Best free accounting software for UK small businesses 2025

Accurate bookkeeping and efficient financial planning are essential for a successful operation. So it stands to reason you’ll want the best accounting software for your small business. While you might think you’ll need to open the chequebook to get business-grade software, you can actually get some excellent options completely free!

Based on our own analysis and hands-on testing, we have determined that Zoho Books is the best free accounting software in 2025. Zoho Books’ free plan gives solopreneurs and micro businesses the tools and features they need to get started with efficient accounting, while also retaining a user-friendly design.

We think Zoho Books is the best, but there’s a number of other free accounting software platforms on the market, so read our roundup below to find out which is the best fit for your business.

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OVERALL BEST
Zoho Books	FreeAgent	QuickFile	GnuCash	VT Cashbook
Price From Free	Price From Free with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account.	Price From Free	Price From Free	Price From Free
Key Benefits File MTD VAT returns 1,000 invoices per year Auto-scan receipts	Key Benefits Cash flow alerts Great support for tax preparation Provides FreeAgent mobile app	Key Benefits Bank feed integration MTD VAT filing Customer portal	Key Benefits Generates PDF invoices Checkbook-style interface Open-source desktop software	Key Benefits Fast data entry with autocomplete Cash-basis accounting method Produce basic reports
Compare Deals	Compare Deals	Compare Deals	Compare Deals	Compare Deals

Zoho Books: our choice for the best overall free accounting software

This will be your home dashboard when using Zoho Books. Source: Startups.co.uk

Why is Zoho Books the best free accounting software?

During our most recent round of testing at the start of 2025, Zoho Books emerged as the best accounting software for SMEs, as well as our top choice for self-employed accounting software – and, impressively, it offers a completely free plan. While it might be limited to a single user (you can also add an accountant) it’s ideal for sole traders, solopreneurs, and micro businesses who just need reliable software to ace the basics.

What we really loved when we tested Zoho Books was the appealing, modern design and how easy we found it to navigate around; we found everything we needed with a few simple clicks. There were also some nice quality-of-life touches, like how it automatically calculates the mileage on expenses.

Zoho Books’ free plan makes accounting tools accessible to the inexperienced, and equips you with a host of intuitive tools, including:

• A customer portal
• A mobile app for auto-scanning receipts
• Bank reconciliation
• A detailed dashboard with helpful reporting

We found it packs in an impressive level of functionality for a no-cost tier, and for our money (and without spending any of yours), we think you’ll struggle to find a better free option.

What are the drawbacks?

On the free plan you’ll be capped at 1,000 invoices a year. If you think you’ll be exceeding that limit, you’ll need to bump up to a paid plan (making it less ideal for those in the service industry). Another thing to keep in mind: Zoho Books’ branding will appear on all your invoices on the free tier. If you run into any issues, you can get support from Zoho Books through email.

The free tier is also missing out on some more advanced functionality, like multi-currency support, which FreeAgent provides. So if you qualify for FreeAgent’s free tier, this will be a better option for your needs. So while the free plan is great for sole traders and firms just starting out, it’s less suitable for businesses with high transaction volumes, and SMEs with serious growth plans. 

A final caveat to keep in mind about Zoho Books’ free plan: it’s only free if your revenue falls under £35k for the financial year. If your revenue exceeds this threshold, you’ll be made to join a paid tier.

What our Reviews Writer thought

When I used Zoho Books for myself, I found it so simple and easy to use. Even as someone whose background is not in accounting, I found it to be naturally intuitive, and completing tasks was a cinch.

Eddie Harris Reviews Writer

What other free accounting software is available?

Zoho Books might be our top recommendation for free accounting software, but there are other free platforms available that you might find are a better fit for your specific needs.

FreeAgent: great for tax forecasting…if you bank with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or Mettle

Key information such as your cashflow will be displayed on the FreeAgent dashboard. Source: Startups.co.uk

Despite the name, FreeAgent is only free if you have a business account with any of the following banks:

• NatWest
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Ulster Bank
• Mettle (and make at least one transaction per month)

If this doesn’t apply to you, you can check out any of the other providers we’ve included in this roundup.

What can FreeAgent’s free plan do?

If you do qualify for a free account, FreeAgent is a pretty attractive no-cost accounting software. We’d especially recommend FreeAgent to freelancers, sole traders, and novice accountants who want a simple, easy-to-use accounting platform. It also includes a nice bonus: it’s one of the few platforms that’s got built-in tools for tax forecasting and planning at no extra cost.

In particular, we feel the user-friendly invoice and estimate templates, combined with the detailed end-of-year reports, can really help streamline your operation. You’ll also get a number of tools for time tracking, payroll, cash flow alerts and more. It packs a lot into its toolkit, but not so much that it would be overwhelming for the less experienced user.

What are the drawbacks?

When we tested FreeAgent, we did think that the overall layout could use improvement: we found it a bit disorganised and unintuitive (Zoho Books felt more user-friendly by comparison). We had trouble locating certain features, like payment reminders and currency settings, which caused some frustration.

Once again, we need to flag that unless you currently have a business account with one of the qualifying banks we listed above, you won’t be able to access FreeAgent for free (pricing starts at £9.50 per month for sole traders). It’s a big prerequisite that our first choice, Zoho Books, doesn’t have.

QuickFile: a versatile option for a range of business sizes

Quickfile’s dashboard for invoicing, banking and important notes

What can QuickFile’s free plan do?

It might be a free software, but QuickFile still offers an impressive range of features to help out with your bookkeeping and accounting. You can use it to create estimates, quotations, as well as fully trackable invoicing. It also has a range of different tiers depending on your business size. Just keep in mind that if you go beyond the Medium tier, it’s no longer free.

You also get the QuickFile mobile app, which is really handy, especially for side-hustlers who need to snap and upload receipts on the go. It also helps you separate out your personal and work finances, if you don’t have a business account.

What are the drawbacks?

The key point to be aware of with QuickFile is its ledger limit. Up to 1,000 entries are covered for free, but if you start to go over this limit, you’ll be charged £60 plus VAT per year. Automated bank feeds also come at an additional cost of £15 plus VAT per year.

If you’re using the free version of QuickFile, you won’t be able to integrate any third party software, and bulk invoice entry is also only available on the paid tier, as is the ability for cryptocurrency tracking. Most of these features won’t be necessary, though, if you’re just using the software to file tax returns or do basic bookkeeping for your side hustle.

GnuCash: great for tracking your income…if you’ve got coding experience

GnuCash is a strong, completely free option for basic data entry and tracking your income and expenses.

What can GnuCash do?

The first thing you need to know about GnuCash? Unless you’re a software whizz with coding experience, this won’t be the right option for you. GnuCash is free, open-source software, meaning anyone can download and edit the programming code. This means you can add extra functionally, and patch up errors, but only if you’ve got the technical know-how!

What GnuCash does best is basic data entry. A micro business can use it to manage a limited amount of transactions, which it does via double-entry accounting: every transaction is recorded as a debit to one account and a credit to another. You’ll be able to register incoming bills or import your downloaded bank statements, and then:

• Automatically add VAT to sales invoices
• Add tax information to sales invoices (including for clients based abroad)
• Generate a PDF invoice to send to clients
• Build reports to track profits and losses or business overheads

What are the drawbacks?

GnuCash works in accrual-mode, meaning it records expenses and sales as they take place, rather than at the point when an invoice is settled. While this is actually a smarter way of keeping track of your transactions, it’s not ideal for solopreneurs and sole traders as it means having to make fiddly manual edits if payments are late.

While the accrual method makes things simpler by eliminating the need to chase outstanding invoices or account for pre-paid expenses, it’s less ideal for firms with large sales volumes, as it can lead to issues like mismatched revenue.

While GnuCash might really appeal to the technically minded, if you’re not a coding aficionado, you’ll struggle with it – you’d be much better off with a novice-friendly platform like Zoho Books. It’s not really tailored towards the needs of a small business, as there’s no open banking integration, no mobile app, and crucially, it doesn’t support payroll functionality.

What can VT Cash Book do?

VT Cash Book is a straightforward, easy-to-use free desktop accounting software. But it’s only suitable if you want to manage your finances on a cash basis, rather than invoices. The software exclusively tracks income that’s been received and expenses that have been paid.

The software is predominantly useful as a way of recording your payments and receipts. It might be short on advanced features (both Zoho Books and FreeAgent come with a much wider suite of tools), but you’ll be able to run limited reports on profit and loss, display balance sheets, perform ledger activity, and create transaction lists.

What are the drawbacks?

Because it’s entirely focused on managing businesses on a cash basis, VT Cash Book’s free plan has no invoicing features for overseeing payments from clients and to suppliers. 

While it’s designed to take manually inputted data and reconcile these statements with your accounts (so you can correct simple mistakes), once you have your final profits, you won’t be able to submit a VAT return. You’ll have to register with HMRC to do this separately yourself.

Buying guide: How to choose the right accounting software for your small business

There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to picking free accounting software for your business.

It might seem like a low-risk endeavour as you won’t be laying out a financial investment, but there will be a time investment. You don’t want to slow down your operation by picking the wrong platform, just because it’s free.

Here are our top eight things to think about before you sign up for free accounting software:

1. Pricing (for the future): you might be fine with a free plan for the moment, but what if your side hustle spirals into a full-time business? Think about the scalability of the software as your business grows. Look for plans that align with your financial goals.
2. Bookkeeping capability: the core function of any accounting software is efficient bookkeeping. Look for free software that simplifies the recording and categorisation of transactions.
3. Accounts payable: managing payments is crucial for SMEs and solopreneurs alike. Keep an eye out for free tiers that still offer features that streamline invoice processing, support timely payments, and provide insights into cash flow.
4. Accounts receivable: opt for no-cost accounting software that facilitates smooth invoicing, helps track customer payments, and provides reminders for overdue invoices.
5. Financial reporting: you can still find free software platforms that offer you customisable reports. Access to real-time insights leads to informed decision-making and savvy financial planning.
6. Integrations: seamless integration with third-party software enhances efficiency. While this can often be locked away on paid plans, providers like Zoho Books still offer integrations with software like Zapier and Google Workspace on a free tier.
7. Mobile apps: a user-friendly app lets you access key financial information and perform essential tasks anywhere; highly valuable for SME owners on the move. You can find free options for mobile apps, like with Zoho Books and QuickFile.
8. Help and support: live chat, forums, and phone and email support help you and your team to find solutions to software issues or queries quicker. Unfortunately, support channels can often be limited on free plans, but they can be critical for those less experienced who need extra help.

Our methodology: how we test free accounting software for UK small businesses

At Startups, it’s important to us that the software recommendations we make to small UK businesses are useful, accurate, and based on thorough product testing.

Both Zoho Books and FreeAgent were part of our latest round of exhaustive testing. This involved data-led analysis, in conjunction with 57 hours of user testing across 1,512 total areas of investigation.

Our other recommended free platforms—QuickFile, GnuCash and VT Cash Book—fell under a previous, separate round of testing. All in all, we covered four main categories of investigation and 24 subcategories during this testing process. We then fact-checked this information to ensure it was still relevant and up-to-date.

We combined the results of both of these rigorous testing sessions in order to bring you the most helpful and comprehensive list of the best free accounting software for your small business in 2025.