# Alternatives to FreeAgent

UK freelancer accounting, free with some banks.

FreeAgent ranks #2 of 10 in Accounting software, with an Alt Score of 86. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from £5/month and available on Web, iOS and Android. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freeagent/
Category: Accounting software

## Where FreeAgent stands out

- **Payroll available** — 3 of 9 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: UK-based freelancers, contractors, small businesses, and their accountants who need to manage day-to-day finances and stay compliant with HMRC.
- **What you get**: Cloud accounting software with invoicing, expense and receipt tracking, bank feed reconciliation, cashflow forecasting, and payroll. Built-in Making Tax Digital (MTD) support lets users submit VAT and Self Assessment returns directly to HMRC.
- **How it works**: Users connect their business bank account for automatic transaction feeds, then create invoices, log expenses, and reconcile transactions within the platform before submitting tax returns straight to HMRC.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: £5/month (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Odoo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/odoo.md) | 100 | LGPL-3.0 | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [ERPNext](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/erpnext.md) | 86 | GPL-3.0 | Web |
| 3 | [FreshBooks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freshbooks.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [QuickBooks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/quickbooks.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Sage](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sage.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Xero](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/xero.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [Zoho Books](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zoho-books.md) | 78 | ? | Web, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [Invoice Ninja](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/invoice-ninja.md) | 73 | Elastic-2.0 | Web, iOS, Android, Windows |
| 9 | [Wave](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/wave.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Accounting software checklist | FreeAgent | Odoo | ERPNext | FreshBooks | QuickBooks | Sage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription |
| Starts at | £5/month | €11.90/user/month | $5/month | $23/month | $38/month | £14.99/month |
| License | Proprietary | LGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bank feeds | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Expense tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-currency | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Tax reports (VAT) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Inventory | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Accountant access | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for FreeAgent. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Cancel at any time”
- **Starts at**: £5/month — <https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Introductory price £5 /month”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.freeagent.com/terms/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “All copyright, database rights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights in The Service are either owned by or licensed to us”
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/mobile/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Download it now on iOS and Android:”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.freeagent.com/blog/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Product spotlight: FreeAgent for Landlords”
- **Invoicing**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/invoicing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Create precise, itemised invoices in seconds”
- **Bank feeds**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/banking/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Bank feeds automatically import all of your business transactions into your FreeAgent account and they're super easy to set up.”
- **Expense tracking**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/expenses/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Sort out your expenses wherever you are by snapping receipts or bills via Smart Capture on the FreeAgent mobile app. Or drag and drop bills and receipts into the desktop version of FreeAgent.”
- **Multi-currency**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/invoicing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Create invoices in other currencies and see your exchange rate gains or losses.”
- **Tax reports (VAT)**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/vat/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “FreeAgent automatically generates your MTD-compatible VAT returns, lets you submit them online directly to HMRC and reminds you when payment is due.”
- **Payroll available**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/features/payroll/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Add as many employees as you need as your business grows, at no extra cost”
- **Inventory**: Partial — <https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/price_list_items> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Products, Services, Training, Expenses, Comment, Bills, Discount, Credit, VAT, Stock”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://www.freeagent.com/terms/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “we grant you a non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use The Service in accordance with these Terms of Service”
- **Accountant access**: Yes — <https://www.freeagent.com/accountants/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Make life simple for you and your employees with one centralised dashboard to manage clients and view their details.”
- **API**: Yes — <https://dev.freeagent.com/docs> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The FreeAgent API provides secure programmatic access to the FreeAgent service, allowing you to build cool and useful tools and services on top.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/