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AI Property Tools

Stessa vs Buildium

Checked Oct 24, 2026As of October 2026, Stessa is free for 20 units on its Essentials plan, while Buildium starts at $62 a month and doesn't publish how that rises with units. Stessa fits landlords and real estate investors wanting a free starting plan and flat pricing regardless of property count. Buildium fits owners and managers of residential or association portfolios who want AI tools and can accept starting-at pricing.

Stessa logo

Stessa

For independent landlords
Stessa website
Stessa's website · Image: Stessa

Stessa is rental property software for real estate investors and landlords, with bookkeeping, rent collection, screening and leases. Every plan covers unlimited properties, starting with a free Essentials plan.

Buildium logo

Buildium

For property managers · AI features
Buildium website
Buildium's website · Image: Buildium

Buildium is a property management platform from RealPage, founded in Boston in 2004. It covers small to large portfolios across residential, commercial, student housing and community association properties.

What each costs at your unit count

Cheapest plan from each vendor at each size, worked out from its published pricing rules. Tenant-paid fees aren't included.

5 units20 units50 units200 units
Stessa$0Essentials$0Essentials$0Essentials$0Essentials
Buildiumfrom $62from $62from $62from $62

Feature by feature

StessaBuildium
Made forReal estate investors and landlords. Unlimited properties on every plan.1Small to large portfolios. Over 5,000 units or community associations are quoted by phone.2
Free planEssentials is free: unlimited properties, bank feeds, basic reports, rent collection, screening. Leases cost $15 each.3Not documented
Rent paymentsNo-fee ACH for landlords; cards also supported. Accelerated rent payments on Manage and Pro.4Essential: incoming EFT $2.35, outgoing EFT $0.99, cards 2.99%. Growth incoming EFT $1.35. Premium free for 12 months, then $0.60.5
Tenant screeningThrough RentPrep: credit or background check $29 each, complete package $49, income verification add-on $10.6TransUnion-powered: $17 per screening, or $35 paid by the applicant. Enhanced screening is $20 on Growth and Premium.7
Leases and e-signAttorney-drafted state leases. Essentials $15 each; Manage: unlimited leases, 1 e-signature/month; Pro: 7/month.8eSignature via Dropbox Sign: $5 per document on Essential, $1 on Growth, unlimited on Premium.9
MaintenanceMaintenance requests and tracking are included free on Essentials.10Work orders, projects, templates, maintenance billing, unit turn automation, HappyCo inspections add-on and an optional Maintenance Contact Center.11
AccountingBank feeds on all plans; Schedule E on Manage; advanced reports, budgeting, pro-forma on Pro.12Bank reconciliation, EFT approvals and financial reporting. 1099 e-filing is $50 per batch plus $4.50 per form. Trust accounting wording not found.13
Owner portalNot documentedOwners Portal is listed in the plan table.14
ListingsVacancy ads syndicate to Zillow's family of sites on all plans.15Rental Listing Syndication is listed in the plan table.16
AI featuresStessa doesn't describe any feature as AI. Its pricing lists smart receipt scanning: 5 a month on Essentials and Manage, unlimited on Pro.17Lumina AI suite: AI Workforce agents, AI Bill Scan, Write with Lumina AI, an AI Assistant and AI Summarization. Premium includes all available Lumina AI features; AI Workforce is a paid add-on on Essential and Growth.18
ContractNot documentedPriced monthly, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required.19
App Store rating4.8 average from 5,267 ratings on the Apple App Store.20Buildium 4.72 from 4,520 ratings. Resident Center 4.78 from 157,537 ratings.21

Which should you pick?

Pick Stessa if

Landlords and real estate investors wanting a free starting plan and flat pricing regardless of property count.

  • Essentials is free and includes unlimited properties, rent collection, screening and maintenance tracking.
  • Pricing is flat per month for all properties, with no per-unit charge.
  • Vacancy ads syndicate to Zillow's family of sites on every plan.

Watch for: Tenant ACH and card fee amounts and deposit speed are not published. State lease agreements cost $15 each on the free Essentials plan.

Pick Buildium if

Owners and managers of residential or association portfolios who want AI tools and can accept starting-at pricing.

  • 14-day free trial with no credit card required, and monthly plan pricing.
  • Premium includes all available Lumina AI features and the AI Workforce at no added charge.
  • Covers many property types, including community associations, commercial and student housing.

Watch for: Plan prices are shown only as starting at, with the unit-count rule not published. Onboarding is mandatory on Growth and Premium, and the fee amount is not published.

Keep comparing

Buyer's guides that include Stessa or Buildium

Other comparisons

Last checked Oct 24, 2026. Every figure links to the page it came from (see Sources). Found something out of date? Tell us. How we pick and rank: methodology.

Sources 21 sources from 3 sites, including stessa.com, buildium.com, itunes.apple.comShow

Every fact on this page comes from one of these.

  1. All plans include an unlimited number of properties.stessa.com/pricing
  2. If you have more than 5,000 units or are looking for pricing for community associations please call 877-396-7876.buildium.com/pricing
  3. Essentials Free For newer investors looking to get organized and accomplish key tasks efficiently.stessa.com/pricing
  4. With a no-fee ACH option for landlords and additional payment methods like credit cards and debit cards also supportedstessa.com/rent-collection
  5. Incoming EFT: $2.35 per transaction || Outgoing EFT: $0.99 per transaction || Credit Cards: 2.99% per transactionbuildium.com/pricing
  6. Complete Screening Package $ 49 Order Nowstessa.com/tenant-screening
  7. Applicant Paid Tenant Screening: $35 per screening paid by applicantbuildium.com/pricing
  8. generate a lease built on attorney-drafted state specific templates, send it for e-signaturestessa.com/tenant-screening
  9. eSignature, powered by Dropbox Signbuildium.com/pricing
  10. Maintenance requests (new!) Maintenance trackingstessa.com/pricing
  11. Task and Work Order Managementbuildium.com/pricing
  12. Get everything in Essentials plus: One (1) eSignature/month Schedule E reportstessa.com/pricing
  13. $50 per batch + $4.50 per formbuildium.com/pricing
  14. Owners Portalbuildium.com/pricing
  15. syndicate your listing out to Zillowstessa.com/tenant-screening
  16. Rental Listing Syndicationbuildium.com/pricing
  17. Smart receipt scanning 5 / month 5 / month Unlimitedstessa.com/pricing
  18. Lumina AI is Buildium’s intelligent automation suite built specifically for property management.buildium.com/features/ai-property-management-software
  19. It takes just 30 seconds. No credit card required.buildium.com/pricing
  20. "averageUserRating": 4.79514, "userRatingCount": 5267itunes.apple.com/search
  21. trackName=Buildium | averageUserRating=4.72279 | userRatingCount=4520itunes.apple.com/search