Roundup
The best rental property accounting software for small landlords
Every price below was read off the vendor's own pricing page on the date each entry shows, and every entry links that page so you can check it. Where a pricing page does not say whether a product does something, this roundup says it does not say, rather than filling the gap. That is a lower-drama way to write a roundup and it makes the list usable.
Short answer
For a self-managing landlord with one to ten units, the strongest free options for rental accounting are Baselane and Stessa, both of which include Schedule E reporting at $0 (Stessa's on its paid Manage plan at $12/mo billed annually). Landlord Studio is free for three units and $12/mo beyond that, and RentRedi is $12/mo billed annually with unlimited units. rents.ai is $10 to $18/mo and is only the right answer if you specifically want residential depreciation computed on the 27.5-year mid-month schedule without connecting a bank.
How this was ranked
The criteria, stated up front.
- 01Published price, read from the vendor's own pricing page rather than a review site.
- 02Whether the accounting actually reaches a tax artefact, not just a category report.
- 03Whether a landlord with one to ten units is the intended customer.
- 04What the free tier includes, and where it genuinely stops.
rents.ai is one of the products in this list and is placed where those criteria put it, which is not first. Prices were read from each vendor's own pricing page, most recently on August 10, 2026, and every entry links its source.
The list
11 products, ranked.
1Baselane
Free, or $20/mo
Best for landlords who want landlord banking and the books in one account.
The strongest free option for accounting specifically. The $0 Core plan includes an accountant tax package with Schedule E reports, transaction import, QuickBooks and Xero sync, and rent collection. The cost is that banking is the centre of the product.
Verified August 10, 2026 from baselane.com/pricing
2Stessa
Free, or $12 to $35/mo
Best for landlords who want free bank feeds and rent collection first.
The broadest free plan in the category, though the Schedule E report sits on Manage at $12/mo billed annually. If you want bank feeds and rent collection at $0 and can pay when tax season arrives, this is hard to beat.
Verified August 10, 2026 from stessa.com/pricing
3Landlord Studio
Free for 3 units, or $12/mo
Best for landlords with a handful of units who want per-unit pricing.
The best fit for a genuinely small portfolio: free to three units, then $12/mo plus $1 per extra unit, with a tax export on every plan including the free one.
Verified August 10, 2026 from landlordstudio.com/pricing
4RentRedi
$12 to $29.95/mo
Best for landlords who want unlimited units on one flat annual price.
The best value once you have more than a few units: $12/mo billed annually for unlimited properties, with one-click Schedule E generation on top of full operations.
Verified August 10, 2026 from rentredi.com/pricing
5Azibo
Free, with paid add-ons
Best for landlords who want rent collection with no monthly fee at all.
No monthly fee at all for the landlord, with a Schedule E tax form included. Paid pieces are one-off, like $29.99 for a lease. Worth a look if a $0 monthly bill is the constraint.
Verified August 10, 2026 from azibo.com/pricing
6rents.ai
$10/mo one property, $18/mo unlimited
Best for landlords whose actual gap is the tax return.
Narrower than everything above it and not free: $10/mo for one property, $18/mo unlimited. The only reason to pick it is that it computes 27.5-year mid-month residential depreciation from your cost basis and keeps a per-property Schedule E current, without a bank login.
Our own product. Listed here at its real position, not at the top.
7TenantCloud
$15 to $50/mo
Best for landlords who want leasing and operations on a mid-priced plan.
From $15/mo billed annually with strong leasing on every plan, but its own pricing page describes Starter accounting as basic, with the 1099-K report on Pro at $50/mo.
Verified August 10, 2026 from tenantcloud.com/pricing
8Rentec Direct
$55 to $65/mo
Best for owners and managers who want full accounting with free ACH.
A real general ledger with free ACH rent collection and 1099 e-filing at $55/mo. More accounting product than most small landlords need, and priced that way.
Verified August 10, 2026 from rentecdirect.com/pricing
9DoorLoop
$69 to $239/mo
Best for property managers running a real book of business.
Full management accounting with a chart of accounts from $69/mo billed annually, with Starter capped at 10 units. Built for managing other people's units.
Verified August 10, 2026 from doorloop.com/pricing
10Buildium
From $62/mo
Best for professional managers who need trust-grade accounting.
Platform-grade accounting from $62/mo, with onboarding required on the higher plans. The right answer for a management company and an expensive one for four doors.
Verified August 10, 2026 from buildium.com/pricing
11AppFolio
No public price; 50-unit minimum
Best for management companies at 50 units and above.
No published price and a stated 50-unit minimum on Core. If you are reading a small-landlord roundup, this one is not for you and it is fair to say so up front.
Verified August 10, 2026 from appfolio.com/pricing
All of them at once
Published price and the three axes that matter.
| Product | Published price | Free plan | Rent collection | Schedule E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baselaneverified August 10, 2026 | Free, or $20/mo | Core is $0/mo | automated rent payments on Core | accountant tax package and Schedule E reports on Core |
| Stessaverified August 10, 2026 | Free, or $12 to $35/mo | Essentials is $0/mo | included on every plan | Manage and Pro; Essentials gets a basic tax package |
| Landlord Studioverified August 10, 2026 | Free for 3 units, or $12/mo | Go is $0/mo for 3 units | included on every plan | tax export included on every plan |
| RentRediverified August 10, 2026 | $12 to $29.95/mo | no free plan; 30-day money-back guarantee | ACH, card, or cash payments | one-click Schedule E generation |
| Aziboverified August 10, 2026 | Free, with paid add-ons | no monthly fee for property owners | free, described as the core of the product | Schedule E tax form on the free platform |
| rents.ai | $10 to $18/mo | paid only, after a 7-day trial | records rent you receive elsewhere | per-property rollup by year, print view, CSV export |
| TenantCloudverified August 10, 2026 | $15 to $50/mo | Starter is the entry plan at $15/mo annually | included on every plan | a 1099-K report is listed on Pro; Schedule E is not |
| Rentec Directverified August 10, 2026 | $55 to $65/mo | two-week free trial, then paid | free ACH; cards 2.95% | 1099 e-filing and tax reports listed; Schedule E is not |
| DoorLoopverified August 10, 2026 | $69 to $239/mo | no free plan | card, ACH, Google Pay, Apple Pay | 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC are listed; Schedule E is not |
| Buildiumverified August 10, 2026 | From $62/mo | 14-day trial, no card required, then paid | ePay included | tax reports and 1099 filing listed; Schedule E is not |
| AppFolioverified August 10, 2026 | No public price; 50-unit minimum | no free plan; minimum spend and units apply | property accounting and payments | not stated on the pricing page |
How to read this
- Yes / nothe source page states it, in those words
- Partialincluded, with a real condition: a higher plan, or a separate fee
- Not publishedthe pricing page does not say. It is a fact about the source, never a mark against the product
Questions
The questions behind this search.
What is the best free rental property accounting software?
On published pricing read in August 2026, Baselane's Core plan at $0 goes furthest on accounting specifically, because it includes an accountant tax package with Schedule E reports along with transaction import and QuickBooks and Xero sync. Stessa's free Essentials plan is broader overall but places the Schedule E report on the paid Manage plan at $12/mo billed annually. Landlord Studio is free for up to three units with a tax export included.
Do any of these calculate depreciation?
Most pricing pages do not say. Of the eleven products here, only Baselane mentions anything adjacent, listing cost segregation on its $20/mo Smart plan, and it does not state a 27.5-year residential schedule. rents.ai computes depreciation from cost basis, land value and in-service date on the 27.5-year straight-line mid-month convention and reports it on Schedule E line 18. Where a page is silent, this roundup marks it as not published rather than assuming.
How were these prices verified?
Each price was read directly from the vendor's own public pricing page on the date shown on that entry, and every entry links to that page. No figure here comes from a review site, a press release or memory. TurboTenant is not priced in this roundup because its pricing page refused automated requests on August 10, 2026.
See ours before you decide.
The public demo opens a fully worked portfolio with a finished Schedule E and line 18 computed from a real cost basis. No signup, no card, and no obligation to prefer it.
- Live demo: no signup or card
- No bank connection. Nothing changes for your tenants
- Trial: 7 days, card required, $0 today
- Then $10/mo for one or $18/mo for unlimited
Keep comparing
Other comparisons on the same facts.
Every page below reads from the same verified price and feature records, so the numbers agree across all of them.
The best landlord software for 1 to 10 units
Priced for four doors, not four hundred.
Free vs paid rental property software: what free actually covers
Five real free plans, and where each one stops.
Rental property tax software: which ones reach a Schedule E
Which ones reach a Schedule E, and which stop short.
rents.ai vs Stessa
Free, or $12 to $35/mo. Landlords who want free bank feeds and rent collection first.
rents.ai vs Baselane
Free, or $20/mo. Landlords who want landlord banking and the books in one account.
rents.ai vs Landlord Studio
Free for 3 units, or $12/mo. Landlords with a handful of units who want per-unit pricing.