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Accounting · head to head

FreeAgent vs Modern Treasury

FreeAgent logo

FreeAgent

Accounting

Accounting software for small businesses and freelancers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Modern Treasury logo

Modern Treasury

Accounting

Payment operations and ledger infrastructure that sits between your product and your own bank accounts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only FreeAgent has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: FreeAgent introductory pricing shown is 50% off the regular rates; Modern Treasury you must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FreeAgent and Modern Treasury actually diverge.

Attributes where FreeAgent and Modern Treasury differ
AttributeFreeAgentModern Treasury
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in FreeAgent

Nothing recorded that Modern Treasury does not also cover.

Only in Modern Treasury

  • Multi-rail payment initiation
  • Bank connectivity
  • Ledgers
  • Automatic reconciliation
  • Approval workflows
  • Virtual accounts
  • Compliance tooling
  • Return and exception handling

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

FreeAgent

  • Submitting VAT and Self Assessment tax returns to HMRC directlynot Modern Treasury
  • Splitting rental income and expenses across multiple properties automaticallynot Modern Treasury
  • Collecting invoice payments faster through one-click payments and remindersnot Modern Treasury
  • Capturing bills and receipts via AI to auto-categorize expensesnot Modern Treasury
  • Filing Real Time Information payroll directly to HMRC for employeesnot Modern Treasury

Modern Treasury

  • A marketplace paying out to thousands of sellers that needs a ledger its application can trust rather than reconciling a payments dashboard by handnot FreeAgent
  • A lender originating and servicing loans that must track disbursements, repayments and returns against its own bank accountsnot FreeAgent
  • A company that wants to move off a banking as a service provider and hold its own bank accounts after seeing sponsor banks offboard fintech programmesnot FreeAgent
  • An insurer handling premium collection and claims payment across several rails with approval controls and an auditable trailnot FreeAgent

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

FreeAgent

  • Introductory pricing shown is 50% off the regular rates
  • All prices exclude 20% VAT
  • Add-ons required for some features (Smart Capture Unlimited £5/month, Amazon integration £6/month)

Modern Treasury

  • You must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • Pricing rests on an annual minimum commitment, and companies that miss their volume forecast pay the minimum regardless, which makes the headline per-transaction rate close to irrelevant in year one.
  • Supported bank connectivity is a finite list, so if your bank is not on it you are either waiting for an integration or changing banks, which is a far larger project than adopting the software.
  • It is software over banking, not banking, so it does not solve card issuing, deposit accounts or the licensing questions that a company embedding financial products still has to answer elsewhere.
  • The ledger is genuinely good but adopting it properly means making it the source of truth for balances in your product, which is a significant application change rather than a payments integration and is where implementations run long.

Pricing, plan by plan

FreeAgent

Free
  • Sole Traders$9.5/month
    • Introductory rate (regular price £19/month)
    • Annual option at £95/year (regular £190)
  • Landlords$5/month
    • Introductory rate (regular price £10/month)
    • Annual option at £50/year (regular £100)
  • UK Partnerships/LLPs$13.5/month
    • Introductory rate (regular price £27/month)
    • Annual option at £135/year (regular £270)
  • UK Limited Companies$16.5/month
    • Introductory rate (regular price £33/month)
    • Annual option at £330/year (regular £330)

Modern Treasury

On request
  • Modern Treasury Platform$undefined/year
    • Platform access fee covering API, dashboard, infrastructure and support
    • Usage-based fees across ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoins
    • A single annual minimum commitment that both platform and usage fees count towards

Which should you pick?

Choose FreeAgent if

  • You want to start without paying.
FreeAgent review

Choose Modern Treasury if

  • You need multi-rail payment initiation.
  • You also want bank connectivity.
Modern Treasury review

Questions people ask

Is FreeAgent or Modern Treasury better?
Neither clearly leads. FreeAgent starts at Free and Modern Treasury at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FreeAgent or Modern Treasury?
FreeAgent has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for FreeAgent and On request for Modern Treasury.
Does FreeAgent or Modern Treasury run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use FreeAgent for free?
Yes. FreeAgent has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Modern Treasury starts at On request.
What is FreeAgent best used for?
FreeAgent is most often used for submitting vat and self assessment tax returns to hmrc directly, splitting rental income and expenses across multiple properties automatically, collecting invoice payments faster through one-click payments and reminders, capturing bills and receipts via ai to auto-categorize expenses. Of those, submitting vat and self assessment tax returns to hmrc directly and splitting rental income and expenses across multiple properties automatically are not what Modern Treasury is typically brought in for.
What can FreeAgent do that Modern Treasury cannot?
Modern Treasury covers Multi-rail payment initiation, Bank connectivity, Ledgers, Automatic reconciliation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FreeAgent: Does FreeAgent offer a free option?

FreeAgent is free for qualifying customers maintaining business accounts with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or certain Mettle accounts.

Source
Modern Treasury: Is Modern Treasury a bank or a banking as a service provider?

Neither. You hold your own bank accounts and it is software over them. That avoids sponsor bank concentration risk but means you need the bank relationship yourself.

FreeAgent: What is FreeAgent's pricing for sole traders?

Sole traders pay £9.50/month (50% introductory rate; regular £19/month), or £95/year annually (regular £190/year), excluding 20% VAT.

Source
Modern Treasury: What does it cost?

Not published. A platform access fee plus usage fees across rails, on an annual term with a single minimum commitment. Negotiate the minimum, not the per-transaction rate.

FreeAgent: What add-ons does FreeAgent offer?

Optional add-ons include Smart Capture Unlimited at £5/month and Amazon integration at £6/month, allowing customers to extend base plan functionality.

Source
Modern Treasury: Which rails are supported?

ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoin payments, subject to what your bank supports.

FreeAgent: Does FreeAgent offer a trial?

FreeAgent provides a 30-day free trial with no commitment, and customers can cancel at any time during or after the trial period.

Source
Modern Treasury: Do we still need our own compliance programme?

Yes. KYB, KYC and transaction monitoring are included in the platform, but you are the one holding the accounts and the regulatory obligation sits with you and your bank.

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