Stessa is great — until it isn't. Here's what to use when you outgrow it

Most landlords I hear from have the same Stessa story. They signed up, it was free, it worked well for a while — and then at some point it stopped being enough. The free tier didn't change. Their situation did.

Here's an honest look at what Stessa is actually great at, where it runs into walls, and what to move to depending on what you need.

What Stessa gets right

The free tier is legitimately impressive. Bank sync, automated categorization, online rent collection, and basic reporting — all at no cost. If you're a new landlord with one or two properties on a personal return, Stessa probably covers everything you need, and there's no compelling reason to pay for anything else.

• Clean interface — built for landlords, not accountants. Properties are front and center.
• Free rent collection — tenants pay online, income records automatically.
• Good mobile experience — easy to use on the go.
• Active development — the product has improved steadily over the last few years.

Where it hits a ceiling

It's not double-entry accounting

Stessa tracks income and expenses well, but there's no real chart of accounts, no journal entries, and no balance sheet built on debits and credits. For a simple rental portfolio this doesn't matter. For an LLC that needs to show financials to a lender or support a partnership return, it does.

You still assign properties manually

Stessa's AI categorizes transactions automatically — that part is solid. But it still requires you to manually tell it which property each transaction belongs to. With multiple properties and overlapping expenses (one insurance policy, one contractor working across units), this adds up to real time.

No multi-member LLC support

If you own property with a partner, Stessa can't model that properly. There are no partner capital accounts, no allocation tracking, and no way to generate K-1s. Multi-user access requires a paid plan, but sharing a login isn't the same as actual partnership accounting. When partnership tax time comes, you're on your own.

Schedule E reports are behind a paywall

Schedule E export requires the $12/month Manage plan. On the free tier you can see your numbers, but you can't get them in the format your accountant actually needs.

Depreciation is manual

You can enter a depreciation number in Stessa, but it won't calculate or track it for you. If you have multiple assets at different rates, that math happens outside the tool.

Who should stay on Stessa

If you have one or two rentals, file a personal Schedule E, and just want clean income and expense records — stay. The free tier earns its reputation and there's no reason to overcomplicate things.

Who should move on

• You own through a multi-member LLC and need partnership-ready books
• You need a real balance sheet that reconciles
• You're spending real time on manual property attribution
• Your accountant keeps asking for reports Stessa can't generate
• You want depreciation tracked automatically rather than entered by hand

The alternatives worth considering

Kulta — the upgrade path for landlords who've outgrown Stessa

Full double-entry accounting, AI categorization that assigns transactions to the right property automatically, real balance sheet, depreciation tracking, and multi-member LLC support with partnership-friendly reporting. Free tier includes Schedule E reports — no paywall.

REI Hub — for solo landlords who want accounting depth

$15/month, no free tier, but solid double-entry accounting and good mortgage tracking. No partnership support, but a good fit for the solo landlord who wants more rigor than Stessa.

Baselane — if landlord banking is the priority

Free business banking with per-property virtual accounts. Great for keeping rental money clean. Can pair well with a dedicated accounting tool if you want both.

Stessa got you started. When you need your books to actually be real — balance sheet, depreciation, partnership accounting — that's what Kulta is for. Free to start at kulta.app.