Bottom line
Stessa does one thing extremely well — rental accounting — and gives it away free for unlimited properties. If taxes and expense tracking are what keep you up at night, it’s the best free tool for the job. Just don’t expect it to be your rent-collection and leasing hub; treat it as the financial backbone and pair it with a leasing tool if you need one.
Independent and reader-supported. Some links may be affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no cost to you, which never affects our verdict. Verify current pricing and features on Stessa’s site.