RentalBux vs. Clear Books
Which MTD Software Is Better for UK Landlords?
Overall Winner: RentalBux
RentalBux is the more complete MTD software for UK landlords and sole traders. It combines full Making Tax Digital compliance across UK property income, foreign property income, and self-employment income with comprehensive property management, automated bookkeeping, AI-driven expense categorisation, joint ownership profit-splitting with automatic calculation, and a genuinely free plan for single-property landlords until March 2028. Clear Books is a well-established, award-winning UK cloud accounting platform that is HMRC-recognised for both MTD ITSA and MTD for VAT, rated "Excellent" on Trustpilot, accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, and registered with the FCA. It offers a genuinely free tier for sole traders and landlords with basic needs, as well as a landlord-specific paid plan at just £5/month + VAT. However, Clear Books is a general business accounting platform — it has no HMO unit-level tracking, no automatic joint ownership profit-splitting, no tenant management, and no purpose-built property management tools. For landlords with more than the most basic needs, RentalBux's purpose-built design gives it a decisive advantage.
At-a-Glance MTD Software Comparison
Key differences between RentalBux and Clear Books across MTD compliance, property management, bookkeeping, pricing, and landlord-specific features.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Software Type | Property/Landlord Platform | General Cloud Accounting Software |
| Target Users | Landlords, Sole Traders, Letting Agents | Sole Traders, SMEs, Landlords, Contractors, all industries |
| Income Sources Supported | Sole Trader + UK Property + Foreign Property | Sole Trader + UK Property (foreign property not confirmed) |
| Free MTD Software Plan | Free until March 2028 (1 property) | Free forever (sole traders and landlords with basic needs; no transaction limits) |
| MTD Quarterly Updates to HMRC | Yes | Yes |
| Final Declaration | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Reconciliation | Yes | Yes |
| Automated Bank Feeds | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice Creation | Yes | Yes |
| Receipt Capture (OCR) | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Auto-Categorisation | Coming soon | Yes |
| Property Portfolio Management | Yes | No |
| Tenant Management | Yes | No |
| Joint Ownership & Profit Sharing | Yes | Manual only |
| Payroll | No | Yes |
| HMO Unit-Level Tracking | Yes | No |
| HMRC SA105 Box Pre-Mapping | Yes | No |
| Spreadsheet Import/Export | Yes | Yes |
| Platform | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes | Yes |
What Is RentalBux? What Is Clear Books?
What Is RentalBux?
All-in-One MTD Software for Landlords and Sole Traders
RentalBux is an all-in-one property management, accounting, and Making Tax Digital compliance platform built specifically for UK landlords, letting agents, and self-employed individuals. Designed with direct input from accountants who specialise in property and sole trader tax, RentalBux covers everything from tenancy management and rent collection to full bookkeeping with a pre-configured chart of accounts tailored to the property sector.
RentalBux is fully HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax across all three qualifying income categories: UK property income, foreign property income, and self-employment. This makes it one of the only landlord-specific MTD software platforms that can handle a landlord who also runs a sole trader business, all from a single subscription.
A major differentiator is RentalBux's pricing model: single-property landlords can use the platform completely free until March 2028, making it one of the most affordable HMRC-approved MTD software options for landlords entering the MTD regime.
What Is Clear Books ?
Online Accounting to Free Your Time
Clear Books is a UK-based cloud accounting platform founded in 2008 and headquartered in London. Accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 843585), Clear Books serves small businesses across all industries — sole traders, limited companies, partnerships, charities, and construction contractors. It is HMRC-recognised for both MTD for Income Tax and MTD for VAT, and has been building for digital links since before MTD for VAT was first rolled out in 2019.
Clear Books offers a genuinely free plan for sole traders and landlords with basic needs — no transaction limits, no time limits, and no revenue thresholds. For landlords wanting more, a dedicated Property plan at £5/month + VAT adds multiple property tracking, per-property profitability, bank feeds, receipt scanning, balance sheet reporting, unlimited users, and accountant tools. For landlords who are also VAT-registered, a Sole Trader + VAT plan at £15/month + VAT adds full MTD for VAT compliance. Clear Books also covers limited companies, partnerships, and charities on its broader Small, Medium, and Large plans.
Clear Books does not offer property management tools, tenant tracking, HMO unit-level tracking, or automatic joint ownership profit-splitting. For joint ownership, each owner must maintain a separate Clear Books account and manually record their own share of income — a compliant but more administratively burdensome approach than RentalBux's automated splitting.
Strengths
- Free MTD software for single-property landlords until March 2028
- Handles sole trader + UK property + foreign property income in one platform
- Joint ownership with automatic profit-sharing split by ownership percentage
- Pre-built chart of accounts tailored for landlords and sole traders
- AI-powered expense auto-categorisation and OCR receipt capture
- Agent filing on behalf of landlords — ideal for accountants and letting agents
- Supports HMO properties with auto-created units
Strengths
- Genuinely free forever for sole traders and landlords with basic needs — no transaction limits, no time limit
- Landlord-specific Property plan at just £5/month + VAT for multiple properties
- HMRC-recognised for both MTD ITSA and MTD for VAT
- AI-powered Auto Explain for bank reconciliation — learns transaction patterns over time
- 70+ UK banks supported via Open Banking bank feeds
- VAT returns, CIS, and optional payroll available on paid plans
- Rated "Excellent" on Trustpilot (326+ reviews); accredited by ICB; FCA-registered
- Free accountant portal — ICAEW accredited; used by thousands of UK accountants
- Unlimited users on all paid plans
- Unlimited users on all paid plans
Limitations
- Newer to market compared to established platforms
- No yield or LTV investment analysis tools
- No MTD for VAT support yet
- Some advanced reporting features still in development
- Limited third-party app integrations
- No offline capability
- No tax liability forecasting feature currently
Limitations
- No automatic joint ownership profit-splitting — each co-owner needs a separate account
- No HMO unit-level tracking
- No tenant management or property management tools
- No confirmed foreign property income support in official documentation
- Bank feeds cost £15 + VAT/year extra on the free plan
- Property plan (£5/month + VAT) required for multiple property tracking — free plan limited to one property or grouped
- No dedicated property-specific chart of accounts
- Cash flow reporting and tax estimates not available on free plan
- Multi-currency only on Large plan (£41/month + VAT)
- No running tax estimate on free plan
Making Tax Digital Compliance
How RentalBux Handles MTD Compliance
RentalBux supports all three MTD qualifying income categories: sole trader income, UK property income, and foreign property income. This makes it suitable for landlords who also earn self-employment income, eliminating the need for separate software. Most accounts are pre-mapped to HMRC Self-Assessment boxes. RentalBux also supports agent filing, allowing accountants or letting agents to submit MTD returns on behalf of their landlord clients.
How Clear Books Handles MTD Compliance
Clear Books is fully HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and has been building with digital links since before MTD for VAT was rolled out. The free plan includes MTD quarterly updates and year-end tax return filing for sole traders and landlords with basic needs — with no transaction limits and no time restrictions. Paid plans add bank feeds, receipt scanning, multiple property tracking, and full reporting. Clear Books supports sole trader income and UK property income for MTD ITSA purposes. Foreign property income support is not clearly confirmed in Clear Books' official documentation — landlords with overseas rental income should verify this directly before committing.
For joint ownership, Clear Books has confirmed through its community forum that each co-owner must maintain a separate Clear Books account and record their own share of income and expenses manually. This is compliant with HMRC's requirements (which require each individual to submit their own share), but it does not provide automatic profit-splitting — landords must calculate and enter their share themselves. Clear Books also supports agent filing via its free accountant portal.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| HMRC Recognised (MTD ITSA) | Yes | Yes |
| MTD Quarterly Updates | Yes | Yes |
| Final Declaration | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Record Keeping | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Links Compliant | Yes | Yes |
| Sole Trader Income | Yes | Yes |
| UK Property Income | Yes | Yes |
| Foreign Property Income | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Income Streams | Yes | Yes |
| Agent Filing on Behalf | Yes | Yes |
Winner: RentalBux for landlord-specific MTD compliance. Both are HMRC-recognised and both support MTD quarterly updates, final declarations, and agent filing. RentalBux's confirmed foreign property income support, automatic joint ownership handling, and purpose-built property workflow give it a clearer advantage for landlords. Clear Books leads for landlords who also need VAT returns or CIS compliance on the same platform.
Property Management
RentalBux: Property Management
RentalBux provides comprehensive property portfolio management with tenant management, rent tracking, property expense allocation, and support for multiple properties. A standout feature is its joint ownership and profit-sharing capability: landlords can define ownership percentages once, and RentalBux automatically splits rental income and expenses. RentalBux also supports HMO properties, automatically creating individual units.
Clear Books: Landlord Accounting Without Full Property Management
Clear Books' Property plan (£5/month + VAT) is specifically designed for landlords and provides recurring rent invoice setup per property or tenancy, overdue rent monitoring, per-property profitability tracking, bank feeds with automated matching, receipt capture, balance sheet reporting, and a rent due vs received report. These are practical and well-designed landlord accounting features. However, Clear Books does not include property portfolio management, tenant management, HMO unit-level tracking, or automatic joint ownership profit-splitting. It is an accounting tool for landlords rather than a combined property management and accounting platform.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Property Portfolio Management | Yes | No |
| Tenant Management | Yes | No |
| Rent Tracking | Yes | No |
| Property Expense Allocation | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Property Support | Yes | Yes |
| HMO Property Support | Yes (auto-creates units) | No |
| Joint Ownership/Profit Sharing | Yes (auto-split by %) | No |
| Maintenance Tracking | No | No |
| Tenant Screening | No | No |
| Compliance Document Alerts | Yes | No |
| Arrears Tracking | No | Partial |
Winner: RentalBux for property management depth. Clear Books' Property plan is a solid landlord accounting tool with useful rent tracking and per-property profitability features. RentalBux goes further with tenant management, HMO unit creation, and automated joint ownership profit-splitting that Clear Books does not offer.
Bookkeeping, Accounting & Digital Record Keeping
RentalBux: Structured Accounting
RentalBux includes a pre-built chart of accounts specifically designed for landlords and sole traders, covering rental income, mortgage interest, insurance, property repairs, professional services, utilities, and tenant deposits. All accounts are pre-mapped to HMRC Self-Assessment boxes. The platform supports cash basis accounting, bank reconciliation, and journal entries.
Clear Books: Full-Featured Double-Entry Accounting
Clear Books provides a full accounting toolkit including double-entry bookkeeping, bank reconciliation via automated feeds from 70+ UK banks, a customisable general chart of accounts, journals, lock date ranges, audit log, cash and accruals basis accounting, and a full suite of financial reports. Its standout feature is Auto Explain — an AI-powered bank reconciliation tool that learns transaction patterns over time, pre-filling the VAT rate, account code, and customer or supplier for recurring transactions. This significantly reduces manual reconciliation effort. Clear Books also supports spreadsheet import and export across all plans, offering flexibility for landlords transitioning from spreadsheet-based records. VAT returns (on paid plans), CIS submissions, and optional payroll are also available, making it a broader accounting solution than RentalBux for landlords with wider business needs.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Cash Basis Accounting | Yes | Yes |
| Chart of Accounts (Pre-built, Landlord-Tailored) | Yes (pre-built + custom) | Yes |
| Journal Entries | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Reconciliation | Yes | Yes |
| Automated Bank Feeds | Yes (Major UK banks) | Yes |
| Open Banking Integration | Yes | Yes |
| Double-Entry Bookkeeping | Yes | Yes |
| HMRC Box Pre-Mapping | Yes | No |
| Xero Integration | No | No |
| Spreadsheet Import/Export | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Record Storage | Yes | Yes |
Winner: Clear Books for accounting breadth; RentalBux for property-specific accounting. Clear Books' Auto Explain AI reconciliation, accruals basis, VAT, CIS, payroll, and 70+ bank integrations make it a broader accounting tool. RentalBux's pre-built landlord chart of accounts, SA-box pre-mapping, and property-specific account structure make it more immediately useful for landlords without accounting configuration.
Invoicing, Expense Tracking
RentalBux: Expense Management
RentalBux includes OCR receipt capture, structured expense tracking with landlord-specific categories, auto-categorisation, invoice creation with customisable branding, and payment tracking with reminders.
Clear Books: A Full Invoicing and Automation Toolkit for Businesses and Landlords
Clear Books includes bill and receipt scanning from photos and PDFs on its paid plans (including the £5/month + VAT Property plan), with auto-extraction of amounts and dates. Auto Explain provides AI-powered bank feed matching that learns transaction patterns and pre-fills account codes and supplier details for recurring items. Invoice creation with customisable templates and automatic payment reminder emails are included on paid plans. Clear Books does not offer AI-powered OCR that reads and categorises receipts in the same way as RentalBux — it extracts amounts and dates from receipts but relies on Auto Explain for categorisation from bank feeds rather than from receipt content.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice Creation & Sending | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice Customisation/Branding | Yes | Yes |
| Online Payment Collection | Yes | Yes |
| Payment Tracking/Reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Receipt Capture (OCR/Photo) | Yes | |
| Expense Categorisation | Yes | |
| Automated Transaction Matching | Yes | Yes |
| Mileage Tracking | No | Yes |
| AI Auto-Categorisation | Coming soon | Yes |
Winner: RentalBux for landlord-specific expense management. RentalBux's OCR receipt capture is available on all plans including free, and categorises expenses using landlord-specific allowable expense categories. Clear Books' Auto Explain is a genuinely strong AI reconciliation tool from bank feeds, and its receipt scanning is useful — but AI categorisation is only available on paid plans, and expense categories are general business rather than landlord-specific.
Reporting & Tax Forecasting
RentalBux: Formal Accounting Reports
RentalBux produces structured financial reports including profit & loss statements, balance sheets, journal reports, ledger reports, and trial balances. Smart categorisation helps ensure accuracy.
Clear Books: Broad Reporting Across All Business Types
Clear Books provides a comprehensive reporting suite including profit & loss, balance sheet, trial balance, cashflow, rent due vs received, and tax estimate reports on paid plans. The tax estimate is updated based on recorded income and expenses, helping landlords plan for their tax liability throughout the year. The free plan provides basic reports only. Advanced project accounting and budget comparison reports are available on the Large plan. Reports can be downloaded as PDFs or exported.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Profit & Loss Report | Yes (formal) | |
| Balance Sheet | Yes | Yes |
| Trial Balance | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboard/Overview | Yes | Yes |
| Real-Time Financial Data | Yes | Yes |
| Cash Flow Reporting | No | Yes |
| Tax Estimate/Forecast | Yes | Yes |
| AI-Powered Features | Coming soon | Yes |
| Profit & Loss Report | Yes |
Winner: Clear Books on reporting breadth; RentalBux for property-specific reports. Clear Books' running tax estimate and cash flow report are useful features not currently in RentalBux. RentalBux leads on rent due vs received tracking and property-portfolio-level reporting within its broader property management context.
Collaboration & Mobile Apps
RentalBux's Collaborative Features
RentalBux enables agent filing, which gives accountants and letting agents the ability to submit directly on a landlord's behalf.
Clear Books: Free Accountant Portal, Unlimited Users, and Proven Mobile Access
Clear Books offers a dedicated, fully free accountant and bookkeeper portal — accountants can register at no cost and manage multiple client accounts from a single dashboard, with no per-client charge. This makes it commercially attractive for accountancy practices looking to standardise their client base on one platform. Within each client account, accountants have access to journals, audit log, lock date ranges, and all financial reports — the same tools available to the client themselves. All paid Clear Books plans include unlimited users at no extra cost, meaning a landlord can give their accountant, bookkeeper, co-owner, and property manager simultaneous access without paying additional per-seat fees.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Accountant/Advisor Portal | Yes | |
| Multi-User Access | Yes | Yes |
| Agent Filing on Behalf | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Integration | Yes | Yes |
| Platform | iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
| Web Browser Access | Yes | Yes |
| FCA Regulated | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes | Yes |
| Accountant / Advisor Portal | Yes |
Winner: Tie — both offer excellent accountant collaboration. RentalBux's built-in agent filing tool is more immediately accessible for letting agents managing landlord MTD submissions. Clear Books' free accountant portal — accredited by ICAEW and used by thousands of UK accounting practices — gives it strong accountant-ecosystem familiarity and deep professional tools.
Ease of Use, Support & Security
RentalBux: Guided Workflows
RentalBux uses guided workflows, clear dashboards, and no accounting jargon. The platform offers phone support, email/chat support, and a help centre with guides and knowledge base articles.
Clear Books: Ease of Use
Clear Books is consistently praised for its ease of use, clean dashboard interface, and responsive UK-based support team. It is rated "Excellent" on Trustpilot with 326+ reviews. Users consistently highlight the knowledge and responsiveness of the UK-based phone and email support team, and the intuitive dashboard that makes core financial data easy to access. One Trustpilot reviewer specifically noted using both Clear Books' Ltd company package and its landlord package simultaneously, praising the ease of use and responsive support. Some reviews note occasional interface changes that require users to re-learn navigation, and a small number of users mention VAT adjustment workflows as needing improvement. Clear Books offers a 30-day no-obligation free trial of paid plans.
| Feature | RentalBux | Clear Books |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Support | Yes | Yes |
| Chat Support | Yes | Yes |
| Email Support | Yes | Yes |
| Help Centre/Knowledge Base | Yes | Yes |
| FCA Regulated | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise-Grade Security | Yes | Yes |
RentalBux Features
Sole Trader Income Support for MTD
RentalBux is one of the few landlord-focused MTD software platforms that supports self-employment income alongside UK and foreign property income within a single account. Landlords who also run a trade, consultancy, or freelance business can manage all quarterly submissions from one dashboard. Landlord Studio covers property income only.
Custom Chart of Accounts for Landlords
A property-tailored chart of accounts covering rental income, mortgage interest, insurance, repairs, utilities, letting agent fees, and more — all pre-mapped to HMRC Self-Assessment boxes. No setup required; the system is ready to use from day one. Landlord Studio has no equivalent.
Agent Filing on Behalf of Landlords
Letting agents and accountants can submit MTD quarterly updates and the Final Declaration on behalf of landlord clients directly from the platform. Landlord Studio allows accountant access but does not support submission on the landlord's behalf.
Branded Invoice Creation
Invoice creation with customisable branding for service charges and commercial landlords. Not available in Landlord Studio.
AI-Powered OCR Receipt Capture with Auto-Categorisation (Coming soon)
RentalBux's AI will read uploaded receipts and categorise the expense automatically against the pre-built chart of accounts. Landlord Studio's Smart Scan extracts dates and amounts but does not include AI-driven expense categorisation.
Formal Accounting Reports
Balance sheet, trial balance, ledger reports, and journal reports. Landlord Studio does not produce these natively.
Free Plan Including MTD Submissions Until March 2028
RentalBux's free single-property plan includes MTD quarterly submissions. Landlord Studio's free GO plan covers property management for up to three units but requires a paid PRO plan (from £12/month) to access MTD submission functionality.
Unique Features Only Clear Books Offers
Genuinely Free Forever — No Time Limit, No Transaction Limit
Clear Books' free plan for sole traders and landlords has no transaction caps, no time restrictions, and no revenue thresholds. It includes MTD quarterly updates, year-end filing, basic reports, and accountant invite. The only significant add-on cost is bank feeds (£15 + VAT/year), making it one of the most genuinely accessible free MTD options available.
MTD for VAT Compliance on Paid Plans
Clear Books is fully HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital for VAT on its Sole Trader + VAT (£15/month + VAT) and Medium/Large plans, with direct HMRC submission. This is essential for VAT-registered landlords and property businesses.
Auto Explain — AI Bank Reconciliation That Learns Over Time
Clear Books' Auto Explain is a machine learning-powered bank reconciliation tool that learns which VAT rate, account code, and customer or supplier to associate with each recurring bank statement description — pre-filling details for similar future transactions. This gets smarter the more it is used and significantly reduces manual reconciliation effort over time.
CIS Support for Construction Subcontractors
Clear Books supports Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) submissions on the Medium plan, and the free plan includes MTD functionality for CIS subcontractors. For landlords who also carry out property renovation or development work involving subcontractors, CIS support is built in without additional tools.
Optional Payroll Add-On
Clear Books offers an RTI-compliant payroll add-on with a 30-day free trial for unlimited employees. For landlords who employ property managers, cleaners, or administrative staff, payroll can be managed within the same platform.
70+ UK Bank Integrations
Clear Books connects to over 70 UK banks and financial institutions via Open Banking — a broader coverage than most competitor platforms. For landlords with accounts at smaller or specialist banks, this wider bank compatibility is a practical advantage.
Multi-Currency on Large Plan
The Large plan (£41/month + VAT) includes multi-currency support for landlords or business owners with international financial transactions.
Accreditation and Long-Standing Track Record
Founded in 2008, Clear Books is one of the UK's longest-established cloud accounting platforms. It is accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) and registered with the FCA — credentials that give accountants and landlords confidence in its compliance pedigree and long-term stability.
Who Should Choose RentalBux?
RentalBux is a strong fit if you:
Landlords with Mixed Income Streams
If you earn from both property and self-employment, RentalBux handles sole trader income alongside UK and foreign property income in a single MTD-compliant platform.
Joint Owners and Family Portfolios
The automated profit-sharing split is a standout feature. Define ownership percentages once and RentalBux calculates each owner's share automatically.
Budget-Conscious Landlords Entering MTD
Free MTD software for single-property landlords until March 2028, with no upfront commitment.
Landlords Who Want Proper Accounting Structure
Chart of accounts, journal entries, profit & loss, balance sheet, and trial balance give RentalBux a structured accounting foundation.
Accountants and Letting Agents
Agent filing on behalf, multi-user access, and spreadsheet import make RentalBux practical for professionals managing multiple landlord portfolios.
Commercial Landlords and HMO Owners
Invoice creation with branding for service charges, plus automatic HMO unit creation and tenant management.
Who Should Choose Clear Books?
Clear Books is the better choice for:
Simple Landlords Who Want a Free, Established Platform
If you have a straightforward rental income structure and want a free, no-time-limit MTD platform from a well-established provider accredited by the ICB and rated Excellent on Trustpilot, Clear Books Free is one of the strongest free options available.
Landlords Who Are Also VAT-Registered
Clear Books' Sole Trader + VAT plan (£15/month + VAT) handles both MTD ITSA quarterly submissions and MTD for VAT in a single platform — essential for VAT-registered landlords who want to avoid managing two separate software subscriptions.
Landlords in Construction or Property Development
CIS support on the Medium plan makes Clear Books practical for landlords who carry out property renovation or development work with subcontractors. CIS subcontractors can also access the free plan.
Landlords Who Employ Staff
The optional payroll add-on allows landlords who employ property managers, cleaners, or administrative staff to manage payroll with RTI submissions alongside their property accounts in one platform.
Accountants Already Using Clear Books for Business Clients
With its ICAEW-accredited free accountant portal and thousands of UK accounting firms already using the platform, Clear Books is a natural choice for landlords whose accountant already uses Clear Books for other clients.
Landlords Who Want a Running Tax Estimate
Clear Books provides an up-to-date estimate of tax owed based on recorded income and expenses on paid plans — a practical feature for landlords who want to know their tax position throughout the year and plan cash reserves accordingly.