Hammock vs Landlord Studio (2026): Prices and MTD Compared

Hammock and Landlord Studio both send Making Tax Digital quarterly updates for UK property income. At two properties, each has a way to do it for less than LetCompliance's Solo plan. They differ in how they charge, in whether the tax return is ready, and in foreign property.

• Hammock sets its plans by the number of properties, from £8 +VAT a month for 1 to 3. Quarterly updates and the final declaration are on every plan. HMRC's software finder lists both as ready for UK property, and the quarterly updates for foreign property too.
• Landlord Studio has MTD Go at £0 a month for up to 3 units, with £5 for each MTD tax submission, and Pro from £15 +VAT a month for 3 units. HMRC's finder lists its quarterly updates as ready and its tax return as in development.
• LetCompliance runs the whole let in England, from the advert and the signed tenancy to rent by Direct Debit and the notices, and sends the quarterly updates for UK property income, and the tax return where UK property is your only income to add, on every paid plan, from £7.99 a month with no VAT added.

Every price below is from the provider's own pricing page, read on 31 October 2026. Every status is from HMRC's finder: the product pages read the same day, and the tax return status from the finder's results read on 26 October 2026.

Prices at 1, 5 and 10 properties

Each product's own figures, a month. Hammock and Landlord Studio add VAT; LetCompliance adds none.

How each one counts:

• Hammock goes by properties: Basic covers 1 to 3, Standard 4 to 10, and Plus 11 to 20 at £25 +VAT a month. Paying yearly takes 20% off. Above 20 properties, its page asks how many you manage before it confirms the price, so no figure above 20 is given here.
• Landlord Studio goes by units. Pro includes 3, then each extra unit is £1.20 +VAT a month, or £1 +VAT on yearly billing. MTD Go covers up to 3 units, and its comparison table lists no bank feeds on it. The page does not say whether VAT is added to the £5 per submission.
• LetCompliance plans are one price for each size of portfolio, never a charge per property: Single covers 1 property, Solo up to 3 and Portfolio up to 10. Making Tax Digital is on every paid plan, with no charge per submission.

HMRC's finder, side by side

HMRC's finder is GOV.UK's list of software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Each product's page gives every feature a status: Ready now, In development or Not included. HMRC defines In development as a feature the provider has committed to build in time for the 2026 to 2027 tax return.

The product pages were read on 31 October 2026. The tax return line is from each product's card in the finder's results for a landlord with UK property income only, read on 26 October 2026.

The limit on LetCompliance's tax return. It can be sent from LetCompliance when UK property is the only income you need to add yourself, and you have no property loss from an earlier year, no capital allowance beyond a car, and no relief or charge to add. Otherwise your updates still go from LetCompliance and the return goes from software that can add the rest.

GOV.UK allows that split: one product for creating records and sending quarterly updates, and another for submitting the tax return. What it does not allow is more than one product sending the quarterly updates for your property income (Choose the right software).

A worked year: two properties from April 2027

Take a landlord who owns two flats alone, let at £1,300 a month each: £31,200 of rent a year, the same in 2025 to 2026, and no self-employment. Qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses, and a joint owner counts only their share (GOV.UK). Over £30,000 on the 2025 to 2026 return means Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027 (GOV.UK).

Both flats are one UK property business (HMRC PIM1020), so they need one set of updates, not two. The first year, 2027 to 2028, takes five submissions:

1. 1The update for 6 April to 5 July 2027, by 7 August 2027
2. 2The update for 6 April to 5 October 2027, by 7 November 2027
3. 3The update for 6 April 2027 to 5 January 2028, by 7 February 2028
4. 4The update for the whole year to 5 April 2028, by 7 May 2028
5. 5The tax return for 2027 to 2028, by 31 January 2029

Each update covers the tax year so far, from 6 April. Here is what that year costs on each, at the prices read on 31 October 2026:

The Hammock and Landlord Studio Pro figures include VAT at 20% (GOV.UK VAT rates), which a landlord who is not VAT registered pays on top. MTD Go's £20 is the page's figure, and the page does not say whether VAT is added to it.

What the figures show:

• At two properties, both rivals cost less than Solo on their cheaper route. Hammock Basic is £92.16 to £115.20 for the year with VAT, and MTD Go is £20 for the four updates.
• Landlord Studio Pro costs more than Solo when both are billed the same way: £216 against £179.88 paid monthly, £172.80 against £119.92 paid yearly.
• The tax return differs. Hammock's is Ready now. Landlord Studio's is In development, which by HMRC's definition means committed for the 2026 to 2027 return, a year before this landlord's first return is due. MTD Go's page states £5 per MTD tax submission and does not say whether the tax return counts as one. If it does, the year is at least £25.

Any of the three may change its prices before 2027, so check each page again before then.

What each price covers beyond the tax

Each pricing page, read on 31 October 2026, lists:

• Hammock, on every plan: the quarterly updates and the final declaration, properties and tenancies, bookkeeping, reports, unlimited bank feeds, rent tracking and arrears tracking, and support by email and phone.
• Landlord Studio MTD Go: income and expenses entered by hand, receipt scanning, up to 10 documents, mileage, tenancies and applications, a tenant portal and maintenance requests, basic reports and one user. Pro adds rental accounting with bank feeds for 5 accounts, automated rent reminders and receipts, personal reminders for compliance, 250 documents, advanced reports and 3 users.
• LetCompliance, which runs the whole let: adverts and applications, referencing paid per check, the tenancy agreement signed online, rent collected by Direct Debit into your own Stripe account, repairs, certificate dates, and Section 8 (Form 3A) and Section 13 (Form 4A) notices on paid plans, with the SA105 figures and Making Tax Digital in the same login.

LetCompliance takes no commission on the rent, but Stripe charges 1% of each Direct Debit payment with a 20p minimum and a £4 cap, and £5 for a disputed payment.

LetCompliance has no Open Banking bank feed. Bank statements come in as a CSV file, and each line is matched to the rent or a cost before anything is recorded. It covers UK property income only, and it is software for the landlord, not for an agent filing for clients.

Moving during a tax year

Only one product can send the quarterly updates for your property income, and each update restates the year from 6 April. So whichever product sends the next update must hold everything since then, not only the latest three months. The steps are in switching MTD software mid-year, and the help centre covers moving from Hammock and moving from Landlord Studio.

More on each

• LetCompliance vs Hammock and Hammock alternatives
• LetCompliance vs Landlord Studio and Landlord Studio alternatives
• Does Hammock support Making Tax Digital? and does Landlord Studio?
• Is LetCompliance cheaper than Hammock? and than Landlord Studio?
• How many products on HMRC's list send the tax return

The tax and the let in one login. LetCompliance sends your quarterly updates for UK property income on every paid plan from £7.99 a month, beside the tenancy, the rent and the notices.