Best for
Best for Swiss SMEs and the self-employed that want quotes, invoices, bookkeeping, banking and payroll in one system built for Swiss rules.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Accounting & Invoicing Comparison
bexio vs. FreeAgent
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for UK freelancers, contractors and small businesses that want invoicing, bookkeeping and HMRC tax filing (VAT, Self Assessment and MTD) in one place.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | bexio | FreeAgent |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From CHF 35 / month The Basic package on annual billing, for one user. Monthly billing costs CHF 10 more per month on every package. The list rates on annual billing are CHF 35 for Basic, CHF 42 for Advanced, CHF 69 for Optima and CHF 119 for Ultimate. A 30 percent first-year discount on Advanced and above was running at the time of writing. | Free with an eligible NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle account, otherwise from £19 / month Priced by business type: Sole Trader £19, Partnership/LLP £27, Limited Company £33 and Landlord £10 per month, billed monthly or annually. Free for customers with an eligible NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle bank account. UK pricing. |
| Free trial | 30 days without obligation, on the Ultimate package excluding the document archive and bexio Pay | 30-day free trial |
| Team size | 1 user on Basic, 2 on Advanced, 5 on Optima and 25 on Ultimate | Not stated |
| Users | More than 100,000 companies, per the vendor | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a REST API authenticated over OpenID Connect, plus a marketplace of more than 120 apps | Yes, a REST API using OAuth 2.0, with JSON and XML responses |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), stored in Swiss data centres | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | Switzerland | Not stated |
| Invoicing and quotes | Yes, quotes and orders from stored products and services, QR invoices from multilingual templates, and project time carried into the invoice | Yes, automated invoices with reminders and online payment links, plus estimates |
| Bookkeeping and bank feeds | Yes, single-entry or double-entry bookkeeping with pre-configured Swiss charts of accounts and VAT rates, and automatic reconciliation against more than 65 Swiss banks | Yes, automatic bank feeds import transactions for reconciliation |
| Expenses and receipts | Yes, supplier invoices and receipts posted against selected ledgers, with AI receipt scanning in the bexio Go app, metered per package | Yes, receipt capture with smart data extraction |
| Tax and compliance | Yes, VAT statements in several methods and the year-end close, plus a GeBüV-compliant document archive with tamper-proof timestamps in Swiss data centres (Switzerland) | Yes, VAT returns, Self Assessment and MTD for Income Tax filed directly to HMRC, with real-time tax calculations (UK) |
| Payroll | Yes, certified to Swissdec 5.3 with automatic reporting to the authorities; a paid add-on on Advanced and included from Optima upwards | Yes, monthly payroll with RTI filing to HMRC |
| Reports and exports | Yes, balance sheet and income statement with year-on-year comparison, plus a dashboard of financial key figures | Yes, a dashboard with profit and loss and cashflow forecasting |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a REST API over OpenID Connect covering sales, contacts, accounting, purchasing, items, projects, banking, files and payroll, with a marketplace of more than 120 apps | Yes, a REST API using OAuth 2.0, with JSON and XML responses |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Phone, Email helpdesk | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Clockodo, TimeStatement, 2getHR, PEAX, Worldline, SumUp & PepperShop POS solution, PepperShop Online Shop, Shopify Connector by Helvy, echo for Microsoft Teams, Callwise, Social EDI (gate2b) | more entries Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, SumUp, Tyl by NatWest, Pleo, Zapier, Make, Integrately, Dext, AutoEntry by Sage, HubSpot, Capsule CRM, Basecamp, Amazon, WooCommerce, Float, Fathom, Syft Analytics, BrightPay, Employment Hero, Chaser, Satago |
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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price bexio From CHF 35 / month FreeAgent Free with an eligible NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle account, otherwise from £19 / month
- Free trial bexio 30 days without obligation, on the Ultimate package excluding the document archive and bexio Pay FreeAgent 30-day free trial
- Hosting bexio Cloud (SaaS), stored in Swiss data centres FreeAgent Cloud (SaaS)
- Support bexio Phone, Email helpdesk FreeAgent Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat
- AI features bexio Yes FreeAgent No
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
bexio
Strengths
- Swiss specifics built in: QR invoices, Swissdec 5.3 payroll, VAT statements and a GeBüV-compliant archive in Swiss data centres
- Free live access for the fiduciary, with around 1,000 certified Swiss partners already working in the system
- Automatic reconciliation with more than 65 Swiss banks
- REST API over OpenID Connect and a marketplace of more than 120 apps
Limitations
- Packages are cut by user count, so one extra login can mean the next tier
- Payroll is absent from the Basic package and a paid add-on on Advanced
- AI receipt scanning in the mobile app is metered on every package except Ultimate
- Built for Switzerland, so the tax, banking and payroll work does not transfer to other markets
FreeAgent
Strengths
- UK tax built in: VAT, Self Assessment and MTD for Income Tax filed to HMRC
- Free for customers with an eligible NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle account
- Native monthly payroll with RTI filing
- REST API using OAuth 2.0 for developers and practices
Limitations
- Built around UK tax and HMRC, so it suits UK businesses specifically
- Pricing depends on business type rather than a single plan
Plans
Pricing
bexio
- Basic CHF 35 / month On annual billing, CHF 45 per month billed monthly. One user. Contacts, invoices, accounting, products, expenses, e-banking, document archive, projects, time tracking and stock management. No payroll and no bexio Pay.
- Advanced CHF 42 / month On annual billing, CHF 52 per month billed monthly. Two users. Adds payroll as a paid add-on (CHF 7 to 25 per month), bexio Pay for CHF 14 per month, 50 AI receipt scans per month and more than 90 marketplace apps.
- Optima CHF 69 / month On annual billing, CHF 79 per month billed monthly. Five users. Payroll for five employees included, bexio Pay for CHF 14 per month, 100 AI receipt scans per month.
- Ultimate CHF 119 / month On annual billing, CHF 129 per month billed monthly. 25 users. Payroll for 25 employees included, bexio Pay included, unlimited AI receipt scans.
FreeAgent
- Sole Trader £19 / month For sole traders; billed monthly or £190 / year.
- Partnership / LLP £27 / month For partnerships and LLPs; billed monthly or £270 / year.
- Limited Company £33 / month For limited companies; billed monthly or £330 / year.
- Landlord £10 / month For landlords; billed monthly or £100 / year.
- NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle customers Free Free for customers with an eligible NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle bank account.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
bexio
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
FreeAgent
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
bexio https://www.bexio.com · no check date recorded yet
FreeAgent https://www.freeagent.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.