OpenRent alternatives for UK landlords (2026)
“Alternative to OpenRent” means different things depending on which of its jobs you're replacing: advertising a property on Rightmove and Zoopla, referencing tenants at £30 a time, or managing the tenancy afterwards. This page compares credible options for each job, with honest prices and a note on when OpenRent is still the right answer.
OpenRent alternatives at a glance
Indicative prices, paid by the landlord (the Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans charging the tenant). Confirm current pricing on each provider's own site.
| Provider | Best for | Indicative price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RentFig (that's us) | Tenant referencing + ongoing management | Free application form; £9 credit check / £19 full reference | No account or subscription — pay per check. Also manages tenancies, rent chasing, compliance and accounting. |
| Canopy | Tenant referencing | Not published — pricing on application | Agent-facing: every tier shows “Let's talk” rather than a price, and there is no landlord self-serve checkout. Its RentPassport is built free by the tenant, but the details are only verified once someone pays to upgrade it to a reference. |
| Oops Insurance | Tenant referencing & credit checks | £9.99 credit check / £14.99 full reference (inc. VAT) | Cheaper than us on a full reference; its credit check is £9.99 against our £9 (or £7 with a free RentFig account). Its page headline says “from £5”, but the tiers listed are £9.99 and £14.99. |
| Goodlord (including Vouch) | Agent-backed referencing & tenancy services | Not published by Goodlord; via the NRLA £23.40 (members) / £40.20 (non-members) inc. VAT | Vouch referencing has moved to Goodlord, so they're now one provider. Goodlord itself sells to letting agents, but landlords can buy Goodlord-powered referencing through the NRLA. |
| HomeLet | Referencing & rent-guarantee insurance | Not published — quoted via a letting agent | One of the biggest UK referencing brands; often bundled with insurance products. Its own site says referencing is for letting agents in partnership with HomeLet, and points individual landlords to its insurance team. |
| Let Alliance | Referencing platform | Not published — quoted via a letting agent | The same business as HomeLet — both are trading names of Barbon Insurance Group Limited — so treat them as one option, not two. No rate card is published. |
| Online letting agents (e.g. LettingaProperty, MakeUrMove) | Advertising on Rightmove & Zoopla | Package pricing varies | The closest like-for-like OpenRent alternatives for listings — compare current packages directly. |
| PropertyLoop | Online letting agent: advertising, referencing and management | Lettings fee 10% + VAT (12% inc. VAT); management 6% + VAT (7.2% inc. VAT) | Not commission-free: its published fees page lists a lettings fee of 10% + VAT, paid upfront, covering marketing, referencing and tenancy setup, and a management fee of 6% + VAT. A percentage-of-rent model, so compare it against a flat per-check or subscription price over a full year. |
| Landlord Studio / Landlord Vision / LetSorted | Property management software | Subscription-based (LetSorted: free for the first property) | Management and accounting focused, the same category as RentFig itself; referencing is not the core product on any of the three. |
Third-party details from each provider's public site and the market guides cited in our cheapest tenant referencing guide, checked 13 October 2026. All prices include VAT except where marked otherwise. RentFig figures are our own and final — we aren't VAT-registered (disclosure: RentFig is our product).
If you're leaving because of the £30 references
This is the most common reason landlords look elsewhere, and the easiest to fix without giving anything up. Pay-per-check referencing services run the same checks for less: RentFig's free tenant referencing form collects the application and consent at no cost (online or as a printable PDF, no account needed), then a credit check is £9 and a full reference — credit, income and affordability, employer and previous-landlord references, Right to Rent (England) and anti-fraud — is £19. We aren't VAT-registered, so those are the final prices — and with a free RentFig account they drop to £7 and £17. We're not the cheapest on every line, though: Oops Insurance lists a £14.99 inc. VAT full reference that undercuts ours — its credit check is £9.99 against our £9 (£7 with a free account). The agent-facing providers (Canopy, Goodlord, HomeLet and Let Alliance) quote on application, so there is no published rate to hold them to — the exception is Goodlord-powered referencing bought through the NRLA, at £23.40 for members or £40.20 otherwise (inc. VAT). RentFig's edge is that collecting the application costs nothing at all, there's no account or subscription to open, and the reference sits alongside the tenancy, rent and compliance records you'll need afterwards.
Free application form → £9 credit check or £19 full reference. No account. No subscription.
If you're leaving because of the advertising
OpenRent's core strength is cheap access to Rightmove and Zoopla, and the honest answer is that few services beat it at that job. The like-for-like alternatives are other online letting agents — LettingaProperty and MakeUrMove are the established names — whose packages bundle listings with varying levels of service; compare their current pricing directly. OpenRent itself starts with a free basic listing; its Rightmove and Zoopla upgrade is £29 inc. VAT, and Advertising + Rent Now is £58 inc. VAT. PropertyLoop works as an online letting agent charging a percentage of the rent: a lettings fee of 10% + VAT upfront (covering marketing, referencing and setup) and 6% + VAT if it also manages. If an agent is doing your advertising anyway, you don't need a listings platform at all — just make sure you're not overpaying for the referencing they resell.
If you need more for managing the tenancy
OpenRent now sells some post-let services — Rent Collection at £10/month and Management Plus at £19/month, plus certificates and free Section 8 notices. If you want the whole picture in one place — chasing rent, tracking gas safety, EICR and EPC renewals, HMO licensing, deposits, income and expenses for your tax return — that's the job of management software. RentFig covers that alongside its referencing (free plan for up to 2 tenancies), and Landlord Studio, Landlord Vision and LetSorted are subscription-based alternatives focused on management and accounting. Many landlords run the sensible hybrid: advertise on OpenRent, reference and manage on RentFig.
FAQ
What is the best OpenRent alternative?
It depends which OpenRent job you're replacing. For advertising a property on Rightmove and Zoopla, the closest alternatives are other online letting agents such as LettingaProperty or MakeUrMove. For tenant referencing, pay-per-check services are cheaper — RentFig charges £9 for a credit check or £19 for a full reference with a free application form and no account (disclosure: RentFig is our product), against OpenRent's £30 inc. VAT per reference. For ongoing management after the tenant moves in, dedicated software like RentFig, Landlord Studio or Landlord Vision does far more than a listings platform.
Is there a cheaper alternative to OpenRent for tenant referencing?
Yes. OpenRent charges £30 inc. VAT per reference. RentFig runs a full reference (credit, income and affordability, employer and previous-landlord references, Right to Rent and anti-fraud) for £19, or a credit-only check for £9, with a free application form and no subscription — and we aren't VAT-registered, so those are final prices. RentFig is not the cheapest on every line, though: Oops Insurance lists a £14.99 full reference, which undercuts RentFig's £19, although its credit check is £9.99 against RentFig's £9 (£7 with a free RentFig account). The agent-facing providers (Canopy, Goodlord, HomeLet and Let Alliance) publish no rate card of their own; the one published route is Goodlord-powered referencing through the NRLA at £23.40 for members or £40.20 otherwise (inc. VAT). RentFig's edge is the free no-account application form and pay-per-check pricing — you can collect an application for nothing and only pay when you decide to run a check.
Can I keep using OpenRent for advertising and reference tenants elsewhere?
Yes, and it's a common setup. OpenRent's advertising and referencing are separate services — a basic listing is free, the Rightmove and Zoopla upgrade is £29 inc. VAT, and referencing is £30 inc. VAT — so you can list the property on OpenRent, then reference applicants with any provider you like — for example collecting the application free and paying £9–£19 per check on RentFig — and manage the tenancy wherever suits you.
Why would a landlord leave OpenRent?
The usual reasons are cost per reference (£30 versus £9–£19 pay-per-check elsewhere), wanting referencing without creating an account or listing, or wanting fuller post-let tools — compliance tracking (gas safety, EICR, EPC), HMO licensing, and income and expense accounting for your tax return — in one place. OpenRent does now sell post-let services (Rent Collection at £10/month and Management Plus at £19/month, plus certificates and free Section 8 notices), so compare what each actually includes. If you only need to advertise and find a tenant, OpenRent remains a strong choice.
Do tenants ever pay for referencing on these platforms?
No. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, charging a tenant for referencing is a banned fee in England — the landlord or agent pays on every platform listed here.
Want the head-to-head instead? See RentFig vs OpenRent for a fee-by-fee referencing comparison, or start now with the free tenant referencing tool.
Disclaimer: This comparison is general information for UK landlords, not legal or financial advice. RentFig is our own product; all other providers are independent companies whose details are summarised from their public websites and may change — always confirm current pricing and what's included directly with each provider.