Landlord Studio alternative: Provestor vs Landlord Studio for MTD

If you're weighing up Landlord Studio for Making Tax Digital, the real question isn't which app has the most features. It's what you actually need the software to do: run your whole landlord operation, or get your UK property tax right with the least fuss. Landlord Studio and Provestor answer different questions, and this page sets out the difference honestly, including where Landlord Studio is the better fit.

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 Landlord Studio, read on.

The short answer

Landlord Studio is a broad landlord app. It handles rent collection, tenant screening, expense and receipt tracking, with a UK Making Tax Digital module included. It operates globally, across the US, UK and New Zealand, so MTD is one capability among many. If you self-manage a larger portfolio, and want a do-everything app, that breadth is the point.

Provestor is narrower on purpose. It does UK property tax, and it does it in depth, with a property accountant available inside the same plan whenever you want one. If your priority is getting MTD right rather than collecting rent and screening tenants, that focus is the point.

So this isn't a case of better or worse. It's a case of wide versus deep, and which one matches the job you're hiring software to do.

What Landlord Studio does well

It's worth being clear about Landlord Studio's strengths, because they're real.

It's an all-in-one app. Alongside the tax side, you get rent collection and arrears tracking and tenant screening, and there's a free tier covering up to three units, which makes it an appealing place to start for a small landlord. It was recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital relatively recently, with the UK filing module mapping your figures and submitting them to HMRC.

Where the two part ways

The gap shows up the moment you look past day-to-day management and into the tax itself.

Landlord Studio is a global product, and UK Making Tax Digital is one module within it. Its tax features sit alongside everything else and cover the same ground for landlords in three countries. Provestor puts everything into the part that decides your UK bill: the property-specific rules that catch landlords out, handled automatically rather than left to you.

Four of those rules matter most:

• Joint ownership. Tell Provestor once who owns what share of a property and it splits the income and expenses for you, including where you've made a Form 17 election to change the split. You report your share, and only your share.

• 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.

• Letting agent statements. Drag and drop a statement and the figures are read for you, or connect a partner agent and the data imports automatically by API, with rent, fees and costs separated.

• 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.

None of this shows up in a feature count. It shows up in whether your numbers are right.

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.

Landlord Studio 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, the next step with a pure software product is to go and find an accountant: a new relationship, your portfolio explained from scratch, and a separate bill on top of the subscription. A global app has no UK tax advisers behind it, so a real property-tax question gets a help article, not an answer.

With Provestor, the help is part of the product. Stay on the do-it-yourself plan and you keep full control, though that plan's support covers the app rather than tax advice. 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. Landlord Studio scales per unit, so it climbs as your portfolio grows, while Provestor's entry plan sits in the same ballpark as a typical entry tier. The difference is what you can reach when you get stuck: a help article, or a property accountant a plan away.

Built by tax specialists, not a tax module

There's a reason the tax side 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.

Landlord Studio is a global landlord app that includes a UK tax module. Provestor is a UK tax firm that built software. Both can file your updates. Only one was designed, from the ground up, around getting the UK property tax right, and has the people behind it to stand by that.

Landlord Studio and Provestor side by side

Which should you choose?

Choose Landlord Studio if you want a single broad app for rent collection, tenant screening and expenses, you're happy to start on a free tier for a few units, and UK tax filing is a useful extra within that rather than the whole point.

Choose Provestor if your priority is UK property tax done right, you'd rather not pay per unit for management features you won't use, and you want the option to hand the tax to a property accountant without leaving the app or starting a new relationship.

One honest note on fit. Provestor is built for UK residential landlords on the cash basis, so it doesn't collect rent or screen tenants, 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 Landlord Studio

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.

Common questions

Is Landlord Studio recognised for Making Tax Digital? Yes. Landlord Studio is on HMRC's list of recognised software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, recognised relatively recently. Provestor is on the same recognised list.

Does Landlord Studio handle joint ownership? Landlord Studio supports multiple owners on a property, but automatic transaction-level splitting by ownership share, including Form 17 elections, isn't something it advertises, so check directly if this applies to you. Provestor splits income and expenses by ownership share automatically once you've set it, including Form 17 elections.

Can I get tax advice from Landlord Studio? Landlord Studio provides product support, not tax advice, and as a global app it has no UK tax advisers behind it. For a tax question you'd turn to an accountant. With Provestor, you can move up a plan and have a property accountant check your updates or handle them for you.

Is there a free version? Landlord Studio offers a free tier for up to three units. With Provestor there's a free, full demo so you can try before you buy. See the MTD plans.

Do I have to be a big portfolio landlord to use Provestor? No. Provestor is built for UK residential landlords on the cash basis, from a single property upwards. Landlord Studio's per-unit pricing means costs climb as your portfolio grows.