Sage alternatives for MTD
What HMRC's directory says about Sage, and what else is out there

Sage is one of the most familiar names in UK accounting, and it has taken MTD for Income Tax seriously: four separate listings on HMRC's directory, a genuinely free tier, mobile apps on most of them, and a paid plan at £7 plus VAT a month that undercuts several smaller rivals. If you are on Sage and it works, none of what follows is an argument to leave.

But there is one number in HMRC's own data that sends people looking, and it is worth putting up front rather than at the end. All four Sage listings are graded at 0 of HMRC's 16 tax-return items ready now.

What HMRC's directory actually says about Sage

HMRC publishes a feature grid for every listed product using its own three-state scale: ready now, in development, or not included. We scraped all 159 listings on 17 October 2026. Here is every Sage entry side by side.

All four Sage listings on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax directory, as graded on 17 October 2026.

Product	Free	Sole trader	UK property	Foreign property	Mobile app	Return items
Sage Sole Trader & Landlord Free	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Android; Apple iOS	0/16
Sage Sole Trader & Landlord	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Android; Apple iOS	0/16
Accounting from Sage	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Android; Apple iOS	0/16
Sage50	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Not listed	0/16

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 17 October 2026.

Three observations from that grid.

The return-items column is 0 across the board. Every Sage product can file quarterly updates and none is graded able to complete a single one of the 16 year-end items. Sage has told HMRC it intends to close that: 14 to 15 items are marked in development on each listing, meaning committed for the 2026-27 return but not shipped.

Foreign property is not included on any of them. If you have an overseas rental, no Sage listing covers it on current grading.

Sage50 has no mobile app listed, while the other three do. If you are comparing reviews online, check which Sage product the review is about, because they grade differently on more than one axis.

Tax-return items (MTD ITSA)

The 16 categories HMRC grades separately, covering everything outside your quarterly business updates: UK interest, employment (PAYE), UK dividends, state and private pension income, partnership income, foreign dividends and interest, pension contributions, Construction Industry Scheme, charitable giving, capital gains, student loan, marriage allowance, voluntary Class 2 NI and the High Income Child Benefit Charge. A product graded 0 of 16 can file your quarterly updates but is not graded able to finish your return.

Is 0 of 16 actually a problem?

Honestly, it depends entirely on your tax life, and a lot of coverage gets this wrong in both directions.

First, context. Sage is not unusual here:

104of 159 (65%)cannot complete a single tax-return itemHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026

That is the majority of the directory, so 0 of 16 is the market norm rather than a Sage failing. What makes it worth acting on is that a meaningful minority have solved it:

43of 159 (27%)have 9 or more of the 16 return items readyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026

So the question is simply whether your return contains anything beyond business income and expenses. If you have a workplace pension, some savings interest, dividends from an old shareholding, CIS deductions, a student loan or the High Income Child Benefit Charge, those are return items. If your only income is your trade or your rent, a 0 of 16 product may serve you fine for the quarterly cycle, and you finish the year another way.

The full breakdown of which products sit where is in our analysis of every HMRC-listed MTD tool, and you can filter the directory yourself on the MTD software directory.

The alternatives, by what you are trying to fix

If you want completeness: the nine-or-more cohort

These are the products graded at nine or more of the 16 return items ready now, which is where the field separates.

The most complete products on HMRC's directory by ready-now tax-return items, as graded on 17 October 2026.

Product	Free	Sole trader	UK property	Foreign property	Mobile app	Return items
@1TaxFiler	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
1 1 MTD Bridge	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
123 e-Filing MTD for Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
AATAX	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
AbraTax MTD for Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
Avona	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
EasyTaxer.com	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
FileThat!	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
FreeAgent	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Android; Apple iOS	16/16
FreeAgent for free with Mettle, NatWest & RBS	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Android; Apple iOS	16/16
MTD 4 Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Android; Apple iOS	16/16
MTD Companion for iPhone & iPad	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Apple iOS	16/16

Among the products graded nine or more, the ones most likely to suit someone leaving Sage:

Clear Books Free

£0 forever(checked August 2026)

• Free version: yes
• Android; Apple iOS: yes
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: yes
• Keeps digital records: yes

15/16 tax-return items ready, 1 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

An established UK accounting suite like Sage, but free including the final declaration, with no card and no transaction limits. Graded not included on foreign property.

FreeAgent

£19/mo sole trader, £10/mo landlord list; £0 with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle account(checked August 2026)

• Free version: no
• 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 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

The free version on HMRC's listing is bank-gated in practice: it needs a partner bank account used monthly. Graded not included on foreign property.

QuickBooks (Intuit)

£10 + VAT/mo Sole Trader(checked August 2026)

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

15/16 tax-return items ready.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Promotional rate of £1 plus VAT for the first 6 months. No free tier. Graded not included on foreign property.

If you want the same price or lower

Sage Sole Trader & Landlord is £7 plus VAT a month as checked in August 2026, with a 90% discount for the first six months. Products at or below that:

TaxHeaven

£0 Angel, £58.80/yr Archangel(checked August 2026)

• Free version: yes
• No mobile app listed: no
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: yes
• Keeps digital records: yes

15/16 tax-return items ready, 1 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Angel covers one automated business or income type and three AI uses a month. HMRC lists no mobile app. Graded ready on foreign property and 15 of 16 return items.

My Tax Digital (Free)

£0(checked August 2026)

• Free version: yes
• No mobile app listed: no
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: yes
• Keeps digital records: yes

15/16 tax-return items ready, 1 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Genuinely free with no paid tier at all, covering VAT and Income Tax, bridging or full accounting, multi-business and agents. Web only, no mobile app listed.

MTD 4 Income Tax

£20/yr individuals, £5/client/yr agents(checked August 2026)

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

16/16 tax-return items ready.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

One of 15 products on the directory graded ready on all 16 return items, and one of the eleven among them that cover all three income sources in any browser. Responsive web rather than a native app; first month free, no permanent free tier.

If you want foreign property

This is where the field narrows sharply, and where no Sage listing reaches.

77of 159 (48%)handle foreign property incomeHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026

RentalBux Free

£0(checked August 2026)

• Free version: yes
• Android; Apple iOS: yes
• Sole trader income: yes
• UK property income: yes
• Foreign property income: yes
• Keeps digital records: yes

15/16 tax-return items ready.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Free plan covers one property and is described as free until March 2028. Graded ready on all three income sources and 15 of 16 return items.

Xero

£7 + VAT/mo Simple, £16 + VAT/mo Ignite(checked August 2026)

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

11/16 tax-return items ready, 5 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

Same entry price as Sage and graded ready on foreign property, with 11 of the 16 return items ready now and 5 in development.

If you want to do it on a phone

Sage lists mobile apps on three of its four products, so this is not a gap so much as a difference in centre of gravity: Sage is accounting software with apps attached.

TapTax is built the other way round. It is tax first, with invoicing but no VAT returns or payroll, and the whole cycle runs from a phone: CSV import with presets for 16 UK banks brings transactions in, AI categorisation proposes the treatment, the camera captures receipts, and the quarterly update is a review and a tap. It covers sole trader, UK property and foreign property, and its free plan includes three invoices, with unlimited invoicing on Starter.

The honest caveat, which we put on every page: TapTax is HMRC-recognised, with its directory listing pending, so it did not appear on the 17 October 2026 directory scrape. Sage is listed today. If you need a product that is on the HMRC directory today, choose a listed one. TapTax's own return-items position is mid-pack at roughly six to eight of 16, ahead of Sage's 0 and well behind the 15 of 16 cohort.

“Leaving a big brand over one column in a spreadsheet is usually an overreaction. Leaving because that column is the year-end and yours has a pension in it is not.”

When you should just stay on Sage

Three cases, stated plainly because a page like this is otherwise too easy to write in one direction.

Your accountant works in Sage. The cost of them relearning a tool almost always exceeds the software saving, and Sage is graded ready on agent software across all four listings.

You are inside the free tier and your income is business-only. Five sales invoices a month is a real cap, but if you are under it and your return has nothing beyond your trade or rent, a 0 of 16 grade may never bite.

You use Sage for the accounting, not the tax. VAT, payroll and invoicing are things Sage does and the tax-first alternatives on this page mostly do not.

The bottom line

Sage's MTD position on HMRC's own data is: four listings, a real free tier, mobile on three of four, ready for quarterly updates, not included on foreign property, and 0 of 16 on the year-end return items with the rest in development.

If that last number matters for your return, the strongest like-for-like alternatives are Clear Books Free at £0 and 15 of 16, FreeAgent at 16 of 16 if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle, and QuickBooks if you want the other big brand. If you need foreign property, look at Clear Books Free, Xero, RentalBux, TaxHeaven or My Tax Digital. If you want the whole thing on a phone, TapTax is built for that, and is HMRC-recognised with its directory listing pending.

Check any of the listed products against the same source rather than the marketing, in the MTD software directory. TapTax has no row there yet.

People also ask

Can Sage file MTD for Income Tax?

Yes. All four Sage listings on HMRC's directory are graded ready on digital record-keeping, sole trader income, UK property, agent software, and both standard and calendar update periods, so they can keep your records and submit your quarterly updates. The limitation on current grading is the year end: all four are graded 0 of HMRC's 16 tax-return items ready now, with 14 to 15 in development, meaning committed for the 2026-27 return but not shipped as of our 17 October 2026 scrape.

What is the cheapest alternative to Sage for MTD?

Several products file MTD for Income Tax at £0. Clear Books Free is the closest to Sage in shape, an established UK accounting suite that is forever free including the final declaration with no card and no transaction limits, and graded 15 of 16 on return items. TaxHeaven Angel and My Tax Digital are also £0, both graded 15 of 16 and both ready on foreign property, though neither is listed with a mobile app. MTD 4 Income Tax is £20 a year and is one of 15 products graded ready on all 16 return items.

Is Sage or QuickBooks better for sole traders in 2026?

On HMRC's grading QuickBooks is ahead on the year end: 15 of 16 tax-return items ready against Sage's 0 of 16, as of the 17 October 2026 scrape. Both are graded ready on sole trader and UK property and not included on foreign property, and both list iOS and Android apps. On price Sage is cheaper at £7 plus VAT a month against QuickBooks at £10 plus VAT, and Sage has a real free tier capped at 5 sales invoices a month while QuickBooks has none. So Sage wins on entry cost and QuickBooks on completeness.

Does Sage have a free MTD plan?

Yes. Sage Sole Trader & Landlord Free is a genuine free tier and HMRC's directory carries the free version flag for it. The published cap as checked in August 2026 is 5 sales invoices a month. It is graded ready on digital record-keeping, sole trader income, UK property, agent software and calendar update periods, with iOS and Android apps listed. Like every Sage listing it is graded 0 of 16 on the tax-return items, with 15 in development, so plan for how your year end gets finished.