Stessa vs Baselane: Which Is Better for Landlords in 2026?
Stessa excels at portfolio tracking and tax reporting. Baselane leads with landlord banking and rent collection. We break down which is right for your rental business.
Stessa wins overall for financial visibility and tax prep; Baselane wins if you want a dedicated landlord bank account with native rent collection.
If you’re a landlord trying to pick between Stessa and Baselane, you’re actually looking at two different tools that happen to overlap in one area: tracking rental income.
Stessa is a portfolio management and financial tracking platform. It’s built for investors who want clear visibility into property performance, clean expense reports, and painless Schedule E tax prep.
Baselane is a landlord banking platform first, property manager second. It gives you a real business bank account with rent collection, expense tracking, and basic bookkeeping baked in.
Both are free (with paid tiers). Both connect to your bank accounts. But they solve different problems — and the right choice depends on which problem matters more to you.
Quick Verdict
| Stessa | Baselane | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Tracking, reporting, and taxes | Banking + rent collection |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Paid tier | Stessa Pro (~$20/month) | Baselane Plus (~$15/month) |
| Bank account | No (connects to existing accounts) | Yes (built-in landlord banking) |
| Rent collection | Yes (via partner) | Yes (native, ACH + credit card) |
| Tax reports | Excellent (Schedule E ready) | Basic |
| Portfolio analytics | Yes | Limited |
Choose Stessa if: You want the best financial visibility and easiest tax prep.
Choose Baselane if: You want an all-in-one banking account built specifically for rental income.
Stessa Overview
Stessa was built by real estate investors and acquired by Roofstock in 2022. Its core promise: give landlords the same financial clarity that professional property managers have, for free.
What Stessa Does Well
Financial tracking is unmatched. Connect your bank accounts, mortgage accounts, and credit cards. Stessa auto-categorizes every transaction — mortgage payments, repairs, insurance, management fees — and assigns them to the right property. Most transactions get correctly categorized without any manual intervention.
Tax time is actually painless. Stessa generates a Schedule E Worksheet ready for your accountant or TurboTax import. It also supports 1099 e-filing (Stessa Pro) and tracks depreciation. If you dread tax season, this alone is worth it.
Portfolio analytics are genuinely useful. Net operating income, cash-on-cash return, cap rate, occupancy rate — Stessa calculates these automatically from your transaction data. You can benchmark properties side by side and spot underperformers without building spreadsheets.
The free plan is genuinely generous. Unlimited properties, unlimited transactions, income and expense tracking, tax package prep — all free. Stessa Pro adds e-filing, lease tracking, and a few reporting upgrades for around $20/month.
Where Stessa Falls Short
- No native banking. You connect external accounts rather than moving money through Stessa.
- Rent collection is powered by a third party (not as seamless as native solutions).
- Tenant management features are minimal — this isn’t a full property management suite.
→ Try Stessa free — no credit card required
Baselane Overview
Baselane launched in 2020 with a thesis: landlords deserve a real banking product, not just a tracking tool. It offers FDIC-insured checking accounts, virtual cards, and an integrated payment layer — all wrapped in a dashboard that understands rental income.
What Baselane Does Well
The banking experience is built for landlords. Unlike connecting a Chase or Wells Fargo account to a tracker, Baselane gives you actual business banking with features landlords actually need: separate virtual accounts per property, automatic rent collection via ACH, and payment categorization that maps to real estate expense categories.
Rent collection is native and frictionless. Tenants pay online. The money lands in your Baselane account. The transaction is automatically tagged to the right property and expense category.
Virtual cards per property mean you can issue a dedicated card to each property for expenses, keeping everything cleanly separated without manual allocation.
High-yield savings on your rental reserves earns a competitive APY — a meaningful benefit if you’re sitting on security deposits or capital reserves.
Where Baselane Falls Short
- Financial reporting is less detailed than Stessa. Schedule E prep is less polished.
- No deep portfolio analytics — cap rate, cash-on-cash return, NOI dashboards aren’t as well-developed.
- Customer support has had mixed reviews at scale.
→ Open a Baselane account free
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Financial Tracking
Winner: Stessa — Transaction auto-categorization is more accurate, the chart of accounts maps better to real estate accounting, and the reporting suite is significantly more comprehensive.
Tax Reporting
Winner: Stessa — Schedule E worksheet, depreciation tracking, and 1099 e-filing (Pro) make tax prep straightforward. Baselane covers the basics but doesn’t match Stessa’s tax-specific depth.
Banking
Winner: Baselane — Stessa doesn’t offer banking at all. Baselane gives you an FDIC-insured account, virtual property cards, high-yield savings, and ACH transfers.
Rent Collection
Winner: Baselane — Baselane’s rent collection is native and tightly integrated with its banking layer. Money collected goes directly into your Baselane account, already categorized.
Portfolio Analytics
Winner: Stessa — Net yield, cap rate, occupancy, and expense ratios are calculated automatically. Baselane doesn’t match this depth.
Pricing
| Plan | Stessa | Baselane |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Unlimited properties, tracking, tax package | Banking, rent collection, basic tracking |
| Paid | ~$20/month (Pro) | ~$15/month (Plus) |
Who Should Choose Stessa?
✅ Real estate investors who care about portfolio performance — Stessa’s analytics and reporting are built for people thinking about ROI, cap rates, and long-term value creation.
✅ Landlords who dread tax season — Stessa’s automated categorization and Schedule E worksheet will save you hours every April.
✅ Landlords who already have a preferred bank — Stessa lets you keep your existing bank while adding powerful tracking on top.
Who Should Choose Baselane?
✅ Landlords who want everything in one banking account — Switching to Baselane’s landlord-purpose account is a meaningful upgrade from a personal or generic business account.
✅ Landlords focused on cash flow — Baselane’s rent collection and automatic categorization make tracking simpler when money moves through one system.
✅ New landlords setting up their financial infrastructure — Baselane is an excellent starting point if you’re building systems from scratch.
Can You Use Both?
Yes — and many landlords do. Use Baselane for banking and rent collection, and connect your Baselane account to Stessa for deeper tracking and tax reporting. Both have free tiers so cost isn’t a barrier.
Final Verdict
Stessa wins overall for most landlords — particularly investors who want meaningful financial insights and clean tax reporting. Its tracking depth, portfolio analytics, and tax prep tools are best-in-class among free options.
Baselane wins if your primary need is landlord banking and you want rent collection, expense cards, and reserves in one account.
Best combo: Use Baselane for banking + rent collection, connect to Stessa for tracking and analytics.
→ Try Stessa free | → Open a Baselane account
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