Best MTD Software for Landlords 2026: An Honest Comparison

HMRC has been sending letters to landlords all spring with the same message: from 6 April 2026, if your gross property and self-employment income was over GBP 50,000 in the 2024-25 tax year, the annual Self Assessment routine is over. You now keep digital records and file quarterly through recognised software, whether you feel ready or not.

The software market has responded with a wall of nearly identical claims, and most comparison articles are written by the vendors themselves. This one is too, in the sense that Rentalize appears in it. The difference is that we will tell you plainly where each competitor is the better choice, because a landlord who picks the wrong tool for their situation churns out of it within a year anyway.

Here is how the main options actually compare for UK landlords in 2026, and how to decide in ten minutes.

What MTD actually requires from a landlord

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 if your combined gross income from property and self-employment exceeded GBP 50,000 in 2024-25. The threshold falls to GBP 30,000 from April 2027 and GBP 20,000 from April 2028, so a landlord with two or three properties is either in scope now or will be soon. Two inputs into our MTD threshold checker gives you a definitive answer.

Once in scope, you must:

• Keep digital records of every rental income and expense item
• File 4 quarterly updates per year through HMRC-recognised software
• File a final declaration replacing the Self Assessment return

Penalties are points-based: each late submission earns a point, and at 4 points you receive a GBP 200 fine, with the counter staying live while you remain behind. The full rules, dates and registration process are in our MTD for landlords guide.

The contenders, compared

Tool by tool: strengths and honest weaknesses

Xero is the accountant’s default, and if your accountant already works in it, staying there is the path of least resistance. The GBP 7 Simple plan is the cheapest recognised option from a major vendor. The weakness for landlords: it is generic accounting software. Property-specific categories, per-property profit views and tenancy context all need manual setup or do not exist.

FreeAgent is genuinely free if you bank with NatWest, RBS or Mettle, which makes it the obvious choice for landlords who already do. Like Xero, it is built for small businesses generally, so the same per-property blindness applies.

Hammock was built specifically for landlord tax records and it shows: per-property income and expense tracking, mortgage interest handling, and MTD filing are native. If your only problem is tax records, it is a strong pick. It does not manage the tenancy itself: no deposit tracking, compliance deadlines, or arrears workflows.

Landlord Studio is similar in scope to Hammock with a more app-led experience and a free tier that suits one or two properties. The same boundary applies: it records your rental business, it does not run it.

ANNA automates the bookkeeping end to end if you run your rental income through its business account. The trade-off is coupling your banking to your tax tool, and property-specific features are thin.

Rentalize approaches the problem from the other side. It is landlord software first: rent collection by direct debit and open banking, tenancy records, Renters’ Rights Act compliance and repairs, with the tax ledger generated from real payment data rather than typed in after the fact. Come quarter end, your figures are already categorised and export ready for filing. The honest caveat: if you want one tool that only does tax filing and nothing else, Hammock or Xero is simpler. Rentalize earns its keep when you want the rent, the compliance and the tax record to be the same data, which is also the case for choosing it over a spreadsheet in the first place. Our complete UK landlord software guide covers that broader decision.

Records vs filing: the distinction that matters

Every MTD conversation conflates two different jobs. Filing is the quarterly act of sending numbers to HMRC through recognised software; check any vendor’s claim against HMRC’s official recognised-software list before paying. Records are the 365 days of income and expenses those numbers summarise.

Filing is commoditised: every tool on this page can do it or connect to something that does. Records are where landlords actually fail. A missed expense category, rent logged against the wrong property, or a top-up payment recorded nowhere at all produces wrong quarterly figures filed through perfectly good software. That is why the right question is not “which MTD tool” but “which system will my rent and expenses actually live in all year”. Then make sure that system can feed a recognised filer, whether directly, through your accountant, or via bridging software.

Worth checking alongside the software decision: our UK landlord tax calculator shows your position after Section 24 mortgage interest restrictions, and the buy-to-let calculator covers whether the next purchase stacks up under the 2026 rules.

How to choose in ten minutes

• You have an accountant who files for you: stay in their ecosystem, usually Xero. Your job is clean records, not software selection.
• You bank with NatWest, RBS or Mettle: FreeAgent free tier first; move only if per-property blindness starts costing you.
• 1 to 3 properties, tax is your only pain: Hammock or Landlord Studio.
• You want automation and do not mind switching bank accounts: ANNA.
• You self-manage and want rent collection, compliance and tax records in one place: Rentalize, and the quarterly figures come from live payment data instead of your memory.

Frequently asked questions

When does MTD become mandatory for landlords?

From 6 April 2026 if your gross property plus self-employment income exceeded GBP 50,000 in the 2024-25 tax year. The threshold drops to GBP 30,000 in April 2027 and GBP 20,000 in April 2028.

Do I need special software for MTD or can I use a spreadsheet?

Spreadsheets alone no longer satisfy the rules. You can keep a spreadsheet and file through bridging software, but records must be digital and submissions must go through HMRC-recognised software. In practice a dedicated tool is less work than maintaining the bridge.

What happens if I miss a quarterly deadline?

You collect a penalty point per late submission. At 4 points HMRC issues a GBP 200 fine, and further late filings while at the threshold trigger further fines. Points expire only after a sustained period of on-time filing.

Is Rentalize HMRC-recognised MTD software?

Rentalize is the system of record for your rents, expenses and compliance, producing categorised MTD-ready figures each quarter. Filing happens through HMRC-recognised software or your accountant using those figures. Always verify any vendor’s recognition status on HMRC’s official software list.

Which MTD software is cheapest for a landlord?

FreeAgent is free with a NatWest, RBS or Mettle business account. Otherwise Xero’s GBP 7 Simple plan is the cheapest recognised option from a major vendor. Landlord-specific tools cluster around GBP 10 per month.

Does MTD change how much tax I pay?

No. It changes when and how you report, not the rates. But quarterly visibility means fewer January surprises, and cleaner expense capture usually means fewer missed deductions.

If you would like to see how Rentalize turns live rent data into MTD-ready quarterly figures, you can book a 20-minute walkthrough. We will use one of your own properties as the worked example.