Which Business Bank Account Gives You Free MTD Software?

If you haven't opened a business bank account yet, it's worth making that decision alongside your MTD software choice rather than after it — because one specific pairing can save you the cost of your accounting software entirely. Here's how the free-software bundles actually work, and which account fits which situation.

Like most people in the UK, I've mostly stuck to one bank for day-to-day use for years, even though switching has genuinely got a lot easier — I've just never got round to actually trying it myself. When something better has come along, my instinct has always been to open a new account alongside my existing one rather than switch outright. That's exactly what happened when Revolut arrived for me: better protection for buying online, easy virtual cards, a genuinely usable app, and — since I was travelling to Europe for work fairly often at the time — none of the heavy international fees that come with most standard banks. What's changed with Making Tax Digital is that some business accounts now bundle MTD-compliant software in, which suddenly makes opening (or switching to) a new one worth properly exploring rather than just sticking with whatever you've always used.

The bundle worth knowing about

FreeAgent is free for life if you hold a qualifying business account with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or Mettle. On Mettle specifically, the free FreeAgent subscription is the complete product, not a stripped-down version — but it's conditional on making at least one transaction through the account each month; skip a month and FreeAgent's standard fees apply. See our full comparison of FreeAgent against Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and Zoho Books →

This matters most if FreeAgent already suits how you work — it's built specifically around UK sole traders and freelancers, with invoicing, expenses, and MTD submission designed around that use case rather than adapted from a larger international product.

The trade-off if you want a different platform

Not everyone wants FreeAgent, and that's a reasonable position — Xero has stronger accountant/bookkeeper ecosystem support, and QuickBooks has a lower entry price with better mileage tracking. If your software choice is fixed first, match your bank account to that instead:

• Starling Bank — no bundled free software, but a reliable, near-real-time bank feed into Xero and QuickBooks, which matters more than it sounds once you're submitting quarterly MTD updates and need transactions actually reflected when you sit down to reconcile. FSCS-protected, free UK transfers.
• Tide — the broadest integration list of the free accounts, covering Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, and Sage. The catch is a 20p charge per UK transfer, which adds up if you make frequent payments. Tide is not FSCS-protected — it's an e-money institution, with funds safeguarded through a partner bank rather than covered by the £85,000 FSCS scheme.
• Monzo Business — a free Basic tier with no monthly fee; live accountant feeds and invoicing tools sit behind the paid Pro tier.

Quick comparison

How to actually decide

• Want the lowest total cost and don't have strong software preferences? → Mettle (or NatWest/RBS/Ulster Bank), for the free FreeAgent bundle. This is the single biggest cost saving available in this comparison.
• Already committed to Xero or QuickBooks, or work with an accountant who uses them? → Starling, for the reliable real-time feed — the free FreeAgent bundle isn't worth switching software for if your bookkeeping is already set up elsewhere.
• Want maximum flexibility to change software later, and don't mind a small per-transfer cost? → Tide, for the broadest integration coverage including Sage.
• Want the simplest possible setup and don't yet know what software you'll need? → Any of the free-tier accounts work as a starting point; the software decision can follow once you know your MTD start date. Not sure yet? Check your MTD date first →

What to check before switching

• Whether you already bank with NatWest, RBS, or Ulster Bank — if you do, ask specifically about the FreeAgent bundle before opening a new account elsewhere; you may already be entitled to it.
• The monthly-transaction condition on bundled offers — missing the minimum activity requirement (as with Mettle) can quietly convert a "free" bundle into a paid one.
• FSCS protection, if you'll be holding significant balances — e-money institutions like Tide safeguard funds differently to FSCS-protected banks, which matters more the larger your balance.
• You don't have to switch your main account outright. My own approach is to open a new account first, get comfortable with the service, and only then move business activity across — there's no need to commit before you're confident it's right.

One more thing worth being honest about: this page is about a business or sole trader account, not your personal one. If you're currently running everything through a single personal account, switching to MTD is a good natural prompt to separate the two properly — it tends to make your record-keeping, and your quarterly updates, considerably easier once it's done.