Declaring an interest. We make a paid landlord platform and we do not have a free tier. Several products below do. We have written this page as accurately as we can anyway, including the parts that are inconvenient for us.
The short version
There are genuinely useful free landlord tools, and one of them — PaTMa — appears on HMRC's recognised software list with a free version, which is the combination most landlords are actually looking for. The caps are what matter: free tiers are limited by units, and one unit means one lettable dwelling. Watch for the exception too. Landlord Studio's free plan is free to use but charges £5 for each MTD submission, which is four submissions a year once quarterly updates apply to you.
[JAMES: check this] For one property, free is usually the right answer and I would say so to anyone who asked me. The point at which it stops being right is not when you run out of features — it is when you add a second property and discover the free tier already counted the first one.
The free tiers, and exactly what they cap
| Product | Free allowance | Submits to HMRC? | First paid tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| PaTMa Property Manager | 1 rental unit | Yes — on HMRC's list, flagged as having a free version | £15/mo incl. VAT, 5 units |
| Landlord Studio (MTD Go) | 3 units, 1 user, 10 documents | Yes, but £5 per submission | £15/mo, 3 units then £1.20 each |
| Lofti (Essential) | Up to 5 units, free forever, 1 user | No | £1.20/unit/mo |
| Alphaletz (Always Free) | 3 units; bank connection free for 14 days | No — record-keeping only | £11/mo annual, 10 units |
| August | 2 tenancies | Yes — on HMRC's list | £8.99/mo, up to 5 |
| Lendlord | Core product free | Yes — on HMRC's list | £12/mo or £99/yr |
| Rentila | 1 unit, 2 tenants, 2 tenancies, 50MB | No | £5.90/mo tax excl. |
"Unit" is the word to read carefully. One unit is normally one lettable dwelling. A single flat is one unit. An HMO with six lettable rooms may be six. So a "free up to 3 units" plan can be exhausted by a single property, and the free tiers that look most generous on paper are often the least generous for the landlords who most need them.
If your reason for looking is Making Tax Digital
Then the free tier question narrows sharply, because most free tools keep records rather than file. Two things to know:
The threshold is closer than you think
£50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027, and £20,000 from April 2028 — measured on 2026–27 income, the tax year running now. Qualifying income is gross rent, not profit.
Bridging software is a real option
If your spreadsheet is already tidy, a recognised bridging tool submits from it. Several on HMRC's list have free versions. That is often the cheapest compliant route, and nobody selling software has much reason to tell you so.
A spreadsheet is still legal, and still common
Around four in ten UK landlords still use spreadsheets or manual methods. That figure is unusually well supported: HMRC's own research put spreadsheet use at 41% in 2021, and a Censuswide survey of 500 UK landlords in May 2026 put spreadsheets or manual methods at 39%. Two different commissioners, five years apart, near-identical answer.
The 2026 figure comes from research commissioned by Landlord Studio, a company that sells landlord software. We are citing the one number from it that is corroborated by an independent HMRC survey, and leaving the rest of that release alone.
Until MTD applies to you, a spreadsheet breaks no rules. After it applies you need digital records and compatible software — but a spreadsheet plus a bridging tool still satisfies that.
When free stops being the right answer
Stay free if
- You have one or two properties
- Your records are already tidy
- You are below the MTD threshold and expect to stay there
- You only need somewhere to keep documents and dates
Start paying when
- You cross a unit cap mid-year
- You are filing quarterly and a per-submission fee starts to bite
- You need more than one user — nearly every free tier is single-user
- You need compliance dates chased rather than merely stored
Our own position, for completeness. The Landlord Alliance has no free tier and does not submit to HMRC. If free is what you need, one of the products above is a better fit than we are, and PaTMa is the one we would look at first because its free version is on HMRC's list. We start at £10 a month.
Is free software safe for tenant data?
Free or paid, you are a data controller under UK GDPR either way. Check where the provider stores data and whether it is UK or EU hosted — some products on this list are localised instances of pan-European platforms.
Can I move my data out later?
Ask before you start, not after. Export formats and whether historic transactions come with you vary enormously, and it is the single thing landlords regret not checking.
Does free software do tenancy agreements?
Some include templates. If documents are your main need, NRLA membership at £125 a year includes unlimited agreements and an advice line — see our assessment. Our own 2026 tenancy agreement template is free and ungated.
What about deposits and possession?
No software serves a notice. The rules changed on 1 May 2026 — see tenancy deposits and section 8 grounds.
When free runs out, start at ten pounds
Portfolio, compliance tracking, rent and documents in one place. £10 a month or £99 a year, no contract, cancel anytime.
See what is includedPrices and HMRC listings read 7 September 2026. Free tiers and their caps change often — verify before committing. The Landlord Alliance is a paid competitor to every product on this page.
Sources: published pricing pages for PaTMa, Landlord Studio, Lofti, Alphaletz, August, Lendlord and Rentila; HMRC find-software tool (Beta); gov.uk MTD for Income Tax guidance; HMRC/Ipsos MTD research 2021; Censuswide research commissioned by Landlord Studio, 500 UK landlords, May 2026.
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