Cheapest landlord software UK 2026, by monthly price

In the UK, the cheapest landlord software is a market-pricing question rather than a legal category, and the answer depends on whether the landlord needs portfolio management, accounting, tenant tools or Making Tax Digital. The legal Making Tax Digital points are UK-wide because Income Tax is an HMRC duty, while most prices below are vendor-published UK market prices.

What is the cheapest landlord software in the UK?

The cheapest landlord software in the UK in 2026 is a permanent free plan where it fits the portfolio: Abodient is free for one property, Landlord Studio’s Go plan is free for 1–3 units, Latch Basic covers 3 leases, and August says its free tier covers up to two tenancies with no time limit.

For a one-property landlord who wants portfolio management rather than just accounting, Abodient is the cleanest price answer because its pricing is “Free for one property; £19 a month for two to ten; £39 a month for eleven to fifty; negotiated above that.” August’s own comparison says “August's free tier covers up to two tenancies with no time limit and no credit card required,” but that is a vendor comparison, not an independent tariff table. Hammock should not be treated as permanently free: its pricing says “Start for free, then enjoy from £8 per month.”

How much should a landlord pay per property per month?

A small UK landlord should benchmark software by the whole monthly portfolio price first: £0 for one property, £19 a month for two to ten properties, and £39 a month for eleven to fifty are Abodient’s published monthly bands.

That makes Abodient’s effective monthly price £9.50 per property for two properties, £1.90 per property for ten, about £3.55 per property for eleven, and 78p per property for fifty, although the bill itself is not per property inside those bands. A landlord comparing landlord software costs should avoid inventing an average price per property per month, because the market mixes free tiers, tenancy caps, user-based pricing and enterprise quotes.

NRLA Portfolio is another visible benchmark because it is “bundled with NRLA membership,” or sold standalone at £12/month, while Arthur Online’s enterprise tier starts “From £126.00 /month” and Apex27 is “£35 (ex. VAT) per user,” which are not small-landlord benchmarks.

Is per-property or flat-rate pricing cheaper for a small portfolio?

Flat-rate pricing is usually cheaper once a small portfolio fills the band, while a free per-unit or capped free plan is cheaper at the very bottom of the market.

Abodient shows the arithmetic clearly: one property is free, then two to ten properties cost £19 a month for the whole portfolio, so the effective per-property price falls from £9.50 at two properties to £1.90 at ten. For eleven to fifty properties, the £39 monthly band means the effective cost drops from about £3.55 to 78p per property as the portfolio grows.

That does not prove a universal rule that flat-rate pricing always beats per-property landlord software, because caps and included features matter: Landlord Studio’s free Go tier covers 1–3 units, Latch Basic covers 3 leases, and August says its free tier covers two tenancies. The practical rule is to price the next property, not the current one, because crossing a tier threshold can change the answer overnight.

What is the cheapest software that still covers Making Tax Digital?

The cheapest Making Tax Digital answer is free compatible software where the landlord qualifies for it, but from 6 April 2026 landlords over the UK-wide threshold need compatible software rather than a named product.

HMRC says, “You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000,” and GOV.UK also says “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs but there may be limits on how the product can be used.” FreeAgent says landlords can “Get Making Tax Digital-ready software for free if you hold a business bank account with NatWest, Mettle, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank,” so that is the cheapest named MTD route for those account holders.

Hammock claims it is “the first landlord accounting platform recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital.” Abodient files MTD quarterly updates to HMRC, and the free tier covers a single property.

Do cheap plans charge extra for tenants, users or documents?

Some cheap landlord software plans include tenant access and document tools, but add-on charging varies by supplier, so landlords should compare tenant, user and document limits before switching. Landlord Studio’s free Go tier includes a tenant portal, and its pricing material says, “Tenants can log into the tenant portal via desktop or the tenant app to log maintenance requests, make payments, and more.” RentOnCloud says there is “no any cost to sign up and manage property for the Landlord,” and also says “Tenants can also be invited to use user friendly tenancy management software.” Abodient includes document upload, extraction and semantic search as part of the product: “Upload anything against a property,” and documents are “Searchable by meaning rather than filename.” The cheapest headline price can still become the wrong price if the plan caps tenants, users, stored documents, bank feeds, referencing, payments or support below what the landlord actually needs.

Is the cheapest option ever a false economy?

The cheapest landlord software is a false economy when it is only free until a trial ends, when it cannot meet Making Tax Digital duties, or when the landlord needs rights and support that a free digital product may not carry; a permanent free tier such as Abodient’s avoids the first of those problems, but no free tier solves the second on its own.

HMRC’s rule is the hard line: “From 6 April 2026, some sole traders and landlords must use compatible software to report their income using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax,” so a spreadsheet-only system stops being enough once the landlord is in scope. GOV.UK also warns that free MTD products exist for simple tax affairs, but “there may be limits on how the product can be used.” Hammock is the clearest pricing trap to avoid: “Set up your account in no time and get instant access to Hammock's full features with a 30-day free trial,” after which the pricing page says it starts from £8 per month.

A free app can also have weaker consumer digital-content protection, because the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies where digital content is supplied “for a price paid by the consumer.” Abodient’s free tier for one property is permanent rather than time-limited, and the step up is £19 a month for two to ten properties — but a landlord already inside Making Tax Digital needs software that can file live today, which Abodient cannot yet do.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Abodient pricing — “Free for one property; £19 a month for two to ten; £39 a month for eleven to fifty; negotiated above that.” Source
• August free landlord software comparison — “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.” Source
• Hammock pricing — “Start for free, then enjoy from £8 per month.” Source
• NRLA Portfolio — “Everything you need to manage your properties, nothing you don't – bundled with NRLA membership” Source
• Arthur Online pricing — “From £126.00 /month” Source
• Apex27 pricing — “£35 (ex. VAT) per user” Source
• GOV.UK Making Tax Digital for Income Tax sign-up guidance — “You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000.” Source
• GOV.UK MTD-compatible software guidance — “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs but there may be limits on how the product can be used” Source
• FreeAgent pricing — “Get Making Tax Digital-ready software for free if you hold a business bank account with NatWest, Mettle, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank.” Source
• Hammock homepage — “Hammock is the first landlord accounting platform recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital.” Source
• Landlord Studio pricing — “Tenants can log into the tenant portal via desktop or the tenant app to log maintenance requests, make payments, and more.” Source
• RentOnCloud — “Currently there is no any cost to sign up and manage property for the Landlord.” Source
• RentOnCloud — “Tenants can also be invited to use user friendly tenancy management software.” Source
• Abodient documents — “Upload anything against a property.” Source
• Abodient documents — “Searchable by meaning rather than filename.” Source
• GOV.UK MTD-compatible software guidance — “From 6 April 2026, some sole traders and landlords must use compatible software to report their income using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.” Source
• Hammock pricing — “Set up your account in no time and get instant access to Hammock's full features with a 30-day free trial.” Source
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.33 — “This Chapter applies to a contract for a trader to supply digital content to a consumer, if it is supplied or to be supplied for a price paid by the consumer.” Source