Free Accounting Software UK: What Is Genuinely Free in 2026
"Free accounting software" usually means a demo with the good parts locked away. But in the UK there are four routes that are genuinely free and genuinely usable, including one that gives you a complete paid-grade product at no cost. This guide covers all four, with the catches spelled out, because every one of them has at least one.
Route 1: FreeAgent free through your bank (the best deal)
If your business banks with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank, or you use the free app-based Mettle account, you get FreeAgent free for as long as you keep the account and meet the bank's usage conditions. This is the full product, not a lite tier: invoicing, bank feeds, MTD VAT and Income Tax filing, payroll with RTI, Self Assessment support, corporation tax forecasting.
Bought separately, FreeAgent starts at £19/mo ex VAT (checked July 2026), so the deal is worth £228 and up per year. We tested the Mettle route for our review: account opened in a day, FreeAgent activated from within the Mettle app, working books within the hour.
The catches: you must genuinely use the qualifying account (check the bank's current conditions, particularly Mettle's activity requirements), and if you leave the bank you lose the free subscription, at which point you pay list price or migrate. Switching banks purely for software is a real decision with real admin. For a new business choosing its first bank anyway, though, this should be near the top of the list.
Route 2: Zoho Books' free plan
The free plan of Zoho Books is a proper product for very small businesses: invoicing (up to 1,000 a year), expenses, a bank feed, customer portal and MTD VAT filing, for one user plus your accountant.
The catches: it is limited to businesses under Zoho's annual revenue cap (around £35,000 at our check; confirm the current figure on Zoho's pricing page), there is no UK payroll on any Zoho plan, and for MTD for Income Tax you should verify recognition on HMRC's list before relying on it. Growth pushes you to paid tiers, which are at least cheap: £10/mo ex VAT on annual billing for Standard.
Route 3: Pandle's free tier
Pandle is a UK-built package from the team behind an online accountancy practice, and its free tier is unusually generous: unlimited invoices, unlimited transactions, bank statement imports and MTD VAT filing. Pandle Pro adds live bank feeds, receipt uploads, cash flow forecasting and premium support for £5/mo ex VAT (checked July 2026), the cheapest paid plan in our whole comparison.
The catches: the free tier uses statement imports rather than live feeds, so you upload files instead of watching transactions arrive; there is no payroll; integrations are few; and support is email-led. For MTD for Income Tax, check HMRC's current list. The interface is more functional than polished, but for a cash-strapped sole trader it does the job honestly.
Route 4: spreadsheet plus bridging software (the reality check)
Plenty of small businesses still run on a spreadsheet, and the honest question is whether that remains legal and sensible. The answer: legal yes, with conditions; sensible only sometimes.
If you are VAT-registered, MTD VAT rules require digital records and a digital link to HMRC. A spreadsheet counts as a digital record, but you cannot retype figures into a portal; you need bridging software that reads the spreadsheet and files it. Several bridging tools are free or nearly free for a single business; find current options via HMRC's MTD VAT software search.
If MTD for Income Tax applies to you (over £50,000 of sole trade or property income from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027), the same logic applies: spreadsheet plus recognised bridging works, with quarterly submissions instead of one annual return. Four filings a year through a bridging tool is where spreadsheet life starts to hurt; our MTD guide walks through the mechanics.
Our honest take: a spreadsheet works while you are tiny, cash-based and disciplined. The moment you have VAT, staff or volume, the hours you spend fighting the spreadsheet cost more than £10 a month. We say this as people who love spreadsheets.
Free plans we do not recommend relying on
Two patterns to avoid. First, "free trials" dressed as free plans: if the tier expires or blocks VAT filing behind a paywall, it is a trial. Second, free software with no visible business model and no UK entity behind it; your books are your business's memory, and a product that vanishes takes them with it. Every option above has a clear reason to exist: FreeAgent sells bank accounts, Zoho upsells its suite, Pandle feeds an accountancy practice, bridging tools upsell full software.
When paying £10 to £16 a month is the right answer
Free has a ceiling. You should probably pay when: you employ anyone (payroll with RTI is where free options thin out fast; only FreeAgent includes it), MTD for Income Tax applies and you want the quarterly grind automated (QuickBooks' £10 Sole Trader plan exists for exactly this), or your time reconciling exceeds an hour a month, at which point Xero's speed pays for itself. The full rankings are in our best accounting software guide.
Free accounting software FAQs
What is the best free accounting software in the UK?
FreeAgent via NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle, because it is the entire paid product free. If switching banks is off the table, Zoho Books' free plan or Pandle's free tier are the best standalone options.
Can I use free software for Making Tax Digital?
For VAT, yes: all three named free options file MTD VAT returns. For MTD Income Tax, FreeAgent is recognised; verify others on HMRC's current software list first.
Can I just use a spreadsheet?
Only with bridging software providing the digital link to HMRC, for both VAT and Income Tax. Retyping figures manually breaks the rules. It works, but quarterly ITSA filings make it tedious.
Related reading
Details checked July 2026 and re-checked quarterly. Spotted a change? Email hello@best-in-the.co.uk.