In this article
Free Landlord Compliance Software UK (2026): What You Get Without Paying
Yes, free landlord compliance software exists in the UK in 2026. LLCR's Free plan includes the complete compliance platform for one property at £0, including certificate tracking, notice builders, and the Compliance Defence Pack. Landlord Studio GO (three units) and August's Free plan (two tenancies) are free alternatives led by accounting and rent tracking.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It describes the position in England. LLCR publishes this comparison and is not affiliated with the other providers named. Pricing and plan details were checked in September 2026 against each provider's own website and can change; confirm current terms with each vendor.
Why free matters more since the Renters' Rights Act
Around 45% of landlords in England let a single property, and since 1 May 2026 they carry the same obligations and the same penalty exposure as a landlord with fifty: civil penalties of up to £40,000 for offences, rent repayment orders of up to 24 months' rent, and possession claims that turn entirely on Section 8 evidence. A single property landlord has no margin for error, but also has the least reason to pay for software. That is the gap free plans exist to close.
The question is what each free plan actually includes, because "free" in landlord software usually means a trial, a stripped tier, or a single feature. This comparison covers the plans that are genuinely £0 with no time limit.
What is free in 2026: the comparison
| Plan | Price | Capacity | Built around | Notable inclusions | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLCR Free | £0, forever | 1 active property | Compliance evidence | Full platform: certificate tracking, deposit and rent records, Form 3A and Form 4A notice builders, tamper-evident audit trail, Compliance Defence Pack, Telegram alerts, 10 Ava AI messages a month | One active property; 500MB storage |
| Landlord Studio GO | £0 | First 3 units | Income and expense tracking | Accounting, basic tenancy management; HMRC-recognised MTD support on the platform | Compliance is a feature, not the core; paid PRO tier from £12 a month adds automation |
| August Free | £0 | 2 tenancies | Rent and tenancy management | Rent tracking, expense tracking, compliance checklists, reminders, document storage, 1 bank connection | Paid plans from £8.99 a month for MTD reporting and more tenancies and bank accounts |
Spreadsheets remain the other free option, and for pure record storage they work. What they cannot do is calculate expiry dates, send reminders, or produce dated evidence of what was in place and when, which is why landlords have been moving off them since possession moved to Section 8.
What LLCR's Free plan includes
LLCR's Free plan is the complete platform for one active property, not a cut-down tier. It includes tracking for eleven certificate types with automatic expiry calculation, statutory checks including smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and Right to Rent, deposit protection records with prescribed information tracking, a rent ledger connected to the Section 8 arrears grounds, the Form 3A and Form 4A notice builders, proof of service records, email and Telegram reminders, compliance scoring, and 10 messages a month with Ava, the built-in AI compliance assistant.
It also includes the Compliance Defence Pack, the one-click court-formatted evidence bundle, on the Free plan. The reasoning is practical rather than generous: a compliance record is only useful if it is complete from the first day, and the moment a landlord needs to produce evidence is not the moment to start paying for the ability to export it.
Every account starts with a 14-day trial of the full platform for up to 20 properties with unlimited Ava messages and no payment card. When the trial ends nothing is deleted and nothing is charged; the account continues on the Free plan, and any additional properties are paused with their records retained.
What the free accounting-led plans do well
Landlord Studio GO and August Free solve a different problem well. Landlord Studio GO gives a landlord with up to three units genuinely useful income and expense tracking on a platform that is HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital, which matters now MTD applies to landlords with qualifying income above £50,000. August's Free plan covers two tenancies with rent tracking, a free tenant app, compliance checklists, and reminders, and its paid tiers add Open Banking rent matching from £8.99 a month.
For a landlord whose main worry is bookkeeping and tax, either is a reasonable free starting point. Based on the criteria in this article, which weigh compliance evidence rather than accounting, LLCR's Free plan is the one built around the compliance record itself: what software a landlord actually needs usually splits into layers, and a free accounting plan and a free compliance plan are not substitutes for each other. Many landlords run one of each, since none of these free plans charges anything.
When a free plan stops being enough
Capacity is the honest limit. LLCR Free covers one active property, Landlord Studio GO three units, August Free two tenancies. A landlord with a second property either upgrades one tool or accepts gaps. The other limit is workload: free plans assume the landlord does the work of entering and maintaining records. Where a portfolio or an agent relationship makes that impractical, paid tiers exist for a reason. The full cost picture across UK landlord software is compared separately.
LLCR's Free plan tracks every certificate, deadline, and document for one property at £0, with no payment card at signup. Add a property free, or check a property's compliance position in two minutes with no account at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is there genuinely free landlord compliance software in the UK?
Yes. LLCR's Free plan includes the complete compliance platform for one active property at £0 forever, including certificate tracking with expiry alerts, the Form 3A and Form 4A notice builders, and the Compliance Defence Pack, with no payment card required at signup.
What free landlord software exists for accounting and rent tracking?
Landlord Studio GO is free for the first three units and sits on an HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital platform, and August's Free plan covers two tenancies with rent tracking, expense tracking, and compliance checklists. Both are accounting and rent led, with paid tiers from £12 and £8.99 a month respectively.
Are free landlord software plans good enough for one property?
Often, yes. A single property landlord faces the same legal obligations as a portfolio landlord, and a free plan that tracks certificates, deadlines, and proof of service covers the core risk. The limits are capacity, typically one to three properties, and features tied to paid tiers, so the plan needs checking against the landlord's actual obligations.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. LLCR is a compliance management platform, not a law firm. For advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified solicitor.
First property free
Keep your certificates and dates in one place.
Track your first property freeNo payment card. First property stays free.