FreeAgent vs Zoho Books Comparison
Compare FreeAgent vs Zoho Books features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
FreeAgent
6.4/10
FreeAgent is UK cloud accounting software for sole traders, limited companies, partnerships, and landlords. It covers invoicing, banking, payroll, and Making Tax Digital filing.
Zoho Books
7/10
Cloud accounting software from Zoho for small and growing businesses, covering invoicing, bank reconciliation, bills, inventory and financial reporting.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.4/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Compliance | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 3/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | £10/mo Landlord | $20/mo Standard |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | £10/mo Landlord | $70/mo Premium |
| Features | ||
| Accountant Access | ||
| Bank Reconciliation | ||
| Expense Management | ||
| Financial Reporting | ||
| General Ledger | ||
| Invoicing | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Online Payments | ||
| Tax Compliance | ||
| Accounts Payable | Not listed | |
| Audit Trail | Not listed | |
| Budgeting and Forecasting | Not listed | |
| Inventory Accounting | Not listed | |
| Payroll | Not listed | |
FreeAgent vs Zoho Books cost by team size
| Team size | FreeAgent | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | £10/moLandlord | FreeFree |
| 5 users | £10/moLandlord | $50/moProfessional |
| 10 users | £10/moLandlord | $70/moPremium |
| 25 users | £10/moLandlord | FreeFree |
| 50 users | £10/moLandlord | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose FreeAgent
- Higher Support score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Compliance score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (10/10 vs 8/10)
Why choose Zoho Books
- Has a free plan (FreeAgent does not)
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (3/10 vs 1/10)
Pros & Cons
FreeAgent
Pros
- Free for customers with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank, or qualifying Mettle business account.
- Built-in HMRC filing covers MTD VAT, Self Assessment, and MTD for Income Tax, and the limited company plan adds end-of-year filing.
- Reviewers often praise its UK-based phone and chat support.
- Every plan includes time tracking, projects, and invoicing, which suits freelancers who bill by the hour.
- Multi-currency invoicing and foreign-currency bank accounts are supported, with realised and unrealised gains and losses calculated automatically.
Cons
- Reviewers describe invoice templates as basic and say custom reporting is limited.
- Payroll suits only director-only setups or very small teams.
- Its integration ecosystem is smaller than those of Xero or QuickBooks.
- It has no multi-entity consolidation or advanced controls, so it does not scale to larger firms.
- Some users report out-of-date help articles.
Zoho Books
Pros
- The free plan includes online payments, bank reconciliation, recurring invoices and 1099 tracking for one user plus an accountant.
- Pricing is per organization, not per user, so small teams avoid per-seat costs.
- It connects natively with Zoho CRM, Zoho Payroll, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Analytics.
- Professional and higher plans include custom workflows, custom roles and approvals, and Premium adds custom modules and functions.
- On the Elite plan, inventory features cover warehouses, serial and batch tracking, and marketplace sync.
Cons
- Budgets, multi-currency and advanced inventory are only available on higher-priced tiers.
- Reviewers on Capterra and in NerdWallet's write-up describe slow or unhelpful customer support.
- It has fewer third-party integrations than its main competitors, according to NerdWallet.
- A PeerSpot reviewer found it awkward to invoice the same customer in different currencies.
- Even the top plan has a hard cap of 15 users, plus annual transaction limits.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Zoho Books scores higher on our Finance Software criteria: 7/10 against 6.4/10 for FreeAgent. The largest gap is in Customization: 4/10 for FreeAgent and 8/10 for Zoho Books.
Zoho Books has a free plan; FreeAgent does not list one.
Zoho Books is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 3/10 for them, against 1/10 for FreeAgent.
