Cheapest MTD software for landlords UK 2026

Written by the August editorial team. Last reviewed August 2026. This is a price-led ranking; for which tool fits your portfolio rather than which is cheapest, see our best MTD software guide. August is one of the platforms ranked here, and we say so plainly. Prices change, so verify current rates with each provider before committing.

MTD-compliant software for UK landlords ranges from £0 to over £40 a month, and the cheapest option is not always the best value. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax became mandatory from 6 April 2026 for landlords whose qualifying income exceeded £50,000 in the 2024/25 tax year, and the threshold drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028, bringing most UK landlords into scope within three years. Qualifying income means gross income from property and self-employment combined, before expenses, which catches landlords who assume a rent roll below £50,000 puts them outside the regime. Under MTD you must keep digital records and submit quarterly income and expense updates to HMRC using software on the GOV.UK recognised list. Spreadsheets alone are not compliant. This guide ranks the cheapest options available to UK landlords in 2026, explains what each tier includes, and flags where price and value diverge.

How MTD software is priced

There are four pricing models across the market. The first is a flat monthly fee, a fixed charge regardless of how many properties you hold, which suits stable portfolios because cost is predictable; August sits here at £8.99 a month for MTD capability on the Growth plan. The second is per-property or per-unit pricing, which scales with portfolio size and suits very small landlords but climbs quickly as you grow; Arthur Online charges per unit, which makes it a poor cost-first choice for most self-managing landlords. The third is a free tier with a paid upgrade, where a limited free plan is topped by a paid tier that adds MTD submission; August's free plan covers rent tracking, expense logging, compliance reminders and document management at £0, with quarterly submissions unlocked on Growth, Landlord Studio offers up to three free units with MTD on a paid plan, and RentalBux offers a free plan with direct HMRC integration, which is unusual in the market. For what each of those free tiers genuinely includes beyond the MTD question, our free landlord software guide compares them in full.

The fourth is bridging software, a separate category that connects an existing spreadsheet to HMRC's API so you can submit without switching to a full platform; it is typically the cheapest paid route, often £3 to £10 a month or an annual fee, but it assumes you keep tidy digital records yourself, and providers include AbraTax, AbsoluteTax and GoSimpleTax.

The cheapest MTD options ranked

The table covers the main options available to UK landlords in 2026, ordered by the cost of accessing MTD quarterly submission. Prices are approximate and based on published rates as of August 2026. Recognition status was checked against each product's own entry on HMRC's software listing rather than provider marketing, because a product can be listed while its free version excludes submission. Always verify current pricing directly with each provider before committing, because several use tiered structures that change with portfolio size.

"Section 24 handling" means the software treats mortgage interest as a 20% tax credit rather than a deductible expense, and "Verify" means we could not confirm the treatment from published documentation, so ask the provider directly before relying on it. "Property-level tracking" means income and expenses can be attributed to individual properties rather than recorded in aggregate. Tiered providers such as Hammock and Landlord Vision change price with portfolio size, so the entry figure is the starting point, not the whole picture; check the tier that matches your portfolio.

Can I get free MTD software as a landlord?

Yes, but with meaningful limits, and the full free comparison is covered in our free landlord software guide. In short: RentalBux offers a free plan with direct HMRC integration and property-level tracking, the most capable genuinely free option currently available, though it is less widely known, with less third-party support material. FreeAgent is free for landlords who bank with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Mettle or Ulster Bank, but as a general accounting platform it needs manual setup for property-level tracking. August's free plan covers rent tracking, expense recording, compliance reminders and document management at no cost, with MTD submission requiring the Growth plan at £8.99 a month, which suits landlords not yet within the £50,000 threshold who want their records organised before upgrading.

The trap worth knowing about is that a product can appear on HMRC's recognised list while its free version excludes submission entirely, so record-keeping is free and filing is not. Check the submission line specifically rather than the plan name.

What cheap MTD software sometimes misses

Price is not the same as value, and several low-cost options carry trade-offs that cost more in time or compliance risk than a modest subscription would. The most commonly mishandled item is Section 24: since April 2020, individual landlords holding property in their personal name cannot deduct mortgage interest as an expense and instead receive a 20% basic-rate tax credit, and software that treats interest as a straightforward deductible, as some general accounting tools do by default, produces an incorrect figure and risks underpayment (our Section 24 dictionary entry explains it in full). The next is property-level tracking: HMRC expects records at property level, and tools that track only in aggregate create extra work at submission time, with bridging software and many general accounting tools needing manual setup that landlord-specific platforms handle by default. Bank-feed quality matters too, because an automated Open Banking feed removes the largest source of error in expense tracking, and not every cheap option includes one; bridging software by design expects you to keep your own records, so where a feed is available, confirm it supports your bank. Finally, check that any plan covers the year-end Final Declaration that replaces the old Self Assessment return, not only the quarterly updates, before assuming full MTD compliance is included.

One further cost sits outside the subscription. If your accountant works in Xero, as most UK accountants do, a platform without a Xero connection means somebody rekeys the figures at the accountant's end, and that time appears on their invoice rather than your software bill. August, Landlord Studio, Landlord Vision, Arthur and COHO all connect to Xero, so it is worth checking before comparing headline prices.

The question worth asking is not which software is cheapest, but which costs least once you account for the time spent working around its limits; for most landlords with two or more properties, the gap between the cheapest option and one that handles the whole workflow is small enough that productivity alone justifies the step up. If you want to see August's MTD tools and how the quarterly workflow runs in practice, the MTD hub covers it in full.

Is bridging software a good way to keep costs down?

Bridging software is the cheapest paid route to compliance for landlords already comfortable keeping detailed digital records in a spreadsheet: if your records are well organised, your reconciliation is clean and you understand HMRC's expense categories, it lets you carry on as you do while meeting the quarterly requirement. It is not the right choice for landlords who keep records informally or who want the software to categorise for them. Rekeying figures from a bank statement into a spreadsheet before each deadline does not create a valid digital link under the Income Tax (Digital Requirements) Regulations 2021; the link must be unbroken from the original record through to submission. Bridging software solves the submission end of that chain, not the record-keeping end. For a full comparison of bridging against full MTD platforms, see our guide to the best MTD software for landlords.

August and MTD costs

August is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and listed on the GOV.UK software list for UK property income, verified August 2026. Its Growth plan at £8.99 per month is one of the lowest entry costs for full landlord-specific MTD software in the UK market. It includes MTD quarterly submission, Open Banking rent tracking via Plaid, HMRC-aligned expense categorisation, property-level records, compliance reminders, document management and a Xero connection, the complete landlord workflow rather than submission in isolation.

The free plan covers up to two tenancies at £0 and excludes MTD submission, which makes it a practical starting point for landlords approaching but not yet within the £50,000 threshold. To model your position first, our rental income tax calculator applies the Section 24 credit correctly and estimates when each threshold applies. You can start for free, with no credit card.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest MTD software for landlords in 2026?

RentalBux offers the most capable free MTD option, with direct HMRC integration and property-level tracking at no cost. Among paid landlord-specific platforms, Hammock starts from around £8 a month (1–3 properties) and August's Growth plan is £8.99 a month with Open Banking included. Bridging providers such as AbraTax offer submission from around £3 a month but require you to keep your own digital records.

Do I need MTD software if I earn less than £50,000 in rental income?

It depends on your other income. The threshold applies to qualifying income, meaning gross property and self-employment income combined, so a landlord with £40,000 of rent and £15,000 of self-employed earnings is already in scope. Below the threshold you are not yet mandated, but it is falling: above £30,000 you must comply from April 2027, and above £20,000 from April 2028. Setting up compatible software before you are mandated means your records are already organised when the deadline arrives. The full timetable is at augustapp.com/mtd.

Does cheap MTD software handle Section 24?

Not always. General accounting tools and some bridging software treat mortgage interest as a straightforward deductible, which produces an incorrect figure for individual landlords holding property personally. Landlord-specific tools including August, Hammock and Landlord Vision handle it correctly by default, but always verify before committing, and ask the provider directly rather than relying on a comparison table, including this one.

How do I check a product is genuinely HMRC-recognised?

Find the product on HMRC's recognised software listing and open its individual product page. That page records each income source separately, including UK property, and shows whether the feature is ready, in development or not included. Provider marketing sometimes runs ahead of the listing, so treat the HMRC page as the answer.

What happens if I miss an MTD quarterly deadline?

MTD uses a points-based system: one point per late quarterly update, a £200 penalty once you reach four points, and points reset after 24 months of on-time submissions. For the first year, 2026/27, HMRC will not issue penalty points for late quarterly updates, but that soft landing covers the quarterly updates only, not the Final Declaration or late payment of tax, which remain under the normal regimes. Updates are still required during the soft-landing year.

This article is general guidance, not tax advice, and tax rules and prices change. August is one of the platforms ranked. Competitor prices and recognition statuses were checked in August 2026 against HMRC's recognised software listing and may change, so confirm current rates and recognition on GOV.UK and with each provider. Take advice from a qualified accountant on your circumstances before acting.