Most people spend hours comparing mortgage rates and then use the first broker they hear of. The broker you choose affects which deals you can access, how smoothly the application goes, and in some cases whether you get approved at all. Here is the honest comparison so you choose the right one for your situation.
All four are FCA-regulated and offer whole-of-market access. The key differences are fees, who they are best suited to, and how the process actually works.
| Broker | Broker fee | Lenders | Trustpilot | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habito Monzo-backed | Free | 95+ | 4.9/5 | Speed and simplicity | Get started → |
| Mojo Mortgages | Free | 70+ | 4.8/5 | Standard borrowers online | Get started → |
| L&C UK's largest | Free | 90+ | 4.8/5 | Phone support and complex cases | Get started → |
| Tembo Award-winning | £499-£749 | 100+ | 4.8/5 | First-time buyers needing a boost | Get started → |
Habito was founded in 2016 as one of the UK's first fully digital mortgage brokers, and in April 2026 it was acquired by Monzo, the digital bank. This is a genuinely significant development: Monzo has over 10 million UK customers and Habito now benefits from that customer base, technology infrastructure, and financial backing. Whether this changes the day-to-day experience for borrowers remains to be seen, but the acquisition gives Habito a level of institutional backing it previously lacked. The service is free to borrowers because Habito is paid a commission by the lender when you take out a mortgage. Access to 95+ lenders and a 4.9 out of 5 Trustpilot rating from over 10,500 reviews are the strongest credentials in this space.
Mojo Mortgages was founded in Manchester in 2016 and acquired by RVU Group, the owner of Confused.com and Uswitch, in 2021. It operates as a whole-of-market broker with access to over 70 lenders and covers residential mortgages, buy-to-let, and high net worth customers. The process starts online with a quick assessment, followed by a call from an FCA-authorised adviser who handles the application. Mojo is completely free to borrowers, earning commission from lenders. It is best suited to standard residential borrowers with clean credit histories and straightforward income. It has a 4.8 out of 5 Trustpilot rating from over 8,200 reviews.
London and Country is the UK's largest fee-free mortgage broker, with over 90 lenders on panel and a seven-day-a-week service available online and over the phone. L&C has been operating since 1999, making it by far the most established broker on this list. While Habito and Mojo are digital-first, L&C offers genuine telephone support from experienced advisers, which is particularly valuable for more complex cases, self-employed applicants, or anyone who simply prefers to talk their situation through rather than fill in online forms. L&C is free because, like the other brokers here, it earns a commission from the lender rather than the borrower.
Tembo is the only broker on this list that charges a fee, and it is the one that consistently wins awards for it. Tembo won Best Mortgage Broker at the 2026 British Bank Awards for the fifth consecutive year, a result decided entirely by customer votes. The fee is £499 for a standard mortgage or remortgage, rising to £749 for complex cases involving income boosts or deposit boosts. Tembo's core strength is helping first-time buyers who cannot quite afford the mortgage they need through innovative schemes: Income Boost allows a family member to contribute their income to increase your borrowing capacity, and Deposit Boost allows a family member to use equity from their own home to boost your deposit without giving you cash directly. These are not niche products — they are increasingly mainstream for people who cannot get there on their own income and savings alone.
Research consistently shows that borrowers who use a mortgage broker secure better rates around 73 percent of the time compared to going directly to a lender. This is partly because brokers have access to deals that lenders only offer through intermediaries and not to direct customers, and partly because a good broker knows which lender is most likely to approve your specific situation, including quirks like recent job changes, unusual income structures, or higher loan-to-value ratios. Going direct to your high street bank means accessing one lender's products. Going through a whole-of-market broker means accessing 70 to 100 lenders simultaneously. The arithmetic is straightforward.
Habito, Mojo, and L&C are all free to you, but they are not charities. They earn a commission called a procuration fee from the mortgage lender when you complete your mortgage. This is typically 0.35 to 0.5 percent of the mortgage value, paid by the lender, not by you. This creates a theoretical incentive to recommend deals from lenders who pay higher commissions rather than the deals that are genuinely best for you. All three of these brokers are FCA-regulated, which means they are legally required to recommend suitable mortgages and keep records of why each recommendation was made. The commission model is not a reason to avoid free brokers, it is worth being aware of. If a broker recommendation seems unusual, it is always reasonable to ask why that specific deal was recommended.
A broker cannot access direct-only deals that lenders exclusively offer to customers who apply without a broker. These do exist, particularly from some high street banks, though they are a minority of the market. A broker also cannot guarantee approval, since the lender makes the final decision after their own credit assessment. And a broker is not a substitute for a solicitor, surveyor, or financial adviser in the broader home-buying process: they handle the mortgage application, not the conveyancing, survey, or legal work (though Habito Plus and some Tembo packages do bundle some of these).
Before any broker runs a credit check on your behalf, make sure you have checked your own credit report. Hard credit searches from mortgage applications appear on your credit file and multiple applications in a short period can lower your score. Most brokers run a soft search initially that does not affect your credit file, with a hard search only happening when you formally apply to a specific lender. Confirm this with your broker before proceeding. You can check your credit report for free on Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion, and it is worth knowing what it shows before any lender sees it.
Tembo won Best Mortgage Broker at the 2026 British Bank Awards for the fifth consecutive year, though it charges a fee of £499 to £749. Among free brokers, Habito holds the highest Trustpilot rating of 4.9 out of 5 from over 10,500 reviews and has access to 95+ lenders. L&C is the UK's largest fee-free broker and the strongest choice for complex or self-employed cases. The best broker for you depends on your specific situation.
For most borrowers, using a broker is worth it. Research shows broker clients secure better rates around 73 percent of the time compared to going direct. Free brokers like Habito, Mojo, and L&C cost you nothing and give you access to 70 to 100 lenders simultaneously versus the single lender you access by going direct. The only scenario where going direct might make sense is if your bank is offering an exclusive direct-only deal that is demonstrably better than anything a broker can find, which is increasingly rare.
A mortgage broker's initial search is typically a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A hard credit search only happens when you formally apply to a specific lender, at which point it does appear on your credit file. Multiple hard searches in a short period can reduce your score, which is why using a broker who identifies the right lender before applying is better than applying directly to multiple lenders simultaneously. Confirm with your broker whether their initial search is soft or hard before proceeding.
Tembo's Income Boost allows a family member, typically a parent, to add their income to your mortgage application without being on the property deeds. This increases your borrowing capacity based on combined income while keeping the property in your name alone. It is different from a joint mortgage because the family member does not own part of the property and is not liable for the mortgage beyond their income contribution. There are specific criteria and lenders who offer this scheme, which is why Tembo specialises in it.
In April 2026, Monzo, the digital bank with over 10 million UK customers, acquired Habito. This makes Habito part of one of the UK's largest and most well-funded fintech companies. The acquisition is expected to give Habito access to Monzo's technology infrastructure and customer base, though the day-to-day mortgage brokering service continues to operate as before under the Habito name for now. It is worth monitoring whether the service changes following the acquisition.