Capium vs FreeAgent UK 2026: Which Should You Choose?

Capium and FreeAgent are both UK-only cloud accounting products, both HMRC-recognised across Making Tax Digital, and both built by British teams around British tax legislation. That is roughly where the similarities end. Capium is a multi-module practice suite priced and designed for accounting firms running tens or hundreds of client ledgers from one console. FreeAgent is a single-business product designed for freelancers, contractors, single-director limited companies and landlords, distributed largely free of charge through NatWest Group banking. This comparison covers how the two products differ on pricing, MTD coverage, day-to-day features, integrations and the scenarios in which each is the right answer. Visit Capium for a free practice trial, or visit FreeAgent for a free 30-day trial (or check whether your business bank gets you the product free).

Quick verdict

• Capium is best for UK accounting practices and bookkeepers running compliance and workflow across multiple clients from one supplier, with bookkeeping, accounts production, corporation tax, self assessment, payroll and practice management all in one place.
• FreeAgent is best for an individual UK business (sole trader, partnership, single-director limited company or landlord) wanting HMRC-direct Self Assessment and Corporation Tax filing inside the bookkeeping product, especially anyone banking with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle who can claim the software free.

These are different products solving different problems. Capium and FreeAgent are not really competing for the same buyer; they overlap only because both qualify as core UK cloud accounting software with MTD recognition.

At a glance

Feature	Capium	FreeAgent
Built for	UK accounting practices	UK freelancers, contractors, micro-companies, landlords
Country focus	UK-only	UK-only
Deployment	Cloud (Microsoft Azure)	Cloud, plus iOS and Android apps
Headline price	From £140/month base + £20/module (small tier)	£19/month sole trader, £33/month limited company
Free option	14-day trial	Free with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business banking
Per-client model	Yes, banded by client count	No, one subscription per business
Users included	Unlimited on every base plan	Unlimited on every plan
MTD for VAT	HMRC-recognised	HMRC-recognised
MTD for ITSA (April 2026)	Functionality in place	HMRC-recognised, in HMRC pilot since early phases
Corporation Tax CT600 filing	Yes, direct to HMRC	Yes, direct to HMRC (Limited Company plan)
Self Assessment filing	Yes, SA100 plus supplements direct to HMRC	Yes, SA100, SA103, SA105, SA800, SA102 direct to HMRC
Companies House filing	Yes, direct iXBRL accounts and confirmation statement	Yes, direct iXBRL accounts (Limited Company plan)
Payroll	Module add-on, multi-employer, RTI	Included, up to 10 employees, RTI
Practice management module	Yes, Premium add-on (deadlines, tasks, docs, e-sign)	FreeAgent for Practices (lighter multi-client console)
CIS support	VAT reverse charge in bookkeeping; CIS300 via payroll	Not native; needs add-on or different product
Bank feeds	TrueLayer Open Banking, £1.50 + VAT per feed/month	Open Banking, included, no per-feed charge
Third-party app marketplace	Smaller, accountant-tooling focused	Curated, freelancer focused, plus Zapier
Contract length	12-month minimum, 30-day notice	Monthly or annual, no minimum

Pricing compared

Capium and FreeAgent price for completely different commercial situations, so a like-for-like number is a slightly artificial exercise. The honest comparison is per-client cost (Capium) versus per-business cost (FreeAgent).

Capium pricing

Capium runs a two-part model. A base plan banded by client count, plus modules priced per band. All figures exclude VAT and are taken from the published pricing in May 2026.

• Small base plan: £140/month, up to 100 clients, unlimited users, e-sign, support six days a week.
• Medium base plan: £280/month, up to 300 clients.
• Large base plan: £420/month, up to 500 clients.
• Enterprise: custom quote, 700+ clients.

Standard modules (Bookkeeping with MTD VAT, Accounts Production, Corporation Tax, Self Assessment, Payroll, MTD for ITSA, CapiSign) are £20/month each on the small tier, £40/month on medium, £60/month on large. Premium modules (Practice Management, Company Secretarial, Time and Fees) are £40 to £50/month on small, rising to £120 to £167/month on large. Bank feeds via TrueLayer are charged at £1.50 + VAT per feed per month.

FreeAgent pricing

FreeAgent stratifies by business structure rather than feature, with the same feature set on every paid plan. All figures exclude VAT.

• Landlord: £10/month (£5/month for first six months on the introductory rate).
• Sole Trader: £19/month (£9.50/month introductory).
• Partnership / LLP: £27/month (£13.50/month introductory).
• Limited Company: £33/month (£16.50/month introductory).
• Free for NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank and Mettle business banking customers, indefinitely (Mettle requires one transaction per month to keep the freebie active).

Add-ons: Smart Capture Unlimited at £5/month, Amazon Seller integration at £6/month.

Worked example

Take a 50-client sole-practitioner accountancy firm. On Capium, the Small base plan plus Bookkeeping, Accounts Production, Corporation Tax, Self Assessment and Payroll comes to £140 + (5 x £20) = £240/month + VAT before bank feeds. Add Practice Management at the small-tier premium rate (£40/month) and the bill is £280/month + VAT. With 30 connected bank feeds at £1.50, the practice is paying around £325/month + VAT, or roughly £6.50 per client per month all-in.

Now take one of that practice’s clients in isolation, a single-director limited company turning over £80,000. On FreeAgent, that client pays £33/month + VAT on the Limited Company plan, £16.50/month on the introductory rate, or £0 if they bank with NatWest Group. Across 50 such clients, the practice’s clients are collectively spending £1,650/month on FreeAgent (or nothing, if all banked with NatWest) for software the practice itself does not control.

Conclusion: the two products are priced at the buyer they serve. Capium economics work for a practice once client count is meaningful and the per-client rate falls. FreeAgent economics work for an individual business and become unbeatable when paired with the right bank account.

Feature-by-feature

Bookkeeping and bank feeds

Capium’s bookkeeping module covers manual journals, sales and purchase invoicing, expenses, customisable nominal coding, multi-currency and bank reconciliation. Bank feeds run through TrueLayer Open Banking and refresh once every 24 hours, billed per feed.

FreeAgent’s bookkeeping is also built around Open Banking, with feeds across NatWest, RBS, Ulster, Mettle, HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, Santander, TSB, Starling, Tide, Monzo Business, Revolut Business and the rest of the UK high street and challenger landscape. Feeds refresh automatically, are included in the subscription, and reconciliation runs through an “Explain Transaction” workflow with bank rules to automate repeat patterns.

Verdict: FreeAgent’s reconciliation flow is widely regarded as quicker for a single user managing a single ledger; Capium’s bookkeeping is built to feed downstream modules in a multi-client practice and prioritises that integration over interface speed.

Invoicing

FreeAgent has long been considered one of the strongest invoicing products in the UK SME market: branded invoices in any currency, recurring schedules, automated reminders, time and expense pull-through onto invoices, and a “Pay Now” button accepting Stripe, PayPal, Tyl by NatWest and GoCardless. Multi-currency is on every plan.

Capium’s invoicing inside the bookkeeping module supports custom branding, recurring invoices, credit notes, partial payments, customer statements and ageing reports. It is competent but not the product’s centre of gravity; Capium is built around the practice, not the client-facing invoicing experience.

Self Assessment and Corporation Tax

Both products file Self Assessment direct to HMRC. FreeAgent submits SA100 with the SA103, SA105, SA800 and SA102 supplements from inside the software, which is unusual for SME accounting software and effectively removes the need for a separate personal tax tool. Capium’s Self Assessment module covers SA100 plus the main supplementary pages and submits direct from inside the suite, integrated with the bookkeeping ledger.

Corporation tax is similar in coverage but different in audience. Both produce CT600 returns and submit them direct to HMRC. FreeAgent does this on the Limited Company plan for the single business; Capium does it across the entire client list from one practice console.

Both file iXBRL-tagged statutory accounts to Companies House. Capium has a dedicated Accounts Production module covering FRS 102, FRS 102 1A, FRS 105, partnerships, sole traders and (via the separate Charity Accounts module) charity SORP. FreeAgent generates iXBRL accounts for limited companies as part of the year-end flow, but it does not have the depth of disclosure templating and working papers a multi-client practice expects.

Verdict: for an individual limited company filing its own year-end, FreeAgent does end-to-end inside one product more cleanly than almost anything else. For a practice running year-ends across hundreds of clients with disclosure customisation, Capium is the right tool.

Payroll

FreeAgent includes RTI payroll for up to 10 employees on every paid plan and on the free bank-funded version. Auto-enrolment file generation, P60s, P45s and P11Ds are all supported. It is sized for the owner-managed company.

Capium’s payroll is a module bought separately, but it scales further: weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay runs, RTI, statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP), salary sacrifice, P11D handling, and multi-employer payroll for bureau-style practices running payroll for many client companies. CIS300 monthly returns are supported.

MTD and HMRC compliance

Both products are HMRC-recognised for MTD VAT. Both are recognised (or have functionality in place) for MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment ahead of the April 2026 mandate, which applies first to anyone with qualifying gross income above £50,000 from self-employment or property, then £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028.

The difference is filing scope. FreeAgent files MTD VAT, MTD ITSA quarterly updates and the year-end declaration, plus SA100 personal returns and the CT600 corporation tax return direct to HMRC, plus iXBRL accounts to Companies House, all from inside the product, all for the single business it serves. This is genuinely uncommon for SME accounting software; most competitors stop at VAT and leave personal tax and corporation tax to a separate tool.

Capium files MTD VAT, has MTD ITSA functionality in place, files SA100 supplements and the CT600 direct to HMRC, files iXBRL accounts to Companies House, and submits PAYE RTI through the payroll module. The difference is that it does this across an unlimited client list from a practice console, with the whole compliance chain inside one supplier.

Neither product needs bridging software for VAT.

Practice management

Capium has a Practice Management module covering deadline tracking pulled from each client’s record (VAT, payroll, accounts, CT600, SA100), task management with reminders, document storage, e-signature through CapiSign, customisable client communications and timesheets feeding the Time and Fees module. Where it is weaker than dedicated tools (Karbon, Senta, AccountancyManager) is in workflow templating and email triage; there is no native two-way email sync.

FreeAgent for Practices is a free console for accountants whose clients are on FreeAgent. It provides a multi-client view, basic workflow management and bulk year-end submission tools. It is fine for a sole practitioner with a small book of FreeAgent clients but is not in the same category as Capium’s Practice Management module, let alone Karbon or Senta.

Verdict: this is the clearest product gap between the two. Capium has practice management in its DNA. FreeAgent’s practice console is a courtesy layer over a single-business product.

Integration ecosystems

Capium’s third-party ecosystem is smaller than Xero’s or QuickBooks Online’s. The notable connections are TrueLayer for bank feeds, Companies House for direct accounts and confirmation statement filing, HMRC for VAT, ITSA, CT600 and PAYE RTI, and trial balance imports from Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and Excel into Accounts Production. Receipt and expense capture integrations are limited; many practices use a separate receipt-capture tool and import the data.

FreeAgent’s marketplace is also smaller than Xero’s or QuickBooks Online’s, but the integrations chosen are well-suited to the freelancer and micro-company audience. Payments include Stripe (with a dedicated Stripe bank feed for automatic reconciliation), PayPal, GoCardless, Tyl by NatWest and the native pay-by-card button. Bank feeds cover the full UK high street and challenger set. Receipt capture is native via Smart Capture, with Dext, AutoEntry and Hubdoc integrations for higher-volume document workflows. CRM and time tracking connections include Capsule, HubSpot via Zapier, Toggl, Harvest and Tsheets. Ecommerce includes a native Amazon Seller integration plus Shopify, WooCommerce and Etsy through Zapier or A2X and Link My Books. A general Zapier connector covers thousands of long-tail platforms.

The two ecosystems do not really overlap. Capium’s connections are accountant-side; FreeAgent’s are business-owner-side.

Pros and cons

Capium pros

• Single integrated database means trial balance flows from bookkeeping into accounts production into CT600 without rekeying.
• Module-based pricing lets practices buy only the components they need.
• Unlimited user licences on every base plan, removing per-seat cost penalties.
• Companies House recognised supplier with integrated iXBRL tagging.
• Auto-enrolment, multi-employer payroll and CIS handling for bureau-style firms.
• Trial balance imports from Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and Excel make migration straightforward.
• Free setup and onboarding, six-days-a-week support.
• UK-only product focus keeps legislation, tax codes and forms current for British practices.

Capium cons

• Interface has been reported as feeling sluggish at high transaction volumes.
• Adding multiple modules adds up quickly; a small practice taking the suite plus four or five modules sees a meaningful monthly bill.
• Practice management workflow lacks native Outlook or Gmail email integration of the depth Karbon provides.
• Third-party app ecosystem is narrower than Xero’s or QuickBooks Online’s.
• Bank feeds are itemised rather than included, which is a non-trivial line item at scale.
• 12-month minimum contract with 30 days’ notice to cancel.
• Training new staff takes longer than on Xero or QuickBooks because the conventions are particular to Capium.

FreeAgent pros

• Free indefinitely with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account, no time limit and no feature restriction.
• SA100 and supplements file direct to HMRC from inside the software.
• CT600 and iXBRL Companies House filing direct from the Limited Company plan.
• Project profitability and time tracking included on every plan.
• Multi-currency on every plan.
• Single flat tier per business structure: no surprise upgrade once a feature limit is hit.
• RTI payroll included for up to 10 employees.
• IR35-aware, dividend voucher generation, director’s loan account tracking, Confirmation Statement preparation.
• HMRC-recognised for both MTD VAT and MTD ITSA.

FreeAgent cons

• Limited beyond 10 employees on payroll.
• No native CIS contractor module.
• Smaller integration marketplace than Xero or QuickBooks Online.
• Stock and inventory features are basic.
• No multi-entity consolidation; group structures need a separate subscription per entity.
• UK-only; international trade or US/AU/EU tax handling is not the product’s strength.
• Practice management depth is light; firms running 200-plus clients across mixed software outgrow it.
• Smart Capture quota is tight at 10 receipts a month on the standard plan.
• Mettle account requires monthly transactions to keep the freebie.
• Roadmap velocity is slower than Xero or QuickBooks Online.

Pick Capium if

• You run a UK accounting practice with anywhere from 30 clients up to 500-plus clients, and you want one supplier for bookkeeping, accounts production, corporation tax, self assessment, payroll and practice management rather than stitching a bookkeeping product to IRIS to a separate practice manager.
• You want an unlimited number of staff users included in the licence, with no per-seat penalty.
• Your practice handles its own MTD for ITSA quarterly submissions in-house from April 2026 and you want that capability inside the same suite as your bookkeeping and tax tools.
• You run multi-employer payroll for client companies and need RTI, auto-enrolment, statutory payments and CIS300 across many entities.
• You file statutory accounts in volume and want integrated iXBRL tagging and direct Companies House submission.
• You value UK-only product focus and current British legislation over the larger global ecosystems of Xero or QuickBooks Online.

Pick FreeAgent if

• You are an individual UK freelancer, contractor, single-director limited company, partnership or landlord buying accounting software for your own business.
• You bank with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle, in which case the full product is free indefinitely (or as long as you keep one Mettle transaction per month).
• You want SA100 and supplements filed direct to HMRC from inside the bookkeeping product, without bolting on a separate personal tax tool.
• You run a single-director limited company and want CT600 plus iXBRL Companies House accounts filed end-to-end inside one product.
• You bill by the hour against projects and want time tracking and project profitability included on the standard plan rather than as an upgrade.
• You are a landlord with one or a small number of properties and want the cheapest credible HMRC-recognised MTD ITSA route for the April 2026 mandate.
• Your accountant uses FreeAgent for Practices and is happy to work in your ledger.

Pick neither if

There are several scenarios where both products are wrong.

If you run a growing SME with employees in double figures, multi-currency at scale, deep stock or manufacturing requirements, or you trade internationally, Xero has more headroom, a far larger app marketplace and is the default ledger choice for most UK accountancy practices.

If you want a polished mobile experience, integrated payroll for slightly larger headcounts, or a CIS module out of the box for a small business, QuickBooks Online is a stronger fit than either Capium or FreeAgent.

If you are a contractor or single-director limited company who would rather buy an accountant bundled with the software than learn to file tax yourself, Crunch or Ember package the year-end work into the subscription in a way no software-only product can.

If you are an enterprise-scale practice running thousands of clients across multiple offices, neither Capium nor FreeAgent’s practice console is the right answer; CCH iFirm or IRIS Practice Management are more proven at that scale.

If your practice runs heavily on email-driven workflow and triage, Karbon’s email-centric model will fit better than Capium’s practice management module, and FreeAgent for Practices is not in the same category at all.

Comparable software

Capium and FreeAgent occupy different corners of the UK accounting software market, and the comparable shortlists differ accordingly. For a practice weighing Capium against alternatives, the natural comparisons are Karbon, Senta, AccountancyManager, IRIS Practice Management and CCH iFirm on the practice management side, plus Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage Accounting and Sage 50 on the underlying ledger side. For a single business weighing FreeAgent, the natural comparisons are QuickBooks Online, Xero, Crunch, Ember, FreshBooks, Pandle, Bokio and the banking-bundled options Tide Accounting, Starling Business Toolkit, ANNA Money and Coconut. The cards below pull the most relevant comparable products from the directory based on tag overlap with both Capium and FreeAgent.

FAQs

Are Capium and FreeAgent both HMRC-recognised for MTD?

Yes. Both products are HMRC-recognised for MTD for VAT and have functionality in place for MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment ahead of the 6 April 2026 mandate. FreeAgent has been part of the HMRC ITSA pilot since the early phases and is on the HMRC recognised software list. Capium has MTD ITSA functionality in place across its Self Assessment module.

Can FreeAgent be used by an accounting practice instead of Capium?

FreeAgent for Practices gives accountants a multi-client console, free for accountants whose clients are on FreeAgent, with a multi-client view, basic workflow management and bulk year-end tools. It is fine for a sole practitioner with a small book of FreeAgent clients, but it is much lighter than Capium’s Practice Management module and not designed to replace a dedicated practice suite. Practices serving clients on mixed bookkeeping software will outgrow it quickly.

Does Capium file Self Assessment and Corporation Tax direct to HMRC like FreeAgent does?

Yes. Capium’s Self Assessment module submits SA100 and the main supplementary pages direct to HMRC, and the Corporation Tax module produces and files CT600 returns direct to HMRC. The difference from FreeAgent is that Capium does this across the entire client list from a practice console, while FreeAgent does it for the single business that owns the subscription.

Is FreeAgent really free with a NatWest, RBS or Mettle account?

Yes. NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank business banking customers get FreeAgent free for as long as they hold the bank account, with no time limit and no feature restriction. Mettle customers get FreeAgent free as long as they make at least one transaction per month through the Mettle account. The free version is the full product, not a stripped-down trial.

Can Capium handle MTD for ITSA from April 2026?

Yes. Capium’s Self Assessment module includes MTD for ITSA functionality covering quarterly update submissions and the end-of-period statement workflow. From 6 April 2026 the mandate applies to anyone with qualifying gross income above £50,000 from self-employment or property, with the £30,000 threshold following in 2027 and the £20,000 threshold from April 2028.

Which product handles payroll better?

It depends on volume. FreeAgent’s payroll is included in every paid plan and supports up to 10 employees, which is enough for the typical owner-managed company. Capium’s payroll is a separately purchased module, but it scales further: multi-employer pay runs for bureau-style practices, full statutory payments handling, P11D, salary sacrifice and CIS300 monthly returns. For a practice running payroll on behalf of multiple client companies, Capium is the right tool. For a single business with a couple of staff, FreeAgent is more than enough at no extra cost.

Does Capium have time tracking and project profitability like FreeAgent?

Capium has timesheets feeding into a separate Time and Fees module aimed at billable-hour tracking inside an accounting practice. FreeAgent’s project tooling is built around the small business owner billing clients by the hour, with time entries, billable rates and project profitability reports included on every plan. The two address different audiences.

Can either product handle CIS for the construction industry?

Capium handles the CIS reverse charge for VAT inside the bookkeeping module and supports CIS300 monthly returns through payroll. FreeAgent does not have a native CIS contractor module; construction businesses on FreeAgent typically need a separate add-on or move to Xero (with the CIS add-on) or QuickBooks Online with CIS turned on.

Which product is cheaper?

It depends on what you are buying and how many clients or businesses are involved. For an individual UK business, FreeAgent ranges from free (with NatWest Group banking) to £33/month + VAT for a limited company, which is far below any Capium configuration. For an accounting practice serving multiple clients, Capium spread across 100 clients can work out to roughly £6.50 per client per month all-in, which is well below the per-business cost of putting each client on FreeAgent at full rate (though above zero if all those clients banked with NatWest).

Can I migrate data from FreeAgent into Capium?

Capium accepts trial balance imports from Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and Excel into the Accounts Production module, and accepts CSV imports across most modules. A FreeAgent trial balance export can be brought into Capium via CSV; full transactional history typically requires more hands-on work and the Capium onboarding team handles this during the included free setup period.

Final summary

Capium and FreeAgent share a country, an MTD posture and a cloud delivery model, but they sell to different buyers and solve different problems. Capium is the practice supplier: one client database, one set of credentials, one workflow that runs from bookkeeping through accounts production to filed CT600 and statutory accounts, across as many clients as the firm carries. The trade-off is a meaningful monthly bill once multiple modules are added and a narrower third-party ecosystem than the global bookkeeping leaders.

FreeAgent is the freelancer and micro-company supplier: one business, one subscription, end-to-end MTD VAT, SA100, CT600 and Companies House filing inside the product, free for anyone banking with NatWest Group. The trade-off is a product that does not scale into 10-plus employees, deep stock or multi-entity structures, and a practice console too light to replace a dedicated suite. For their respective audiences, both are credible UK-only choices in 2026, and the right pick is dictated almost entirely by whether you are buying for a practice or for a single business.