Relentify vs Xero: A Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Xero has been a staple for UK small businesses since the early 2010s. It did one thing brilliantly: made cloud accounting feel effortless. But if you've been using Xero for the past few years, you've probably noticed something—the platform has gotten more expensive, the interface has gotten busier, and the features you actually need have started hiding behind add-ons.
Relentify is a unified business platform built to solve exactly the frustrations that push Xero users away. We're not going to tell you Xero is bad—it isn't—but we will show you what £33/month gets you with Xero versus what the same money (or less) gets you with Relentify, across pricing, features, and what actually matters when you're running a small business on a tight budget.
Why Businesses Are Moving Away from Xero
Xero's growth strategy for the past five years has been straightforward: raise prices, gate features behind higher tiers, and introduce add-ons for things users expect to be included.
In 2024, Xero Standard was £20/month. Today it's £33/month. That's a 65% increase. The Starter plan is gone entirely. And features that once were free—like multi-currency support and project tracking—now sit behind the "Growing" tier at £42/month.
"Growing plan" is enterprise-software for "we know you need this, but you'll pay extra for it."
Here's what happens in reality: you start on Xero at £33/month. You grow. You need multi-currency because you sell to EU customers. That's £42/month. Then you want to track expenses properly without spreadsheets. That's Xero Expenses at £4 per active user per month—so for a team of five, you're adding another £20/month. Now you're at £62/month minimum for features that Relentify includes at £21 per month.
The second driver: Xero's interface. It was modern once. Still works. But it's accumulated a decade of incremental updates, feature flags, and inconsistencies. Settings are scattered across multiple sections. Some workflows take three clicks; others take seven. Navigation patterns change depending on which module you're in.
Relentify was built fresh in 2026. No legacy code. No accumulated baggage.
The Real Cost of Xero's Add-Ons
The sticker price tells only half the story. Here's what's actually included on each tier:
| Feature | Relentify Growth (£21/mo) | Xero Growing (£42/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Multi-currency | Included | Included |
| Expense claims | Built-in | £4/user/month add-on |
| Mileage tracking | Built-in | £4/user/month add-on |
| Project tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Bank feeds | Yes | Yes |
| Purchase orders | Yes | Limited |
| Approval workflows | Yes | Limited |
For a five-person team at Xero, the math looks like this:
- Growing plan: £42/month
- Expenses add-on (5 users × £4): £20/month
- Total: £62/month, or £744/year
Same team on Relentify Growth:
- One plan covering everything: £21/month
- Total: £21/month, or £252/year
Annual saving: £492. That's roughly two days of freelance time or a decent holiday budget (and possibly fewer Sunday-night spreadsheets).
The painful part gets worse for multi-entity businesses. If you run three separate businesses and need Xero for each one, you're paying £126/month minimum. Relentify lets you run multiple entities on a single account with consolidated reporting—no extra cost, no extra logins, and crucially, no need to reconcile figures across separate systems.
Where Relentify Actually Pulls Ahead
Feature parity is table stakes. Here's where the real differences emerge:
Speed. Relentify was built with modern frontend technology. No unexpected page loads. Creating an invoice, reconciling a transaction, or pulling a report takes fewer clicks. This isn't sexy, but after eight hours of data entry, it compounds.
Multi-entity management. Xero's design actively frustrates users here. If you manage multiple businesses—rental properties, freelance side work, a partnership—Xero forces separate subscriptions and separate logins. You can't see consolidated cash flow. You can't run a group balance sheet without exporting to Excel. For landlords especially, this friction is real. We've covered this in detail in our guide on Relentify vs Xero for Landlords.
Relentify treats multiple entities as a core feature. One login. Instant switching. Consolidated reporting across all entities.
Reporting depth. Xero covers the basics: P&L, balance sheet, aged receivables. Relentify includes those plus cash flow forecasting, financial health scoring, and the ability to build custom reports without leaving the platform. For growing teams, the difference is meaningful—you stop exporting to Excel and start trusting your dashboard.
Journal entry reversals and period locks. These are features accountants quietly lobby for. If you're working with an accountant, they'll notice. Xero has them, but they're buried in menus. Relentify surfaces them prominently.
Built-in features vs. add-ons. Open Banking connectivity, expense approvals, purchase orders, mileage tracking, time recording—these come standard with Relentify. With Xero, you either pay add-ons or bolt on third-party tools via integrations. Most small businesses we speak to come to Xero with 5–7 other subscriptions already in place and eventually add more. You don't need Zapier. You don't need a separate expense tool. You don't need a spreadsheet for PO approvals.
For a detailed comparison including other alternatives, you might also want to see how Relentify vs QuickBooks stacks up, especially if you're exploring options beyond Xero.
A Concrete Example: One Team's Numbers
Let's make this real. Here's a five-person digital marketing agency. They do £500k annual revenue, invoice weekly, run expenses across three different countries, and need basic project tracking.
With Xero:
- Growing plan: £42/month
- Expenses add-on (5 users): £20/month
- Project tracking (third-party tool like Teamwork): £30/month
- Total: £92/month, or £1,104/year
With Relentify:
- Growth plan: £21/month
- Everything else is built-in
- Total: £21/month, or £252/year
Annual saving: £852. That's meaningful for a small team.
Beyond the numbers, what these teams report is something less tangible: relief from admin fatigue. Fewer tools to log into. Fewer places to track the same information. Fewer integrations that break on Tuesday afternoon.
Migration Is Straightforward (Really)
The thing that stops most people: "If I switch, will I lose my data?"
You won't. Relentify's migration tooling imports your chart of accounts, customer records, supplier records, and opening balances directly from Xero. Most small businesses finish in under an hour. Your historical data stays in Xero; everything new lives in Relentify.
For the full walkthrough, see our detailed migration guide.
One tip: do the migration on a quiet Friday afternoon. Give yourself two hours and a cup of tea. Verify a few invoices on the new system. Done.
VAT and Tax Compliance
Both platforms support Making Tax Digital for VAT in the UK. Relentify calculates your VAT return automatically with a full nine-box breakdown and can submit directly to HMRC. The workflow is slightly simpler than Xero's, though both get the job done.
For multi-currency businesses handling cross-border transactions, Relentify's multi-currency support (included on every plan) makes VAT compliance on international invoices more straightforward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I lose historical data when I switch?
No. Relentify imports your chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, and opening balances from Xero. Historical P&Ls and balance sheets stay in Xero and remain accessible anytime. Going forward, everything new lives in Relentify.
What if my accountant uses Xero?
Most accountants work across multiple accounting platforms. What matters to them is consistency and the ability to export reports. Relentify exports standard formats (PDF, CSV, Excel) that any accountant can work with.
Does Relentify have bank feeds?
Yes. Open Banking connectivity is included on every paid plan and works with every UK bank.
Can I run multiple businesses on one account?
Yes—and this is one of the biggest advantages over Xero. Add as many entities as you need, switch between them instantly, and run consolidated reports across all of them, all on a single subscription.
What about VAT Returns?
Relentify calculates your VAT return automatically with a full nine-box breakdown and submits directly to HMRC. The workflow is slightly simpler than Xero's, though both work.
Is there a free tier?
Yes. Relentify's free Sole Trader plan includes unlimited invoicing and bank feeds—something Xero removed years ago. For businesses with employees or multiple entities, a paid plan from £6.30/month is the next step.
What if I need specific integrations Relentify doesn't have?
Xero's app marketplace is more mature due to age. But for most small businesses drowning in SaaS subscriptions, Relentify's built-in features replace what you'd otherwise bolt on. Teams typically cut from 7–9 subscriptions down to 2–3 after switching. Check our pricing page for the full feature set, or reach out to the team about specific needs.
The Bottom Line
Xero is still a capable platform. But it's optimized for Xero's growth, not yours. Features hide behind paywalls. The interface is showing its age. The pricing math no longer works for businesses paying careful attention to their costs.
Relentify was built on the opposite philosophy: more features, lower price, fresher interface, zero add-on surprises. If you've felt that squeeze from Xero—the pricing creep, the missing features, the clunky interface—it's worth an hour of your time.
Import your data from Xero (it takes less time than you'd think), and run side-by-side for a weekend. Most people know within an hour whether the switch is right for them.
Try Relentify free for 14 days. No credit card required. If you're moving from Xero, we handle the migration at no extra charge.