How Acrenvo compares MTD software
Acrenvo turns public provider evidence into a transparent shortlist. It does not buy products for a laboratory test, collect customer reviews or pretend that one product is best for everyone. This page explains what is checked, how the selector ranks a completed set of answers, and where a provider or accountant still needs to confirm the detail.
Which products are included
A product can enter the dataset when it is relevant to UK landlords or sole traders, is presented as HMRC-recognised for MTD for Income Tax, and has enough public evidence to check its pricing and core workflow. The comparison currently tracks 10 products and is not presented as the entire market.
Material options are added when their official evidence can be reconciled. A provider is not excluded because it has no commercial relationship with Acrenvo, and payment cannot buy a position.
How prices are handled
The comparison uses the regular published price rather than making a short introductory discount look permanent. VAT, annual billing, trials, bank-account conditions, property caps and per-submission charges stay in the notes beside the figure.
Conditional tiers are applied to the answers. For example, a FreeAgent bank-funded price is not available when the visitor says they do not use a qualifying bank, and mixed property plus self-employment income reflects FreeAgent's requirement for 2 accounts. Portfolio-priced products use the matching property band.
How the selector works
Hard requirements remove products that cannot satisfy an answer: self-employment support, multiple properties, joint ownership, former-FHL handling, a mobile workflow, spreadsheet comfort and an accessible free tier. Property-only questions are skipped when a visitor has no rental income. Only after every relevant answer is complete does Acrenvo name a top shortlist match.
Products that remain receive fit signals for the requested workflow, such as a qualifying bank route, landlord-specialist records, mobile-first use or spreadsheet bridging. Price becomes the primary sort only when the visitor explicitly chooses the cheapest paid option. It is not a commission-weighted ranking.
Freshness and corrections
Every product has a visible verification date and source note. A weekly monitor checks all 10 pricing sources, while separate checks watch high-impact legal commencement dates. The build fails if a product falls out of the price watch or has not been verified for more than 120 days.
Provider pages can be ambiguous or change without notice. When 2 official pages disagree, the uncertainty stays in the note rather than being resolved by guessing. Corrections can be sent to hello@acrenvo.com.
What the shortlist does not prove
The current questions do not fully test foreign-property reporting, accounting-period choices, agent workflows, every non-business income source or the live availability of a final declaration. The provider should confirm those points before a subscription decision.
The selector is general information, not tax advice. Use the software selector to narrow the work, then check the provider's current terms and HMRC's own guidance for the final decision.