QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) vs RentalBux for Making Tax Digital
By the selector's own rules, QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and RentalBux both work for landlords and sole traders, so the choice comes down to the five points where they differ. RentalBux offers a free plan until March 2028, support for more than one property, support for jointly owned property and handling for holiday lets, which QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) does not. Their cheapest plans are listed as £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and free (until March 2028) for RentalBux. RentalBux is free until March 2028.
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. RentalBux suits landlords with a single property or straightforward self-employment wanting a free MTD option, landlords who also need to file self-employment income in the same app and joint owners who need income and expenses split by ownership percentage.
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 | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) | RentalBux |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | £10 plus VAT a month (Sole Trader Plus) | Free (until March 2028)Free until March 2028 |
| Free plan | No | YesFree until March 2028 |
| More than one property | No | Yes |
| Jointly owned property | No | Yes |
| Holiday lets and former FHL | No | Yes |
On the other points we compare (self-employment income, bank feeds, receipt capture, phone apps, accountant access and MTD for VAT returns), they give the same answer, or at least one provider does not say. The full list is under each product’s own page.
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 | QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) | RentalBux |
|---|---|---|
| Your tax return and other income | ||
| Sending your tax return | Available | Availablesince 22 May 2026 |
| Foreign property | Not stated | Available |
| Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) | Available | Availablesince 17 July 2026 |
| Employment (PAYE) | Available | Availablesince 17 July 2026 |
| UK dividends | Available | Availablesince 24 April 2026 |
| UK interest | Available | Availablesince 24 April 2026 |
| Capital gains | Availablesince 24 July 2026 | Availablesince 17 July 2026 |
| How it works | ||
| Bridging software that connects to your records | Not stated | Available |
| 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 | 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 QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and RentalBux 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 QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and marks it “Available” for RentalBux, since 22 May 2026.
Does HMRC’s software list show a free version of QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) or RentalBux?
For a free version, HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 says nothing either way for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and says nothing either way for RentalBux.
How many features does HMRC’s software list mark as available for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and RentalBux?
HMRC’s software list as it stood on 30 October 2026 covers 15 features, and it marks 7 “Available” for QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start) and 9 “Available” for RentalBux. For QuickBooks (Sole Trader Plus / Simple Start), it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 8. For RentalBux, it marks 0 “Intended” and gives no answer on 6.
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.
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.
RentalBux
- For landlords
- FreeFree until March 2028
- For sole traders
- FreeFree until March 2028
- Cheapest plan over 12 months
- Not statedFree until March 2028
We checked RentalBux’s prices on 25 October 2026.
RentalBux also works for people with rental and self-employment income.
Notes from our checks
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.
RentalBux
RentalBux prices its Landlord and Landlord + Self-Employed plans by the number of property units: 1 to 3, 4 to 10 and 11 to 20, with larger portfolios priced on request. We show the yearly-billed rates, which are what RentalBux shows first, and each plan's note gives the monthly-billing rate. All prices exclude VAT. The free plan covers one property unit or one business, and RentalBux says it is free until March 2028 with no card needed. When we checked, the paid plans were free until 15 November 2026 and the site offered your first MTD submission free. We show the regular prices. RentalBux splits income and expenses between joint owners by ownership percentage and reports profit for each property across a portfolio, so we show joint-ownership and multi-property support. Its help pages say it still supports furnished holiday let records from before that regime ended and treats new lettings under the standard property rules, so we show holiday-let support. They also say you can invite your accountant as a collaborator from your account settings at no extra cost, and you decide what they can see, change or submit. We did not find mileage tracking. The same help pages still mention a free plan until August 2026 and paid plans that are free until your first MTD submission; we show the terms on the pricing page. We checked this on 25 October 2026.
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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