Pillar child · UK · Verified 31 July 2026

Best accounting software for landlords: FreeAgent, and it is not close

One of the four platforms we track sells a plan built for property income. It costs £10 a month, works out at £210 over 24 months ex VAT, and is free permanently if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle. Xero — the affiliate programme we are currently applying to — has no landlord product at all, and costs £97.20 more over the same period for a worse fit.

Priced over 24 months, after the discount expires All prices ex VAT, Sage normalised We name the product that beats the one we earn from

Last verified 31 July 2026. Promotions change roughly monthly — confirm before you subscribe.

The short answer

FreeAgent’s Landlord plan is the best accounting software for UK landlords. It is £10 a month with 50% off for the first six months — £210 over 24 months, ex VAT — and it is the only landlord-specific plan among the four platforms we track. It beats Xero Ignite’s £307.20 by £97.20 while fitting the job better. And if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle, it costs £0.

Two things we should say plainly before you read another word.

Xero has no landlord product at all. A landlord on Xero buys Ignite, a general small-business plan. Xero is the affiliate programme we are currently applying to, so this recommendation costs us money. It is still the right answer.
QuickBooks Sole Trader is cheaper on the raw number — £186 over 24 months, £24 less than FreeAgent Landlord. It is also not a landlord product and it cannot file VAT. We think the £1 a month is worth paying. You may not, and that is a legitimate call.

Not tax advice — confirm with HMRC or your accountant

Fizoral is an independent comparison site, not an accountancy practice. Prices were verified on 31 July 2026 from each vendor’s own UK pricing pages and are ex VAT. Confirm the current price with the vendor and your own tax position with HMRC or a qualified accountant before you act. Making Tax Digital rules are set by HMRC and have been re-scoped more than once — see gov.uk.

The whole comparison in one table

What a landlord actually pays, over 24 months

Entry-level plan for a landlord on each platform, ex VAT, with the introductory discount applied for the months it lasts and the full price thereafter. This is the only way to compare honestly, because every one of these vendors advertises a first-six-months number.

Landlord accounting software compared on 24-month cost, ex VAT
Platform & plan	Landlord product?	List price	Intro offer	Year 1	24 months
FreeAgent Landlord, via bankWinner	Yes	£0	n/a — free permanently	£0	£0
FreeAgent Landlord, paidBest paid	Yes	£10/mo	50% off 6 months → £5	£90	£210
Sage Sole Trader Free	No	£0	n/a	£0	£0
QuickBooks Sole Trader	No	£10/mo	90% off 6 months → £1	£66	£186
Xero Ignite	No — none at all	£16/mo	80% off 6 months → £3.20	£115.20	£307.20
Sage Accounting Start	No	£18+VAT	3 months free	£162	£378
FreeAgent Sole Trader	No — wrong plan for a landlord	£19/mo	50% off 6 months → £9.50	£171	£399

All figures ex VAT, verified 31 July 2026 from each vendor’s own UK pricing pages. Sage publishes prices plus VAT; we have normalised to ex VAT and said so. FreeAgent Landlord workings: 6 × £5 + 18 × £10 = £210. Xero Ignite workings: 6 × £3.20 + 18 × £16 = £307.20. Difference: £97.20 in FreeAgent’s favour. Promotions change roughly monthly and are usually restricted to new customers.

Why FreeAgent Landlord wins on fit, not just on price

A landlord does not need stock control, project costing or payroll. They need property income modelled as the separate business source that Making Tax Digital treats it as, at the lowest sensible price. FreeAgent Landlord is the only plan among the four that is priced and shaped for exactly that, which is why it wins even against a cheaper general-purpose plan.

The argument against buying a general small-business package is not that it fails. It is that you pay for a wider tool and then spend your own time bending it into the shape a landlord needs — particularly around keeping a property business separate from anything else you do. Under MTD that separation is not cosmetic; self-employment and property are different sources with different quarterly updates, and UK and overseas property are different again.

£10 a month is the lowest price for a purpose-built plan among the platforms we track, and £210 over 24 months is the number that matters once the introductory half-price period ends.
The free route is not a trick. NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank and Mettle include FreeAgent for as long as you hold the account. Mettle asks for one transaction a month. It is a full package.
MTD compatibility is not the differentiator. All four platforms are on HMRC’s recognised list. Anyone selling you a plan on the strength of “MTD ready” is selling you table stakes.

Check FreeAgent’s current pricing → Read our full FreeAgent review →

That is FreeAgent’s plain public UK pricing page. We are not currently in FreeAgent’s affiliate programme, so this link earns us nothing today.

The free route: NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank and Mettle

FreeAgent is free permanently — not a trial, not a reduced tier — for as long as you hold a business account with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle. Mettle requires at least one transaction a month to keep it active. For a landlord this is the cheapest good answer on the market, and it makes the £210 paid plan a fallback rather than a first choice.

The obvious question is whether it is worth moving bank for. Our answer is a qualified yes, for one reason that is specific to landlords: you probably need a separate account for the property business anyway. MTD reports property as its own source, and the single most effective thing you can do to make quarterly reporting painless is to stop co-mingling transactions. If you are opening an account regardless, opening it somewhere that includes the software is free money.

Cost

£0, indefinitely

For as long as the account is open. Against £210 over 24 months for the paid Landlord plan, or £307.20 for Xero Ignite, that is the whole comparison decided.

Catch 1

You have to hold the account

Stop banking there and you stop qualifying. Export your data before you close anything — a bank switch should never be why a record disappears.

Catch 2

Mettle wants activity

At least one transaction a month. For a landlord collecting rent monthly that is automatic; for a dormant account it is a trap worth knowing about.

We wrote this up in full, including who it does not suit, in genuinely free accounting software. It is one of the three facts on this site that cost us money, and we put it near the top of the page rather than in a footnote.

Being fair to the rest

Where the other three fit for a landlord

None of them sells a landlord plan. That does not make them useless — it makes them general tools you would be adapting.

QuickBooks — £186 / 24 months

Cheapest number on the page, wrong shape

Sole Trader at £10 a month, 90% off for six months. £24 less than FreeAgent Landlord across 24 months. But there is no landlord plan, and Sole Trader cannot file VAT — that starts at Simple Start, £16 a month. If your lettings are ever going to touch VAT, this tier is a dead end. Full QuickBooks review · QuickBooks UK pricing

Xero — £307.20 / 24 months

No landlord product, and the most expensive entry plan

Ignite at £16 a month, 80% off for six months, 30-day trial plus a month free. It is a good general platform with an excellent app ecosystem, and for a landlord it is £97.20 more than FreeAgent Landlord for something not designed for the job. We are applying to Xero’s affiliate programme. This is still what we think. Full Xero review · Xero UK pricing

Sage — £0 or £378 / 24 months

A real free tier, tightly capped

Sole Trader Free is genuinely £0, but it is limited to 5 invoices a month and is non-VAT only. Accounting Start is £18 plus VAT, £378 over 24 months. Neither is a landlord product. For a single let with no VAT the free tier can work. Full Sage review · Sage UK pricing

FreeAgent Sole Trader — £399 / 24 months

The plan a landlord should not buy

Worth naming because people land on FreeAgent’s pricing page and pick the obvious tier. Sole Trader is £19 a month, £399 over 24 months — nearly double the Landlord plan for a landlord. If you are buying FreeAgent for property, buy Landlord. Full FreeAgent review

Before you buy: check whether MTD applies to you at all

Plenty of landlords buying software this year do not need to be. Combined gross self-employment and property income of £20,000 or less is outside Making Tax Digital for Income Tax entirely, and those with no qualifying income cannot join voluntarily. Buying is still often sensible — but buy because it helps you, not because you have been frightened.

The thresholds, on gross income rather than profit:

Over £50,000 — mandated since 6 April 2026, measured on 2024/25. Already live.
Over £30,000 — 6 April 2027, measured on 2025/26. The live deadline, and that tax year has already ended, so the figure is knowable today.
Over £20,000 — April 2028, planned, measured on 2027/28.

Landlords are unusually likely to be caught, because the test is on gross rent and takes no notice of mortgage interest or agent fees. The detail is on MTD for landlords, and you can settle it in ten seconds with the MTD eligibility checker.

Check my MTD position → MTD rules for landlords →

Questions people actually ask

Landlord software: common questions

Short answers, with the price workings shown rather than asserted.

What is the best accounting software for landlords in the UK?

FreeAgent’s Landlord plan. It is £10 a month with 50% off for the first six months, which is £210 over 24 months ex VAT, and it is the only plan among the four platforms we track that is actually built for property income. If you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle it is free permanently.

Does Xero have a landlord plan?

No. Xero has no landlord product at all. A landlord on Xero buys Ignite, a general small-business plan, at £16 a month – £307.20 over 24 months ex VAT. That is £97.20 more than FreeAgent Landlord for a worse fit. We are currently applying to Xero’s affiliate programme and we are telling you this anyway.

Can landlords get accounting software for free?

Yes. FreeAgent – including the Landlord plan – is free permanently for as long as you hold a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account. Mettle requires at least one transaction a month. This is a full package, not a trial and not a cut-down tier, and it is the cheapest good answer for most landlords.

Is QuickBooks cheaper than FreeAgent for a landlord?

On the raw number, yes: QuickBooks Sole Trader is £186 over 24 months against FreeAgent Landlord’s £210, a £24 difference. But QuickBooks has no landlord plan and its Sole Trader tier cannot file VAT. You are saving £1 a month to use a product built for a different job.

Do I need landlord-specific software for Making Tax Digital?

No. MTD compatibility is table stakes – Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage are all on HMRC’s recognised list, and so are cheaper tools. Landlord-specific software is worth having for fit, not for compliance: it models property as the separate business source that MTD requires.

What about Sage’s free tier for landlords?

Sage Sole Trader Free is genuinely £0, but it is capped at 5 invoices a month and is non-VAT only, and it is not a landlord product. For a single let with no VAT it can work. For anything with more moving parts, FreeAgent Landlord free via a bank account is the better free answer.

How many properties can I run on a landlord plan?

Plan limits and property counts are set by the vendor and change, so check the current position on FreeAgent’s own pricing page before you buy. What we can verify is the price: £10 a month, 50% off for the first six months, £210 across 24 months ex VAT.

Where to go next

Carry on down the chain

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