Bricky Bot vs COHO
Both are built for people who let room by room. The difference is who does the work: in COHO, you do it in a tidy system; with Bricky Bot, an AI team does it and waits for your ✅.
Luke AshtonFounder of Bricky Bot and Based Lettings · Updated The short answer
- Choose COHO if you want one well-organised system for HMOs where your team does the work: rent schedules, compliance tracking, eSigning, a tenant app and dashboard, and published per-unit pricing.
- Choose Bricky Bot if you want the work itself done: enquiries answered, WhatsApp groups run, repairs and renewals chased, statements drafted, with nothing sent until a person approves it.
- The honest line: COHO logs the work very well. Bricky Bot’s team does the work, and you approve it.
What COHO does well
COHO describes itself as a property management system for all types of rental property, including HMOs, single lets and serviced accommodation, and says it went for “the hard bit first – HMOs” (COHO FAQs). A few things stand out on its own pages:
- Compliance that proves it was served. COHO tracks certificates, nags until each is added or marked not needed, serves documents to tenants and asks them to acknowledge them, and includes the newest certificates in tenancy agreements automatically (compliance).
- Rent schedules and matching. Rent schedules with pro-rata months, AI and Open Banking rent matching, and GoCardless direct debits at no extra COHO cost (rent management).
- A tenant app and dashboard. One COHO app for managers and tenants on Android and iOS, welcome packs, broadcast messages and a tenant dashboard (tenant management).
- Onboarding in one flow. Application forms, holding fees, referencing (from £6.00 plus VAT for a single check, £18.50 plus VAT for a full reference) and built-in eSignatures (tenancy onboarding).
- Clear, published pricing per unit (pricing).
Side by side
COHO facts are from COHO’s own website, checked 1 October 2026. “Not stated” means we couldn’t find it there.
| COHO | Bricky Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Property management software for HMOs, single lets and serviced accommodation | An AI lettings team of eight specialists, working in a full property CRM |
| Who does the day-to-day work | You and your team, in COHO | The AI team drafts and does it; a person approves anything that goes out |
| Portal enquiries | Flow into COHO tagged to the property; viewing reminders 24 and 2 hours before; custom pre-screening questions. Optional Frontdesk: real people reply within 30 minutes using your approved templates (in trial for select customers) | Syncs every SpareRoom and OpenRent thread, drafts replies from the house record, tracks each lead to a signed tenancy |
| Adverts | Publishes through your own portal feeds or COHO’s master feeds; free listing on COHO | Builds adverts from the house record, renews SpareRoom adverts every morning, reads every change back |
| Talking to tenants | COHO Message Centre and app (“Say goodbye to WhatsApp”) | Runs the WhatsApp groups you already have, each linked to its house, lead or contractor record |
| Repairs | Reporting by web, dashboard or QR code; 99 pre-loaded troubleshooting cards; suppliers update by SMS link | Logs issues from the house chat, suggests the fix that worked last time, books contractors after your ✅ |
| Compliance | Tracks certificates, alerts, serves and gets acknowledgement, can raise a maintenance issue for renewal | Opens each renewal inside its lead time, reads and files new certificates, raises a repair if a result fails |
| Rent and money | Rent schedules, AI + Open Banking matching, GoCardless, bookkeeping and client money | Live bank feed matched to rent, costs and payouts; spots late and short rent; drafts landlord statements |
| Signing | Built-in eSignatures, £1 an envelope | Fills the tenancy from the records, follows every signature, files the signed PDF |
| Where it runs | Web, plus Android and iOS apps | Your own Mac or Mac mini, or Bricky Cloud; your team uses any browser or phone |
| AI | AI rent matching and AI listing descriptions | The whole team is AI, on the AI plan you already have (for example ChatGPT); you pay your provider directly |
| Price | £30/month up to 12 units; £2.50/unit/month for 13–100; custom above 100; plus VAT. Extras: eSigning £1/envelope, FastTrack onboarding £7.50/unit. 10% off for an annual commitment | See pricing on brickybot.com |
The real difference: logging the work vs doing it
Take a broken boiler. In COHO the tenant reports it, the issue is logged, and then it’s yours: ring a plumber, text the tenant a time, update the issue. COHO keeps it organised and keeps the tenant informed of progress.
With Bricky Bot, the Maintenance Manager logs it from the house’s WhatsApp group, tries the known fix first, finds the contractor and drafts the booking and the message to the house. You see it and approve it with a ✅, in the app or straight from WhatsApp. Every action is logged on the record it touched.
One other honest difference: COHO wants tenants in its own app and Message Centre. Bricky works where your tenants, landlords and contractors already are, in WhatsApp.
Both handle repairs; here’s how Bricky Bot does it as landlord maintenance software.
Who each is for
- COHO suits landlords, letting agents and rent-to-rent operators (COHO) who want a structured system for their team to work in, and who like the idea of a tenant app and dashboard.
- Bricky Bot suits HMO landlords, co-living and rent-to-rent operators and letting agents who let room by room and want the day’s work taken off their plate, while keeping the final say on everything that goes out. Running shared houses as co-living? See our coliving software page. On guaranteed rent? See our rent to rent software page.
Switching from COHO
We move your records and documents across: houses, rooms, tenants and landlords, contracts, certificates and their dates, and photos. Migration is included. Your data stays yours, and you can export everything in open formats if you ever leave.
Running COHO alongside PaTMa for the accounts? Read Bricky Bot vs PaTMa too, or Bricky Bot vs Landlord Vision if your books live there. Letting through an agent that references tenants on Goodlord? Read Bricky Bot vs Goodlord.
If HMOs are most of what you run, see how Bricky Bot works as HMO management software: rooms, shared-house WhatsApp groups, repairs and licensing.
Both keep you on top of UK rules; here’s how Bricky Bot does it as property management software UK landlords use: certificates, deposits and right to rent.
Questions people ask
What is the main difference between COHO and Bricky Bot?
COHO is property management software: a well-organised place where you and your team log and run the work. Bricky Bot is an AI lettings team: specialist bots answer enquiries, run WhatsApp groups, chase repairs and renewals, and prepare every message for a person to approve.
Is COHO cheaper than Bricky Bot?
COHO publishes its prices: £30 a month for up to 12 units, then £2.50 a unit a month from 13 to 100 units, with custom pricing above 100, all plus VAT. eSigning (£1 an envelope) and FastTrack onboarding (£7.50 a unit) are extra (checked 1 October 2026). Bricky Bot’s prices are on brickybot.com/#pricing.
Does COHO use AI?
Yes, in places. COHO says its rent automation uses AI and Open Banking to match payments, and it can write a listing description for you. Its Frontdesk lead service is run by real people using reply templates you approve, and was in trial for select customers when we checked.
Can I move from COHO to Bricky Bot?
Yes. We move your records and documents across (houses, rooms, tenancies, people, certificates and files), and migration is included.
Does Bricky Bot message tenants on its own?
No. Every message, advert, booking or payment the team prepares waits for a person’s approval, in the app or straight from WhatsApp. The only exceptions are ones you switch on, like an out-of-hours holding reply.
See the team do the work
A short demo of Bricky handling real lettings work: enquiries, WhatsApp, repairs and approvals, with nothing sent until you say so.
Book a demoSources
- COHO pricing (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO FAQs (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO Frontdesk – Lead Management (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO property marketing (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO tenant management (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO tenancy onboarding (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO guaranteed compliance (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO maintenance management (checked 1 October 2026)
- COHO rent management (checked 1 October 2026)
COHO is a trademark of its owner. Bricky Bot isn’t affiliated with COHO. If anything here is out of date, email hello@brickybot.com and we’ll correct it.