First, what job are you doing?
Most “PlanWatch alternative” searches are really one of three different questions:
- “Will my application be approved?” — you need statistics from decided applications: approval rates, decision times, refusal patterns. (Option 1.)
- “What’s the status of a specific application?” — you need the official council record. (Option 2.)
- “What’s being filed near me?” — you need monitoring and alerts. (Options 2 and 5 — and, to be fair, PlanWatch itself.)
The five alternatives
1. PlanningLens
PlanningLens (this site) analyses 3,800,000+ decided planning applications scraped directly from 312 council portals across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with records back to 2020. Enter a postcode and you get the approval rate for applications like yours nearby, typical decision times against the 8-week target, and a free property-specific PDF report — no signup, no payment. National context lives in the approval-rate rankings and the decision-time league table, and every figure links back to the original council record. Aggregate figures are validated against the government’s MHCLG statistics — our Canterbury householder numbers landed within two points of the official figure (methodology).
What it doesn’t do: alerts. PlanningLens analyses decided applications; it won’t email you when a neighbour files something new. For that job, see options 2 and 5 — or PlanWatch.
2. Your council’s own planning portal
Every local planning authority publishes its applications online — most on systems like Idox Public Access or Northgate. This is the authoritative source: full documents, drawings, officer reports, consultation deadlines, decision notices. It’s also where you formally comment on or object to an application. Many councils offer their own free email alerts for new applications in a ward or near an address — worth checking before paying any third-party service.
What it doesn’t do: context. Portals list applications one at a time; they won’t tell you an approval rate, how your council compares nationally, or how long decisions really take.
3. planning.data.gov.uk
The government’s open planning data platform, run by MHCLG, publishes datasets collected from local planning authorities in England — it’s also one of the sources PlanWatch says it draws on. If you’re a researcher or developer who wants the underlying data rather than a consumer interface, start here.
What it doesn’t do: answer questions for you. It’s data infrastructure, not analysis — coverage and completeness vary by authority, and there’s no postcode-level “what are my chances” view.
4. The Planning Portal (planningportal.co.uk)
Often confused with the research tools, the Planning Portal is the national service through which most planning applications in England and Wales are actually submitted, with official guidance on permitted development, fees and the application process.
What it doesn’t do: research. It isn’t a tool for browsing other people’s applications or analysing council behaviour — but if your search for planning tools ends in actually applying, you’ll likely end up here.
5. PlanIt (planit.org.uk)
An independent open-data aggregator that collects planning applications from authorities across the UK and exposes them through a searchable site and a free API. Popular with civic-tech projects and researchers who need machine-readable application data across many councils.
What it doesn’t do: consumer analysis. Like planning.data.gov.uk, it’s aimed at people comfortable working with data rather than homeowners wanting a plain answer.
Quick comparison
| Approval rates & decision times | Official record & objecting | New-application alerts | Raw data / API | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlanningLens | Yes — core product | Links to every record | No | No public API | Free |
| Council portal | No | Yes — authoritative | Often (council-run) | Rarely | Free |
| planning.data.gov.uk | No (raw data only) | No | No | Yes | Free |
| Planning Portal | No | No (submission service) | No | No | Free to browse |
| PlanIt | No (raw data only) | Links to records | No | Yes | Free |
| PlanWatch | No | Links to records | Yes — core product | No | Free search; paid tracking |
For a fuller head-to-head with PlanWatch specifically, see PlanningLens vs PlanWatch.
Last updated: June 2026. Descriptions of third-party services are based on their publicly available pages as of June 2026 and may change. All services listed are independent of, and unaffiliated with, PlanningLens.