Skip to content
Tick Mark Books
Sign inSubmit a tool

Comparison Bookkeepers and accounting firms

FreeAgent vs Zoho Books for small business accounting

FreeAgent suits UK sole traders and company directors filing their own tax returns; Zoho Books suits US businesses and owners running several companies.

Tick Mark Books ResearchPublished 14 min readEditorial policy
See the comparison tableMarkdown
On this page
  1. The short answer
  2. FreeAgent and Zoho Books side by side
  3. Which country’s tax filing it is built for
  4. What one month at 100 transactions costs
  5. Running more than one business from one login
  6. What the AI sorts and what a person still checks
  7. Bringing your accountant in and your old books across
  8. Each one in detail
  9. How they compare
  10. Which one to pick
  11. How we compared
  12. Questions buyers ask
  13. Sources

The short answer

The deciding fact is which tax authority you file with: FreeAgent files Self Assessment returns straight to Britain’s tax authority, and Zoho Books e-files 1099 contractor forms with the Internal Revenue Service.

At 100 transactions a month, Zoho Books costs $20 a month on Standard. It also runs several businesses under one login, where FreeAgent needs a separate account and subscription for each.

On 27 October 2026 we listed 6 tools: 3 of them under Accounting software and 1 with a free plan.

  • FreeAgent advertises every paid plan at 50% off for an introductory period before the regular published price applies.
  • Zoho Books has a free plan for starting the books, and its paid price is $20 a month.
  • Zoho Books files 1099 contractor forms with the Internal Revenue Service, the 1 of the 2 that does, while FreeAgent’s filings all go to British authorities.
  • Zoho Books runs several businesses as separate organizations under one login, each with its own subscription, while FreeAgent holds one business per account.
  • FreeAgent files Self Assessment for sole traders, company directors and landlords, and it is built around British businesses and bank feeds.
FreeAgent vs Zoho Books.

FreeAgent and Zoho Books side by side

Table 1 Price and the points where they differ, checked 26 October 2026
FreeAgentZoho Books
From
about $13 a month
Free, then $20 a month
Your accountant can sign in
Yes
Partly
Accrual books and reports
Partly
Yes
Stripe
Partly
Yes
Categorizes transactions
Yes
Partly
Files 1099s
No
Yes
Promotion and regular price
Yes
No
Moves your history in
Partly
Yes
United States
Partly
Yes
Mileage
Partly
Yes
Several businesses
No
Yes
Best for
UK sole traders filing their own returns
US businesses paying contractors

Which country’s tax filing it is built for

FreeAgent wins for British filers, and Zoho Books wins for the United States. FreeAgent files Self Assessment for sole traders, company directors and landlords; it is built around British businesses and bank feeds, with an edition for the United States that offers configurable sales tax reporting, and its filings do not include 1099 contractor forms.

Zoho Books is sold to businesses in the United States with sales tax built in, and in separate editions for Canada, Britain with value-added tax filing to Britain’s tax authority, and Australia. It is the 1 of the 2 that files 1099 forms, tracking contractors and e-filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

What one month at 100 transactions costs

FreeAgent lists its prices on its pricing page, and every paid plan is advertised at 50% off for an introductory period before the regular published price applies.

Zoho Books costs $20 a month on Standard for 100 transactions, its listed $20 a month. It also has a free plan for starting the books at no cost.

Running more than one business from one login

Zoho Books wins: it is the 1 of the 2 that runs several businesses under one login, each as a separate organization. Because the fee is quoted per organization, each added business carries its own subscription.

FreeAgent holds one business per account, and its guidance for adding a second business assumes a separate FreeAgent account and a separate subscription.

What the AI sorts and what a person still checks

FreeAgent wins on categorizing: its Guess feature uses machine learning on your own past explanations, so each correction feeds the next suggestion. Smart Capture reads a photographed or uploaded receipt or bill, suggests a category and attaches it to the matching bank transaction, and you approve each one, with no bookkeeper reviewing the books on any plan.

Zoho Books’ Zia pre-fills the account and vendor on each imported bank line as a suggestion you confirm, and autoscans turn receipts photographed, uploaded or forwarded by email into transactions within a monthly scan allowance. Zia also answers finance questions in plain English, flags anomalies in report data and drafts invoices, quotes and reports from a prompt.

Bringing your accountant in and your old books across

Each wins one half: FreeAgent on bringing your accountant in, Zoho Books on moving your old books across. FreeAgent lets you invite your accountant or bookkeeper into the same books, priced per business rather than per seat, but its switching import covers contacts, opening balances and recent bank transactions, with historical invoices and bills needing a third-party tool such as AutoEntry, Dext or Fabio.

Zoho Books moves your existing books across from QuickBooks or Xero at no charge, with assisted migration support. Its accountant sign-in is partial, so confirm with Zoho what your accountant can reach before you switch.

Each one in detail

FreeAgent

Best for UK sole traders filing their own returns: Sole traders and company directors file Self Assessment straight to Britain’s tax authority from inside FreeAgent.

  • Price: From about $13 a month
  • Who it’s for: A British sole trader or small limited company that wants its books and its tax filing in one place, with its accountant or bookkeeper invited into the same books.
  • Skip it if: You pay United States contractors, because FreeAgent files no 1099 forms and Zoho Books e-files them.

FreeAgent is British cloud accounting that keeps the books and files returns to Britain’s tax authority. It files Self Assessment for sole traders, company directors and unincorporated landlords. Its Guess feature categorizes imported bank transactions by learning from your own past explanations, so each correction you make feeds the next suggestion.

FreeAgent advertises every paid plan at 50% off for an introductory period before the regular published price applies. Setup is free, and you sign up, subscribe and cancel online. Bank feeds import transactions automatically for the major British banks through Open Banking, with statement upload for the rest. The plan is priced per business, so your accountant signs in to the same books on that one subscription.

Zoho Books sells a British edition that files value-added tax returns, and FreeAgent adds Self Assessment filing from the same ledger. FreeAgent also has a United States edition with configurable sales tax reporting, but the product is built around British businesses, banks and tax filing. One FreeAgent account holds one business, while Zoho Books runs several businesses as separate organizations under one login.

What it does well

  • Files Self Assessment returns straight to Britain’s tax authority.
  • Guess learns from your own past explanations, so each correction shapes the next category it suggests.
  • Your accountant or bookkeeper signs in to the same books, and the plan is priced per business.
  • Setup is free, and you subscribe and cancel online on your own.

Where it falls short

  • It files no 1099 forms for United States contractors; its filing covers Self Assessment, payroll and value-added tax to British authorities.
  • One account holds one business, so a second business needs a second subscription.
  • Paying bills is left to partner products, while FreeAgent records and tracks them as accounts payable.

Zoho Books

Best for US businesses paying contractors: Zoho Books tracks contractors and e-files their 1099 forms with the Internal Revenue Service from inside the ledger.

  • Price: Free, then $20 a month
  • Free plan: yes
  • Who it’s for: A United States small business that pays contractors or runs more than one company and wants a free plan to start on.
  • Skip it if: You are a British sole trader who wants Self Assessment filed from the ledger, which FreeAgent does.

Zoho Books is a cloud ledger sold to United States businesses with sales tax and 1099 e-filing, plus separate editions for Canada, Britain and Australia. Its Zia AI pre-fills the account and vendor against each imported bank line for a person to confirm, answers finance questions in plain English and flags anomalies in report data. Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow sit among 70+ built-in reports you can run at any time.

The free plan includes mileage tracking, with the mobile apps measuring trips by phone location and turning them into expenses, and 50 receipt scans a month. Bank feeds start on the Standard plan at $20 an organization a month billed monthly. The AI carries no separate price, and the receipt scan allowance rises to 1,000 a month on Premium and above. Paid plans add phone and chat support, Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm Eastern time.

Zoho Books runs several businesses as separate organizations under one login, each with its own subscription, where FreeAgent needs a separate account per business. Zoho moves your existing books across from QuickBooks or Xero at no charge. FreeAgent imports bank history, but its historical sales invoices and bills need a third-party tool such as AutoEntry or Dext. Card payments run through Stripe, PayPal and Square in Zoho Books.

What it does well

  • E-files 1099 forms with the Internal Revenue Service from inside Zoho Books, and tracks contractors.
  • The free plan includes mileage tracking, with the mobile apps turning measured trips into expenses.
  • Several businesses run as separate organizations under one login.
  • Zoho moves your existing books across from QuickBooks or Xero at no charge.

Where it falls short

  • Bank feeds start on Standard, so the free plan relies on email forwarding and file upload for statements.
  • Zia pre-fills each bank line’s account and vendor as a suggestion, so a person confirms every one before it posts.
  • The free plan gets email support only; phone and chat come with a paid plan.

How they compare

Figure 1. Of 10 questions both answer, FreeAgent says yes to 3 and Zoho Books says yes to 7

Product Questions answered yes
FreeAgent 3 of 10
Zoho Books 7 of 10

Source: Our answers to the same questions for both products, each read on the vendor’s own pages.

Zoho Books covers 7 of 10 of the compared points and FreeAgent 3 of 10, because the points lean toward United States needs such as contractor forms, sales tax and several businesses under one login. The count leaves out tax return filing, which FreeAgent does straight to Britain’s tax authority, so a British filer should weigh that point first.

“You can either export all of your account data into a spreadsheet file, or you can export all of your files and attachments into a zip folder.”

From FreeAgent’s own page, read on 26 October 2026

Which one to pick

  • If you need to file your own UK tax returns from the same books: pick FreeAgent. FreeAgent files Self Assessment returns from the same books, and it is built for British sole traders and small limited companies filing their own returns.
  • If you need to start keeping the books at no cost: pick Zoho Books. Zoho Books is the 1 of the 2 with a free plan, and its paid price of $20 a month is there when you need more.
  • If you need contractor tax forms filed for a US business: pick Zoho Books. Zoho Books tracks contractors and e-files their 1099 forms with the Internal Revenue Service, and it is sold to businesses in the United States with sales tax built in.
  • If you need several businesses under one login: pick Zoho Books. Zoho Books runs each business as its own organization under one login, while FreeAgent needs a separate account and subscription for each business.
  • If you need your accountant working inside the same books: pick FreeAgent. FreeAgent lets you invite your accountant or bookkeeper into the same books with the price set per business rather than per seat, and accounting firms get a free Practice Dashboard, while Zoho Books gives an accountant sign-in in part.
  • If you need billable time tracked against each project: pick FreeAgent. FreeAgent tracks billable time against projects on web and mobile and adds it to invoices, and each project shows its own income, expenses and profitability on the single plan.

How we compared

We compared 2 tools on price, free plan and 10 questions a buyer asks, reading each vendor’s pricing page and product pages on 26 October 2026. We did not sign up for or run any of them. In all we answered 44 questions about what they do.

Questions buyers ask

Can a US business use FreeAgent?

Partly: FreeAgent has an edition for the United States with configurable sales tax reporting, but the product is built around British businesses, bank feeds and tax filing. It does not file 1099 contractor forms, so a business in the United States that pays contractors would file those elsewhere.

Does Zoho Books have a free plan?

Yes, Zoho Books has a free plan, so you can start keeping the books at no cost. Of FreeAgent and Zoho Books, it is the 1 of the 2 with a free plan.

What do FreeAgent and Zoho Books cost a month?

Zoho Books costs $20 a month on Standard for 100 transactions, which matches its listed $20 a month. FreeAgent lists its prices on its pricing page and advertises every paid plan at 50% off for an introductory period, after which the regular published price applies.

Does the AI categorize my bank transactions on its own?

Partly: each product suggests categories, and a person still confirms them. FreeAgent’s Guess feature categorizes imported bank transactions using your own past explanations, so each correction feeds the next suggestion. Zoho Books’ Zia pre-fills the account and vendor on each bank line as a suggestion rather than posting it. FreeAgent has you approve each captured bill or receipt, and no plan includes a bookkeeper reviewing the books.

Can I move my books over from QuickBooks or Xero?

Zoho Books moves your existing books across from QuickBooks or Xero at no charge, with assisted migration support. FreeAgent imports contacts, opening balances from your trial balance and recent bank transactions, but historical sales invoices and bills need a third-party tool such as AutoEntry, Dext or Fabio.

Can my accountant log in to the books?

Yes for FreeAgent: you invite your accountant or bookkeeper into the same books, and the plan price is per business, not per seat. Zoho Books gives an accountant sign-in in part, so ask Zoho what an outside accountant can reach on your plan.

Can I get my data out if I leave?

Yes, both let you export. FreeAgent exports the whole account to a spreadsheet and all attachments to a zip file, and it warns the export is for record keeping and cannot be loaded back in. Zoho Books exports every report, profit and loss and balance sheet included, as a printable document or spreadsheet, with instant exports capped at 5,000 records for documents and 20,000 for spreadsheets and larger ones run in the background.

Sources

Top of bookkeepers and accounting firms

The category page
Show the whole category

The Tick Mark Books digest

New bookkeeping tools, the prices that changed and our articles, in your inbox.

Privacy policy

More of our research

Methodology

How we price a month of books

How Tick Mark Books turns every bookkeeping tool's price into one monthly figure, with the ledger it still needs, and what the tick beside it means.