The table above shows your monthly fee and best-use case at a glance. These columns show the protection, cash-handling, and overdraft differences that tend to change the final decision.
| Provider | FSCS protection | Cash deposits | Overdraft | Key drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tide | Yes (via ClearBank) | £2.50 up to £500 (Post Office) or 3% (PayPoint) | No | 5 free transfers a month; 20p each after |
| Starling | Yes (banking licence) | 0.7% (Post Office) | Yes, subject to status | £5.50 delivery fee per SWIFT transfer |
| Mettle | Yes (NatWest licence) | £2.75 per deposit (Post Office) | No | No CASS; FreeAgent free only with active monthly use |
| ANNA | No (e-money, safeguarded) | Not accepted | No | 0.95% charge on all incoming transfers |
| Monzo | Yes (banking licence) | £1 flat (PayPoint or Post Office) | Up to £3,000, subject to eligibility | Accounting integrations locked to paid Pro tier (£9/month) |
| Zempler | Yes (banking licence) | £4 min or 0.55% (Post Office) | Not available to sole traders | Only 3 free transfers a month; 35p each after |
| NatWest | Yes (banking licence) | Free in startup window; 95p/£100 after | Yes, subject to status | Hard credit check; 5 to 10 day application |
| Verified 20 July 2026. | ||||
Our Sole Trader Bank Account Picks
Best Overall
Pick Tide for invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt capture inside the banking app. It opens in minutes with an NI number and photo ID, and new accounts are FSCS protected to £120,000 via ClearBank.
The free plan covers 5 transfers a month, then 20p each way, and includes 3 free invoices a month. If you bill more than three clients monthly or run heavy transfer volumes, Starling is the genuinely free alternative at any volume.
Get £100 cashback with TideBest Free Account
Starling is the cleanest free account here: no monthly fee, no per-transaction charges, FSCS protection, and an overdraft subject to status. If you bill by invoice and rarely handle cash, £0 a month with a full banking licence is hard to beat.
Get Starling’s FSCS coverBest for Freelancers
Most freelancers are sole traders for banking purposes, so Tide fits here too: you create, send, and chase invoices from the app, with automatic reconciliation when payment lands.
If your freelance work has its own needs, international clients, platform payouts, or irregular income, see our dedicated best accounts for freelancers guide for picks matched to that intent.
Get £100 cashback with TideBest for Trades and Contractors
NatWest pairs a business current account with FreeAgent bundled free and cash deposits over the counter at branches and the Post Office.
If clients pay cash on-site and you want an overdraft to grow into, the slower onboarding is worth it: its Start-up account gives eligible new businesses two years of free everyday banking, after which the account moves to NatWest’s per-transaction Standard Tariff.
Get free FreeAgent with NatWestBest for Tax and Self-Assessment Tools
Mettle shows your estimated tax in real time through bundled FreeAgent: categorised transactions flow into your return, and you file self-assessment from the same place. Tide’s tax pot auto-reserves a share of each payment in. Both work on the free tier.
Get free FreeAgent with MettleBest for Cash Deposits
NatWest earns this on branch access, not on being the outright cheapest. It takes cash over the counter at its branches and at the Post Office, free during its qualifying free-banking window.
After that window the account moves to the Standard Tariff, where cash costs 95p per £100 paid in. Starling charges a flat 0.7% through the Post Office, which is cheaper once NatWest’s free period ends.
For small or occasional deposits, Monzo’s flat £1 a deposit often beats everyone. Mettle charges £2.75 a deposit, Zempler from £4, Tide £2.50 at the Post Office or 3% via PayPoint, and ANNA takes no cash.
Bank cash at a NatWest branchBest for International Payments
We rate Starling the strongest verified option for billing overseas clients or paying suppliers abroad: currency conversion at 0.4% on the standard sterling account, cheaper than ANNA’s 1% or Monzo’s 1%. Each international (SWIFT) transfer adds a £5.50 delivery fee.
It is the same account we pick as best free overall, so there is no separate product to open; we flag that overlap rather than hide it.
The nearest alternatives cost more on the conversion itself: ANNA charges 1% plus £5 per SWIFT payment, and Monzo charges 1% on incoming foreign-currency payments, capped at £1,000 per transaction.
Get Starling’s multi-currency accountBest for Newly Self-Employed Sole Traders
Tide, Starling, and Mettle open to sole traders on day one, with no minimum turnover or trading history. Apply the same day you register with HMRC; most applications finish in under 10 minutes with an NI number and photo ID.
Get £100 cashback with TideBusiness Bank Account Providers Compared
We ran these accounts through the jobs a sole trader does day to day, then weighed each on the fit that matters: the application path, the self-assessment tools, the structural limits, and what the account really costs once you add transfers, cash, and FX at self-employed volumes.
Tide Free Business Account
Zempler Bank Business Go Account
ANNA Money Pay As You Go Account
Starling Bank Business Current Account
Monzo Business Lite Account
Mettle Business Bank Account
NatWest Business Bank Account
What These Sole Trader Bank Accounts Really Cost
Your “free” sole trader account may not be free once you add transfers, cash, and FX. We checked each fee against the provider’s current pricing page in July 2026. The table runs from the headline fee to what you would realistically pay.
| Provider | Monthly fee | UK transfers | Cash deposits | FX fees | Paid plan trigger | Realistic monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tide | Free | 5 free/mo, then 20p | £2.50 up to £500 (Post Office) or 3% (PayPoint) | 2.75% card use; 0% on paid plans | Tide Smart £12.49 above ~68 transfers/mo | ~£5 at 30 payments |
| Starling | Free | Free | 0.7% (Post Office) | Mastercard rate, no markup | None, free at any volume | £0 |
| Mettle | Free | Free | £2.75/deposit (Post Office) | Mastercard rate | None | £0 |
| ANNA | From £0 (PAYG) | Free out; 0.95% on money in | Not accepted | 1% conversion | Paid tier adds tax automation | From £0, plus 0.95% on incoming |
| Monzo | Free (Lite) | Free | £1 (PayPoint) | 1% on incoming FX | Pro £9/mo for integrations and pots | £0 (Lite) |
| Zempler | Free | 3 free/mo, then 35p | £4 min or 0.55% (Post Office) | Standard | Above 3 transfers/mo (35p each) | ~£9 at 30 payments |
| NatWest | Free for 2yr (startups) | Free (electronic) | Free in window, then 95p/£100 (branch / Post Office) | 2.75% non-sterling | Standard Tariff (per-transaction) after 2yr | £0 in the free period |
| Verified 20 July 2026. | ||||||
Low payment volume. Under 30 payments a month, Tide Free is the cheapest account that also gives you invoicing; Starling and Mettle stay at £0 too.
High payment volume. Above roughly 68 outgoing transfers a month, Tide’s 20p fees overtake Tide Smart at £12.49, so move to Starling or Mettle, which are free at any volume.
Cash-heavy businesses. Starling charges 0.7% at the Post Office, NatWest is free during its startup window then 95p per £100, Mettle £2.75 a deposit, Zempler from £4, Tide £2.50 at the Post Office, and Monzo a flat £1. Only ANNA takes no cash.
International payments. We found Starling the cheapest verified option, converting at 0.4% on the sterling account; NatWest charges 2.75% on non-sterling card use, so regular overseas billing points to Starling.
Eligibility and Account Requirements
Sole trader banking differs from limited company banking in ways that shape which accounts fit: you file self-assessment rather than corporation tax, you are personally liable for the business, and there is no company registration for a bank to verify.
So sole traders apply with an NI number and UTR, not a Companies House number. We checked each provider’s published application requirements in July 2026. The table covers acceptance and application; the bullets explain the trading names, UTRs, and credit checks you should expect.
| Provider | Accepts sole traders | Companies House number needed? | Credit check | Typical opening time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tide | Yes | No | Soft | Minutes |
| Starling | Yes | No | Soft | Minutes |
| Mettle | Yes | No | Soft | Minutes |
| ANNA | Yes | No | Soft | Minutes |
| Monzo | Yes | No | Soft | Minutes |
| Zempler | Yes | No | Soft | 1 to 2 days |
| NatWest | Yes | No | Standard (hard) | 5 to 10 working days |
| Verified 20 July 2026. | ||||
NI number and ID. Every account here opens on your National Insurance number and photo ID. None asks a sole trader for a Companies House registration; a provider that does is not built for sole traders.
UTR. Have your Unique Taxpayer Reference to hand. Most providers ask for it at or after opening so self-assessment links up cleanly, and NatWest uses it as part of underwriting.
Trading names. ANNA and Mettle are built around self-employed people and accept a trading name such as “Smith Plumbing”. The others open in your personal name, with a trading name added in-app where the provider supports it.
Credit checks. Tide, Starling, Monzo, Mettle, Zempler, and ANNA run soft checks that don’t affect your personal score. NatWest runs a standard hard check, so if you are about to apply for a mortgage, hold off on a NatWest application.
Application time. App-first providers open in minutes; Zempler takes one to two days; NatWest takes five to ten working days through its online or branch route.
Features That Matter for Sole Traders
The features that save you January-deadline stress matter more than the ones that look slick on a marketing page. We weighted self-assessment tools, integrations, cash access, and borrowing by how much a sole trader actually uses them.
Accounting Integrations
We checked each integration against the providers’ current documentation in July 2026. Tide and Starling cover Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent directly. Mettle integrates only via FreeAgent, which it bundles free.
Monzo connects to Xero and QuickBooks, but only on its Pro tier (£9 a month), not the free Lite plan. ANNA supports Xero and QuickBooks but has no Sage integration. NatWest covers FreeAgent, Xero, and QuickBooks.
Zempler leans on its own built-in tools rather than third-party connectors: its free Business Go tier includes integrated accounting, an invoice generator, cashflow tracking, and Making Tax Digital features.
Invoicing Tools
Tide ships built-in invoicing: create, send, and track invoices inside the banking app, with payment links and automatic reconciliation. The free plan caps this at 3 invoices a month, so heavier billers need a paid tier or separate software.
Mettle also lets you create, send, and track invoices in-app, with extra invoicing and quoting features available through its optional paid Mettle+ upgrade.
ANNA bundles AI invoice matching as a paid add-on. Starling, Monzo, Zempler, and NatWest leave invoicing to your accounting software.
Invoicing inside the bank wins if you don’t already run accounting software; if you do, your invoices belong where your books are.
Tax and Self-Assessment Tools
Tax-side tools are the single biggest differentiator for sole traders. Tide’s tax pot auto-reserves a percentage of every incoming payment.
Mettle’s bundled FreeAgent calculates your estimated tax liability in real time and lets you file self-assessment directly; it stays free only while you make at least one transaction a month from your Mettle account, otherwise standard FreeAgent charges apply.
NatWest’s bundled FreeAgent does the same. Starling connects to FreeAgent but you configure the bank feed manually.
Starling also builds free Making Tax Digital tools into the sole trader account itself: quarterly income-tax submissions to HMRC, expense categorisation, and real-time tax estimates.
Keep that separate from Starling Accounting, a paid upgrade for VAT-specific bookkeeping priced at £7 a month until April 2027, then £14; the free tools cover income tax, the paid product adds VAT.
If you leave self-assessment to the last week of January, these tools do the organising you didn’t.
Cash Deposits
If you take cash, more of these accounts help than the app-first branding suggests. Starling charges 0.7% at the Post Office. NatWest is free at the counter during its startup window, then 95p per £100 on the Standard Tariff.
Monzo’s flat £1 a deposit is often cheapest for small or occasional amounts. Mettle charges £2.75 a deposit, Zempler from £4 (or 0.55%), and Tide £2.50 up to £500 at the Post Office or 3% via PayPoint. Only ANNA takes none.
| Provider | Cash deposits |
|---|---|
| NatWest | Free in window, then 95p/£100 (branch / Post Office) |
| Starling | 0.7% (Post Office) |
| Monzo | £1 per deposit (PayPoint / Post Office) |
| Mettle | £2.75 per deposit (Post Office) |
| Zempler | £4 min or 0.55% (Post Office) |
| Tide | £2.50 up to £500 (Post Office) or 3% (PayPoint) |
| ANNA | Not accepted |
| Verified 20 July 2026. | |
Overdrafts and Borrowing
Starling offers an overdraft subject to status on the free tier. NatWest offers overdrafts to sole traders through standard underwriting. Monzo advertises sole trader overdrafts up to £3,000 and business loans up to £25,000, both subject to eligibility.
Zempler’s business overdraft is not currently available to sole traders; its own account page says the facility is coming but not yet open to them. Tide, Mettle, and ANNA don’t offer sole trader overdrafts.
If you need a borrowing facility alongside your current account, a business credit card is usually the more accessible route for sole traders with limited trading history.
App and Day-to-Day Banking
All digital providers offer in-app chat, instant card freeze, push notifications, and two-factor authentication. We rate Tide and Starling the most polished. NatWest is usable but noticeably less refined. ANNA is feature-rich but the AI features require the paid tier.
How to Choose the Right Sole Trader Bank Account
The right sole trader account depends on how you bill, what you accept as payment, what you trade under, and how much admin you want the bank to absorb. Use this as a decision framework, not another ranking pass.
Choose by payment volume. Under 30 payments a month, Tide Free is cheapest and includes invoicing. At 30 to 60, Starling or Mettle win because Tide’s 20p fees add up.
Above 60 payments, Starling and Mettle stay free; Tide Smart at £12.49 only pays off once you clear about 68 transfers a month.
Choose by cash handling. If you take cash regularly, as a plumber paid on-site, a market trader, or a decorator on stage payments, app polish is secondary.
Starling charges 0.7% at the Post Office, and NatWest adds branch counters, free during its startup window then 95p per £100 once it moves to the Standard Tariff.
Mettle, Zempler, Tide, and Monzo also take cash, at various rates; Monzo’s flat £1 is often cheapest for small amounts. Only ANNA takes none.
Choose by business type. Freelancers billing by invoice: Starling or Tide. Trades paid in cash: NatWest or Starling. International billing with European or US clients: Starling. Trading-name operators such as “Smith Plumbing”: ANNA or Mettle.
If you expect to incorporate, treat a sole trader account as a stopgap, not a foundation. A sole trader account does not convert into a limited-company one.
Starling, for instance, requires that you are not registered as a company limited by shares to hold its sole trader account, so once you incorporate you no longer qualify and apply for its separate limited-company account. Budget for a fresh application whichever provider you use.
Choose by bookkeeping needs. If your accountant uses FreeAgent, Mettle and NatWest bundle it free, around £14.50 a month saved. If invoicing matters more than accounting, Tide’s built-in invoicing removes a subscription. For minimal admin, Starling.
The moment it matters is 31 January: a bank that already categorises your transactions saves you a weekend, and one that doesn’t costs you one.
Do Sole Traders Need a Business Bank Account?
HMRC doesn’t require sole traders to hold a separate business account. The legal position is straightforward: there’s no rule that says you have to.
The practical position is different. Read the small print of most high-street personal current accounts and you’ll find a clause prohibiting regular business use. Banks don’t always spot it immediately, but they can ask you to move when they do, sometimes with little notice.
Mixing personal and business money is the single most reliable route to a stressful January self-assessment.
Most sole traders who have done it once don’t do it twice: reconstructing twelve months of transactions to find the deductible expenses takes a weekend you won’t get back.
The cost argument against opening a separate account has largely gone. Starling, Mettle, and Monzo are free, FSCS protected, and open in minutes. If you are in scope for Making Tax Digital, a dedicated account with software integration cuts the quarterly submission workload in half.
Making Tax Digital and Sole Trader Accounts
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is rolling out by income level. Sole traders with qualifying income above £50,000 were brought into scope from 6 April 2026. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028.
What it requires is digital records of all business income and expenses, plus quarterly updates submitted to HMRC through compatible software.
A bank account alone doesn’t satisfy that obligation. What it does do is cut the friction substantially when the account feeds directly into your bookkeeping software.
FreeAgent bundled. Mettle and NatWest include FreeAgent at no extra cost. FreeAgent handles MTD-compatible quarterly Income Tax submissions from your accounts; we checked the standalone price in July 2026 at £14.50 a month excluding VAT, which the bundled accounts save you entirely.
MTD tools built in. Starling includes quarterly MTD Income Tax submission tools, automated expense categorisation, and real-time tax estimates within the free sole trader account, without needing separate software for the income-tax layer.
Integration accounts. Tide connects to Xero and QuickBooks. ANNA and Monzo (on its Pro tier at £9 a month) do too. If you already use one of those platforms, the account keeps the feed live without manual re-entry.
One thing worth checking: verify with your accounting software provider that your specific income types are covered before each April threshold change. The MTD submission schema can shift as HMRC refines the requirements.
How to Switch Sole Trader Bank Accounts
Sole traders usually switch for one of three reasons: the account stopped fitting how the business grew, a better product appeared, or a free period ended. The steps below move you across without dropping a client payment or an HMRC direct debit.
- Check CASS support. Confirm both the old and new providers offer the Current Account Switch Service. If either doesn’t, plan a manual migration instead.
- Move direct debits. Redirect HMRC, software subscriptions, and supplier standing orders. CASS moves these automatically; a manual switch needs a checklist.
- Update client payment details. Send your new account details to anyone who pays you by bank transfer, and update invoices and payment links.
- Keep the old account open (manual migrations only). If you are doing a manual migration rather than a full CASS switch, leave the old account open for at least 60 days so stray payments still land somewhere. A full CASS switch closes the old account for you and redirects payments automatically for at least 13 months, so you do not need to.
- Reconcile both accounts. For the first month, check both so any bounced or misdirected payment shows up and can be chased.
| Provider | Supports full CASS? |
|---|---|
| Starling | Yes |
| Monzo | Yes |
| NatWest | Yes |
| Tide | Yes |
| Zempler | Yes |
| Mettle | No (manual migration) |
| ANNA | No (manual migration) |
| Verified 20 July 2026. | |
Traditional-bank startup periods revert to standard tariff charges automatically. Set a reminder two months before your free period ends and start the switch then, not on the day fees begin. Most CASS switches complete within seven working days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which sole trader bank account is free?
Starling and Mettle are free with no monthly fee and no per-transaction charge. Tide’s free plan has no monthly fee but charges 20p per transfer after the first five each month. Monzo’s Lite plan is free. NatWest offers two years free two ways: automatically on its Start-up account for new businesses trading under a year, or via a full switch to its standard Business account for an existing business. Both then move to a per-transaction Standard Tariff rather than a flat monthly fee. For a genuinely free account at any volume, Starling and Mettle are the cleanest picks.
Which accounts don’t require a Companies House number?
All seven accounts on this page accept sole traders without a Companies House registration. You apply with your National Insurance number, UTR, and photo ID instead. Providers that require a company registration number (such as Airwallex) are excluded from this comparison. If a provider asks for a company registration during your application, it isn’t designed for sole traders.
Can I use a trading name as a sole trader?
Yes, with some providers. ANNA and Mettle are built around self-employed people and accept a trading name such as “Smith Plumbing” on the account. Most other providers open the account in your personal name and let you add a trading name in-app where supported. As a sole trader you can trade under a business name without registering it, provided it isn’t misleading and doesn’t imply you’re a limited company.
Can sole traders get a business bank account overdraft?
Overdraft facilities for sole traders are limited. Starling offers an overdraft subject to individual eligibility, assessed through the app. NatWest offers overdrafts to sole traders, though approval depends on your credit profile and trading history. Monzo advertises sole trader overdrafts up to £3,000 and business loans up to £25,000, both subject to eligibility. Tide, Mettle, ANNA, and Zempler don’t currently offer sole trader overdrafts (Zempler says its facility is coming but not yet open to sole traders). If you need a borrowing facility alongside your current account, a business credit card is usually the more accessible route. Several providers approve sole traders with limited trading history.
Are sole trader bank accounts FSCS protected?
Most are. Starling, NatWest, Mettle (via NatWest), Monzo (all plan tiers, including free Lite), and Zempler are FSCS protected up to £120,000 per banking licence, and Tide (new accounts via ClearBank) is too. ANNA operates as an e-money institution, so its funds are safeguarded but not covered by FSCS. For cash reserves above £10,000, FSCS protection materially matters.
What happens to my Starling sole trader account if I incorporate?
You would need to move to a different account. Starling’s sole trader account requires that you are not registered as a company limited by shares, so once you incorporate you no longer qualify for it and would apply for Starling’s separate limited company business account instead. The same pattern applies across providers: a sole trader account does not convert into a limited company one, so plan for a fresh application when you incorporate rather than assuming the account carries over.
When do sole traders have to use Making Tax Digital?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is phasing in by income level. Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 must comply from 6 April 2026; those over £30,000 from 6 April 2027; and those over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Once you are in scope you keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC using compatible software, so an account with built-in Making Tax Digital tools or a bundled bookkeeping subscription saves buying that separately.
How we reviewed sole trader bank accounts
What we assessed. We ranked accounts on five criteria: cost at realistic volumes (20 to 60 transactions a month), sole trader eligibility, tax and self-assessment tools, FSCS deposit protection, and setup speed. Cost and protection carry the most weight because every sole trader faces them.
How we checked the data. We opened accounts with providers that allow it and tested each on core sole trader tasks: invoicing, categorising a transaction, checking a tax estimate. Fees verified against provider pricing pages, July 2026; FSCS status verified against the FCA register.
Revolut was excluded: its business account targets limited companies, and its sole-trader Pro product could not be cleanly verified for fees or deposit protection.
Updates. We re-verify pricing, eligibility, and terms whenever a provider makes a change, and conduct a full review at least every three months. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent verification pass.
Commercial disclosure. Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you open an account through one we may earn a commission at no cost to you. This does not affect our rankings; all providers are assessed on the same criteria. See our full editorial policy.