Avail vs Stessa
Avail scores 7.5/10 vs 7.0/10. Best for: Independent DIY landlords who want free or low-cost basic rent collection and tenant screening.
Avail scores higher overall at 7.5/10 vs 7.0/10. Avail is the best free option for independent landlords needing basic rent collection, screening, and leases. The free tier is genuinely useful. Strictly for DIY landlords with no owner portal or real accounting. Recent price increases on Plus have frustrated users.
Avail 
Stessa Rank
#13 of 31
Rank
#21 of 31
Features
9/17
Features
12/17
Starting at
$0/mo
Starting at
$0/mo
User reviews
4.8/5 (350)
User reviews
4.5/5 (450)
What they cost
| Avail | Stessa | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting at | Free /mo | Free /mo |
| Free trial | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Number of plans | 2 | 3 |
What the pricing really means
At first glance, Stessa looks cheaper at $0/month vs $0/month. But sticker price is only part of the story. Look at what is included on the base plan, how many users you get, and whether you need add-ons to get the features you actually need. The $99/month plan that requires $200 in add-ons is actually more expensive than the $250/month plan that includes everything.
Where Avail wins
- Genuinely free tier with no unit limits covering core landlord needs
- State-specific lease templates and e-signatures included free
- Listings syndicate to Zillow, Realtor.com, and 20+ sites
- Simple clean interface for non-professional landlords
Where Stessa wins
- Free tier includes unlimited properties and automatic bank feeds. An investor with 30 doors can track income and expenses at $0/mo
- Schedule E tax reports generate automatically. Your CPA gets exactly what they need at filing time without you building a spreadsheet
- Dashboard is built for investors, not property managers. You see net cash flow, cap rates, and returns per property at a glance
- Cash management account pays 3.98% APY on idle funds. If you hold $20K in reserves, that is roughly $800/year in passive interest
Where Avail falls short
- Recent 300%+ price increase on Plus plan has upset users
- No real accounting depth, just basic expense tracking
- No API access or integrations
- No owner portal, not for third-party management
Where Stessa falls short
- Bank feed imports occasionally drop or miscategorize transactions. Plan to review and recategorize 5-10% of entries manually each month
- Tenant portal (resident.stessa.com) is new and basic compared to dedicated PM tools. Tenants can pay rent and submit requests, but the feature set is still maturing
- Free plan locks you to one portfolio with basic reports only. The $28/mo Pro plan is needed for multi-portfolio tracking
- Support response times vary wildly. Some tickets get answered in hours, others sit for days with no reply
Who is each product built for?
Avail
Target: 1-50 units
Avail is the best free option for independent landlords needing basic rent collection, screening, and leases. The free tier is genuinely useful. Strictly for DIY landlords with no owner portal or real accounting. Recent price increases on Plus have frustrated users.
Stessa
Target: 1-50 units
Buy Stessa if you are a real estate investor who cares about financial tracking and tax-ready reports. The free tier with bank feeds and Schedule E reports is genuinely useful. A basic tenant portal now exists at resident.stessa.com, but Stessa is still primarily a financial tracking tool. Skip if you need full property management with deep tenant features.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Avail | Stessa |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Management | ||
| Tenant screening | ||
| Online rent collection | ||
| Lease management | ||
| Tenant portal | ||
| E-signatures | ||
| Property Operations | ||
| Maintenance requests | ||
| Owner portal | ||
| Property inspections | ||
| Vendor management | ||
| Vacancy advertising | ||
| Finance & Reporting | ||
| Accounting/bookkeeping | ||
| Bank account management | ||
| Insurance tracking | ||
| Reporting/analytics | ||
| Platform | ||
| Document storage | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| API access | ||
Common questions
Avail scores 7.5/10 vs Stessa's 7.0/10 in our ranking. Avail is the better pick for 1-50 units. Stessa is better if you need real estate investors with 1-50 rental properties who want free income/expense tracking and tax-ready schedule e reports, not full property management.
Avail starts at $0/month. Stessa starts at $0/month. Watch for add-on costs — the base price often does not include all features. Pricing last verified 2026-03-01.
Avail: Free tier available. Stessa: Free tier available. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
Avail covers 9 of 17 features we track. Stessa covers 12 of 17. Stessa has broader feature coverage, but more features does not always mean better — pick the tool that covers what your business actually needs.
No, Avail does not have a mobile app. Stessa does have one.
Yes. The main effort is migrating your data (customer lists, job history, invoices). Plan for 1-2 weeks of overlap where you run both. Most property management tools can import CSV data. Ask both vendors about migration support before you sign.
The bottom line
Pick Avail if...
Independent DIY landlords who want free or low-cost basic rent collection and tenant screening
Pick Stessa if...
Real estate investors with 1-50 rental properties who want free income/expense tracking and tax-ready Schedule E reports, not full property management