Need help choosing the best landlord software for rental property management? In this article, we'll compare two popular options, Baselane and Stessa. We'll delve into the features, products and services, pricing, and overall user experience of each platform.

Key takeaways

• Baselane offers a wide range of features for free, including rent collection, landlord banking, and financial reports.
• Baselane is ideal for landlords and real estate investors seeking an integrated platform for managing rental property finances.
• Stessa has a free version, but advanced features are only available on paid plans.
• Stessa is best suited for managing properties and rental applications with a mobile app.

Baselane overview

Baselane is a banking and bookkeeping platform built for real estate investors, landlords, rental property owners, and smaller property management companies.

Baselane combines purpose-built banking for real estate businesses with integrated rent collection, bookkeeping, and tenant management. With no monthly account maintenance fees or minimum balances, Baselane makes it easy to get started.

With Baselane, you can track rental income and expenses, upload and store signed lease agreements, collect online rent payments, and generate financial reports for multiple residential properties.

Baselane also offers access to tenant screening reports, rental property loans, and landlord insurance.

Baselane key features

Banking built for real estate businesses

• Unlimited checking accounts and savings accounts per property to organize income, operating expenses, security deposits, projects, and more.
• Earn up to [v="apyvalue"] APY² and 1% cash back³ on debit card purchases.
• Physical and virtual debit cards with spend controls; Baselane Smart adds automated transaction tagging.
• One-time and recurring payments and transfers.
• No-fee cash deposits and withdrawals at over 55,000 Allpoint ATMs.
• Mobile check deposits and on-demand checkbooks.

Hassle-free rent collection and tenant management

• Online rent collection via ACH and card; ACH is free when deposited into Baselane Banking, while external-account ACH payments have a $2 fee that can be paid by the landlord or tenant.
• Automated rent payments, reminders, and late fees.
• Real-time payment notifications and payment tracking.
• Dedicated Baselane tenant portal with auto-pay option.
• Tenant screening reports.
• Lease document upload and storage.
• Maintenance and repair request management.

Accounting built for rental properties

• Automated income and expense tracking.
• Consolidated ledger for Baselane banking and external account transactions.
• Capture receipts and add notes.
• 1-click categorization with 120+ real estate-specific categories based on Schedule E.
• On-demand financial reports and downloadable tax package.
• Real-time cash flow analytics by property.
• QuickBooks and Xero integration.

Baselane pricing

Baselane pros and cons

Pros

• Unlimited entities + unlimited accounts per entity
• ACH and wire payments with recurring payment rules
• Easy bank account integrations
• Organize and save payees and vendors
• Auto-tag transactions for easy tax preparation
• Fast payments in 2-5 days
• Add debit cards to Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets
• Purchase rental property insurance directly through the platform
• Get matched with rental property lenders through Baselane's lending partners
• Native iOS and Android mobile apps
• Tenant screening with comprehensive background checks

Cons

• Smaller user community compared to some competitors
• Leasing and vacancy marketing tools less prominent than property-management-first platforms

Stessa overview

Stessa combines rental property accounting and financial tracking with rent collection, Cash Management accounts, leasing, tenant screening, vacancy marketing, and maintenance tools. Advanced reporting and some support options remain limited by plan.

Stessa key features

• Stessa cash management account to pay vendors, collect rent, and earn cash back.
• Tenant screening through RentPrep, including background checks and credit reports.
• Lease document e-signing and templates (paid plans only).
• Generate basic financial reports on the free plan; Schedule E reports require a paid plan.
• Smart receipt scanning (most plans limited to 5/month).
• Vacancy advertising and listing syndication.
• Maintenance requests and tracking.

Stessa pricing

Stessa offers three pricing tiers:

• Essentials (Free): Unlimited properties, bank feeds, basic reports, vacancy advertising, rent collection, and maintenance requests.
• Manage ($12-15/month): Adds Schedule E reports, legal forms, 1 e-signature/month, and priority chat support.
• Pro ($28-35/month): Includes unlimited portfolios, advanced reports, budgeting, unlimited receipt scanning, 7 e-signatures/month, up to 3.49% APY, and phone support.

Stessa pros and cons

Pros

• Organize transactions and 15+ reports
• Dedicated mobile app
• Real estate document and receipt storage
• Earn 1.1% cash back on purchases
• Tenant screening and rental applications
• Vacancy advertising with Zillow syndication
• Maintenance requests feature

Cons

• Doesn't support cash deposits
• Higher interest rates only on Pro Plan
• Advanced reporting only on Pro Plan
• Tenants can pay by ACH, debit card, or credit card; card payments carry a 3% tenant fee
• Limited e-sign lease documents
• No QuickBooks or Xero integration
• Bank integration issues reported by some users

Stessa vs. Baselane

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	Baselane	Stessa
Pricing	$0/month (Core), $20/month (Smart)	$0-$35/month
Banking
Multiple Entity Accounts & Unlimited Accounts
APY Interest	Up to [v="apyvalue"] APY²	Up to 2.02% APY (3.49% APY Pro Plan)
Cash Back on Debit Cards	1%³	1.1%
Unlimited Virtual Cards with Spend Controls		❌
ACH & Wire Transfers	Standard ACH $0; wires $15, waived with $50K+ combined balance	Standard ACH $0; outbound wires $5
Checkbooks & Print-to-Mail Checks		❌
Cash Deposits		❌
Rent Collection
Collect Rent Directly into Bank Account
Recurring Invoices
Fast Payments: 2-5 Days		Paid Plans
Automated Late Fees & Reminders
Block Partial Rent Payments		❌
Lease Creation & E-Signing	Legacy users only	Available with plan limits
Flexible Tenant Payment Options
Tenant Auto-Pay
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Property & Unit Level Tagging
120 Real Estate Specific Income & Expense Categories		❌
Schedule E Reporting	(Free)	Paid Plans
Unlimited Receipt Capture		Pro Plan
Automated Expense Tracking with Virtual Cards		❌
QuickBooks/Xero Integration		❌
Integrated Bookkeeping, Banking & Rent Collection

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Final thoughts: Baselane vs. Stessa

While Stessa offers solid tax and financial reporting features for landlords, Baselane is a strong choice for affordability, landlord banking, and advanced features.

Stessa's dedicated mobile app, vacancy advertising with Zillow syndication, and user community of 350,000+ landlords could appeal to some property owners. However, these features come with trade-offs: Schedule E reporting requires a paid plan, there's no QuickBooks or Xero integration, and some users report bank connection issues.

Baselane's integrated banking and bookkeeping platform includes premium features starting at $0 per month. You get expense tracking and reporting, more tenant payment options, lease document storage, and free Schedule E reports, while Baselane Banking has no monthly account maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. Plus, Baselane offers QuickBooks and Xero integration for investors who work with accountants or need professional accounting workflows.

Get started with Baselane for free today!