Relentify vs FreeAgent: Which Does More for Freelancers and Small Teams?
FreeAgent is a popular accounting platform for UK freelancers and small teams—especially those banking with NatWest, where it's free. But the question people ask us regularly is: Relentify vs FreeAgent—which does more? The answer depends on what your business actually needs, not just what's free.
FreeAgent costs £29 per month (or nothing if NatWest banking qualifies you). It handles invoicing, expense tracking, and self-assessment tax estimation competently. Relentify starts at £19 per month and includes features FreeAgent doesn't offer at any price: purchase orders, approval workflows, multi-entity management, and a deeper reporting suite.
This comparison looks at what each platform does well and where one pulls ahead. By the end, you'll know whether FreeAgent's price point (or free tier) makes it worth staying, or whether Relentify's broader feature set justifies the switch.
Pricing and basic features
FreeAgent has one plan: £29/month, or free if you bank with NatWest or RBS. Relentify has three tiers; the Small Business plan is £19/month and covers most freelancers and growing teams.
The headline: you're paying £120 more per year with FreeAgent if NatWest free access doesn't apply—and getting fewer features. That matters.
| Feature | Relentify (Small Business) | FreeAgent |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £19/month | £29/month |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Invoices | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expense tracking | Included | Included |
| Mileage tracking | Included | Included |
| Purchase orders | Included | Not available |
| Multi-currency | Included | Limited |
| Approval workflows | Included | Not available |
| Project tracking | Included | Basic |
| Multi-entity management | Included | Not available |
(The NatWest angle is real if you bank with them. But "your accounting software should match your bank" is a constraint masquerading as a feature. We circle back to that later.)
Invoicing, expenses, and cash flow
Both platforms invoice competently. You draft professional invoices, set up recurring billing, send payment reminders. The templates look clean, the workflow straightforward on both.
Relentify adds quote-to-invoice conversion (no re-entering data), credit notes, partial payment recording, and document attachments on invoices themselves. If you're managing multiple clients or juggling projects, fewer steps per invoice reclaim hours over a year.
On expenses, FreeAgent captures receipts, tracks mileage at HMRC rates, and auto-categorises from bank feeds. For a sole trader, this works fine. The moment you hire anyone—even a contractor—FreeAgent breaks. No approval workflow. Employees can't submit expense claims through the system for you to approve. You're back to email and spreadsheets, or you layer in a separate tool.
Relentify includes approval workflows for team expenses out of the box. Employees submit receipts; you approve; they're automatically categorised and coded. For solo freelancers, this is irrelevant. For growing teams, it's table-stakes.
Both support Stripe, PayPal, and GoCardless integration, automatic payment reminders, and late-fee tracking. On payment processing, parity.
Tax features and reporting
FreeAgent's real strength is self-assessment tax estimation. Throughout the year, you see your projected tax liability: income tax, National Insurance, corporation tax (for limited companies). Sole traders and freelancers find this genuinely useful. No January surprises.
FreeAgent also handles MTD for VAT, CIS scheme (construction industry), and penalty notices. Comprehensive for freelancer tax compliance.
Relentify covers MTD for VAT, CIS, flat-rate VAT, and reverse-charge VAT. Limited company taxation is covered. The gap: Relentify doesn't project self-assessment liability in real time. If you're a sole trader wanting tax visibility throughout the year, FreeAgent has a legitimate edge here.
Where the gap widens is reporting. FreeAgent offers basics: profit & loss, balance sheet, tax summary, aged debtors. Fine for you. Difficult for your accountant to build year-end accounts from.
Relentify includes all standard reports plus cash flow forecasts, trial balance, general ledger, consolidated reports, and custom reports. Accountants preparing year-end don't export data and rebuild in spreadsheets—it's already there.
| Report | Relentify | FreeAgent |
|---|---|---|
| Profit & Loss | ✓ | ✓ |
| Balance Sheet | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cash Flow Statement | ✓ | Limited |
| Trial Balance | ✓ | ✓ |
| General Ledger | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cash Flow Forecast | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
If you work with an accountant, this matters. Better reporting means less time spent exporting and reworking data. That means lower accountancy fees and faster year-end close. For sole traders doing their own books, FreeAgent's reports are sufficient.
Growth features: Multi-entity, purchase orders, and team workflows
FreeAgent doesn't support multiple entities. Running two limited companies? That's two FreeAgent subscriptions at £29 each (or two NatWest free accounts, if you qualify twice somehow).
Relentify supports multiple entities on one subscription with consolidated reporting and intercompany transaction management. Holding company, trading company, property company—all on one login. One bill instead of three.
FreeAgent also doesn't offer purchase orders. You can't issue POs to suppliers, track status, or set approval workflows. Buying stock or outsourcing work? Email and spreadsheet alongside FreeAgent.
Relentify includes purchase orders on every paid plan with approval workflows and automatic conversion to bills. Project tracking goes deeper too: Relentify includes profitability analysis and project-specific reporting. FreeAgent's project tracking is basic time recording. If you're running multiple projects and want to know which ones make money, Relentify tells you. FreeAgent doesn't.
This is where FreeAgent optimises for a specific user at a specific moment. Once you scale beyond that—hiring, multi-entity, issuing POs—you're migrating to something broader.
Who should choose which
Choose FreeAgent if:
- You bank with NatWest and that free access is material to your decision.
- You're a sole trader whose main concern is self-assessment visibility.
- Your business is one entity with no plans for purchase orders or approval workflows.
- Your accountant is comfortable with basic P&L and balance sheet exports.
Choose Relentify if:
- You want more features at a lower price (£19/month if NatWest free doesn't apply).
- You plan to hire a team and need approval workflows and purchase orders.
- You manage multiple entities or expect to soon.
- You work with an accountant who values detailed reporting and a general ledger.
- You want a platform that grows with your business, not one you'll outgrow in 18 months.
If you're unsure, test drive Relentify free for 14 days at /pricing. Full feature access, no credit card required. See whether the extra depth feels useful or unnecessary for your specific business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is FreeAgent better for sole traders than Relentify?
A: FreeAgent's self-assessment projection is genuinely useful for sole traders. Relentify covers VAT and CIS but doesn't project self-assessment liability in real time. If tax visibility throughout the year is your priority, FreeAgent has an edge. On everything else (invoicing, expense tracking, reporting depth), they're comparable or Relentify is ahead.
Q: Do I actually need purchase orders and approval workflows?
A: If you're a one-person freelancer, probably not. If you've hired anyone (even a contractor) or buy stock/services regularly, approval workflows save time and prevent mistakes. Purchase orders are essential if you issue quotes to clients or manage supplier relationships consistently. If you're emailing expense forms back and forth more than once a week, workflows save hours monthly.
Q: Can I migrate from FreeAgent to Relentify easily?
A: Yes. Relentify accepts CSV imports of invoices, expenses, customers, and suppliers. Depending on your data volume, migration takes a few hours. We guide you through it. Unlike some platform switches, your transaction history stays importable even if you change tools later. See comparisons with other platforms for similar migration workflows.
Q: Is the NatWest free tier truly permanent?
A: As long as you maintain a NatWest business account and meet eligibility criteria, yes. But "free as long as you stay with our bank" is a form of lock-in. If you switch banks for better rates, service, or integration, you lose the free access. Then FreeAgent becomes £29/month—more than Relentify's £19.
Q: Which platform is better for accountants to work with?
A: Relentify. General ledger, custom reports, and trial balance are standard requests. With FreeAgent, accountants often ask for CSV exports and rebuild data locally. Relentify's reporting depth means your accountant spends less time reconciling and more time advising. That's worth something on your accountancy bill.
Q: Does Relentify support VAT Returns and MTD like FreeAgent?
A: Yes. Both platforms support MTD for VAT with direct HMRC submission. Relentify also handles CIS, flat-rate VAT, and reverse-charge VAT. The only tax feature Relentify lacks is FreeAgent's self-assessment projection.
Q: What if I'm somewhere between freelancer and small team?
A: That's where Relentify shines. If you're a sole trader thinking about hiring, or a two-person team wondering if you need more infrastructure, Relentify scales. You're not paying for multi-entity management today, but it's there when you need it. FreeAgent will force a migration later. Start on a platform built to grow with you instead.
The verdict
FreeAgent is a solid, focused product for UK freelancers—especially those who get it free through NatWest. It handles self-assessment, invoicing, and basic expenses without fuss.
But FreeAgent optimises for a specific user at a specific moment in business growth. Hire someone, issue purchase orders, run multiple entities, or need detailed reporting—and you outgrow it. By then, switching costs time and data migration effort.
Relentify costs £10 more per month than FreeAgent's paid tier (or saves you £29/month if you're currently paying), and it doesn't have that cliff. You're not graduating to it in 18 months. You're starting on something that grows with you.
If FreeAgent is free for you (NatWest account), weigh that against whether its feature gaps are already frustrating you. If they are, the free price doesn't eliminate them—it just makes the limitations cheaper. If they aren't, the free access is a genuine reason to stay.
But if you're paying £29/month—or if you're a NatWest customer but considering multi-entity or team workflows—Relentify offers more depth at a lower cost. That advantage persists whether you switch banks or not. Try it free for 14 days, see whether it fits, and decide from there.