Kemback Business vs Stessa

The short answer

Choose Stessa if you want online rent collection, a business bank account through its partner bank, tenant screening and maintenance tracking in one place, starting free. Its Essentials plan covers unlimited properties with bank feeds and basic reports.

Choose Kemback’s Rental Houses if you rent homes whole or by the room, want leases signed inside the product without a per-signature limit, rent by the season with a calendar that syncs with listing sites, and want your rentals on the same login as your personal money and, if you run one, your business’s books. Tenants pay you directly; Kemback records it.

Who Stessa suits

Stessa describes itself as an app for landlords, from novice to sophisticated investors. Its free Essentials plan includes unlimited properties, unlimited automated bank feeds, banking, tenant autopay, tenant screening, maintenance requests, 5 receipt scans a month, unlimited document storage, a basic tax package and full data export. Manage adds state-compliant leases, one e-signature a month and Schedule E; Pro adds more e-signatures, unlimited receipt scans, a balance sheet, capital expenses and advanced reporting.

Stessa’s banking is provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. Rent collection is free for landlords: tenants pay a convenience fee, 3% of the rent by card or $2 per ACH payment into an outside bank account. Leases are signed through DocuSign. Apps are on iPhone and Android.

Where Kemback’s Rental Houses is different

• Rooms and seasons. Let a home whole, by the room, or both, with no double booking. Each home’s calendar has seasonal prices (per week or per month, with minimum stays) that quote a stay to the cent, blocked dates, and iCal sync with Airbnb, VRBO, Furnished Finder and other sites that publish a feed.
• Kemback Sign. Leases are signed inside Kemback, by tenants who don’t need an account. A change to the text after someone signs voids the signatures, and the completed PDF is sealed with a digital signature and a trusted timestamp, checkable on Kemback’s Verify page. No third-party e-signature service and no monthly signature allowance.
• Deposits held, not earned. A security deposit is kept as a liability, with deductions (with reasons) and refunds, never counted as income.
• Mortgages split. Each payment is split into principal, interest and escrow, so Schedule E gets the interest and the loan’s balance comes down.
• One login. Your personal Kemback, your rentals and, with Small Business, your companies’ books, with personal views leaving business accounts out unless you include them. No ads and no selling of data.

See rental property tracking for the details.

Where Stessa is stronger

• Online rent collection and tenant autopay. Kemback doesn’t process payments.
• Banking. Stessa offers bank accounts through its partner bank; Kemback isn’t a bank.
• Screening and maintenance. Stessa has integrated tenant screening and maintenance requests; Kemback has neither.
• A free plan for landlords. Stessa’s Essentials is free; Rental Houses is a paid add-on (personal Kemback is free).

Switching from Stessa

1. Export your data from Stessa, and download its reports for the years you’ve filed.
2. In Kemback, switch on Rental Houses and add each home, its rooms if you let by the room, and its mortgage.
3. Connect your rental bank accounts through Plaid (with Kemback Plus) or import their OFX, QFX or CSV files, and give each account a default home so its transactions land on the right property.
4. Add your tenants and their tenancies, with deposits held, and recreate your lease template. New leases can be signed in Kemback.
5. Start at a year boundary if you can, so each Schedule E comes from one place.

Bottom line

Stessa is a strong free starting point if you want rent collection, banking and screening in one app. Kemback’s Rental Houses is for landlords who want rooms, seasons, their own e-signing and their personal money in one place, exact to the cent. See the pricing, create a Kemback account, or read the other comparisons.

Stessa is a trademark of its owner. Kemback isn’t affiliated with Stessa. Prices change; confirm them on Stessa’s site.

Sources

• Stessa pricing, checked 2026-10-17: plan prices monthly and billed annually; what Essentials includes (unlimited properties and bank feeds, banking, autopay, screening, maintenance, receipt scans, basic tax package, full data export); leases, e-signature allowances and Schedule E on Manage and Pro; banking provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.
• Stessa rent payment convenience fee FAQs, checked 2026-10-17: tenants pay the fees, 3% by card and $2 per ACH payment to an outside account.
• Stessa home page, checked 2026-10-17: who it’s for, RentPrep screening, leases signed through DocuSign, maintenance, the tenant login, iPhone and Android apps.
• What reports are included in my Stessa subscription, checked 2026-10-17: reports by plan, including Schedule E on Manage and Pro and the balance sheet on Pro.

Questions

Does Kemback collect rent from tenants?

No. Tenants pay you directly, by bank transfer, Zelle, check or cash, and Kemback records each payment and matches it to the deposit in your own bank account. Rent shows as paid, partial, late or upcoming, with optional reminders to tenants.

Do my tenants need a Kemback account to sign a lease?

No. Kemback Sign emails each signer a link and a code. A free tenant account adds the tenant portal, where they see their tenancy, what they owe and their receipts.

Does Kemback sell my data or store my bank password?

No. Kemback is paid for by its plans, with no ads and no selling of data. Bank sync goes through Plaid, and Kemback never sees or stores your bank password.