Stessa vs Owned Map: an honest comparison

The short answer

• Pick Stessa if you run rental properties and want the books done for you: bank feeds, income and expense reports, rent collection and tax-time reports, with a free plan to start.^[1]
• Pick Owned Map if you want one record of everything you own, not only rentals: land, vehicles, boats, aircraft, properties held with partners, each with its value, loan, documents and dates, on a map.
• Use both if you are a landlord with other assets, or want a clear view of your net worth above the day-to-day bookkeeping.

Where we describe Stessa, we rely on its own website and pricing page, and we link each claim so you can check it. We have not used a paid Stessa account for this page.

At a glance

“Not advertised” and “not listed” mean we did not find it on the Stessa pages we read in November 2026. Features can exist without being listed, so ask Stessa before you rule one out.

Landlord tool or asset manager

These two products answer different questions, and it helps to say which.

Stessa answers “how are my rentals doing this month?” It says its bookkeeping is automated and meant to replace spreadsheets, that you can link a separate bank account for each property, and that it produces an income statement, a net cash flow report, a schedule of real estate owned and a tenant ledger, plus tax package reports.^[1] It also handles the operating side: online rent collection, vacancy marketing, tenant screening and maintenance requests.^[2] That is a lot of landlord work taken off your hands, and the entry plan is free.

Owned Map answers “what do I own, where is it and what is it worth?” Rentals are one kind of asset among several. Open any pin and you see the value, what you paid, the income and expenses, the loan, your share of ownership and the documents and dates attached. From those it calculates appreciation, net operating income, yield, monthly cash flow and your net worth after debt, and the value history grows each time you update. The numbers are the ones you enter; Owned Map does not connect to bank accounts.

So the first question is whether you need an operating tool or a record. If you have tenants and transactions every month, you need an operating tool. If you have a handful of valuable things and want to know their worth, their costs and where the papers are, you need a record. Many landlords need both.

Feature by feature

Bookkeeping

Stessa wins this outright. Automatic bank feeds and per-property reports are the reason landlords use it, and Owned Map does not try to compete. Owned Map has no transactions: you enter yearly income and expenses for each asset, which is enough for yield and cash flow, not for a ledger.

Running the tenancy

Rent collection, late fees, screening, lease agreements and maintenance tracking are Stessa’s operating tools.^[1][2] Owned Map has none of them. If you collect rent every month, use a tool built for it.

Tax time

Stessa mentions built-in tax package reports, and its pricing page lists a Schedule E report on the Manage plan.^[1][2] Schedule E is a US tax form, which tells you Stessa is written with US landlords in mind. Owned Map produces no tax forms. It does give you the NOI and cash flow of each asset, which is useful for talking to an accountant.

Anything that is not a rental

This is where Owned Map earns its place. Land, vehicles, boats, aircraft and any other asset get a pin, a value, costs, documents and dates, and appear in your net worth. We did not find these asset types on the Stessa pages we read.

Reading a document for you

Upload a deed, an invoice or a contract to Owned Map and the details are read for you to review before anything is saved. It saves the typing when you add an asset; always check the result.

Reports and exports

Owned Map exports PDF, Excel and CSV reports and imports a CSV. Our free inventory template uses the exact columns the app reads, and it works as a checklist even if you never sign up.

A worked example: a shared duplex and a rental house

Imagine a landlord with two properties. One is a duplex owned 50/50 with a business partner. The other is a house they own alone. These are the inputs for each.

The duplex (you own 50%)

• Estimated value: $720,000. Purchase cost: $600,000
• Rent collected in a year: $54,000. Yearly expenses: $16,800
• Loan balance: $380,000, with payments of $2,400 a month

For the whole property:

• Net operating income: $54,000 − $16,800 = $37,200 a year
• Yield on what was paid: $37,200 ÷ $600,000 = 6.2%
• Yield on what it is worth now: $37,200 ÷ $720,000 = 5.2%
• Appreciation: ($720,000 − $600,000) ÷ $600,000 = 20.0%
• Cash flow after the loan: $37,200 − ($2,400 × 12) = $8,400 a year

Your half: equity of ($720,000 − $380,000) × 50% = $170,000, and cash flow of $4,200 a year, $350 a month.

The rental house (you own 100%)

• Estimated value: $310,000. Purchase cost: $255,000
• Rent collected: $26,400. Expenses: $8,100
• Loan balance: $140,000, with payments of $1,100 a month

• Net operating income: $26,400 − $8,100 = $18,300 a year
• Yield on what was paid: $18,300 ÷ $255,000 = 7.2%
• Yield on what it is worth now: $18,300 ÷ $310,000 = 5.9%
• Equity: $310,000 − $140,000 = $170,000
• Cash flow after the loan: $18,300 − ($1,100 × 12) = $5,100 a year, $425 a month

Together

Your share of the value: $360,000 + $310,000 = $670,000. Your share of the debt: $190,000 + $140,000 = $330,000. Net worth in these two properties: $340,000. Cash flow reaching you: $4,200 + $5,100 = $9,300 a year, $775 a month.

Two points matter here. First, the duplex looks great at 6.2% on cost, but 5.2% on what it is worth now, and the house is the better earner on both measures. That comparison across properties, on the same basis, is what lets you decide where to put the next dollar. The 5.2% is the standard capitalization rate, net operating income divided by current value rather than the original price.^[3]

Second, your half of a shared property is not the property. A tool that only knows whole properties will overstate what you own and what you earn. In Owned Map you set your share once, and the equity, cash flow and net worth are worked out for your share. We did not find ownership shares on the Stessa pages we read, so if you hold property with partners, ask.

Keeping the books for either property is a different job: the IRS reminds rental owners to keep accurate records and to separate repairs from improvements, and says mortgage principal payments cannot simply be deducted.^[4] That is what a bookkeeping tool such as Stessa is for.

Shared ownership and non-rental assets

Most landlord software assumes you own 100% of rental properties, in your own name, in one country. Real portfolios are untidier. A cousin owns the other half of the duplex. A boat is held with two friends. A plot of land earns nothing and costs tax every year. A vintage car is an asset but not an income. None of these is a rental, and all of them are part of what you own.

Owned Map handles each as an asset with a share: the value, the cost, the income if any, the loan if any, and your percentage. Net worth is calculated on your share and after debt, so a half-share in a $720,000 duplex with a $380,000 loan counts as $170,000, not $720,000.

That matters when you decide what to do next. If you ask whether to sell the land, refinance the duplex or insure the boat for more, you want the same measures for all of them on one screen. Stessa’s strength is going deep on rentals; Owned Map’s strength is putting every kind of asset on the same footing.

Records, documents and dates

Ownership produces paperwork and deadlines: a deed, a title, an insurance policy that renews, a registration, a yearly inspection, a loan agreement, a property tax bill. The expensive surprises usually come from a date nobody wrote down.

Stessa gives rentals lease agreements, maintenance tracking and screening tools.^[2] Owned Map keeps documents on any asset and holds the dates (insurance, tax, registration, inspections) with reminders, so the policy and its renewal sit next to the thing they cover, whether it is a house, a trailer or a plane.

The habit is worth having with or without a tool. For every asset keep four things together: proof of ownership, the insurance policy, the loan agreement if there is one, and the next date that needs action.

If something happens to you

A landlord with several properties, partners and loans leaves a complicated picture. In Caring.com’s 2025 survey of more than 2,500 US adults, only 24% said they have a will, down from 33% in 2022.^[5] A will is not an inventory, and an executor cannot settle what nobody knows exists.

Owned Map lets you share a read-only link, give household members access, and set a private emergency sheet for one trusted person, so someone can find out what exists, where it is and where the papers are. The same discipline applies to everything you own: the Nebraska Department of Insurance advises recording brand, price, purchase date, model, serial number and receipts, with photos.^[6] Add the registration or title number for vehicles and the deed reference for property.

Price

Stessa’s pricing page lists a free Essentials plan and two paid plans: Manage at $12 a month billed annually ($15 billed monthly) and Pro at $28 a month billed annually ($35 billed monthly). All plans include unlimited properties. It does not list a free trial, because the entry plan is free.^[2] Prices can change, so check stessa.com/pricing.

Owned Map’s pricing is public and simple. $47 a month includes 3 assets. $15 each for assets 4 to 10, $10 each for assets 11 to 25 and $5 each from the 26th, up to 100 assets. Paying yearly is 30% less. There is a 7-day free trial, and a card is required.

Let us be plain about this. If all you own is rental property in the United States and you want the books done, Stessa’s free plan is very hard to beat, and Owned Map is the wrong purchase. Even Stessa Pro at $28 a month billed annually is $336 a year, less than Owned Map for 3 assets ($394.80). Owned Map becomes worth its price when your holdings are not only rentals: when you hold shares with partners, own land, vehicles, boats or aircraft, or simply want one record of all of it with the papers and dates attached.

Who should choose which

Choose Stessa if

• You own rentals in the US and want bank feeds, reports and rent collection.
• You want a free plan to start and the books ready for your accountant.
• You need tenant screening, leases and maintenance handled in the same place.

Choose Owned Map if

• You own more than rentals: land, vehicles, boats, aircraft or other assets.
• You hold properties with partners and want your own share of the value, debt and cash flow.
• You want every asset on a map, with documents and renewal dates attached.
• You prefer a tool that does not connect to your bank accounts.

A five-question test

1. Do you collect rent every month and need the books to match? If yes, Stessa.
2. Do you own anything that is not a rental? If yes, Owned Map covers it.
3. Do you hold a share of a property with someone else? If yes, Owned Map.
4. Is price your top concern and are you all rentals? If yes, start with Stessa’s free plan.
5. Could someone find your documents if something happened to you? If not, fix that first, with either tool.

Using both

A sensible setup for a landlord with other assets is Stessa for the monthly running of the rentals and Owned Map for the whole picture. The only discipline is to enter each property’s yearly income and expenses in Owned Map from Stessa’s reports once a year, so the figures stay in step.

To start Owned Map from a spreadsheet, download the inventory template, paste your list in and import the CSV. Then add loans, shares and documents asset by asset. If it is not for you, you can cancel from your profile menu and export your data first.

How we checked

We wrote this page on November 4, 2026. What we say about Stessa comes from its own public pages, its home page and its pricing page. We have not used a paid Stessa account, so where we found nothing we say “not listed”, not “not available”. That Schedule E is a US form is our reading of what the pricing page lists. What we say about Owned Map is what the product does today.

Every outside claim is numbered and listed under Sources below. Both products change. If you spot something out of date, email support@ownedmap.com and we will correct it.

Sources

1. Stessa: homepage, Stessa. Automated bookkeeping, a bank account per property, income statement, net cash flow and tenant ledger reports, tax package reports and online rent collection. Read November 3, 2026.
2. Stessa: pricing, Stessa. Essentials is free; Manage is $12 a month billed annually ($15 monthly) and Pro $28 ($35); unlimited properties; a Schedule E report on Manage; screening, lease and maintenance tools. Read November 3, 2026.
3. Capitalization rate, Wikipedia. The cap rate is net operating income divided by current value, not the original price. Read November 3, 2026.
4. Publication 527, Residential Rental Property (2025), Internal Revenue Service. You cannot simply deduct mortgage principal payments; keep accurate records and separate repairs from improvements. Read November 3, 2026.
5. Wills Survey 2025, Caring.com, with YouGov. 24% of respondents have a will, down from 33% in 2022 (more than 2,500 US adults). Read November 3, 2026.
6. Before the Storm: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late, Nebraska Department of Insurance. An inventory should record brand, price, purchase date, model, serial number and receipts, with photos. Read November 3, 2026.