Hammock alternative: Provestor vs Hammock for MTD

If you're weighing up Hammock for Making Tax Digital, you've already narrowed the field to the right kind of tool: property-first, finance-focused, built for landlords rather than businesses in general. Hammock and Provestor are close cousins in that sense. So the question isn't breadth versus depth this time. It's what happens on the day you hit a tax question the software can't answer, and this page sets out that difference honestly, including where Hammock is genuinely strong.

If you're still working out what MTD software has to do at all, start with the MTD software guide. If you've already shortlisted Hammock, read on.

The short answer

Hammock is landlord accounting software done well. Real-time bank reconciliation, a tax statement mapped to the SA105 (but not sumitted), a running tax estimate, per-property profit and loss. It's deliberately narrow: finance and record keeping, not a tenant-operations suite or deep on tax. If you want clean records and direct filing and you're confident handling the tax decisions yourself, that focus is the point.

Provestor takes the same property-first approach and adds two things software alone can't: property-tax judgement built into the figures, and a property tax accountant available inside the same plan whenever you want one. If your worry is getting the tax right rather than getting the records tidy, that's where the two diverge.

So this isn't better or worse. Both are property-native and both are lean on purpose. The difference is what you can reach when you get stuck.

What Hammock does well

It's worth being clear about Hammock's strengths, because they're real, and one of them is genuinely best in class.

Hammock connects to your bank, reconciles transactions as they land, and builds a tax statement mapped to the SA105 so your figures line up with the return, ready for you to transfer to your preferred self assessment software. It gives you a live tax estimate and a per-property view of how each one is doing. It is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital, and direct quarterly updates and the final declaration are included on every plan rather than charged as an extra.

Just like Provestor (and unlike most other apps), its joint-ownership handling works well. Hammock splits income and expenses at the transaction level by ownership share, lets each owner file their own MTD updates, and accommodates a beneficial split that differs from the legal one, which is what a Form 17 election does.

Where the two part ways

Because both apps are property-first, the gap isn't about features sitting unused. It's narrower and sharper than that: it's about the tax judgement underneath the figures, and who makes it.

Hammock maps your records to the SA105 or MTD submissions and leaves the calls to you. Provestor automates several of the property-specific rules that decide your bill, so the decision is handled rather than left on your desk.

Three of those rules matter most:

• The mortgage interest restriction (Section 24). Provestor separates the interest from any capital repayment and puts the interest in the right box, so you claim the basic-rate tax reduction correctly instead of over-claiming. Hammock's SA105 mapping carries the figures through, but the split itself is left to you.

• Capital versus revenue. Record the full cost in your books for completeness, while only the revenue portion flows into your MTD figures. The line between a repair and an improvement is handled rather than guessed. With pure software, that judgement sits with the landlord.

• Letting agent statements. Provestor reads a statement when you drag and drop it, using AI extraction, or connects to a partner agent and imports the data automatically by API, with rent, fees and costs separated. Hammock doesn't confirm a dedicated letting-agent statement import for its landlord product, so it's likely you'll need to manually enter every line from your letting agent statements, every month.

On joint ownership, to be plain, both apps handle it well. That's not the dividing line. The dividing line is everything that needs a tax decision rather than a tidy ledger.

What happens when you have a tax question

Here's the difference that tends to matter most, and the one screenshots won't show you.

Hammock gives you the tools to keep your records and send your quarterly updates. What software alone can't give you is an answer when you're unsure. Is this cost allowable? Is this a repair or an improvement? Have I handled the mortgage interest correctly? When one of those questions lands, Hammock points you towards its partner-accountant programme rather than answering it itself. That means the same step you'd take with any pure software product: go and find an accountant. A new relationship, your portfolio explained from scratch, and a separate bill on top of the subscription.

With Provestor, the help is part of the product. Stay on the do-it-yourself plan and you keep full control, with product support for the app itself. The moment you want a second pair of eyes, you move up a plan and a Provestor accountant checks your quarterly updates before you send them, and prepares and submits your final declaration. Move up again and they take on the record keeping and filing entirely. It's the same app, the same records and the same team. There's no one new to brief and nothing to re-explain.

That's the heart of it. The starting price isn't really the difference. Hammock's entry tier and Provestor's do-it-yourself plan sit in much the same ballpark, so this was never going to be won on headline price. The difference is what you can reach when you get stuck: a partner programme to go and join, or a property accountant a plan away.

Built by tax specialists, not a tax feature

There's a reason the tax judgement runs deep. Provestor is built by a team with more than 20 years in property tax software and in practice as accountants, recognised with a Queen's Award for Innovation, Independent Firm of the Year at the British Accountancy Awards, and AccountingWeb's Accounting Excellence Pioneers award. Property tax has been the whole story from the start.

Hammock's story is a different one. It launched in 2019 as a property-finances app, built by a fintech team rather than tax professionals, and for its early years a landlord current account was part of the headline pitch, a product it raised funding to build and has since withdrawn. Tax and Making Tax Digital came into focus later, from around 2022. None of that takes away from the engineering, which is good. It does mean tax is a more recent chapter for Hammock, where for Provestor it has been the point all along. When the rules get fine, that difference in background is what you end up leaning on.

So both can file your updates. Only one was designed, from the ground up, around getting the property tax right, with the accountants there to stand by it.

One focus, or several?

It's worth reading the terms of any app you trust with your property finances. Hammock's terms of service reserve the right to recommend third-party mortgage and insurance products, and to report tenants' rent payments to Experian to help build renters' credit scores. None of that is hidden, it sits in the published terms, but it points to a wider ambition: treating the landlord relationship as a place to offer financial products, not only software. The landlord current account, which Hammock raised funding to launch and has since withdrawn, was the first expression of that.

Some landlords will be comfortable with this. Others will be uneasy that an accounting app reserves the right to pass their tenants' payment data to a credit agency, or to market mortgages and insurance to them.

Provestor's business is narrower by design. It sells one thing: getting your property tax right, whether you do that yourself or have a property accountant do it for you. There's no third-party product to recommend and no tenant data going to a credit agency. When the only way the app grows is by getting your tax right, your interests and its own point in the same direction.

Hammock and Provestor side by side

Which should you choose?

Choose Hammock if you're a confident do-it-yourself landlord who wants clean record keeping, real-time reconciliation and direct filing, you value its joint-ownership handling, and you're comfortable making the tax decisions yourself or with your own accountant.

Choose Provestor if you want the same property-first approach but with the property-tax judgement built into the figures, Section 24 and the capital versus revenue line handled for you, and the option to have a property accountant check your updates or take them on, without leaving the app or starting a new relationship.

One honest note on fit. The Provestor MTD app is built for individuals letting UK residential property on the cash basis, with turnover under £150k, no VAT and no self-employment income, so it doesn't manage tenants or maintenance, and the do-it-yourself plan's support covers the app rather than tax advice (that's what the higher plans are for). If you hold property through a limited company, that's covered by Provestor's company product rather than the individual MTD app.

Switching from Hammock

You don't need years of history to move. Making Tax Digital starts fresh from the tax year you're in, so the practical step is to get your properties and ownership shares set up, connect your bank and any letting agents, and you're ready to record from there. If you'd rather not set it up yourself, the higher plans include that being done for you.

Common questions

Is Hammock recognised for Making Tax Digital? Yes. Hammock is on HMRC's list of recognised software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Quarterly updates and the final declaration are included on its plans. Provestor is on the same recognised list.

Does Hammock handle joint ownership? Yes, and well. Hammock splits income and expenses by ownership share at the transaction level, lets each owner file their own updates, and accommodates a beneficial split that differs from legal ownership (a Form 17 election). Provestor also handles this: you set the ownership once and it splits income and expenses automatically, including Form 17 elections.

Can I get tax advice from Hammock? Hammock provides product support and points you to a partner-accountant programme rather than giving tax advice itself. With Provestor, you can move up a plan and have a property accountant check your updates or handle them for you, in the same app with the same team.

Is there a free trial? Hammock offers a free trial. With Provestor you can take a full, free demo. See the MTD plans.

Does Hammock or Provestor import letting agent statements? Provestor reads a statement when you drag and drop it, or imports automatically from a connected partner agent by API. Hammock doesn't confirm a dedicated letting-agent statement import for its landlord product, so check directly with Hammock if this applies to you.