Rightmove vs Zoopla vs OnTheMarket: Which Actually Has the Listings?
A practical comparison of Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket for London renters — coverage, listing volume, and whether OnTheMarket is worth checking.
OnTheMarket comes up constantly as the "third option" alongside Rightmove and Zoopla, but it's rarely clear how it actually compares for someone searching for a flat to rent in London. Here's the honest breakdown.
| Site | London rental coverage | Best for | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rightmove | Largest | Broadest agent-listed stock, strongest filters | Most competition per listing |
| Zoopla | Close second | Area data, occasional early listings | Largely the same stock as Rightmove |
| OnTheMarket | Noticeably smaller | Occasional agent-exclusive listings | Fewer agents dual-list here |
| OpenRent | Smaller, but different | Private-landlord flats the others don't carry | Variable listing quality |
Rightmove
Rightmove is the largest UK property portal by volume and the default starting point for most renters. Nearly every estate agent in London lists there, which means the broadest overall coverage of agent-managed properties, and the strongest search and filtering tools of the three.
Strengths: biggest volume of listings, most agents post here first, most mature filtering tools. Weaknesses: because everyone uses it, popular listings get the most competition — you're up against the largest possible pool of other renters.
Zoopla
Zoopla has strong agent coverage too, though slightly smaller than Rightmove's, and it sometimes carries a listing a few hours before or after it appears on Rightmove, depending on the agent's workflow. It also surfaces useful area-level data — average local rents, price trends — more prominently than Rightmove does.
Strengths: near-Rightmove-level coverage, good area insights, occasionally has a listing before it hits Rightmove. Weaknesses: largely the same agent-listed stock as Rightmove — you're rarely finding something genuinely unique here.
OnTheMarket
OnTheMarket was originally set up by a group of UK estate agents as an agent-owned alternative to Rightmove and Zoopla, partly in response to how much the bigger two portals charge agents to list. For renters, the practical result is smaller coverage: fewer agents dual-list on OnTheMarket compared with Rightmove or Zoopla, so its rental listings volume in London is noticeably lower than either of the two market leaders.
That doesn't make it worthless — some agents do list exclusively or early on OnTheMarket, so it can occasionally surface something you won't find elsewhere. But as a primary search tool on its own, it covers a meaningfully smaller slice of the market than Rightmove or Zoopla.
Strengths: occasionally has agent-exclusive listings not posted elsewhere, cleaner interface than some competitors. Weaknesses: smaller overall rental listings volume, fewer agents dual-list here compared with the big two.
What about OpenRent?
If you're comparing sites to find the widest possible net, don't stop at these three — OpenRent is a fourth worth checking, and it works differently again: it's built around landlords listing directly without a traditional agent, which means access to private-landlord stock that Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket typically don't carry at all.
So which one should you use?
For coverage alone, Rightmove and Zoopla between them carry the large majority of agent-listed rental stock in London — that's not likely to change soon given how deeply agents rely on them. OnTheMarket is worth a quick check for the occasional exclusive listing, but shouldn't be your only source given its smaller volume, and OpenRent is worth adding separately for private-landlord listings the portal sites don't carry.
Checking all of them individually for every search is tedious, and you'll often see the same flat twice when an agent cross-posts to both Rightmove and Zoopla. This is exactly the gap HomeScout is built for: it pulls new listings from Rightmove, Zoopla and OpenRent — the three platforms carrying the large majority of London's rental stock — into a single feed, automatically merges duplicates, and alerts you within about a minute of a new match going live.
FAQ
Is OnTheMarket better than Rightmove and Zoopla?
Not for coverage — it carries meaningfully fewer London rental listings than either. It's worth checking alongside them, not instead of them.
Why do some agents not list on OnTheMarket?
OnTheMarket is agent-owned and was built partly as a lower-fee alternative to Rightmove and Zoopla, but adoption among agents has stayed smaller than either of the two market leaders, so coverage reflects that.
Does OnTheMarket have private-landlord listings like OpenRent?
No — OnTheMarket is built around agent listings, similar to Rightmove and Zoopla. For private-landlord stock, OpenRent is the site to check.
Is it worth checking all four sites — Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and OpenRent?
For a thorough search, yes, since none of them fully overlaps. In practice, most renters get the bulk of value from Rightmove, Zoopla and OpenRent, with OnTheMarket as an occasional extra check rather than a primary source.
