Free landlord software UK: the best free property management options in 2026

Free landlord software exists in the UK, but "free" covers a wide range of reality, from a genuinely unlimited tier to a time-bombed trial dressed up as permanent access. This guide compares the six genuinely free options available to UK landlords in July 2026, what each free tier actually includes, what it withholds, and the specific points at which free stops being sufficient. If you manage one or two properties, the right free tier will serve you well, and one of them now includes automated Open Banking rent tracking, something the free end of this market has never offered before. If you manage more, or Making Tax Digital applies to your income, you need to know exactly where free runs out before committing. If you are weighing paid platforms instead, our guide to the best property management software for UK landlords compares the full market.

What counts as genuinely free

For the purposes of this guide, a free tier means indefinite access: not a 14-day trial, not a free month that auto-converts to paid, and not a platform that calls itself free but bills you once you connect a bank account or add a second tenant. Every platform below offers free access with no time limit for at least one property or tenancy. All of them have limits; the question is whether those limits matter for your portfolio. A free tier tells you nothing about the company offering it, which is why it's worth running the same six checks on any provider on your shortlist before you commit records you'll need to keep for years.

One other filter applies. Several tools that appear in free landlord software search results, including Stessa, Baselane and TurboTenant, are built for the US market and do not support UK compliance obligations, UK tax categories or HMRC requirements. They have been excluded.

The six free options compared

August Free

August's free tier covers up to two tenancies with no time limit and no credit card required, and it is the only UK-focused free tier that combines an automated bank feed with compliance tracking. The free plan connects one bank account through Plaid's FCA-regulated Open Banking, matches incoming rent payments to the right tenancy automatically, and flags a missed or partial payment on the day it happens. Around it sit expense logging in HMRC-aligned categories, compliance checklists covering gas safety, EICR, EPC, deposit protection and Right to Rent, document storage with expiry date tracking, smart reminders that read renewal dates from uploaded documents, the AI property assistant, and the free tenant app for maintenance requests and document sharing.

What the free tier does not include: MTD quarterly submission, more than two tenancies, and more than one connected bank account. These come with the Growth plan at £8.99 per month. The free tier is designed as a permanent option for landlords with one or two properties, not a hook to force an upgrade; if you manage two tenancies and sit below the MTD threshold, it covers the full core workflow, automated rent reconciliation included.

Best for: landlords with one or two properties who want automated rent tracking, UK compliance reminders and document storage without paying anything.

RentalBux Free

RentalBux offers a free tier for single-property landlords that is unusually complete for its scope. Direct HMRC integration for MTD submissions, Open Banking bank feeds, property-level income and expense tracking, and Section 24 mortgage interest handling, all at no cost, and covering UK property, foreign property and self-employment income. It is newer and less established than the other platforms here, with a smaller user community and less third-party support material, but that free-tier breadth is genuinely unusual, and it remains the only platform offering free MTD quarterly submission.

The platform's own pricing states the free tier runs to March 2028; pricing beyond that has not been confirmed. If free MTD capability is your main reason for choosing it, track that commitment as 2028 approaches.

Best for: landlords above the MTD threshold who want full MTD compliance at no cost and are comfortable with a newer, less-established platform.

Landlord Studio GO

Landlord Studio's free tier, branded GO, covers the first three units and includes income and expense tracking, bank feeds, receipt scanning and basic tax reports. It is one of the better-designed mobile apps in the market, with fast receipt scanning and a clean interface. What the free tier does not cover is compliance reminders or MTD submission, which is charged separately either per submission or by moving to a paid plan from £12 per month. The platform is US-origin with a UK-localised version and appropriate tax categories, so gas safety, EICR and EPC tracking are not part of the picture.

Best for: landlords with up to three units who want a mobile app for expense capture and financial tracking, and who handle UK compliance obligations and tenants app elsewhere.

Rentila Free

Rentila covers two properties on its free tier with income and expense tracking, basic document storage and a tenant portal. It is a European platform with a UK presence and only partial UK compliance awareness: it does not track gas safety, EICR or EPC renewal dates, and it does not support MTD. Given how consequential those obligations are for a UK landlord, the absence of compliance tracking is a meaningful gap. It suits landlords who mainly want a simple rent ledger and tenant communication tool.

Best for: landlords who want a basic rent ledger and tenant communication for up to two properties, with no compliance tracking requirement.

Coho

Coho, the shared-living specialist, has no free tier, starting at a £30 monthly minimum plus VAT our August vs Coho comparison covers what that buys.

Spreadsheets

A well-structured spreadsheet is technically free and can track income and expenses accurately for a small portfolio. HMRC's own guidance acknowledges spreadsheets as a record-keeping tool, and for landlords below the MTD threshold with one or two properties, a spreadsheet plus a calendar covers the basics. What it cannot provide: automated bank reconciliation, certificate expiry tracking, tenant communication, audit-trailed document storage, or MTD submission, and it demands a manual discipline most landlords find hard to sustain. From working with landlords who have moved to August from spreadsheets, the failure mode is almost always the same: year one works, then tenancies change, receipts go missing, and the annual catch-up becomes a multi-day project. The switch usually happens after one difficult Self Assessment, not before.

Can free software handle Self Assessment and MTD?

For Self Assessment alone, yes. HMRC's own online filing service is free, and any of the tools above (or a spreadsheet) can produce the income and expense totals the SA105 property pages need, provided the records are kept accurately through the year. Free self assessment software, in other words, already exists: it is HMRC's portal plus disciplined record-keeping.

Making Tax Digital changes that answer. Since April 2026, landlords with gross property income above £50,000 must keep digital records and submit quarterly through HMRC-recognised software with an unbroken digital link, and HMRC's free portal does not satisfy that requirement. The threshold falls to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028, so if you are below it today, check when you will cross it. On the free tiers above, only RentalBux submits MTD updates at no cost; August includes MTD from the Growth plan at £8.99 a month, and separate bridging software bolted onto a free tool often costs more than one platform that does both. Free MTD filing tools do exist outside the property management platforms compared here, and our guide to free MTD software for landlords covers them in full alongside the paid options. Our cheapest MTD software guide compares entry-level pricing, and the August MTD hub covers the rules and deadlines.

The hidden costs of free software

Free does not mean zero cost, and every platform above involves at least one trade-off. Without a bank feed, every transaction is entered manually, which is manageable at two properties and a material overhead at ten. Several free tiers do not track gas safety, EICR, EPC or Right to Rent at all, which leaves the obligations carrying the most severe penalties to memory or a calendar. Support on free tiers is slower, which matters most at exactly the wrong moments, a quarterly MTD deadline or a deposit dispute. And check data portability before you commit: if you later switch, how easily does your data come with you? August provides clean, human-readable exports of properties, tenancies and transactions on every tier including free; not every platform does.

When does free stop being enough?

Four trigger points reliably mark the boundary. You add a third active tenancy, taking you past most free-tier caps. You cross the MTD threshold, at which point a free tier without submission capability means paying for bridging software on top. You face an arrears situation, where serving notices and building a possession case under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 demands timestamped records and document depth that free tiers rarely provide; the Renters' Rights hub covers what the Act requires in practice. Or your accountant starts billing hours to reformat your records, at which point clean property-level exports pay for themselves. Our software ROI model shows the Growth subscription costs the equivalent of 42 minutes of admin time a month, against a modelled eight hours returned, which is the arithmetic behind every one of these triggers.

Frequently asked questions

Is there genuinely free landlord software in the UK?

Yes. August, RentalBux, Hammock, Landlord Studio GO and Rentila all offer indefinite free tiers with no time limit. The scope varies significantly: August's free tier is the only UK-focused option combining an automated Open Banking bank feed with compliance tracking, while RentalBux offers the highest limits.

What is the best free property management software for small landlords?

For most UK landlords with one or two properties, August's free tier offers the strongest combination: automated Open Banking rent tracking, compliance reminders, document storage and a free tenant app. Landlords above the MTD threshold who need free quarterly submission should look at RentalBux, and single-property landlords who only want mobile expense capture may prefer Landlord Studio GO.

What is the best free landlord app?

August's free tier runs on iOS, Android and web with the full feature set included, and tenants use the app free as well. Landlord Studio GO has an excellent mobile experience for expense logging but is manual-entry only on the free tier.

Can free landlord software handle MTD?

Among the property management platforms compared here, only RentalBux offers MTD quarterly submission on its free tier, and its own pricing confirms that through March 2028 rather than beyond. Free MTD filing does exist outside this group. ANNA and Clear Books both offer free quarterly submission, though neither manages tenancies, compliance or documents, so you would be running two systems. Our guide to free MTD software for landlords compares them. August includes MTD submission from the Growth plan at £8.99 per month.

When should I upgrade from free to paid?

The clearest triggers are crossing the MTD threshold, adding a third tenancy, or manual admin taking more than an hour a month. At Growth's £8.99 per month, the upgrade pays for itself in a small number of avoided admin hours. Start on the free plan with no card and no time limit, and upgrade only when one of those triggers arrives.

Written by the August editorial team. Last reviewed: August 2026. Platform features and free tier limits change; verify current offerings directly with each provider before committing. August is one of the platforms compared.