Bosh vs Xero for Making Tax Digital
By the selector's own rules, Bosh and Xero both work for sole traders, so the choice comes down to the five points where they differ. Xero offers support for more than one property, support for jointly owned property, receipt capture and access for an accountant, which Bosh does not. Their cheapest plans are listed as £3.99 plus VAT a month (Bosh (quarterly updates only)) for Bosh and £7 plus VAT a month (Simple) for Xero.
Bosh suits sole traders in the building trades who would like their bank transactions sorted for them, subcontractors on the Construction Industry Scheme who want CIS tracked on the Bosh+ plan and VAT-registered sole traders who want Income Tax and VAT updates in the same app. Xero suits landlords with multiple properties, sole traders who also need payroll and anyone already using an accountant on Xero.
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 | Bosh | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | £3.99 plus VAT a month (Bosh (quarterly updates only)) | £7 plus VAT a month (Simple) |
| More than one property | No | Yes |
| Jointly owned property | No | Yes |
| Receipt capture | No | Yes |
| Accountant access | No | Yes |
On the other points we compare (free plan, holiday lets and former FHL, self-employment income, bank feeds and phone apps), 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: Bosh from the Bosh VAT (quarterly updates only) plan and Xero from the Ignite 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 | Bosh | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Your tax return and other income | ||
| Sending your tax return | Intended | Available |
| Foreign property | Not stated | Available |
| Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) | Intended | Availablesince 16 October 2026 |
| Employment (PAYE) | Intended | Intended |
| UK dividends | Intended | Availablesince 16 October 2026 |
| UK interest | Intended | Availablesince 17 July 2026 |
| Capital gains | Intended | Intended |
| How it works | ||
| Bridging software that connects to your records | Available | Not stated |
| Calendar update periods (1 April to 31 March) | Not stated | Available |
| A free version | Not stated | Not stated |
| Welsh language | Not stated | Not stated |
| Accessibility | ||
| Blindness or impaired vision | Not stated | Not stated |
| Deafness or impaired hearing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Motor or physical difficulties | Not stated | Not stated |
| Cognitive impairments | Not stated | 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 Bosh and Xero 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 “Intended” for Bosh and marks it “Available” for Xero.
Does HMRC’s software list show a free version of Bosh or Xero?
For a free version, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 says nothing either way for Bosh and says nothing either way for Xero.
How many features does HMRC’s software list mark as available for Bosh and Xero?
HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 covers 15 features, and it marks 1 “Available” for Bosh and 6 “Available” for Xero. For Bosh, it marks 6 “Intended” and gives no answer on 8. For Xero, it marks 2 “Intended” and gives no answer on 7.
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.
Bosh
- For sole traders
- £3.99 plus VAT a month
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £47.88 plus VAT
We checked Bosh’s prices on 2 November 2026.
Xero
- For sole traders
- £7 plus VAT a month
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £84 plus VAT
We checked Xero’s prices on 25 October 2026.
Xero also works for landlords and people with rental and self-employment income.
Notes from our checks
Bosh
Bosh's MTD page describes sending the quarterly updates from the app and says you still finalise the year yourself by 31 January. Its home page now also talks about submitting your Self Assessment directly to HMRC, but when we looked at HMRC's software list on 2 November 2026 it still showed the year-end return as intended rather than available. Until Bosh's pages and HMRC's list agree, we name each plan as quarterly updates only. Bosh's pages are written for sole traders in the trades and we found nothing about property income; HMRC's list does not show UK property income for Bosh either, so we mark the plans as unsuitable when property income is in the picture. All prices are stated as excluding VAT. Bosh+ adds CIS and Bosh VAT adds MTD for VAT returns. The app is offered through the App Store and Google Play, and we did not find a web version. We did not find receipt capture, mileage tracking, accountant access or anything about furnished holiday lets. We checked this on 2 November 2026.
Xero
Regular prices include the September 2026 increase. Xero advertises one month free or 90% off for the first six months for eligible new customers. Simple is for non-VAT-registered businesses. Payroll, Expenses and other add-ons depend on the plan.
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