TaxMTD vs the rest
How does TaxMTD stack up against Sage, FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks, Crunch, Zoho Books, and IRIS? We're not hiding anything - here's every feature, good and bad, side by side.
11
Features unique to TaxMTD
1
Coming soon
vs 92 missing on Crunch
£12/mo
Essential plan from £12/mo (annual)
The UK Accounting Software Landscape in 2026
With Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) going live on 6 April 2026 for self-employed individuals earning over £50,000, choosing the right accounting platform has never mattered more. Every platform listed here is rushing to be MTD-ready, but they differ wildly in pricing, AI capabilities, and who they're actually built for.
TaxMTD was designed from scratch for UK sole traders, landlords, small limited companies, and PAYE employees who must file Self Assessment. We built AI categorisation into the core (not bolted on), added Universal Credit tools no other platform offers, and priced four business plans from just £12/mo (annual) plus a Personal tier for individuals at £89/year or £49 one-off. But we're honest about what we don't have yet - and the table below hides nothing.
Who are the competitors?
- Sage - The UK's largest accounting brand. Their cloud product (Accounting Start at £18/mo) targets everyone from sole traders to mid-size companies. Includes Sage Copilot AI assistant. Free sole trader plan available.
- FreeAgent - Popular with freelancers at £19/mo (free with NatWest/RBS/Mettle). Unlimited users on every plan. Strong time tracking and project management. Includes payroll for free.
- Xero - Global heavyweight, UK plans from £7/mo (Simple, very limited). Full features start at £37/mo (Grow). Has the largest app marketplace with 1,000+ integrations. Rolling out JAX AI assistant.
- QuickBooks - Intuit's UK offering at £12/mo for sole traders. Strong US heritage, solid construction industry (CIS) support. Recently renamed "QuickBooks Sole Trader" plan.
- Crunch - Hybrid accounting software + accountant services. Free software tier, but limited company accounting starts at £83.50+VAT/mo because it bundles human accountant access. Best for contractors who want someone else to do the work.
- Zoho Books - Part of the Zoho ecosystem (2,000+ apps). UK plans from free (1 user, 1,000 invoices/yr) to £24/mo (Elite). Strong inventory and multi-currency. Professional plan and above for most advanced features. No UK payroll.
- IRIS - The UK's largest accountancy software provider. Their ecosystem includes KashFlow (end-user bookkeeping from £12.50/mo) and IRIS Elements (practice compliance suite covering SA, CT600, iXBRL, AML, and company secretarial). KashFlow offers 50+ reports, stock control, mileage, and payroll for up to 5 employees. No AI copilot, no time tracking, and no e-commerce integrations.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Every feature across all eight platforms. Green = included, red = missing, amber = paid extra or partial support.
What We Have That They Don't
TaxMTD's unique advantages that no other UK accounting platform offers.
Universal Credit Calculator
No other platform calculates UC payments with MIF, work allowance, and 55% taper rate built in.
UC Optimiser
Suggests when to time expenses to maximise your UC payment. Completely unique to TaxMTD.
UC Auto-Filler Extension
Chrome extension that auto-fills your income and expenses directly into the gov.uk UC portal. No copy-pasting.
Download ExtensionTax Year Progress Tracker
Visual progress bar showing exactly where you are in the tax year with payment timeline.
Director Salary Optimisation
Calculates the optimal split between director salary and dividends to minimise tax.
Free Inventory Management
Product stock tracking, low-stock alerts, and stock movement history included at no extra cost. Sage, Xero, and QuickBooks charge extra.
Free VAT with Flat Rate Scheme
Full 9-box VAT returns with both standard and flat rate scheme support - included on all plans. Most competitors charge extra.
Invoice Template Designer
Drag-and-drop invoice designer with Stripe, Modern Glass, and Classic styles - logo upload, custom fonts, colour palettes, and unlimited templates.
SA102/105/106/108 Form Coverage
TaxMTD covers employment, property, foreign income, and capital gains supplementary SA forms - broader coverage than most competitors.
Budgeting & Forecasting
Set spending budgets by category and track actuals vs planned with visual progress bars. Sage and QuickBooks charge £40-59/mo extra for this.
Project Profitability
Revenue, hours, rate, and profit per project with budget tracking - included free. Xero and QuickBooks charge extra.
Amazon Seller Integration
Full Amazon Seller Central import - orders, fees, refunds, and FBA settlements with profit/loss per product. Only Xero and QuickBooks offer this elsewhere.
Amazon Buyer Integration
Unique to TaxMTD - imports your Amazon purchase history, matches items to bank transactions, and auto-splits business vs personal. No other platform does this.
Get the apps
Native Mac and Windows apps are live with biometric unlock, system notifications, and offline reading. iOS and Android land soon.
Pricing at a Glance
Monthly cost for a sole trader with full features (ex. VAT where applicable)
| TaxMTD | Sage | FreeAgent | Xero | QuickBooks | Crunch | Zoho Books | IRIS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free | £0 | NatWest only | - | - | £0 | £0 | - |
| Sole trader (full) | £12/mo | £18/mo | £19/mo | £37/mo | £12/mo | £24.50/mo | £12/mo | £12.50/mo |
| Limited company | £39/mo | £39-59/mo | £19/mo | £50-65/mo | £16-36/mo | £83.50/mo | £18-24/mo | From £4/mo |
| Payroll included | ✓ Included | Add-on | ✓ Free | 1 person | Add-on | Add-on | - | 5 employees |
The Verdict
If you're a UK sole trader or freelancer who wants AI-powered categorisation, MTD compliance, and UC tools - all from just £12/mo -TaxMTD is the best value on the market.
TaxMTD has closed every major feature gap. The platform includes estimates, recurring invoices, credit notes, purchase orders, bills, recurring bills, inventory with multi-warehouse management, fixed assets, cash flow forecasting, aged debtors/creditors, VAT returns with flat rate scheme, VAT reverse charge, dividend tracking, multi-currency support, FX gain/loss reporting, payment reminders, a customer/supplier contacts database, budgeting & forecasting, project profitability analysis, a full invoice template designer, in-invoice payment links, and a drag-and-drop custom report builder.
On accounting, TaxMTD features manual journal entries, a trial balance, a general ledger report, and billable hours to invoices - matching the bookkeeping depth of established platforms.
On the tax front, TaxMTD covers SA102, SA105, SA106, SA108 supplementary forms, capital allowances (AIA), VAT Flat Rate Scheme, CIS returns, Companies House filing, and iXBRL annual accounts generation. Broader Self Assessment and compliance coverage than most competitors.
On payroll, TaxMTD includes full PAYE payroll with payslip generation, P60 production, RTI FPS submission to HMRC, pension auto-enrolment, shareholder management, and director's loan account tracking with S455 tax calculations.
On e-commerce, TaxMTD includes full Amazon Seller Central integration (orders, fees, FBA settlements), a unique Amazon Buyer integration, plus Shopify order sync, WooCommerce REST API import, GoCardless Direct Debit payments, and Square POS transactions - matching the breadth of Xero and QuickBooks.
With team management (7 roles, invitations, accountant portal), an AI copilot with multi-provider support, a public REST API, 12+ marketplace integrations, and comprehensive reporting - TaxMTD matches or exceeds every competitor on features. FreeAgent is the strongest all-rounder for freelancers (especially free with NatWest). Xero wins on sheer integration breadth. Sage has a mature AI copilot. QuickBooks is solid for construction. IRIS dominates practice compliance (SA, CT600, iXBRL, AML, company secretarial) but KashFlow lacks AI, time tracking, and e-commerce integrations - it's built for traditional bookkeeping, not modern sole traders.
Where TaxMTD stands alone is in Universal Credit - no other platform even attempts to calculate UC payments, optimise expense timing, or auto-fill the gov.uk portal. The UC Auto-Filler Chrome extension submits your income and expenses directly into the UC portal with one click. For the 1.7 million self-employed people claiming UC, this is a game-changer.
Native Mac and Windows apps are live with biometric unlock, system-tray notifications, deep links, and offline reading — under 30 MB and signed end to end. The /download page auto-detects your platform. iOS and Android are the last remaining gap and land on the App Store and Google Play next.
We'll keep updating this page as we ship native mobile apps and deepen existing integrations.
Ready to try TaxMTD?
14-day free trial on every plan. See how it compares for yourself.