Rightmove vs Zoopla vs OpenRent: Which One Actually Has the Best London Listings?
A practical comparison of Rightmove, Zoopla and OpenRent for London renters — coverage, fees, and what each site is actually good for.
Ask ten Londoners which property site is "the best" and you'll get ten different answers, usually based on whichever one they happened to find their current flat on. The honest answer is that none of the three covers the whole market on its own — each has a different mix of listings, and the differences matter more than most people realise.
| Rightmove | Zoopla | OpenRent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing volume | Largest | Close second | Smallest |
| Mostly lists | Agent-managed | Agent-managed | Private landlords |
| Unique stock | Little | Little | Substantial |
| Listing quality | Consistent | Consistent | Variable |
| Typical pricing | Agent fees built in | Agent fees built in | Sometimes lower |
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.
Strengths: biggest volume of listings, strong filtering tools, most agents post here first. 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 listings a few hours before or after they appear on Rightmove, depending on the agent's workflow. It also has useful area-level data (average local rents, etc.) that Rightmove doesn't surface as prominently.
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.
OpenRent
OpenRent is different in kind, not just in size. It's built around landlords listing directly, without paying a traditional agent. That means:
- Properties that never appear on Rightmove or Zoopla at all, because the landlord chose to avoid agent fees entirely.
- Sometimes lower rents, since there's no agent commission built into the pricing.
- More variability in listing quality — photos and descriptions are written by landlords, not marketing teams, so they range from excellent to sparse.
Strengths: access to private-landlord stock unavailable elsewhere, often better value. Weaknesses: smaller overall volume, less consistent listing quality, no agent to chase for updates.
So which one should you use?
The honest answer: all three, because they don't fully overlap. Rightmove and Zoopla cover most agent-managed stock (with heavy overlap between them), and OpenRent covers a meaningful chunk of private-landlord stock that the other two simply don't have.
The trade-off is manual effort. Checking three sites, three sets of alerts, and three inboxes for every search is tedious — and you'll inevitably 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 all three sites into a single feed, automatically removes duplicates when the same flat is posted on more than one platform, and lets you filter across all of them at once — so you're not choosing between coverage and convenience.
FAQ
Do estate agents list on all three sites?
Most agents use Rightmove and Zoopla; fewer use OpenRent, since it's aimed more at landlords self-managing without an agent.
Is OpenRent only for private landlords?
Primarily, yes — it's designed for landlords to list directly, though some smaller agents use it too.
Which site has the cheapest flats?
No single site is consistently cheaper, but OpenRent listings sometimes reflect lower prices where no agent fee is built in.
Can the same flat appear on more than one site?
Yes, this is common — many agents cross-post to both Rightmove and Zoopla, sometimes with slightly different photos or descriptions.
Where does OnTheMarket fit in compared to Rightmove, Zoopla and OpenRent?
OnTheMarket has noticeably smaller rental coverage in London than Rightmove or Zoopla — many agents don't dual-list there — so it's worth a look but shouldn't be your primary source. Rightmove and Zoopla between them cover the large majority of agent-listed stock, with OpenRent adding the private-landlord listings neither of the other two carries.
