Gals Who Rent vs Delphi: An Honest Comparison

Gals Who Rent has real value - here's an honest, direct comparison with Delphi to help you decide how to use each one.

If you've searched for a women-only flatshare, you've probably come across Gals Who Rent - a network of regional Facebook groups (London, Scotland, and others) where women post and search for rooms. It's not a company or a platform with its own website - it's a community, run within Facebook itself, and it's genuinely popular for exactly that reason. It's not the only women-only Facebook group out there either - groups like Girls Only Houseshares London For Students/Professionals cover similar ground - but Gals Who Rent is the one we get asked about most, so that's the direct comparison below.

By Marilyn Magnusen

Published 12/08/2026, 3 min read

What Is Gals Who Rent?

Gals Who Rent is one part of a wider community network called "Gals Who...", founded in 2019 by Brontë King. It started as Gals Who Graduate - a community King built after finishing her degree and facing the same "what next?" question a lot of new graduates have - and has since grown into several linked communities: Gals Who Travel, Gals Who Sweat, Gals Who Read, Gals Who Graduate, Gals Who Rent, and Gals Who Date. Each one is its own space, but they share the same underlying idea: informal, peer-run support communities for women and non-binary people navigating a specific part of life. Gals Who Rent is the branch focused on flatshares and housing.

It's genuinely well-regarded - Time Out has recommended checking Gals Who Rent alongside a couple of other private Facebook groups before paying for SpareRoom's early-access listings, and it comes up regularly in roundups of good places to look for a room in London.

What Facebook groups like Gals Who Rent do well

Real community feel. Posts often come with comments from other members, sometimes including people who've actually lived with the poster - a kind of informal, crowd-sourced vetting that's hard to replicate elsewhere.
Free and easy to join. No account setup beyond Facebook itself, no fees.
Immediate reach. Large, active groups mean a post can get dozens of responses within hours.
A recognised, recommended resource. It's not an obscure group - it's specifically named in press coverage (Time Out, among others) as one of the better options, which says something about its ongoing activity and reputation.

Where Gals Who Rent Runs Into Limits

No structured search. You're scrolling a feed, not filtering by price, area, move-in date, or room type - finding the right post among hundreds of others is manual and time-consuming. Prices posted in the group can vary hugely (anecdotally, everything from budget rooms to £1,200–£1,500/month in London), and there's no way to filter that down before you start scrolling.
No formal verification. Group admins moderate membership and posts, but there's no ID verification, no listing checks, and no consistent safety infrastructure - the vetting that happens is peer-to-peer and informal, which helps but isn't a substitute for structured checks.
Posts get buried and go stale. A room might already be taken by the time you see it, or a months-old post might still be circulating with no way to tell it's outdated.
No dedicated support if something goes wrong. There's no reporting mechanism beyond Facebook's own tools, and no team responsible for the housing side of things specifically.

Gals Who Rent vs. Delphi, at a Glance

	Gals Who Rent (Facebook)	Delphi
Cost	Free	Fees apply for premium features
Search & filters	None - manual scrolling	Filter by price, area, move-in date, room type
Verification	Informal, peer-based only	Built-in verification tools
Listings freshness	No way to tell if a post is outdated	Live listings, kept current
Community	Strong, established since 2019	Built specifically around women's flatshares
Support if something goes wrong	None beyond Facebook's own tools	Dedicated community support

Why Delphi Is a Useful Complement to Gals Who Rent, Not a Replacement

The honest answer is that a lot of women use both - Gals Who Rent for its community feel and reach, and Delphi for structured search, verification tools, and a space built specifically around housing, not general social posting. Neither fully replaces the other; they're solving slightly different problems.

If you're currently relying only on Gals Who Rent (or a similar group, like Girls Only Houseshares London), the main thing Delphi adds is a proper search and safety layer - filtering by what you actually need, and verification tools that exist because housing safety is the whole point of the platform, not a secondary feature bolted onto a general social network.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Gals Who Rent free to join?

Yes - it's a Facebook group, so joining and posting costs nothing beyond having a Facebook account.

Is Gals Who Rent only for London?

No - there are regional versions, including a dedicated Scotland group, alongside the main London-focused community.

Is it safe to find a flatmate through a Facebook group?

It can be, but the safety checks are informal and peer-driven rather than built into the platform. The same basic precautions apply as anywhere else: view the room in person or by video call, never pay before you've met, and trust your instincts if something feels off (see our guide to staying safe on flatshare sites).

Are there other women-only Facebook groups like Gals Who Rent?

Yes - groups like Girls Only Houseshares London For Students/Professionals cover similar ground. The same trade-offs (free and community-driven, but no structured search or formal verification) generally apply across these groups, not just Gals Who Rent specifically.

Should I use Gals Who Rent instead of Delphi, or alongside it?

Alongside it, for most people. They solve different problems - Gals Who Rent gives you community reach and a free way to post; a dedicated platform gives you structured search and verification. Using both covers more ground than either alone.