The best apps for finding a flat in London.
We make one of these, so read this with that in mind. We've tried to write the page we wanted when we were searching: what each one is actually for, and when ours is the wrong answer.
Updated 17 July 2026
Most people need two things, not one.
A directory to browse what exists, which is Rightmove or Zoopla, and they're free. And something that watches while you get on with your life, because the good flats don't wait for you to check again. Those are different jobs, and almost every honest answer to "which app" is really "which two".
If you want a room rather than a flat, stop reading and go to SpareRoom. If you want to skip agents entirely, start at OpenRent. Neither of those is a job Roost does.
They’re not really competing.
Everyone calls these alternatives to each other. They mostly aren't. They're different tools that happen to contain flats.
Roost
A monitor, not a directory. It watches London's agents and tells you when something fits.
Best at
Being early, and deciding with someone else. It scores every new listing against your taste, alerts you when one matches, and keeps one shared shortlist with votes and comments so you're not re-litigating a flat you ruled out three weeks ago.
Where it stops
It's iOS-only, London-only, and £9.99 a month. It doesn't do rooms or flatshares. And if you're browsing casually rather than actually searching, a free portal is the better answer, and we'd rather you didn't pay us.
Rightmove
The biggest portal in the country, and the default first stop.
Best at
Seeing more or less everything an agent is marketing, in one place.
Where it stops
It is a directory. You do the searching, the checking and the remembering, and everyone else is looking at the same page at the same time.
Zoopla
The other big portal, with better area data and price history.
Best at
Research: what an area costs, what a place sold for, what changed.
Where it stops
Same shape of problem as any portal: it lists, you chase.
OpenRent
Lettings direct from landlords, without an agent in the middle.
Best at
Going direct to landlords. That is what it is best at, and it often means lower fees and a faster reply.
Where it stops
Smaller pool, and it only shows you OpenRent’s own stock, so it can’t be your only tab.
SpareRoom
Rooms and flatshares, not whole properties.
Best at
Finding a room, or finding people to live with. Nothing else comes close.
Where it stops
If you want a whole flat to yourself or with a partner, it is the wrong tool.
OnTheMarket
A third portal, agent-owned, that often gets listings early.
Best at
Early access. Agents frequently post here before the bigger portals, so it is a good extra net if you are watching a patch closely.
Where it stops
Smaller than the big two, so it is an addition rather than a replacement.
Half of London is gone in 27 days.
Across 11,030 London listings we tracked between March and June 2026, half disappeared within 27 days of us first seeing them, and a quarter within 10. Median rent was £2,578 a month.
That's the entire argument for a monitor over a directory. Not that portals are bad, since they're free and comprehensive, but that checking them manually means you find out when you happen to look, and a quarter of the market has a ten-day fuse.
Since 1 May 2026 you can't be outbid on a rental: the Renters' Rights Act banned offers above the asking rent. Which makes being first to enquire matter more than it used to, not less.
See the full London numbersWe make Roost, so we're not a neutral party and we won't pretend to be. What we've tried to avoid is the usual trick of this genre, inventing weaknesses for everyone else so ours looks inevitable.
So: we haven't quoted competitors' listing counts, prices or features, because those change and we'd rather not publish a number about someone else's product that we can't stand behind. Check them yourself. The market data is our own, from our own pipeline, and the method is written up in full on the London page.
Roost isn't a portal replacement and doesn't try to be. Most people we know use both.