FileThat vs Xero for Making Tax Digital
By the selector's own rules, FileThat and Xero both work for landlords and sole traders, including people with both kinds of income, so the choice comes down to the four points where they differ. Xero offers support for jointly owned property, bank feeds and phone apps, which FileThat does not. Their cheapest plans are listed as £4.99 for each quarterly update, about £1.66 a month for four updates a year, VAT not stated (Pay per submission (qualifying income £30,000 to £50,000)) for FileThat and £7 plus VAT a month (Simple) for Xero.
FileThat suits sole traders and landlords who would rather pay for each quarterly update than take out a subscription, people with a trade and rental income, or property abroad, who want every income source filed from one place and VAT-registered sole traders who want their VAT returns and income tax updates to come from the same records. 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 | FileThat | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | £4.99 for each quarterly update, about £1.66 a month for four updates a year, VAT not stated (Pay per submission (qualifying income £30,000 to £50,000)) | £7 plus VAT a month (Simple) |
| Jointly owned property | No | Yes |
| Bank feeds | No | Yes |
| Phone apps | No | Yes (iOS and Android) |
On the other points we compare (free plan, more than one property, holiday lets and former FHL, self-employment income, receipt capture 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: FileThat from the Pay per submission (qualifying income £30,000 to £50,000) 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 | FileThat | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Your tax return and other income | ||
| Sending your tax return | Available | Available |
| Foreign property | Available | Available |
| Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) | Available | Availablesince 16 October 2026 |
| Employment (PAYE) | Available | Intended |
| UK dividends | Available | Availablesince 16 October 2026 |
| UK interest | Available | Availablesince 17 July 2026 |
| Capital gains | Availablesince 2 October 2026 | Intended |
| 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 | Available | 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 FileThat 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 “Available” for FileThat and marks it “Available” for Xero.
Does HMRC’s software list show a free version of FileThat or Xero?
For a free version, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 marks it “Available” for FileThat and says nothing either way for Xero.
How many features does HMRC’s software list mark as available for FileThat and Xero?
HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 covers 15 features, and it marks 14 “Available” for FileThat and 6 “Available” for Xero. For FileThat, it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 1. 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.
FileThat
- For landlords
- £4.99 for each quarterly update, about £1.66 a month for four updates a year, VAT not stated
- For sole traders
- £4.99 for each quarterly update, about £1.66 a month for four updates a year, VAT not stated
- For people with rental and self-employment income
- £4.99 for each quarterly update, about £1.66 a month for four updates a year, VAT not stated
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £19.96, VAT not stated
We checked FileThat’s prices on 25 October 2026.
Xero
- For landlords
- £7 plus VAT a month
- For sole traders
- £7 plus VAT a month
- For people with rental and self-employment income
- £7 plus VAT a month
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- £84 plus VAT
We checked Xero’s prices on 25 October 2026.
Notes from our checks
FileThat
FileThat has no subscription. Keeping digital records is free, and you buy a credit for each new quarterly update or VAT return with figures in it, at £3.99, £4.99 or £5.99 depending on your qualifying income across all your businesses. The first 500 individuals to connect to HMRC keep £3.99 for good, and until FileThat has figures to work out your band you pay the lowest price, so the price you end up paying may be higher than the cheapest one shown. We show each band as a monthly equivalent of four quarterly updates for one business. We leave out the £3.99 band from our prices because people who must use MTD have qualifying income over £50,000 now and over £30,000 from April 2027, so the bands that apply to them start at £4.99. Each trade, your UK property and any foreign property are separate businesses with their own quarterly updates, so a landlord who is also self-employed pays twice, although FileThat caps an individual's spending at £50 in a tax year, with £55 the most charged. The annual submission, final declaration and amendments are free. The 4 free credits on sign-up cover the first year of quarterly updates for one business, and FileThat's pricing page says this is why HMRC's software finder lists it with a free version. After that first year there is no lasting free plan for filing, so we do not count it as a free tier. FileThat says all your UK lets are kept apart under nicknames and filed as one property business, and that it does not split figures between joint owners, so each owner files their own share. It says a UK holiday let is filed as part of the ordinary property business now that the furnished holiday lettings rules have ended. Bank transactions come from a CSV statement you upload, as FileThat deliberately does not use Open Banking, so we do not count that as a bank feed. An accountant can sign up as an agent and file for you, and FileThat also files from a spreadsheet template if you prefer. It is a website that works in a phone's browser, and we did not find mobile apps. None of the pages we read says whether VAT is added to FileThat's own prices. We checked this on 25 October 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
More on these two products
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