FreeAgent vs QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) for Making Tax Digital
By the selector's own rules, FreeAgent and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) both work for landlords and sole traders, so the choice comes down to the four points where they differ. QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) does not offer a free plan, support for more than one property or support for jointly owned property, which FreeAgent does. FreeAgent is free with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account. Their cheapest plans are listed as free (qualifying bank account) for FreeAgent and £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
FreeAgent suits landlords who bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle, contractors and freelancers with light rental income and joint property owners. 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 | FreeAgent | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Free (qualifying bank account)Free with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account | £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) |
| Free plan | YesFree with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account | No |
| More than one property | Yes | No |
| Jointly owned property | Yes | No |
On the other points we compare (holiday lets and former FHL, self-employment income, bank feeds, receipt capture, phone apps 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: FreeAgent from the Free (qualifying bank account) 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 | FreeAgent | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) |
|---|---|---|
| Your tax return and other income | ||
| Sending your tax return | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| Foreign property | Not stated | Not stated |
| Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) | Availablesince 5 November 2025on HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| Employment (PAYE) | Availablesince 6 March 2026on HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| UK dividends | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| UK interest | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| Capital gains | Availablesince 8 May 2026on HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Availablesince 24 July 2026 |
| How it works | ||
| Bridging software that connects to your records | Not stated | Not stated |
| Calendar update periods (1 April to 31 March) | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Available |
| A free version | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent for free with Mettle, NatWest & RBS” | Not stated |
| Welsh language | Not stated | Not stated |
| Accessibility | ||
| Blindness or impaired vision | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Not stated |
| Deafness or impaired hearing | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Not stated |
| Motor or physical difficulties | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | Not stated |
| Cognitive impairments | Availableon HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent” | 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 FreeAgent 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 FreeAgent (on HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent”) and marks it “Available” for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
Does HMRC’s software list show a free version of FreeAgent or QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)?
For a free version, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 marks it “Available” for FreeAgent (on HMRC’s listing “FreeAgent for free with Mettle, NatWest & RBS”) and says nothing either way for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start).
How many features does HMRC’s software list mark as available for FreeAgent and QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start)?
HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 covers 15 features, and it marks 12 “Available” for FreeAgent and 7 “Available” for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start). For FreeAgent, it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 3. 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.
FreeAgent
- For landlords
- FreeFree with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account
- For sole traders
- FreeFree with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- FreeFree with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account
We checked FreeAgent’s prices on 25 October 2026.
FreeAgent 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
FreeAgent
Regular direct prices vary by business type and are shown excluding VAT. FreeAgent currently offers 50% off the first six months and a 30-day free trial for direct subscribers. The free route needs a qualifying NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account, and a Mettle account needs at least one transaction a month. FreeAgent's own guidance says mixed property and self-employment income requires separate Landlord and Sole Trader accounts. FreeAgent does not say how its landlord account handles a former furnished holiday let, so we show that as not stated, and the selector leaves FreeAgent out when you have one.
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
More on these two products
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