As a landlord, you have quite a few property management software options to choose from, each of which takes a slightly different approach to tackling your rental business needs. Figuring out which one is right for you can feel like a full-time job.

Two popular options are Stessa and Innago. Which of these software solutions might be right for you?

The short and quick answer is that Stessa may be your preferred choice if you need a robust tool for financial tracking, performance metrics, tenant screening, and rent collection for single-family homes, vacation and short-term rentals, and small multifamily properties. 

However, if you own commercial buildings, larger residential properties, or student housing, Innago could be the better fit.

In this article, we compare these two prominent rental property management platforms. We delve into their features, capabilities, and potential benefits and also address various drawbacks that landlords like you have highlighted in the past. This way, you can better decide which software best aligns with your unique property management needs. 

Let’s begin with this brief overview table, summarizing the main offerings of each platform:

How Stessa and Innago work

Both Stessa and Innago offer customized solutions for landlords. 

Stessa was originally designed as a financial management platform with an emphasis on income and expense tracking, reporting, and tax time. It has always provided comprehensive bookkeeping and accounting tools that track income, expenses, and key performance metrics across individual properties and entire portfolios. Recently, Stessa has moved to become a more comprehensive management platform that also handles rent collection, landlord banking, and many key leasing activities like applications and tenant screening.

Innago is a multifaceted platform for commercial, residential, and student housing. It offers tools for listing and marketing properties, tenant screening, rent collection, accounting, and maintenance requests. Innago aims to make the rental management process more efficient, especially for owners of larger buildings.

Stessa overview

Stessa is owned by Roofstock and supplies residential property investors with a dedicated accounting platform designed to help manage and improve performance efficiently. It expertly organizes income and expense transactions in line with Schedule E tax reporting, producing financial reports with little effort and saving you valuable time while eliminating piles of paperwork.

Stessa serves new landlords and seasoned investors equally well, regardless of how many properties you have. The software focuses on enhancing your investments by seamlessly integrating with external financial accounts and even some property management reporting portals. With Stessa you gain access to a dynamically updated and comprehensive financial overview of your entire rental property portfolio.

As we mentioned earlier, Stessa has recently broadened its offerings to include tenant applications and screening, eSigning (accessible with a paid plan), rent collection, landlord banking, and document storage, among other key features. Its mobile app for iOS and Android lets you manage your portfolio on the fly from virtually anywhere. Plus, automated receipt scanning and image storage features help make tax prep a snap.

Pricing structure

With the free Stessa Essentials plan, landlords can access most of the core tools at no charge. On this plan, you can manage an unlimited number of properties, open bank accounts for each one, run endless financial reports, and export transaction data to Excel as often as you like.

To unlock more advanced tools, Stessa’s tiered pricing structure offers a variety of features for different budgets and needs:

You can always start with the Essentials plan and upgrade to a paid plan as your portfolio expands and your needs evolve.

Features summary

• Automated income and expense tracking: Organize and categorize transactions automatically from connected bank, lender, credit card, and property management accounts with no extra fee or add-on required.
• Financial reporting: Generate income statements, net cash flow reports, balance sheets (with the paid Stessa Pro plan), and more, all within the platform.
• Landlord banking: Open an FDIC-insured checking account for each property and seamlessly integrate it with Stessa’s financial tracking features.
• Real-time performance metrics: Get 24/7 visibility into your portfolio’s performance with no third-party software required.
• Property management integration: Connect to some property management software platforms for a complete portfolio summary.
• Free rent collection: Collect rent through ACH payments – free for property owners and tenants.
• Unlimited properties: Add as many single-family homes, short-term vacation rentals, or multifamily units as you like.
• Collaborative access: Invite others to monitor their shared investments with different access levels.
• Data security: Enjoy industry-leading encryption to keep your data safe and secure.
• Tax resources: Access a suite of tax resources created in partnership with The Real Estate CPA.
• Rental applications and tenant screening: Utilize Stessa’s comprehensive tenant screening tool and free rental applications.
• Advertise vacancies: Publishing a vacancy for rent and syndicate your listing out to a variety of websites for maximum exposure to high quality tenants.
• eSigning (partnered with DocuSign): With the Stessa Pro plan, you can upload up to five documents monthly, mark them for electronic signatures, and send them to tenants, vendors, and partners. 

Pros

Stessa has several distinct advantages as a comprehensive and robust solution for residential real estate investors. Many property owners find its thorough investment portfolio overview invaluable.

Real-time performance metrics and automated categorization of income and expenses give property owners detailed insights into their financial position at any time. Stessa’s crystal-clear transparency helps with  decision-making and future investment planning.

The platform’s easy integration with some property management software and most financial accounts means you can work smarter and faster, which is especially beneficial if you have multiple properties in several states. According to a study conducted by Stessa, investors report saving on average up to $4,000 and over 100 hours on manual tasks each year using Stessa. 

You can also now screen tenants and execute leases with Stessa’s integrated RentPrep and eSigning tools. And the platform’s free, automated rent collection service handles reminders, late fees, and deposits, making rent payments for tenants and landlords a breeze. 

You can also use Stessa’s platform to manage even more sophisticated aspects of rental property ownership, like tax reporting and obtaining landlord insurance estimates. Both features provide efficient ways to tackle formerly time-consuming activities much more efficiently.

Finally, Stessa users can interact and build connections in a dynamic community forum,  where experienced real estate investors share their questions, ideas, and expertise.

Cons

While Stessa provides property owners with a wide range of free tools and features, it’s currently only available for residential rental properties. It also doesn’t currently offer maintenance requests or tenant communication tools. These restrictions could lead some investors to look for an alternative, especially those who are seeking help with the more traditional day-to-day property management tasks.

Innago overview

Innago is advertised as free property management software and appears designed mostly for landlords with small to medium-sized portfolios. It’s designed to work with three property types: commercial, residential, and student housing. 

The platform strives to provide intuitive and easy-to-use tenant management tools. The software has a user-friendly interface and mobile app. While these are standard features in the industry, Innago positions itself as the go-to option for more cost-sensitive DIY landlords. 

Pricing structure

There are no monthly fees, set-up fees, or long-term contracts to sign. All features are available at no cost to landlords. Tenants pay for applications and screening in addition to a small fee for rent payments made via ACH or with a debit or credit card.

Features summary

• Online rent payment collection with automated reminder alerts and customized late fee enforcement

• Customized listings with syndication on platforms including Doorsteps, Realtor.com, and Zumper

• Online lease signing with customizable templates

• Maintenance request portal for landlords, tenants, and maintenance vendors

• Automated expense and income tracking with comprehensive reports, including profit and loss, rent roll, and bank deposit statements

• Integration with a QuickBooks web account

• Online tenant screening with comprehensive reports, including credit, eviction, and criminal history

• Cloud storage with end-to-end encryption for data security

• A mobile app available on iOS and Android, allowing for property management on the go

• Renter’s insurance management, with options for tenants to get quotes from service providers and upload existing policies directly

Pros

One of Innago’s top advantages is that its features are free for landlords. That makes it an attractive option for those seeking a budget-friendly property management software solution. The company also offers direct phone support. Finally, landlords seeking new tenants can embed the tenant application form on their own website and solicit inbound inquiries without being redirected to the Innago platform.

Cons

Innago offers very few integration options with other third-party platforms. Currently, it only integrates with QuickBooks® to make accounting and financial management for landlords more seamless. However, QuickBooks can be overwhelming and requires a steep learning curve for many DIY landlords.

Innago’s lack of landlord banking may limit users who want comprehensive financial management within one platform. This omission could mean lost opportunities for streamlined rent collection and accounting, potentially complicating the management process for landlords.

Finally, users report experiencing bugs now and then. These can affect certain aspects of the software, such as difficulties managing properties in an LLC. However, the company does appear to respond to these reports and push fixes regularly. 

Deciding Between Stessa and Innago

Both Stessa and Innago offer intuitive features intended to make a landlord’s job more efficient and manageable. 

Innago works with commercial, larger residential, and student housing properties. The software’s features range from rent collection and tenant screening to maintenance management and syndication with popular property listing sites. 

However, while the software integrates with QuickBooks, users may struggle to meet their accounting needs right out of the box. Also, Innago is suitable for several property types but may not be the best fit for managing a  portfolio of single-family rentals, especially if those assets are held in an LLC.

Tailored to residential rental property owners, Stessa offers vital real estate metrics and insights that drive informed investment decision-making. The platform provides automated income and expense tracking, detailed reports for tax season, and real-time performance metrics for both individual properties and entire portfolios.

Stessa also has advanced portfolio optimization tools and banking services, including FDIC-insured accounts with a competitive APY and cash management debit cards*. Its paid subscription option, Stessa Pro, offers even more advanced features, like budgeting, project expense tracking, eSigning, unlimited receipt scanning, and full data exports.

Another significant advantage is Stessa’s free rental property accounting features. They’re custom-built for residential property owners instead of trying to be everything to everyone.

As a result, Stessa’s overall focus on financial and asset management might make it the preferred choice for novice and sophisticated real estate investors.

Visit Stessa’s website to learn more about managing your rental portfolio like a pro.

*Stessa is not a bank. Stessa is a financial technology company. Terms and conditions, features and pricing are subject to change. This article, and the Stessa Blog in general, is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is not investment, tax, financial planning, financial, legal, or real estate advice.