Abridge vs QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) for Making Tax Digital
By the selector's own rules, Abridge and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) both work for landlords and sole traders, so the choice comes down to the six points where they differ. QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) offers bank feeds, receipt capture and phone apps, which Abridge does not. QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) does not offer support for more than one property or support for jointly owned property, which Abridge does. Their cheapest plans are listed as £39 a year including VAT, about £3.25 a month (Full MTD Coverage) for Abridge and £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
Abridge suits landlords and sole traders who already keep their records in Excel or Google Sheets and want to carry on, people with several properties or income sources who want one low yearly price, joint owners who each file from their share of the records and spreadsheet users whose accountant would like to review the figures before they go to HMRC. QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) suits sole traders or single-property landlords, landlords who want a lower-priced mainstream option and people who do most of their bookkeeping on a phone.
The facts on this page come from each provider’s own pages and from HMRC’s software list, and how we compare products explains how we check them.
If you are thinking of moving from one to the other, the guide to changing your MTD software explains what GOV.UK says about when you can move and what happens to your records.
Where they differ
These are the points where our checks of the two products came out differently. A “No” means we did not find that feature on the provider’s own pages when we last checked them. Where we had nothing to go on for one of the two, we leave the point out here rather than guess.
| Point | Abridge | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | £39 a year including VAT, about £3.25 a month (Full MTD Coverage) | £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) |
| More than one property | Yes | No |
| Jointly owned property | Yes | No |
| Bank feeds | No | Yes |
| Receipt capture | No | Yes |
| Phone apps | No | Yes (iOS and Android) |
On the other points we compare (free plan, holiday lets and former FHL, self-employment income and accountant access), they give the same answer, or at least one provider does not say. The full list is under each product’s own page.
Both send MTD for VAT returns, from different plans: Abridge from the Full MTD Coverage plan and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) from the Simple Start plan.
What HMRC’s software list says about both
HMRC’s list marks each feature as available now or intended for later. This is what HMRC’s list says, not something we have tested ourselves. Where HMRC lists a product under more than one name, we show the strongest answer and the listing it comes from.
| Feature | Abridge | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) |
|---|---|---|
| Your tax return and other income | ||
| Sending your tax return | Available | Available |
| Foreign property | Available | Not stated |
| Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) | Availablesince 12 June 2026 | Available |
| Employment (PAYE) | Availablesince 12 June 2026 | Available |
| UK dividends | Availablesince 12 June 2026 | Available |
| UK interest | Availablesince 12 June 2026 | Available |
| Capital gains | Availablesince 12 June 2026 | Availablesince 24 July 2026 |
| How it works | ||
| Bridging software that connects to your records | Available | Not stated |
| Calendar update periods (1 April to 31 March) | Available | Available |
| A free version | Not stated | Not stated |
| Welsh language | Not stated | Not stated |
| Accessibility | ||
| Blindness or impaired vision | Available | Not stated |
| Deafness or impaired hearing | Available | Not stated |
| Motor or physical difficulties | Available | Not stated |
| Cognitive impairments | Available | Not stated |
This is HMRC’s list as it stood on 30 October 2026, at HMRC’s commit 201b34e. A date beside a feature is when HMRC’s list changed it from intended to available. HMRC’s software finder shows the current answers. How we read HMRC’s list
Does HMRC’s software list show Abridge and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) as available for sending your tax return?
For sending your tax return, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 marks it “Available” for Abridge and marks it “Available” for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
Does HMRC’s software list show a free version of Abridge or QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)?
For a free version, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 says nothing either way for Abridge and says nothing either way for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
How many features does HMRC’s software list mark as available for Abridge and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)?
HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 covers 15 features, and it marks 13 “Available” for Abridge and 7 “Available” for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start). For Abridge, it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 2. For QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start), it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 8.
The cheapest plan for your situation
A product’s cheapest plan is not always one you can use, because some plans are only for landlords or only for sole traders. These are the lowest prices the selector would show each reader, as each provider states them. Where a price grows with the number of properties, it is shown as a starting price. The figure over 12 months is the same plan at its regular price, worked out the way the software cost calculator does it.
Abridge
- For landlords
- £39 a year including VAT, about £3.25 a month
- For sole traders
- £39 a year including VAT, about £3.25 a month
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £39 including VAT
We checked Abridge’s prices on 2 November 2026.
Abridge also works for people with rental and self-employment income.
QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)
- For landlords
- £10 plus VAT a month
- For sole traders
- £10 plus VAT a month
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £120 plus VAT
We checked QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)’s prices on 3 November 2026.
Notes from our checks
Abridge
Abridge reads the totals from your own spreadsheet and sends them to HMRC, so you keep doing your bookkeeping in Excel or Google Sheets and Abridge handles the filing. Its one paid plan, Full MTD Coverage, costs £39 a year including VAT and covers quarterly updates and the final declaration with unlimited income sources and properties. Abridge also has a free plan, but it covers the final declaration only for one income source and cannot send quarterly updates, so we leave it out and do not show a free MTD option. Abridge says joint owners can each file from their share of the records, and that your accountant can have read-only access without paying for their own subscription. Abridge says it never connects to your bank, and we did not find mileage tracking, receipt capture or anything about furnished holiday lets. HMRC's software list shows a mobile version, but Abridge's own pages describe an Excel add-in, a Google Sheets add-on and a web upload, and we did not find a phone app. The same plan also covers MTD for VAT returns, since it lists VAT registrations alongside Income Tax and Abridge describes its service as Income Tax and VAT filing. We checked this on 2 November 2026.
QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)
Regular monthly prices are shown excluding VAT. When we checked the pricing page on 3 November 2026, the price list it loads showed Intuit's offer of 90% off for six months for new customers, running until 20 November 2026, so the pricing page is the place to see any offer running now. Its setup guidance requires a separate account for each business or property income source. Combined subscription costs were not confirmed, so the selector does not recommend QuickBooks for mixed income. Joint-property support also remains unconfirmed.
Neither product is ranked above the other here: the page sets out what each provider says so you can weigh it against your own situation. How we compare products
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