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Accounting · head to head

FreeAgent vs Money Forward Cloud

FreeAgent logo

FreeAgent

Accounting

Accounting software for small businesses and freelancers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Money Forward Cloud logo

Money Forward Cloud

Accounting

Japanese cloud accounting, payroll and back office suite built for Japanese tax law and filing

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; Money Forward Cloud the product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FreeAgent and Money Forward Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where FreeAgent and Money Forward Cloud differ
AttributeFreeAgentMoney Forward Cloud
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 Money Forward Cloud does not also cover.

Only in Money Forward Cloud

  • Japanese consumption tax handling
  • Qualified invoice support
  • Electronic record keeping
  • Bank and card feeds
  • Automated journal proposal
  • Invoicing
  • Payroll
  • Attendance and leave

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 Money Forward Cloud
  • Splitting rental income and expenses across multiple properties automaticallynot Money Forward Cloud
  • Collecting invoice payments faster through one-click payments and remindersnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Capturing bills and receipts via AI to auto-categorize expensesnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Filing Real Time Information payroll directly to HMRC for employeesnot Money Forward Cloud

Money Forward Cloud

  • A Japanese small or medium company moving off desktop bookkeeping and needing qualified invoice and electronic record keeping compliancenot FreeAgent
  • A Japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that must file locally in Japan while reporting upward in the group's own systemnot FreeAgent
  • A growing Japanese company that wants payroll, attendance and social insurance administration in the same suite as the ledgernot FreeAgent
  • A tax accountancy practice standardising its client base on one cloud product with a practitioner access rolenot 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)

Money Forward Cloud

  • The product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.
  • The tax logic is Japanese, so it cannot serve as the accounting system for entities filing anywhere else, and a group with Japanese and foreign entities ends up running two ledgers with a manual consolidation between them.
  • Modules are licensed separately with per user and per employee components, so accounting, payroll, attendance, expenses and invoicing bought together cost several times the headline accounting plan and the bill grows with every hire.
  • Bank connectivity in Japan relies substantially on scraping and delegated access rather than on a standardised open banking interface, so feeds break after bank site changes and reconciliation stalls until the connector is fixed.
  • In Japanese small business the tax accountant usually chooses the bookkeeping software, and practitioners are divided between Money Forward, freee and Yayoi, so picking it when your accountant works in another product means either paying them to learn it or changing accountant.

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)

Money Forward Cloud

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Money Forward Cloud review.

Which should you pick?

Choose FreeAgent if

  • You want to start without paying.
FreeAgent review

Choose Money Forward Cloud if

  • You need japanese consumption tax handling.
  • You also want qualified invoice support.
Money Forward Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is FreeAgent or Money Forward Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. FreeAgent starts at Free and Money Forward Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FreeAgent or Money Forward Cloud?
FreeAgent has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for FreeAgent and On request for Money Forward Cloud.
Does FreeAgent or Money Forward Cloud 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. Money Forward Cloud 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 Money Forward Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can FreeAgent do that Money Forward Cloud cannot?
Money Forward Cloud covers Japanese consumption tax handling, Qualified invoice support, Electronic record keeping, Bank and card feeds.

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
Money Forward Cloud: Can I use it if I do not read Japanese?

Not realistically on your own. The interface, support and the tax concepts themselves are Japanese. Companies that succeed with it have a bilingual bookkeeper or an English speaking tax accountant operating it.

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
Money Forward Cloud: Does it handle the qualified invoice system?

Yes. Capturing and validating supplier registration numbers and retaining invoices in the required form is one of the main reasons Japanese companies moved to it around the 2023 introduction.

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
Money Forward Cloud: How does it compare with freee?

Both are Japanese cloud suites covering similar ground. freee is often described as easier for non accountants, Money Forward as closer to conventional bookkeeping and preferred by many tax accountants. The practical tiebreaker is which one your accountant already uses.

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
Money Forward Cloud: Can it file my corporate tax return?

The suite supports the bookkeeping and much of the preparation, and there are filing oriented products in the family, but Japanese corporate tax filing is normally done by a licensed tax accountant. Treat it as the record keeping layer, not the filer.

Money Forward Cloud: Is it usable for a company outside Japan?

No, not as an accounting system. Its value is the Japanese tax and filing logic, and none of that applies elsewhere.

Money Forward Cloud: What does it cost to add payroll?

Payroll is a separate module with its own subscription and a per employee element, as are attendance and expenses. Price the whole stack for your headcount rather than the accounting plan alone.

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