Baselane vs Stessa Business Checking 2023: Which Is Best?

Baselane and Stessa are outstanding financial technology (fintech) products that help real estate investors and landlords manage multiple property portfolios with rent collection and interest-earning business checking. Baselane earns a slight edge over Stessa thanks to the availability of commercial real estate (CRE) lending and ability to deposit cash.

Comparing interest earnings between Baselane and Stessa’s free checking, Baselane (4.25%) has a higher annual percentage rate (APY) than Stessa (2.55%). However, you can sign up for Stessa Pro to get a higher rate (4.55%), although the account costs $20 a month on monthly billing.

Here’s a summary of what each provider is best for, with links directly to the provider pages:

Baselane*: Best for all-in-one landlord and real estate investor banking with CRE loan products
Stessa*: Best for fee-free online rent collection with a banking product and dedicated mobile app

*Providers are fintech platforms backed by and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)-insured through a supporting bank partnership with Blue Ridge Bank, N.A.


Required Opening Deposit	None	None
Required Balance Minimum	None	None
Transaction Limit Before Fees	None	None
Monthly Fees	None	$0 for Essentials; up to $20 for Stessa Pro*
Domestic Wire Transfer Fees	None	Outbound are $5; inbound are free
International Wire Fees	Not indicated	Not supported
Automated Clearing House (ACH) Fees	None	None
ATM Fees	None at Allpoint ATMs; third-party fees at out-of-network ATMs	Stessa doesn’t charge ATM fees, but operator fees may apply
Cash Deposited	No fee; only allowed at Allpoint ATMs	Cash deposits not accepted
APY	4.25%	2.55% Essentials (free plan) 4.55% Pro (paid plan)
Our Reviews	Read our Baselane business checking review	Read our Stessa business checking review
Open an Account	Visit Baselane	Visit Stessa

*Stessa Pro is $16 a month if you bill annually.


Debit Card	Free Baselane Visa debit card and virtual cards	Both physical and virtual cards available
Physical Checks	Physical checks unavailable	Physical checks unavailable
Software Integrations	Built-in rent collection, bookkeeping, reporting, and analytics	Built-in expense management, rental property accounting, rental applications, tenant screening, rent collection, insurance
Business Payment Integrations	Apple Pay and Google Pay	Plaid and Yodlee
Customer Service	Phone: (888) 586-1618 Mondays to Fridays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time Email: support@baselane.com Help Center on its website	Phone: (415) 985-7837 Email: contact@stessa.com Through messages on website and on social media
Other Products Available	Real estate loans, line of credit, and insurance	No loan products, but loan quotes available through other providers
Our Reviews	Read our Baselane business checking review	Read our Stessa business checking review
Open An Account	Visit Baselane	Visit Stessa

When To Use

You need an all-in-one free interest-earning banking and rent collection platform: While both Baselane and Stessa offer free banking and rent collection, Stessa puts its best rates and features in its paid tier, Stessa Pro. If you want all the features offered for free with a solid APY banking product, choose Baselane.
You want cash back rewards with your banking: Baselane offers up to 5% cash back rewards on debit card purchases, whereas Stessa only offers up to 1.1% cashback. Baselane also offers $300 to new users if you collect two $500 rent payments within 90 days.
You need CRE loans: While Stessa provides mortgage quotes, Baselane, one of our best hard money lenders, has partnered directly with Lendency to provide CRE loans to Baselane customers. You can get a lending quote in as soon as 60 seconds
You need to make cash deposits: Baselane allows fee-free cash deposits at Allpoint ATMs while Stessa doesn’t support cash deposits.

You want to earn a higher interest rate and don’t mind paying a monthly fee to get it: Stessa’s base APY on its checking is lower than Baselane, but if you upgrade to Stessa Pro, you can get 4.55% APY, which is higher than Baselane’s 4.0% on its free account. It will cost up to $20 a month to earn that rate, so make sure your additional interest earnings cover that extra expense.
You want a mobile app to manage your properties: While you can access Baselane’s dashboard on your phone, it doesn’t have a dedicated app. Stessa has a dedicated app that is well-rated on Android and iOS devices.
You want built-in tenant screening: While Baselane provides a link to tenant screening through TransUnion’s SmartMove system, Stessa provides this service in the app for free.
You want your tenants to have fee-free rent payments: Your tenants can set up ACH payments for rent through Stessa fee-free. Meanwhile, Baselane, one of our best online rent payment services, charges a 2.99% processing fee to tenants.

You don’t need to manage properties with your business checking provider: Some landlords and real estate investors already use dedicated property management software and want the best business checking option available. See our review of Bank of America business checking, our choice for the best small business checking account.
You need a wider range of CRE loan products: If you are a real estate investor looking for a business banking provider with a wide range of CRE loan products, Chase is a great choice. It is one of our best banks for real estate investors, and you can check out our review of Chase business checking to see which Chase product is right for your business.
You need an online bank to support your startup: If you are just getting into the landlord or CRE business, you might need a bank more supportive of your startup business needs. Mercury is an excellent option, thanks to great software integrations and startup support. See our review of Mercury business checking for more details.

Baselane vs Stessa: Business Checking Accounts

When comparing the business checking products of Baselane and Stessa, they’re remarkably similar. Both offer a fee-free interest-earning checking with no minimum opening deposit and balance requirements. Stessa offers a premium Stessa Pro product with a higher APY on its checking than Baselane, but it can cost up to $20 a month. That cost is reduced to $16 if you’re billed annually.

Baselane has the advantage of allowing cash deposits at all Allpoint ATMs while Stessa doesn’t allow cash deposits at all. Neither allows you to send physical checks, although Baselane indicates the company will add this feature in the future. Both offer physical and virtual debit cards and unlimited reserve accounts that function like your primary account.

Before opening an account with either Baselane or Stessa, see our guide on opening a business bank account for a list of documents you may need.

Baselane vs Stessa Account Overview


Best For	All-in-one landlord and real estate investor banking with CRE loans	Fee-free online rent collection and users wanting a dedicated mobile app
Opening Deposit	None	None
Interest on Balances	4.25%	2.55% Essentials (free plan) 4.55% Pro (paid plan)
Software Integrations	Built-in rent collection, bookkeeping, reporting, and analytics	Built-in online rent collection, expense management
Business Payment Integrations	Apple Pay and Google Pay	Plaid and Yodlee
Reserve Accounts	Unlimited	Unlimited

Neither Baselane nor Stessa require an opening deposit, and both have solid integrations. You can have unlimited virtual cards and reserve accounts with both providers. If you compare the free accounts, Baselane’s 4.25% APY is higher than Stessa’s 2.55% for its fee-free Essentials plan. If you upgrade to Stessa Pro, you can earn 4.55% APY, but it’ll cost you up to $20 monthly.

Baselane also offers a $300 new user bonus to those who open a new account. To receive that, you’ll have to:

Fund your account: You must deposit a minimum of $500 within 30 days and maintain that average balance for 60 days.
Use your debit card: You must use your Baselane banking debit card on five qualifying transactions within 90 days.
Collect rent: You must collect at least two $500 rent payments via Baselane’s rent collection tool within 90 days. See the complete list of terms and conditions on Baselane’s website.

Baselane vs Stessa Account Costs


Monthly Fee	None	$0 for Essentials; up to $20 for Stessa Pro*
Criteria to Waive Monthly Fee	N/A	N/A
Transaction Fee	None	None
ATM Fees	None at Allpoint ATMs; third-party fees at out-of-network ATMs	Stessa doesn’t charge ATM fees, but operator fees may apply
Cash Deposited	No fee; only allowed at Allpoint ATMs	Cash deposits not accepted

*Stessa Pro is $16 per month if you bill annually.

If you choose Stessa’s free Essentials plans, both providers’ checking products are fee-free. Neither charges out-of-network ATM fees, although third-party fees may apply. Baselane allows you to deposit cash for free at Allpoint ATMs only, whereas Stessa doesn’t support cash deposits at all.

Stessa Pro costs $20 a month if you choose a monthly subscription and $16 a month if you’re billed annually. The only change Pro makes to the checking product is a higher APY. However, upgrading to Pro outside of checking has additional benefits, including advanced reporting, unlimited receipt scanning, additional tax support, and accelerated rent payments.

Baselane vs Stessa User Reviews


Third-party Review Sites Rating	None	4.81 out of 5 with 80 reviews on Software Advice¹
Users Like	N/A	Strong customer service to help with issues quickly Ease of use with current banking platform
Users Dislike	N/A	People concerned with general security of connecting outside banking Some missing features that users would like

Comparing the user reviews of the two providers is difficult because Baselane isn’t listed on any third-party sites at this time. Stessa is listed on a couple, including Software Advice, where it received 4.81 out of 5 stars. Users like Stessa’s strong customer service response to issues and said that Stessa is easy to use with outside banking systems.

Negative reviews about Stessa involved general concerns about connecting outside banking accounts to any online platform due to security issues. Users also lamented some missing features that could make the product better, including dealing with sold properties and specific fee assignment.

Baselane doesn’t have a mobile app, although the company said that one is in the works. The website can be accessed remotely, so the lack of an app isn’t necessarily a deal breaker.

Meanwhile, Stessa’s app has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google Play out of around 360 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 stars on App Store out of more than 3,800 reviews. Reviewers raved about the ease of use of the app, while those with complaints had issues reaching customer support and fixing bank connections.

Bottom Line

The differences between Baselane and Stessa are minimal, and you won’t go wrong choosing either provider. If you need to make cash deposits, want strong APY on your checking without a monthly fee, or need commercial real estate loans, Baselane may be the best choice.

If the additional features of Stessa Pro make sense for your business to pay the monthly fee, then the higher APY you receive may make Stessa the better choice. Strictly comparing the two business checking offerings, Baselane has a slight advantage due to the higher APY in the free account and the ability to make cash deposits.

User review reference:
¹Software Advice