Roundup

The best rental property accounting software, by what you need

There is no best — there is best for the job in front of you. Six tools genuinely worth considering, what each does well, what each costs, and the honest reasons to pick something else.

How to read a list like this

Every roundup of rental accounting software is written by someone with a product in it, this one included — ours is the last card below, its cons listed like everyone else's. The way to use the list is not to find the winner but to find your constraint: the cheapest real option, the one your accountant will accept, the one that does not require changing banks, or the one that survives your portfolio growing sideways into a commercial building or a business. Each card leads with the constraint it serves best.

Stessa

Getting rental books off a spreadsheet, free

The category default. Free tier with unlimited properties, bank feeds, rent collection and a tax package — the lowest-friction start there is.

  • Free plan with unlimited properties
  • Rent collection, banking, leases and screening built in
  • Schedule E tax package and native mobile apps
  • Rentals only — no business or commercial concept
  • Single-entry; balance sheet is derived
  • Deeper reporting and budgeting sit on paid plans
Free · Manage $12/mo · Pro $28/mo (annual)

REI Hub

Accounting rigor

True double-entry for rentals: balance sheet, depreciation schedules, statement of cash flows. The one to pick when the accountant is the audience.

  • Real double-entry ledger and balance sheet
  • Depreciation and fixed-asset schedules
  • Per-unit P&L
  • Rentals only
  • Per-unit pricing
  • No free tier
$25–$99/mo by unit count

Baselane

Banking and books in one login

Landlord banking first, bookkeeping attached. Free core, high-yield accounts, free tenant ACH — if moving the money is on the table.

  • Free core with banking, bookkeeping, rent collection
  • High-yield landlord banking
  • Schedule E auto-tagging
  • Designed around banking with them
  • Rentals only
  • Automations on the $20/mo Smart plan
Core free · Smart $20/mo

Landlord Studio

Small portfolios, hands-on management

Practical and inexpensive: Schedule E reporting, receipts, bank feeds, with a free tier for the first few units.

  • Free GO tier up to 3 units
  • IRS-mapped Schedule E reports
  • Receipt scanning
  • Rentals only
  • Per-unit pricing past the included units
  • Light investment analytics
GO free · PRO from $12/mo + per-unit

QuickBooks Online

CPA-run books

Not a rental tool — the accounting default. Right when a professional runs your books; expensive and manual as a per-property system.

  • The double-entry books CPAs expect
  • Payroll, invoicing, 1099s, integrations
  • Any entity, any business
  • No property concept — class tracking at $140/mo
  • Tags workaround retired for new users
  • Real-estate metrics do not exist in it
$38–$340/mo

Prism

Mixed portfolios and investment answers

Built for the owner whose portfolio is rentals plus — a commercial building, an operating LLC — with break-even, total return and DSCR computed from the live books.

  • Rentals, commercial and businesses in one portfolio
  • Investment metrics computed, not spreadsheeted
  • Partner-aware ownership and reporting
  • Private beta — signup is by invite
  • No rent collection, banking or tenant tools
  • Single-entry — no balance sheet
Free · Pro $8.99/mo · Enterprise $19.99/mo
At a glance Stessa REI Hub Baselane Landlord Studio QuickBooks Online Prism
Price Free · $12 · $28/mo $25–$99/mo Free · $20/mo Free · from $12/mo $38–$340/mo $0 / $8.99 / $19.99 Free / Pro / Enterprise, per month
Free plan Unlimited properties — Core Up to 3 units — Up to 3 assets
Businesses too, not just rentals — — — — Businesses, not properties Every plan
Open signup today Private beta — request an invite

The pattern in the table

Four of these six tools stop at rentals, and QuickBooks stops on the other side of the same line — it will keep books for any business and has no concept of a property at all. That split is the market: software that understands rentals and nothing else, and software that understands businesses and nothing about buildings. Neither is a flaw; both are focus.

Portfolios are what refuse to stay on one side of it. The next good deal is a strip center, a partner brings an operating LLC, a laundromat comes with the building — and the usual answer is a second system and a reconciliation habit, which is the exact overhead the first tool was bought to remove. If that is where your portfolio is heading, weigh the businesses row before the price row: switching later costs more than choosing for it now. The head-to-head pages linked below go deeper on each tool, including what each one does better than Prism.

Competitor pricing and features checked August 2026 against public pricing pages and documentation — products change, so check their site for current details, and tell us if something here is out of date. Prism's own plans, limits and prices on this page render live from the product's configuration.
Questions
Is there really a free plan?
Yes — the Free plan is free forever and includes automatic bank sync, transaction tracking, and core reporting for up to 3 assets. No credit card required to start.
Can my accountant use this at tax time?
That is what the reports are for. Income and expense reports break down by category and by asset over any date range, and export to Excel and PDF. The real-estate schedule lays every property out the way a Schedule E expects to see it. Your accountant does not need a login — though you can give them one, scoped to the assets they work on.
How do I move my books over from another tool?
Export your records and upload them to the import wizard: Stessa, QuickBooks, REI Hub and Baselane exports are recognized from their own columns, categories are mapped onto yours (suggested automatically, confirmed by you — mapping is a review step, not magic), properties become assets, and duplicates are flagged before anything is written. Then link your bank accounts and Plaid keeps new transactions arriving — the import covers the years the bank will not resend. Every import can be undone, so many people import first, poke around, and only then connect a bank. Most still run both tools for a month and cut over at a month boundary.

More of them on the full FAQ.

More comparisons

Prism vs Stessa Prism vs QuickBooks Prism vs REI Hub Prism vs Baselane Stessa alternatives Commercial property accounting All comparisons

One portfolio for everything you own

Rentals, commercial buildings and businesses, side by side — add an asset, link its accounts, and read the numbers.

Private Beta — Request an Invite The three asset types