What is the best software for a small landlord in 2026?
If you own one to ten rentals, you can run them for $0 a year. The question is who pays instead of you, and what you give up. We did the math.
Rent shows up by Venmo, check or not at all. Your receipts live in a shoebox until tax season. A lease renewal sneaks up on you. Landlord software puts the lease, the rent ledger, the maintenance requests and your income and expense records in one place, so April is a download instead of a weekend.
The short answer: start with Stessa if your main headache is bookkeeping and taxes; its Essentials plan is free with unlimited properties. Pick TurboTenant if you are about to find a tenant: listings, screening and online rent collection are free, and a paid plan covers 1 to 10 units for $149 a year. RentRedi is the flat-fee option at $12 a month on the annual plan, for any number of units. Avail is free for landlords because tenants pay the transaction fees. Landlord Studio is the best fit if you want bookkeeping and rent tracking in one app and have three units or fewer.
Every price on this page is turned into a yearly cost for 1, 5 and 10 units. That is where per-unit and flat pricing stop looking alike.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link ever changes a score.
The best landlord software by situation
The 5 best apps for small landlords, compared
The full ranking. The "yearly cost" column shows what you pay for one unit with the cheapest plan that does the job. The 5 and 10 unit math sits further down, in the cost section.
| Best for | Yearly cost for 1 unit | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stessa | Best for bookkeeping and taxes | $0 (Essentials) | 4.4/5 | Free, Manage $12/mo billed yearly | ✓ | 1 to 10 units and up | Visit → |
| 2 | TurboTenant | Best for finding tenants | $0 (Free plan) | 4.2/5 | Free, Essentials $149/yr, Pro $199/yr | ✓ | 1 to 10 units | Visit → |
| 3 | RentRedi | Best flat price | $144 | 4.2/5 | $12/mo yearly, $29.95 monthly | — | Any number of units | Visit → |
| 4 | Avail | Best free plan for the landlord | $0 (tenants pay fees) | 4.0/5 | Free, Unlimited Plus $9 per unit per month | ✓ | 1 to 5 units | Visit → |
| 5 | Landlord Studio | Best all-in-one for 3 units | $0 (Go, up to 3 units) | 4.0/5 | Free, Pro $144/yr for 3 units | ✓ | 1 to 3 units | Visit → |
Scores on five criteria. Stessa and RentRedi carry the same scores as in our landlord property management ranking. Prices in US dollars, before sales tax.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and scored
Most pages that rank for this question are written by one of the vendors, and the author's own app tends to land at number one. None of them works out what a landlord pays per year at 5 or 10 units, and few say plainly that a "free" plan is often paid for by your tenant through payment or screening fees.
We read each vendor's official pricing page and plan comparison, then read landlord feedback, starting with the complaints: surprise fees, payment holds, slow support. Our reader owns 1 to 10 residential units in the US, self-manages, and has no bookkeeper on payroll.
Stessa and RentRedi keep the scores they have in our ranking of property management software for landlords: one tool, one score, everywhere on the site. Buildium stays out of this ranking. Its Essential plan starts at $65 a month, which makes sense for a growing portfolio, not for three units.
- Multi-property and entitiesSeveral units, several tenants and an LLC in one account without a plan change.30%
- Financial tracking and taxesRent ledger, expense tracking, bank sync and reports ready for Schedule E.25%
- Value for moneyYearly cost at 1, 5 and 10 units, including fees passed on to tenants.20%
- Ease of useSetup time, lease and rent collection without help, mobile app.15%
- Support and reliabilitySupport channels on the plan a small landlord actually buys, and payment reliability.10%
No affiliate link changes a score or a rank.
Stessa
Stessa started as a bookkeeping app for rental owners, and it shows. Every plan, including the free one, takes unlimited properties. You connect your bank accounts, it sorts income and expenses by property, and you see what each rental actually earns.
The free Essentials plan is enough to keep your records straight. Manage, at $12 a month billed yearly ($144) or $15 month to month, is where the tax side kicks in: Schedule E ready reports, so the numbers you hand to your tax preparer or type into your return come straight from the app. Pro costs $28 a month on the annual plan ($35 month to month), for owners who want the most complete version.
The flat pricing is the big deal here. Ten units cost the same as one. On per-unit tools, the bill grows with every door you add.
Its weak spot is the front end of the rental cycle. Stessa is not where you market a vacancy or run screening; landlords who need both often pair it with TurboTenant's free plan.
Tip: set up one property per entity from day one if you hold rentals in an LLC. Untangling mixed records in March is the job nobody wants.
- Unlimited properties on the free plan
- Schedule E reports from Manage
- Same price at 1 or 10 units
- ✓Strongest bookkeeping of the five
- ✓Free plan with no unit cap
- ✓Flat price as you grow
- ✗Weak on listings and screening
- ✗Tax reports need a paid plan
- ✗Support is email-first
The best pick if taxes are what keep you up at night. If your next job is filling a vacancy, add TurboTenant's free plan alongside it.
TurboTenant
TurboTenant covers the start of the rental cycle better than anyone in this ranking. On the free plan you post a listing, take applications, run screening and collect rent online. The screening fee is charged to the applicant, not to you.
Pricing is per portfolio size, billed yearly. For 1 to 10 units, Essentials costs $149 a year and adds lease e-signing; Pro costs $199 a year and adds tax-ready reports. Ten units for $149 a year is roughly $15 per unit, which is hard to beat.
The catch is in what "free" means. The core landlord features cost nothing, but leases and reports live in the paid tiers, and the vendor's own blog ranks TurboTenant first in its landlord software roundup. That does not make it a bad product. It means you should read the plan grid yourself before trusting any "best of" page, including ours.
Bookkeeping is lighter than Stessa's. If you already keep good records elsewhere, that matters less.
Tip: start on the free plan while the unit is vacant, then decide on Essentials once you have a tenant and need a lease signed.
- Free listings, screening and rent collection
- 1 to 10 units for $149 a year
- Applicant pays the screening fee
- ✓Best tenant search of the five
- ✓Very low cost per unit at 10 units
- ✓Easy to start with no card
- ✗Lease e-signing needs Essentials
- ✗Tax reports only on Pro
- ✗Bookkeeping lighter than Stessa
The tool to open the day a unit goes vacant. For year-round bookkeeping, Stessa does more.
RentRedi
RentRedi keeps pricing simple: one plan, unlimited units. On the annual plan it costs $12 a month, or $144 a year. Month to month, it jumps to $29.95, so commit for a year if you are sure.
The app is built around day-to-day operations: rent collection, tenants and maintenance in one place. Screening is paid by the applicant. Teammates are included, which helps if a spouse or a handyman needs access.
RentRedi and TurboTenant share a 4.2 score; TurboTenant ranks ahead because a landlord with one or two units can run it for $0, while RentRedi has no free plan.
Where it trails is financial reporting. The ledger does the job for rent, but for expense tracking and tax reports most landlords export to a bookkeeping app. That is why it sits behind Stessa despite the same value score.
Tip: if you only have one unit, RentRedi's $144 a year is more than the free plans above. It starts to pay off from three or four units, where a per-unit tool would cost more.
- $12/mo for unlimited units
- Unlimited tenants included
- Teammates included
- ✓Predictable flat cost
- ✓Teammates at no extra cost
- ✓Same price at 3 or 30 units
- ✗No free plan
- ✗Monthly billing is 2.5 times the annual rate
- ✗Light on tax reports
A good fixed-price choice from three units up. With one unit, Stessa or TurboTenant cost nothing.
Avail
Avail, owned by Realtor.com, gives landlords a free plan with no unit cap. You get listings, applications, screening, leases and online rent collection. The money comes from the tenant: on the free plan, each bank transfer costs the tenant $2.50, and card payments carry a percentage fee.
Unlimited Plus costs $9 per unit per month. That is where it gets expensive: five units on Plus come to $540 a year, more than three times RentRedi for the same five units.
Bookkeeping is basic. You get a rent ledger and some reports, but nothing close to Stessa's expense categories.
Tip: tell your tenant upfront that a bank transfer costs $2.50 through the app. Some will prefer to pay that than mail a check; others will ask you to cover it, and that is a negotiation, not a surprise.
- Free for landlords, no unit cap
- Leases and screening included
- Backed by Realtor.com
- ✓$0 for the landlord
- ✓Leases included on the free plan
- ✓Good fit for 1 to 5 units
- ✗Tenants pay transfer and card fees
- ✗Plus gets costly per unit
- ✗Basic bookkeeping
The cheapest way to get leases and rent collection, if your tenants accept the fees. With more units, a flat-price tool wins.
Landlord Studio
Landlord Studio mixes property management and bookkeeping in one app. You log rent and expenses by property and pull income reports. It also sells a UK plan (Pro at £12 a month), which no other app in this list does.
The free Go plan covers three units and one user, without bank feeds: you enter transactions by hand. Pro costs $15 a month or $144 a year for three units, adds bank feeds and online rent collection, then charges $1.20 per extra unit per month. Five units on Pro come to about $173 a year, ten to about $245.
That per-unit add-on is why it ranks last here. Below four units it is a strong all-in-one; above ten, Stessa and RentRedi stay flat while Landlord Studio keeps climbing.
Tip: use the 14-day Pro trial to connect your bank and import past transactions, then decide whether bank feeds are worth $144 a year to you.
- Bookkeeping and management in one app
- Income and expense reports
- US and UK support
- ✓Free for up to 3 units
- ✓Good expense tracking
- ✓14-day full trial
- ✗No bank feeds on Go
- ✗Cost per extra unit adds up
- ✗One user on the free plan
A solid all-in-one for two or three units. Past that, Stessa gives you the books for free and RentRedi the operations for a flat fee.
What landlord software really costs, and who pays for free
Landlord software does not manage for you. It collects, reminds and records. Three questions matter more than the feature list: what you pay at your number of units, whether your tenant is paying for your free plan, and what the app hands you at tax time.
Yearly cost at 1, 5 and 10 units
Free for you is not always free
What you get at tax time
- Count your units, not your buildings: a duplex is two units on every price grid.
- Check whether a plan is billed yearly or monthly; the gap can be 2.5 times.
- Find out who pays transfer and screening fees, you or your tenant.
- Make sure bank feeds are in the plan you will actually buy.
- Ask your tax preparer which report format they want before choosing.
- Export your ledger and documents once a year so you can switch apps freely.
Six settings that make your app actually work for you
A badly set up app sends late fees to a tenant who paid, or misses a renewal. These six settings take an evening and prevent most of the trouble.
Open a bank account just for rent
BeforeConnect a separate checking account for rental income and expenses. Bank feeds sort cleanly, your personal spending stays private, and an LLC keeps its separation on paper.
- Accounts
- One per entity
Load your lease dates before anything else
BeforeEnter the start date, end date and renewal notice period of each lease. Every reminder the app sends depends on these three dates.
- Dates to enter
- 3 per lease
Push tenants to autopay by bank transfer
CollectionBank transfers are the cheapest way to pay rent through most apps; cards cost the tenant a percentage. Autopay also ends the "I forgot" excuse.
- Avail free plan
- $2.50 per transfer, paid by tenant
Match late fees to your lease and state law
CollectionSet the grace period and the late fee exactly as written in your lease. States cap late fees differently; the app will apply what you type, not what is legal.
- Source of truth
- Your signed lease
Record expenses the day you pay them
BookkeepingRecord every repair or supply expense the day you pay it, attach the receipt, and tag it to the right property. It is the habit that makes Schedule E a ten-minute job.
- Best habit
- Same day, right property
Export everything before tax season
TaxesPull the yearly income and expense report in January and keep it with your lease files. If you ever switch apps, this export saves you from re-entering a year of rent.
- When
- Once a year
You picked your app, here's what comes next
Running rentals touches other tools. These pages cover what sits around your landlord app.
Entities, consolidated reporting, larger portfolios.
You need leases signed onlineBest e-signature for real estateWhen your app's signing is limited.
Your rentals are becoming a businessBest accounting software for the self-employedFor full books beyond Schedule E.
Best software for small landlords · FAQ
Is there free software for landlords that actually works?
Yes. Stessa's Essentials plan is free with unlimited properties for bookkeeping. TurboTenant and Avail are free for listings, screening and rent collection, with fees paid by applicants or tenants. Landlord Studio Go is free for up to three units, without bank feeds.How much should a small landlord pay for software?
Between $0 and about $150 a year for 1 to 10 units. Flat-price plans like RentRedi ($144 a year) and TurboTenant Essentials ($149 a year for up to 10 units) stay cheap as you grow. Per-unit plans like Avail Unlimited Plus ($9 per unit per month) climb fast.Do I need property management software for just one rental?
Not strictly, but a free plan saves time and protects you. Online rent collection gives you a dated record of every payment, and a signed digital lease is easier to find than a paper one. With one unit, there is no reason to pay: Stessa, TurboTenant or Avail cost you nothing.Which app is best for taxes and Schedule E?
Stessa, from its Manage plan at $12 a month on the annual plan. It sorts income and expenses by property and produces Schedule E ready reports. TurboTenant Pro also has tax-ready reports. Whatever you pick, keep receipts in the app, not in a drawer.Is landlord software tax deductible?
Generally yes, as an ordinary expense of your rental activity reported on Schedule E. Keep the yearly invoice and ask your tax preparer how to categorize it.Can tenants pay rent by credit card?
On most of these apps, yes, but the card fee usually falls on the tenant. Bank transfers cost little or nothing, so steer tenants toward autopay by bank transfer and keep cards as a backup.Should I self-manage or hire a property manager?
Self-managing is much cheaper if you live nearby and have time for calls and repairs. A property manager typically charges a percentage of collected rent plus leasing fees. Software covers the paperwork; it does not answer a 2 a.m. call about a burst pipe.Can I switch landlord apps later?
Yes, but plan it. Leases and documents export easily; payment history and tenant autopay setups do not transfer. Switch right after a rent cycle, and ask tenants to set up autopay again in the new app.