The main FreeAgent alternatives for freelancers and small companies are Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Zoho Books and Bizzle. The question is whether you want a bigger accounting product or something that also handles the admin around the accounts.
LAST REVIEWED 27 AUGUST 2026 · BIZZLE
Usually one of three reasons: the price has moved, the product does more than the business needs, or the thing that actually costs time is not the accounting at all. The third is the one worth pausing on — swapping one ledger for another does not help if the problem is an unanswered phone and unchased invoices.
Below is an honest list, including where FreeAgent is still the right answer.
| Option | Best when |
|---|---|
| Xero | More depth and a very large app marketplace, at the cost of more product than a contractor usually needs. |
| QuickBooks | A strong self-employed tier and a good mobile app, and the closest thing to a like-for-like step up. |
| Sage | Heavier, and worth considering mainly if payroll is becoming a real part of your workload. |
| Zoho Books | Compelling if you already use other Zoho products, because the suite is where its advantage sits. |
| Bizzle | The same ledger plus the phone answered and invoices chased. The right move if work reaches you by phone rather than by timesheet. |
Write down where the hours actually go for a fortnight. If most of them are in the ledger, a different accounting product may help. If most are in chasing, filing and answering the phone, a different ledger will change nothing.
Then compare the whole stack cost rather than the headline subscription — the add-ons are usually where the money is.
TERMS USED ON THIS PAGE
COMMON QUESTIONS
Mostly because the business changed shape. FreeAgent is built for a contractor billing time from a desk; when you take on staff, start holding stock, or find work arriving by phone rather than by contract, the product stops fitting. If you are still that contractor, it is probably the right tool.
When you bill time or projects, work at a desk, and want a clear view of the tax coming. Its restraint is a feature for that business, and a bigger product would mostly give you more to ignore.
Xero or QuickBooks if you have outgrown a one-person product and need depth or apps; Sage if payroll has become a real workload; Zoho Books if you are already in the Zoho suite; Bizzle if the change is that the phone now rings and the jobs happen away from the desk.
A different imagined customer. FreeAgent is shaped around a timesheet and a tax timeline; Bizzle is shaped around a phone that rings, a quote sent from the van and a receipt filed without opening a laptop. Same double-entry ledger underneath, but one is for a consultant and the other for a trade or an appointment business.
KEEP READING
Connect your inbox and your bank. Watch Bizzle rebuild your books from what's already there. Ten minutes — and your evenings are yours again.
FOUNDING MEMBERS · FIRST 3 MONTHS FREE