Comparison

SpareRoom vs PropertyPal

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SpareRoom

Find your ideal room or flatmate with the UK's leading platform. Browse thousands of listings across the UK, connect with potential housemates, and secure your perfect living situation on the go.

Highlights
  • Room and roommate search
  • Thousands of UK listings
  • On-the-go access
  • User support
  • Connect with housemates
Features
Read full description

As the UK’s number 1 flatshare site, we’ve helped over 13,000,000 people to find their perfect room or roommate. With our apps, you can do it all while on-the-go. Repeatedly featured by Apple as App Of The Day and in the categories of Your New Home, Apps for the Weekend, What’s Hot, and Popular Apps and Games. Rated by The Sunday Times as one of the top apps on the App Store. SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE Whether you’re starting university, relocating to the UK, tired of living alone, weighing up what to do with an empty room, or, quite simply, searching for another flatmate or flatshare, we’re the service for you. UNRIVALLED CHOICE With thousands of flatsharing opportunities to choose from in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and right across the UK, you’ll be able to find your perfect flatmate or flatshare. OUR PHILOSOPHY Experience has taught us that flatsharing is as much about the people as it is about the property. To help you find the best of both, we provide unparalleled tools, choice, and support. As a result, on average, every 3 minutes someone finds a flatmate through SpareRoom. HELP & SUPPORT Our award-winning customer support team are here to help you with your search. If you require support, come across a problem, or want to provide feedback, you can get in touch by email (support@spareroom.co.uk) or phone (1 877 834 2909).

About

PropertyPal

Discover new property listings with real-time updates and instant email alerts. Save your favorite properties and areas, and track price or status changes easily. Access the largest selection of properties in Northern Ireland to find your dream home.

Highlights
  • Real-time property updates
  • Instant email alerts for new listings
  • Draw-a-search for specific areas
  • Saved searches for favorite locations
  • Property favorites/wishlist
  • Track price and status changes
Features
Read full description

Features: Real-time updates Never miss a new listing, with instant email alerts on properties that are fresh on the market. Draw a search Simply draw around your favourite areas, so you can pinpoint exactly where you want to live. Keep up to date with the latest information on your top locations, with saved searches you’ll receive instant email alerts on all market activity in your favourite spots. Favourites Kind of like when you add to cart, a wishlist for all the properties you love. Keep track of any price or status changes all in one place, making it even easier for you to make a move on your move. The largest amount of property listings in NI As NI’s favourite property portal, we have more properties than any other portal in NI. So if you’re not on PropertyPal, you could miss out on your dream home. Go on, hit the download button. Everything you need, in one place Simply create a PropertyPal.com account, and you’re ready to go. Already have an account? Even better! Once you save your preferences, we’ll hold on to that info, making your search simple. Keep track of all your enquiries under one roof, in the PropertyPal app.

Screenshots

SpareRoom4 screens
PropertyPal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SpareRoom at 4.7 against PropertyPal's 3.7. SpareRoom also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (4.2K vs 3). PropertyPal's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (57% vs 49%). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SpareRoom sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. PropertyPal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SpareRoom holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpareRoom has 4.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 49% of SpareRoom's written reviews are positive against 57% of PropertyPal's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SpareRoom ships an update fortnightly, PropertyPal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SpareRoom versus PropertyPal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpareRoomPropertyPal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4.2K ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews48.9% of reviews57.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.2K — better3
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB76 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperFlatshare LtdPropertyPal.com Ltd.

Customer experience

SpareRoom

All ratings4,153 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews397 reviews
Positive48.9%
Neutral13.4%
Negative37.8%

PropertyPal

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral10.4%
Negative32.5%

User reviews

SpareRoom

From 4.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Great for finding rooms/flatmates
  • 💡 Useful features like filters
  • 🌟 Positive overall experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 💰 Expensive paid features
  • 🤖 Fake/unresponsive listings
  • 🚫 Discrimination in listings

PropertyPal

From 3 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Fast loading times
  • 💡 Draw search feature
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Great for browsing properties

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🐛 App freezes often
  • 🐛 Annoying pop-ups
  • 🐛 Clunky interface
  • 🐛 Difficult navigation

Bugs and requests

SpareRoom

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes and sign-outs
  • Inconsistent behavior between app and website
  • Issues with updating and editing listings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Better messaging/communication tools
  • More advanced search and filtering options
  • Improved verification of listings and users
  • Feedback/review system for landlords/tenants

PropertyPal

Reported bugs

21 issues
  • Location suggestions close without selection
  • Auto-scrolls to top of page after returning to search
  • Crashes within seconds of opening
  • Crashes every few minutes
  • Map view disappeared
Show 16 more
  • Gallery view glitchy when zooming
  • Create Alert pop-up is annoying
  • App won't download after update
  • App hangs when loading large lists
  • Freezes and requires force shut
  • Cookies and ads slow down app
  • Always freezes
  • App is down or images don't load
  • Freezes on iPhone 8 Plus
  • App crashes when saving a property
  • Crashes intermittently when browsing or viewing photos
  • Occasionally crashes when searching and clicking on additional information
  • Signs out for no reason
  • Doesn't remember last viewed property after crash
  • Crashes a lot lately
  • Annoying crashes, have to restart search

Requested features

13 requests
  • Correct recent property views
  • Fix location suggestion bug
  • Stop auto-scrolling to top
  • Add map view
  • Show freehold/leasehold status
Show 8 more
  • Easier to save searches
  • Improve gallery zoom
  • Add street view
  • Filter by available date
  • Improve filter criteria
  • Full screen view for iPad
  • Email addresses to link to contacts
  • Make feedback/notes public

In-app purchases

7 purchases

SpareRoom

One-time7
  • Boost$9.99
  • 7-Day Upgrade$12.99
  • 1-Week Upgrade2 variants$15.00
Show 4 more
  • Verification$15.00
  • 14-Day Upgrade$23.99
  • 30-Day Upgrade2 variants$25.99
  • 4-Week Upgrade2 variants$30.00
None

PropertyPal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SpareRoom free?
SpareRoom is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PropertyPal free?
PropertyPal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SpareRoom or PropertyPal?
SpareRoom is rated higher. SpareRoom averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while PropertyPal averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do SpareRoom or PropertyPal have ads?
PropertyPal shows ads; SpareRoom does not.
Which is updated more often, SpareRoom or PropertyPal?
SpareRoom ships an update fortnightly, and PropertyPal every 3 weeks. Most recently, SpareRoom was updated on November 6, 2026 and PropertyPal on November 1, 2026.

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