Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Hnry vs Sage 50

Hnry logo

Hnry

Accounting

Accounting for sole traders and the self-employed

From
1/per $100 income
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sage 50 logo

Sage 50

Accounting

Windows desktop accounting with the ledger held in a local data file rather than in a browser

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Hnry service limited to self-employed sole traders in New Zealand only; Sage 50 it is a Windows desktop application, so Mac users need a virtual machine or a hosted desktop, and every added remote worker becomes a hosting bill rather than another browser tab.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hnry and Sage 50 actually diverge.

Attributes where Hnry and Sage 50 differ
AttributeHnrySage 50
Starting price1/per $100 income$29/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
PlatformsWebWindows
FoundedUnknown1981

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Hnry

Nothing recorded that Sage 50 does not also cover.

Only in Sage 50

  • Local company data file
  • Nominal, sales and purchase ledgers
  • Bank reconciliation
  • VAT and sales tax handling
  • Stock control
  • Job and project costing
  • Multi user access
  • Microsoft 365 integration

What people use each for

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

Hnry

  • Calculating quarterly tax without manual bookkeepingnot Sage 50
  • Logging expenses via photo instantlynot Sage 50
  • Sending unlimited invoices with auto-follow-upnot Sage 50
  • Automatically withholding income taxes year-roundnot Sage 50

Sage 50

  • An established small business that wants its accounting data physically in the building rather than on a vendor's serversnot Hnry
  • A construction or trade business needing job costing and stock depth that the entry level cloud products do not matchnot Hnry
  • A company with unreliable internet where a browser only ledger would stop work whenever the line dropsnot Hnry
  • A long standing user with a decade of transaction history in the file for whom migrating to anything else is the expensive optionnot Hnry

Where each one falls short

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

Hnry

  • Service limited to self-employed sole traders in New Zealand only
  • 1% + GST fee with $1,500 annual maximum cap
  • Minimum $0.50 fee per transaction for payments under $50

Sage 50

  • It is a Windows desktop application, so Mac users need a virtual machine or a hosted desktop, and every added remote worker becomes a hosting bill rather than another browser tab.
  • Multi user working shares a data file over the network, so all users effectively need to be on the same local network or on the same hosted server, and file corruption in a shared file environment is a recovery from backup rather than a support ticket.
  • The United States and United Kingdom editions are separate products with different tax engines, so a business trading in both markets cannot run one Sage 50 across them, and experience or add ons from one edition do not transfer to the other.
  • Additional users are licensed individually at full price, which means a part time bookkeeper, an approver who signs off purchase invoices and a manager who only ever reads reports all cost the same as the full time finance person.
  • Sage's development effort has moved to its cloud accounting products, so the eventual move off Sage 50 is a re-implementation with historical data conversion and a fresh chart of accounts rather than an in place upgrade, and that project only gets larger the longer the file grows.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hnry

1/per $100 income

No published plan breakdown. See the Hnry review.

Sage 50

$29/month
  • Pro Accounting$50/month
    • Core accounting
    • 1 user
    • Basic reports
  • Premium Accounting$85/month
    • 5 users
    • Job costing
    • Inventory

Which should you pick?

Choose Hnry if

Nothing in the data separates Hnry from Sage 50 on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Hnry review

Choose Sage 50 if

  • You need local company data file.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want nominal, sales and purchase ledgers.
Sage 50 review

Questions people ask

Is Hnry or Sage 50 better?
Neither clearly leads. Hnry starts at 1/per $100 income and Sage 50 at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hnry or Sage 50?
Hnry starts at 1/per $100 income and Sage 50 at $29/month.
Does Hnry or Sage 50 run on more platforms?
Hnry runs on Web. Sage 50 runs on Windows.
What is Hnry best used for?
Hnry is most often used for calculating quarterly tax without manual bookkeeping, logging expenses via photo instantly, sending unlimited invoices with auto-follow-up, automatically withholding income taxes year-round. Of those, calculating quarterly tax without manual bookkeeping and logging expenses via photo instantly are not what Sage 50 is typically brought in for.
What can Hnry do that Sage 50 cannot?
Sage 50 covers Local company data file, Nominal, sales and purchase ledgers, Bank reconciliation, VAT and sales tax handling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hnry: How much does Hnry charge?

Hnry charges 1% plus GST of independent income paid into your Hnry Bank Account, with a maximum annual fee of $1,500. Minimum fee is $0.50 per payment for transactions under $50.

Source
Sage 50: Is Sage 50 cloud software?

No. The application runs on Windows and the ledger is a local file. The Sage 50cloud tiers add Microsoft 365 integration and a sync service for remote access, but the accounting itself is still desktop software.

Hnry: Are there joining fees for Hnry?

No, Hnry has no joining fees, upfront payments, or credit card required to sign up.

Source
Sage 50: Can my accountant work in it?

Yes, and many accountants in the United Kingdom and the United States know it well. Practically they will either take a backup of the company file, or connect through the remote data access service, or work on a hosted copy. Agree which of those before you start.

Hnry: Is the Hnry fee tax deductible?

Yes, Hnry automatically claims its fees as a business expense on your behalf, making them tax-deductible.

Source
Sage 50: Does it still require an annual subscription?

Sage moved Sage 50 to subscription licensing, so continued access and tax table updates depend on an active subscription. Confirm what happens to your ability to open historical data if you stop paying.

Sage 50: Is the United Kingdom version the same product as the United States version?

No. They share a name and a heritage but they are different codebases with different tax handling. Buy the edition for the country where you file.

Sage 50: What about payroll?

Payroll is a separate Sage product with its own subscription and per employee cost. Budget for it separately rather than assuming the accounting subscription covers it.

Sage 50: How hard is it to move to a cloud system later?

Expect to convert opening balances and a limited window of transaction history rather than the full file, and to redo the chart of accounts, the customer and supplier records and any custom reports. Most businesses do it at a year end for that reason.

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