Xero vs QuickBooks vs FreeAgent vs Sage for landlords: how to choose

Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage are familiar names, but they are not interchangeable landlord products. One may suit a growing portfolio and accountant-led bookkeeping, while another makes more sense for a single property, a qualifying bank account or a strict monthly budget.

The comparison becomes useful when it follows the work: how many properties need separating, whether a sole trade sits beside the rent, whether ownership is shared and where the records will actually be kept. Those details matter more than choosing the longest feature list.

Xero tends to suit people who want room for the setup to grow

Xero offers the broadest range of plans in this group. It can support multi-property records, self-employment alongside rent, payroll and direct accountant access, so it is often considered when the bookkeeping is likely to expand. An accountant or bookkeeper who already works in Xero can also reduce the effort of sharing and reviewing records.

A single-property landlord with no other business may not use enough of that breadth to justify the subscription. Xero has also announced another UK price change for September 2026, so compare the provider’s current plan page rather than relying on a figure copied earlier in the year.

QuickBooks is the mainstream option to check when cost is high on the list

QuickBooks retired its old Self-Employed product and replaced it with Sole Trader Plus, listed at £10 a month when checked on 8 July 2026. Simple Start was £16 if you want proper double-entry bookkeeping rather than the lighter version. Both provide mobile record entry, which may matter if you expect to log expenses while away from a laptop. Test the exact tasks you need during a trial, because the phone workflow differs by plan.

QuickBooks does not provide the same property-specific portfolio structure as a landlord platform. It can hold the transactions, but separating several properties and dealing with joint ownership may need more manual organisation. That can be acceptable for one property and a side trade, while a larger portfolio may benefit from a product built around property-level records.

FreeAgent is strongest when the bank connection makes the price work

A qualifying NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account can include FreeAgent without a separate software subscription. Outside that arrangement it is a paid product, with direct prices that differ for unincorporated landlords and sole traders. The banking condition should therefore be checked before FreeAgent is compared as a free option.

Beyond the price, FreeAgent has a useful joint-ownership setup: you set the split once at the property level and it applies automatically across income and expenses, rather than making you recalculate every quarter. If you and a partner or a sibling own something together, that’s not a small feature. It also handles self-employment alongside property reasonably well, running them as connected accounts rather than forcing two separate logins.

Sage is worth knowing about because its free tier changes the comparison

Sage Sole Trader is a newer product, a 2025 rebrand of what used to be Sage Individual. Its free tier does not expire like a trial. It is capped, five sales invoices and twenty-five categorised transactions a month, so it suits someone with straightforward, low-volume affairs. The paid tier was listed at £7 a month when checked on 8 July 2026.

The cap makes the fit easier to judge than a vague “free” promise. A landlord with several properties, frequent transactions, joint ownership or a separate trade should check the current feature list and paid tier before assuming the free product can maintain every required record.

The choice usually comes down to the shape of the work, not the brand name

A qualifying bank account can put FreeAgent at the front of the cost comparison. Several properties, payroll or an accountant already working in Xero can make Xero’s broader setup worthwhile. QuickBooks is a stronger candidate when one property, a sole trade and mobile record entry matter more than portfolio features. Sage’s capped free tier suits the narrowest, lowest-volume setup. Each conclusion changes when joint ownership or mixed income adds another set of records.

None of that accounts for the situations that make this harder than a four-way pick, though: a former holiday let, property split between an SPV and your own name, living abroad, or combining rent with a trade. Those change the calculation enough that they get their own guides rather than a paragraph here, and they’re worth reading before you choose a product.

And if you’d rather answer up to nine questions and have the list filtered for you than cross-reference four sets of pricing pages yourself, that’s exactly what the selector does. The full comparison has the raw numbers for every tool we track: these four plus the landlord-specialist options, side by side.

Before choosing between the big names, test the practical fit

Is any of these free for everyone?

Sage Sole Trader’s free tier is open to anyone, capped at five invoices and twenty-five transactions a month. FreeAgent is free too, but only if you hold a qualifying NatWest Group business account; it’s not open to everyone the way Sage’s is.

Which one is easiest if I’m doing this from my phone?

QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus puts more of the routine workflow into its mobile app. FreeAgent and Xero also provide mobile apps, but it is worth testing the exact property and reporting tasks you expect to complete on a phone before choosing on that basis.

Can I switch later if I pick wrong?

Yes, though it’s not instant. Moving historical records between platforms takes some manual tidying, so it’s worth getting the choice right rather than treating it as disposable. If you’re on the fence, the selector is built to cut down on exactly that risk.