HomeLet alternatives for UK landlords
Most people looking for a HomeLet alternative are looking for one reason: HomeLet doesn't sell referencing to individual landlords. Its own site says referencing is for letting agents partnered with HomeLet, and sends landlords to its insurance team. The right replacement then depends on a question worth answering before you compare anything: do you need rent guarantee insurance, or just an accurate reference?
First, the question that decides your shortlist
HomeLet's referencing exists to support insurance. Its checks are built to produce a decision an underwriter will stand behind, which is what makes a rent guarantee policy possible. That is a real product with real value — but only if you are buying the cover.
If you are, choose the insurance first and use whatever reference the policy requires; buying a cheaper reference separately usually just means paying twice, because the insurer will want its own. If you aren't— and most self-managing landlords aren't — the insurable decision buys you nothing you can use, and what you actually need is an accurate picture of identity, credit, affordability and Right to Rent.
If you just need the reference
These sell directly to landlords, with published prices, no agent and no contract. All figures include VAT — residential lettings are VAT-exempt, so a landlord can't reclaim it — and referencing is paid for by the landlord under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
| Provider | Price | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| RentFig | Free application form; £9 credit check / £19 full reference | Pay per check, no account or subscription. The £19 covers income and affordability, employer and previous-landlord references, Right to Rent (England) and anti-fraud, and sits alongside the tenancy, rent and compliance records you need afterwards. (Our own product.) |
| Oops Insurance | £9.99 credit check / £14.99 full reference | Cheaper than RentFig on a full reference; needs an account. Its headline says “from £5” but the listed tiers are £9.99 and £14.99, and it doesn't state whether VAT is included. |
| OpenRent | £30 inc. VAT per reference | One tier, account required. Worth it mainly if you also want the Rightmove and Zoopla advertising OpenRent is built around. |
Prices re-checked 1 August 2026 against each provider's own site. RentFig prices are our own and final — we aren't VAT-registered, so nothing is added at checkout.
If you need an insurance-backed reference
These operate in the same space as HomeLet, and none of them publishes a price — the cost sits inside a letting agent's contract. Read the first row carefully.
| Provider | Price | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Let Alliance | Not published — quoted via a letting agent | NOT an independent alternative: the same company as HomeLet (both trade under Barbon Insurance Group Limited) selling the same VISTA product. It does add Same Day Referencing built with TransUnion rather than Experian. |
| Goodlord (including Vouch) | Not published — no pricing page at all | A genuine alternative outside the HomeLet group. Its PRO tier includes full insurability, plus HMRC and payroll income data. Sold through letting agents; this is where Vouch went. |
| Canopy | Not published — every tier shows “Let's talk” | Agent-facing, built around a tenant-owned RentPassport. Its free tier is self-certified until someone pays to verify it, so treat it as data collection rather than a check. |
Details re-checked 1 August 2026 against each provider's own site.
The alternative that isn't one
Let Alliance is not an alternative to HomeLet. They are the same business — both trading names of Barbon Insurance Group Limited, part of PIB Group — selling the same Experian-built VISTA product. Rent4Sure and Rentshield Direct sit in the same group.
This trips people up constantly, because the two brands market separately and a landlord or agent collecting three quotes can easily end up with two from one company. If you want a genuine second opinion on an applicant or a keener price, it has to come from outside the group. The one real distinction is that Let Alliance also markets Same Day Referencing built with TransUnion rather than Experian, which can matter for an applicant with a thin file at one bureau.
A note on prices you find elsewhere
None of the agent-channel providers publishes a current rate card, so any specific per-reference figure you find for HomeLet, Let Alliance, Canopy or Goodlord is unverified until they give it to you. We learned this the hard way: until 1 August 2026 this site quoted a Canopy price that turned out to be a members' rate from a page expired since December 2024, hidden from view on their live site. We removed it rather than replace it with a guess, and wrote up what happened.
FAQ
Why do I need a HomeLet alternative?
Usually because you manage your own property. HomeLet's landlord page states that its referencing products are available to letting agents who work in partnership with HomeLet, and points individual landlords to its Landlord Insurance team instead. So for a self-managing landlord HomeLet referencing isn't a product you can buy, whatever it would cost an agent. You may see references to a “HomeLet Direct” landlord form on third-party sites; that link no longer resolves.
Which HomeLet alternatives are actually the same company?
Let Alliance. Both HomeLet and Let Alliance are trading names of Barbon Insurance Group Limited, part of PIB Group, and both sell the same Experian-built VISTA referencing product. Rent4Sure and Rentshield Direct are also Barbon brands. If you are collecting quotes to compare, those are not independent quotes — a real second opinion has to come from outside the group.
What's the cheapest alternative to HomeLet?
Since HomeLet publishes no price, “cheaper” can't be measured against it directly — industry guides put agent-backed references at roughly £20–£40 per applicant, but that's an estimate, not a HomeLet rate. Among providers you can buy directly, RentFig's £9 credit check is the cheapest published price we can find and Oops Insurance's £14.99 full reference undercuts RentFig's £19. OpenRent charges £30. (Disclosure: RentFig is our product.)
Can I get rent guarantee insurance without a HomeLet reference?
Yes, but the reference and the policy usually travel together. Insurers underwrite against a reference produced to their own criteria, often by a provider they work with — so in practice you choose the rent guarantee product first and use whichever reference it requires. Buying a cheap reference separately and then shopping for cover tends not to work, because the insurer will want its own check. If you're not buying cover at all, an insurance-backed reference gives you nothing a standard full reference doesn't.
Is an insurance-backed reference more accurate than a pay-per-check one?
Not inherently — it's assessed against different criteria. An insurable reference has to satisfy an underwriter that the risk is acceptable, which makes it stricter in specific ways and adds a formal decision on top of the facts. A pay-per-check full reference gives you the same underlying material — identity, credit history, income and affordability, previous-landlord and employer references, Right to Rent — and leaves the decision to you. If you're carrying the risk yourself, that's usually what you want.
For the head-to-head, see RentFig vs HomeLet, or compare the whole UK market by price in our cheapest tenant referencing guide.
Disclaimer:This comparison is general information for UK landlords, not legal or financial advice, and nothing here is advice on whether to buy insurance. RentFig is our own product. Every other company named is independent, and its details, including corporate ownership, are summarised from public websites and may change — always confirm current pricing and what's included directly with the provider.