Tide vs Starling vs Mettle vs Monzo Business Accounts 2026

For most UK small businesses, Starling is the strongest all-round free business account, Mettle wins for sole traders and micro limited companies thanks to free FreeAgent, Tide suits cash-heavy businesses that want invoicing built in, and Monzo Business fits existing Monzo personal users. Rough rule: Starling for reliability, Mettle for accounting, Tide for cash, Monzo for familiarity.

Tide vs Starling vs Mettle vs Monzo Business at a glance

Why does this comparison matter?

These four are the accounts most UK small business owners actually shortlist in 2026. All four are free at entry level, all four are mobile-first, and all four onboard in minutes rather than the weeks the high-street banks still take.

The differences come down to four things:

• Who owns them — Tide is a fintech partnered with ClearBank, Starling is a fully licensed bank, Mettle is owned by NatWest, Monzo is a fully licensed bank
• Cost when cash is involved — the free tiers vary wildly once you deposit cash or send money abroad
• Accounting integrations — especially FreeAgent, which is only free with Mettle
• Who they're built for — some limit account types (Mettle won't take Ltds with more than two owners)

We bank with Starling ourselves at SME Shack, so we can speak from experience — but we've onboarded clients onto all four and each has a fair use case.

Tide — best for cash-in and invoicing-heavy businesses

Tide is the biggest business-banking fintech in the UK by customer numbers. It's not a bank itself — your money sits in a safeguarding account at ClearBank, which is FSCS-protected. Tide focuses on the tools around banking: invoicing, expense management, receipt capture, and integrated accounting.

What you get (Free plan):

• £0 monthly fee, opens in minutes
• 5 free UK transfers per month, then 20p each
• Free plan Post Office deposits: £2.50 for deposits up to £500, then 0.99% above that
• Built-in invoicing, expense categorisation, receipt scanning
• Integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and FreeAgent
• Paid tiers (Smart from around £12/month + VAT, Pro, and Max) unlock unlimited free transfers, discounted cash deposits (0.5%), and FX perks

Best for:

• Sole traders and micro-Ltds who take a lot of cash (shops, cafés, market traders)
• Businesses that want to send invoices and track expenses inside their banking app
• Owners who need a business account within 10 minutes and don't need a proper bank licence

Limitations:

• The 20p transfer fee on the Free plan adds up quickly once you're doing more than 20–30 payments a month
• ATM withdrawals cost £1 each
• A fair use policy applies to the "unlimited transfers" on paid tiers — Tide will contact you if usage looks unusual for the plan
• Because Tide isn't a bank, some suppliers and lenders (rarely) treat it as a payment account rather than a bank account — worth checking if you're applying for credit

Starling Business — the strongest all-rounder

Starling has won *Best British Bank* at the British Bank Awards multiple years running, and its business account is the closest thing the UK has to a "just works" business bank. It's a fully licensed UK bank, so your deposits are FSCS-protected directly (no partner-bank arrangement).

What you get:

• £0 monthly fee
• Free UK transfers, unlimited, no fair use policy
• Free ATM withdrawals (subject to daily limits)
• Post Office cash deposits at 0.7% (minimum £3 per deposit)
• International payments in 30+ countries from £0.30 with a 0.4% FX fee — genuinely competitive
• Add-ons: Euro account (£2/month) and USD account (£5/month, though new USD applications have been temporarily paused)
• Full integrations with Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent
• Overdrafts available, subject to eligibility
• 24/7 UK-based human customer support by phone or chat

Best for:

• Any small business that wants a straightforward, low-fee, fully licensed bank account
• Freelancers and consultants sending international invoices
• Ltd companies with multiple directors (Starling handles this cleanly, Mettle doesn't)
• Businesses that value real customer service over app novelty

Limitations:

• The Post Office cash deposit fee of 0.7% (minimum £3) can be pricey for small cash deposits
• No FreeAgent freebie (you'll pay separately if you want it)
• Business Toolkit — Starling's own bookkeeping tool — costs £7/month if you want the extras

We use Starling ourselves at SME Shack, and it's the one we most often recommend when a client isn't sure. If you want to see how our own care plans are billed, that's the account they land in.

Mettle — best if you use FreeAgent

Mettle is NatWest's fintech play — a fully mobile business account with no monthly fee, backed by a high-street bank, and (crucially) including a free FreeAgent subscription worth around £150 a year. NatWest owns FreeAgent, which is why the integration is so tight.

What you get:

• £0 monthly fee
• Free UK transfers, unlimited, no ATM withdrawal fees at UK cash machines
• FreeAgent bookkeeping software included free (you'd otherwise pay ~£12+/month)
• Invoice creation, payment matching, running tax estimates inside the app
• International payments now supported
• Backed by NatWest — FSCS protection applies through the parent group
• Real human support via chat during extended hours (not 24/7)

Best for:

• Sole traders — Mettle was originally built for them and it shows
• Small limited companies (up to two owners) who want their bookkeeping and banking in one place
• Anyone whose accountant already uses FreeAgent

Limitations:

• Only supports sole traders and Ltds with up to two owners — three-director companies, partnerships and CICs are excluded
• No overdraft facility, though you can be routed to NatWest for lending
• No direct Post Office cash deposit facility (limits Mettle's usefulness for shops, cafés, tradespeople handling cash)
• Some existing "e-money" Mettle accounts have been transitioned to full bank accounts over 2025–26, with new sort codes and account numbers — a one-off admin task if you were an early customer

Mettle is very much operational in 2026 and still onboarding new customers. It was voted *Best Business Banking Provider* at the 2025 British Bank Awards. If you saw forum posts about "Mettle closing", those referred to specific individual account closures, not the platform itself.

Monzo Business — best for existing Monzo users

Monzo Business is the natural upgrade for anyone already using Monzo personally. It sits inside the same app, uses the same interface, and connects to the same 24/7 chat support. It's a fully licensed UK bank, so FSCS protection applies directly.

What you get:

• Lite plan free, Pro at £9/month, Team at £25/month
• Free UK transfers, unlimited, on all tiers
• Post Office cash deposits at £1 per deposit (or 3% — whichever is greater)
• Cash deposit limits: £3,000/month for sole traders, £10,000/month for Ltds
• Pro plan unlocks invoicing, tax pots, virtual cards, accounting integrations (Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent), and auto-exports
• Team plan adds expense cards, bulk payments, and payment approvals
• International transfers via a built-in Wise integration (outbound); 1% fee on inbound FX (capped at £1,000)

Best for:

• Freelancers and consultants who already run their personal finances through Monzo
• Small teams that will use expense cards and bulk payment features (Team plan)
• Businesses that value slick UX above cheapest possible fees

Limitations:

• Accounting integrations and invoicing sit behind the £9/month Pro plan — Starling and Mettle include these free
• No overdraft on the business account
• Monzo Pro's price rose from £5 to £9/month for new customers in late 2024 — plan for that in your fee comparison
• Cash deposits are more restricted (both by fee and monthly cap) than Tide or Starling

What does this cost in real life?

Let's take a realistic example: a sole trader turning over £60,000/year, taking mostly card payments in, sending ~40 supplier and contractor payments a month, occasionally depositing £200 cash a week, and using FreeAgent for bookkeeping.

Annual banking costs (rough):

• Tide (Free plan): ~£84 in transfer fees (40 payments × 12 months × 20p, minus 5 free/month) + ~£130 in Post Office cash deposit fees (£2.50 × ~52 weeks) + £144 FreeAgent (paid separately) = ~£358/year
• Starling: £0 transfer fees + ~£156 cash deposit fees (0.7%, £3 minimum × 52 weeks) + £144 FreeAgent = ~£300/year
• Mettle: £0 transfer fees + £0 FreeAgent (included) + no direct Post Office cash deposits (this sole trader would need a different route for cash — maybe a partner NatWest branch) = ~£0/year in fees, but a cash-handling gap
• Monzo Business Lite: £0 transfer fees + ~£52 cash deposit fees + £144 FreeAgent = ~£196/year, but no invoicing or integrations without the £108/year Pro upgrade = ~£304/year with Pro

The picture flips depending on whether cash is involved. No cash, using FreeAgent → Mettle wins on cost. Regular cash → Starling or Tide's paid tiers make more sense.

What does SME Shack recommend?

For the small businesses we work with:

• Sole trader, no cash, uses FreeAgent → Mettle. The free FreeAgent alone saves ~£150/year.
• Freelancer or consultant, sends international invoices → Starling. Cheapest cross-border fees of the four.
• Shop, café, market trader taking regular cash → Tide (paid tier for lower cash fees) or Starling (if cash is under ~£400/week and the 0.7% fee is tolerable).
• Ltd with 3+ directors or partnership → Starling (Mettle can't take you, and Monzo Business fits smaller teams best).
• Already a happy Monzo personal user, few transactions → Monzo Business Lite, upgrade to Pro only when you need invoicing.
• You want to automate the bookkeeping side entirely → look at our AI-driven bookkeeping and automation service. Any of these accounts will feed into it via API, but the account choice matters less than the automation layer on top.

And a plug for our own experience: we bank with Starling. It's boring, it works, the support answers within a minute, and it's never lost a payment. That's what we want from a business bank.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is my money safe with Tide if it isn't a bank?

A: Yes. Tide uses ClearBank to hold your funds, and ClearBank is FSCS-protected. In practical terms, your money is covered up to the FSCS limit just as it would be at a licensed bank — but the protection is via the partner bank, not Tide itself. Starling, Mettle (via NatWest) and Monzo are all licensed banks with direct FSCS coverage.

Q: Is Mettle actually closing down?

A: No. Mettle is fully operational in 2026, still accepting new customers, still owned and backed by NatWest, and won *Best Business Banking Provider* at the 2025 British Bank Awards. Some early "e-money" Mettle accounts have been migrated to full bank accounts with new sort codes — that's a modernisation, not a closure.

Q: Which of these integrates best with FreeAgent?

A: Mettle — because NatWest owns both Mettle and FreeAgent, the integration is deepest and FreeAgent is included free with a Mettle account. Starling, Tide and Monzo all integrate with FreeAgent too, but you'll pay for FreeAgent separately (~£12+/month).

Q: Can I get an overdraft with any of these?

A: Starling offers overdrafts subject to eligibility. Mettle doesn't, but you can be routed to NatWest for lending. Tide offers a credit-builder and cashflow tools rather than a traditional overdraft. Monzo Business doesn't currently offer business overdrafts. If borrowing is important, Starling is the strongest fit of the four.

Q: Do any of them have branches I can walk into?

A: All four are app-first — none has its own branch network. Starling and Monzo let you deposit cash at any Post Office. Tide accepts cash via Post Office or PayPoint. Mettle doesn't currently support Post Office cash deposits directly, which is its biggest gap for cash-heavy businesses.

Q: Can I have more than one of these accounts open at once?

A: Yes — and many small businesses do. A common setup is Starling for day-to-day banking + Wise (or Starling's Euro account) for international payments + a separate savings pot. There's no rule against it, and none of these four charge to close an account if you change your mind.