Best free invoice app in the UK
What each free plan really allows, checked 7 October 2026

Every free invoice app is paid for somehow. Payments companies earn a percentage when your client pays by card. Banks give accounting software away to keep your business account. Others add their branding to your invoice, or cap the free plan so you upgrade.

None of that is a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to know where the catch is before you send your first invoice. This page sets out what each free plan allowed on 7 October 2026, and what it costs you in practice.

The seven free options

Sources: SumUp, Square, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Books, FreeAgent and Zervant, all checked 7 October 2026.

Unlimited and free: SumUp and Square

Both payments companies give invoicing away to win your card payments. SumUp Invoices Free includes unlimited invoices and quotes, recurring invoices, credit notes and automatic reminders. On the Free plan, clients can pay into a SumUp Business Account by transfer, or by card for 2.5%. Paying into your own bank needs Invoices Plus at £7 a month plus VAT.

Square Invoices Free includes unlimited invoices, estimates and contracts, and charges 2.5% on UK card payments, plus 1.5% more for non-UK cards. Its Plus plan is £20 a month.

If your clients pay by card, either is excellent value: you pay only when you are paid. If your clients pay by bank transfer, SumUp's restriction on where transfers land is the thing to check.

Free and it files your tax: Zoho Books and FreeAgent

Zoho Books' free plan is the most generous free accounting plan we found: 1,000 invoices a year, 50 receipt scans a month and MTD for Income Tax, both quarterly updates and the final return, per Zoho's UK pricing on 7 October 2026. HMRC lists Zoho with a free version. The cost is learning accounting software, with a chart of accounts and a browser-first design.

Zoho

£0 (Zoho Books free plan)(checked 7 October 2026)

• Free version: yes
• Android; Apple iOS: yes
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: no
• Keeps digital records: yes

9/16 tax-return items ready, 6 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 2 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

1,000 invoices a year and MTD for Income Tax on the free plan, in full accounting software.

FreeAgent is free for as long as you keep a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank business current account, or use a Mettle account with at least one transaction a month. It is the full product: recurring invoices, automatic chasers, multi-currency invoices and MTD filing. Change bank, and it costs £19 a month plus VAT.

FreeAgent for free with Mettle, NatWest & RBS

£0 with a qualifying bank account(checked 7 October 2026)

• Free version: yes
• Android; Apple iOS: yes
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: no
• Keeps digital records: yes

16/16 tax-return items ready.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 2 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Free only while you keep the bank account; otherwise £19 + VAT a month for sole traders.

HMRC lists what each vendor declares. Feature flags, mobile-app support in particular, are vendor claims rather than verified facts, and listings change. Check with the vendor before you buy. Data: HMRC find-MTD-software service (tax.service.gov.uk), scraped 2 October 2026.

Free with limits: Zoho Invoice and Zervant

Zoho Invoice is free forever for 500 invoices a year, with two users, recurring invoices, reminders and card payments, and a "Powered by Zoho Invoice" line on your invoices. For most sole traders, 500 a year is plenty; the branding is the price.

Zervant Free allows 5 customers and 5 invoices a month, with estimates and the mobile app. Reminders start on Starter at £10.99 a month excluding VAT, so a free Zervant invoice is one you chase yourself.

TapTax Free, honestly

TapTax's free plan is not a free invoicing plan. It includes three invoices in total, five receipt reads a month and one quarterly submission, which is enough to see how it works. Unlimited invoicing, with repeating invoices and reminders, is on Starter at £4.99 a month or £49 a year, alongside 50 receipt reads a month and every quarterly update.

If you want free and unlimited, use one of the options above. If you want invoicing, receipts and quarterly filing in one app for the price of a coffee a month, that is what Starter is for.

No app at all: a free generator or template

For an occasional invoice, you do not need an app. Our free invoice generator makes a UK invoice as a PDF with no account, and the invoice template comes in Word, Excel and PDF. Check it shows everything in our guide to what a UK invoice must include.

Invoice number

A unique number for each invoice, in an unbroken sequence. HMRC expects one on every invoice, and apps assign it for you.

The only real catch with a template is that it stops at the PDF: you number, chase and record each invoice yourself.

What a free plan does not change

A free invoicing app does not change two thresholds that decide what else you need. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Above it, your records and quarterly updates must go through compatible software, whatever you invoice with. VAT registration is required once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months, and from then on your invoices must show VAT and your VAT number. If you are near either line, choose a free option that grows into it: Zoho Books and FreeAgent file both MTD for Income Tax and VAT, and TapTax files MTD for Income Tax. Check where you stand with our MTD requirement checker.

Which free option suits you

• Clients pay by card: SumUp Invoices or Square Invoices.
• You want free MTD filing as well: Zoho Books, or FreeAgent if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle.
• A few invoices a year and you do not mind branding: Zoho Invoice.
• One invoice today: the free invoice generator.
• You would pay £4.99 to have invoicing, receipts and quarterly filing in one place: TapTax Starter.

The bottom line

“Free invoicing is real, but it is always paid for. Choose the catch you can live with.”

SumUp and Square are the best free invoice apps if your clients pay by card. Zoho Books and FreeAgent are the best free options that also file Making Tax Digital, each with its own condition. TapTax is not the free choice; it is the £4.99 one that puts invoices, receipts and your quarterly update in one app.

People also ask

Which free invoice app has no branding?

Of those we checked, SumUp, Square and Zervant did not state a branding line on free invoices on 7 October 2026; Zoho Invoice Free adds "Powered by Zoho Invoice". TapTax invoices carry a small "Created with TapTax" line.

Is FreeAgent really free?

Yes, while you keep a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank business current account, or use Mettle with at least one transaction a month. Otherwise the sole trader plan is £19 a month excluding VAT.

Can I send invoices from my phone for free?

Yes. SumUp, Zoho and Zervant have mobile apps on their free plans, and TapTax’s free plan includes three invoices from its phone app.

What should a free invoice include?

A unique invoice number, your name and address, your client’s, the date, a description of the work, the amount and, if you are VAT-registered, your VAT number and the VAT. Our guide lists everything HMRC expects.