Best Online-Only Business Accounts UK: Tide and Starling Lead
🏠 Business Banking» Best Online-Only Business Bank Accounts (2026)
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Best Online-Only Business Bank Accounts (2026)

Tide leads on features at zero monthly cost: invoicing, receipt scanning, and accounting integrations in one app. Starling is genuinely free with no per-transaction charges and UK banking-licence deposit protection.

8 accounts reviewed
Independently assessed
Rates verified 23 April 2026
Most tools free
Tide
Business Current Account
  • Tide is a fully online business account with no branches required.
  • Open, verify, and start transacting entirely from the app in minutes.
  • Banking, invoicing, and expense tools all accessible from your phone.
View Deal → £100 cashback for new customers; eligibility applies. Confirm offer terms at tide.co.uk.

Best Free

Starling

Details →

Best for FX

Revolut

Details →

Best for interest

Zempler

Details →

We ranked eight accounts on what matters if you are running a digital-first business: real monthly cost (not headline pricing), per-transaction fees, cash deposit route, and whether FSCS protects your balance. Every provider on this list operates without branches.

Tide leads on feature breadth at zero monthly cost. Starling is the only genuinely free option for domestic payments at any volume. Revolut wins for multi-currency operations. Zempler pays interest under a UK banking licence.

If you transact digitally and handle cash only occasionally, any provider on this list works. If cash is daily operational reality, you probably need a different primary account; the two-account approach below covers it. Verified April 2026.

Quick Compare

Best Online-Only Business Bank Accounts at a Glance

Best Online-Only Business Bank Accounts at a Glance: Monthly Fee · Best For · Integrations
ProviderMonthly FeeBest ForIntegrationsApply
Tide logo
TideMost tools free
FreeFree banking + invoicingXero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage£100 cashbackView Deal →
Revolut logo
RevolutBest FX
£10/month (Basic). Grow £35/month billed monthly (£30/month effective on annual billing). Scale £125/month billed monthly (£90/month effective on annual billing).Multi-currency paymentsXero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent£100 bonusView Deal →
ANNA Money logo
ANNA
Pay As You Go (from £0)Tax + expense toolsBuilt-in tax toolsView Deal →
Zempler Bank logo
Zempler
FreeFree banking with built-in accountingBuilt-in accounting, invoicing, MTDView Deal →
Counting Up logo
Counting Up
From £3/monthFounders who want banking and accounting in one appBuilt-in bookkeeping and tax estimatesView Deal →
Starling Bank logo
StarlingFree at any volume
FreeFree account + invoicing + MTDXero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Penfold, SumUp (free)View Deal →
Monzo logo
Monzo
Free (Lite plan)Mobile-first bankingXero, QuickBooks (Pro plan, £9/month; not on free Lite)View Deal →
Mettle logo
Mettle
FreeFree for sole tradersFreeAgent (free, conditional), native invoicingView Deal →

Fees, features, and cash deposit routes verified against provider websites, April 2026. Account terms may change. Verify directly before opening.

Best Business Bank Accounts in the UK | Which One Suits You Best?

Our Top Online-Only Business Account Picks

Best Overall

Pick Tide for the broadest online-only feature set: invoicing, receipt scanning, expense categorisation, and native Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent integrations.

Free plan costs nothing; Tide Smart at £12.49/month lifts the free-transfer allowance to 30 a month, though on transfer fees alone it never undercuts the free plan. We rate it the strongest all-in-one digital account.

Get £100 cashback with Tide

Best Free Online-Only Account

Starling is the only genuinely free online-only option at any volume: no monthly fee, no per-transaction charge, no minimum balance. UK banking licence so deposits are FSCS-protected up to £120,000.

If volume is high and features are secondary, Starling costs less than every other provider on this list.

Get Starling’s £0-fee account

Best for International Payments

Revolut wins for multi-currency operations: hold GBP, EUR, USD in one account with interbank FX. Basic costs £10/month with 10 free UK payments, then 20p each.

Grow removes per-transfer fees and adds higher FX allowances, at £35/month billed monthly or an effective £30/month if you pay £360 for the year. We rate it best if you run 10+ international transfers monthly, and only worth pre-paying if you are sure you will stay.

Get £100 bonus

Best for Interest on Balances

Zempler holds a UK banking licence (FSCS-protected) and pays interest on your business balance, a combination no other provider offers. If your working balance exceeds £10,000 monthly, the interest earned can offset the monthly fee on paid tiers. Worth modelling against your cash position.

Earn interest with Zempler
Detailed provider reviews

A Closer Look at Each Online-Only Business Account

We assessed each provider on five criteria: real monthly cost at typical volumes, accounting integrations, cash deposit route and fee, app support quality, and FSCS protection status. All eight operate without branches.

The focus is what differentiates them from each other, not from traditional banks.

Tide Free Business Account
Tide logo
Tide Free Business Account
A free, app-based business account with built-in invoicing and a direct Sage bank feed.
Best for: Free banking with built-in invoicing
Watch out: After the first 5 free transfers each month, every bank transfer in or out costs 20p, and the free plan caps invoicing at 3 a month. Overseas card use carries a 2.75% FX fee on the free plan (0% on paid plans).
Not ideal if: Businesses needing an overdraft, branch access, or a multi-currency account that holds foreign-currency balances
Revolut Business Basic Account
Revolut logo
Revolut Business Basic Account
Revolut is the stronger all-in-one choice for incorporated businesses.
Best for: Incorporated UK businesses that want one account for UK banking, multi-currency wallets, team expense cards, and FSCS protection
Watch out: UK sole traders cannot open Revolut Business and are directed to Revolut Pro instead. Revolut is phasing accounts onto the FSCS-covered bank entity; some new signups still open on the e-money side. Check your terms to confirm which entity holds your money.
Not ideal if: UK sole traders, businesses that need branch access, cash deposits, or an overdraft, and anyone whose monthly FX volume regularly spikes above the plan allowance
ANNA Money Pay As You Go Account
ANNA Money logo
ANNA Money Pay As You Go Account
ANNA’s AI receipt scanning and automatic tax calculations make it a strong choice for sole traders who want bookkeeping done for them.
Best for: AI-powered tax and expense automation
Watch out: 20p per transfer after the first 20 free each month; international SWIFT payments cost £5 plus 1% currency conversion.
Not ideal if: Businesses making many daily transactions or needing FSCS deposit protection
Zempler Bank Business Go Account
Zempler Bank logo
Zempler Bank Business Go Account
One of the few digital banks to offer an overdraft facility on a free account, alongside built-in accounting, invoicing and Making Tax Digital tools that most app-only accounts charge for or don’t offer.
Best for: Free banking with built-in accounting and an overdraft option
Watch out: 3 free bank transfers per month, then 35p each. Built-in accounting, invoicing and Making Tax Digital tools are free; third-party integrations are fewer than Tide or Starling.
Not ideal if: Businesses needing deep third-party accounting integrations like Xero or QuickBooks
Counting Up Business Account
Counting Up logo
Counting Up Business Account
Counting Up combines business banking with automated bookkeeping and real-time tax estimates.
Best for: Founders who want banking and accounting in one app
Watch out: 30p per bank transfer and monthly fee; fewer features than dedicated accounting tools
Not ideal if: Businesses needing advanced accounting or multi-user access
Starling Bank Business Current Account
Starling Bank logo
Starling Bank Business Current Account
Award-winning app, free transfers, and overdraft availability make Starling one of the strongest all-round digital business accounts.
Best for: Full-featured free account with built-in invoicing, MTD tools and overdraft
Watch out: No branch access and limited human support options. International SWIFT transfers cost 0.4% currency conversion plus £5.50 delivery fee each. The free invoicing and Accounting Essentials features are confirmed on Starling’s sole trader account; verify feature parity before assuming an identical set on the limited company account.
Not ideal if: Businesses that need face-to-face banking, complex lending, or Sage integration
Monzo Business Lite Account
Monzo logo
Monzo Business Lite Account
Excellent app UX with pots for budgeting and tax.
Best for: Clean mobile banking with smart budgeting
Watch out: Free plan is very basic; most useful features require Pro (£9/month, first month free). Incoming foreign currency payments incur a 1% conversion fee (capped at £1,000 per transaction) on all plans.
Not ideal if: Businesses needing branch access or complex lending products.
Mettle Business Bank Account
Mettle logo
Mettle Business Bank Account
Backed by NatWest, Mettle offers completely free banking with native invoicing and a free FreeAgent subscription included.
Best for: Genuinely free banking for sole traders, with native invoicing and free FreeAgent
Watch out: FreeAgent stays free only if you make at least one transaction a month from your Mettle account; the optional Mettle+ upgrade (£4/month) is needed to convert quotes into invoices. Not a CASS participant, so switching in or out is a manual process.
Not ideal if: Businesses needing overdraft, multi-owner access, or CASS switching

What Online-Only Business Accounts Really Cost

Headline “free” pricing hides per-transaction fees that compound with volume. We modelled actual cost at 100 UK faster payments a month across all eight providers and confirmed the numbers from each provider’s published pricing in April 2026.

What Online-Only Business Accounts Really Cost
ProviderUK transfer (100/mo)FX markupPaid tier
StarlingFree (£0)~0.5% (Wise rails)None
Tide Free20p (£20)~0.5% (Wise rails)Smart £12.49 (30 free transfers/mo)
Revolut Basic10 free, then 20p (£18)0.4% to 1%Grow £35/mo (£30/mo paid annually)
Monzo Business LiteFree~0.5% (Wise rails)Pro £9 (Xero / QuickBooks)
MettleFreen/aNone
ANNAPay-as-you-gon/an/a
CountingUpFrom £3/mon/an/a
Verified 23 April 2026.

Traditional UK banks charge 1.5% to 3% on the same FX conversion, which is why Revolut pays back fast for regular international payments.

We modelled a £10,000 monthly USD-to-GBP conversion: Revolut costs £40 to £100, a traditional bank £150 to £300. Over a year that is £1,200 to £2,400 in avoidable FX markup.

Starling has no paid tier and its free plan covers the basics. If you need invoicing or receipt scanning, a Tide Smart or Monzo Pro account alongside Starling beats switching.

Cash Handling With Your Online-Only Business Account

Cash handling is the biggest practical limit of online-only banking. Every provider routes cash deposits through PayPoint or the Post Office network, or refuses cash entirely. We verified deposit routes and fees with each provider in April 2026.

Cash Deposit Routes by Provider

Tide accepts cash at PayPoint at 3% of the deposit; Monzo at £1 per deposit. Starling uses the Post Office network at 0.7% of the deposit (minimum £3). ANNA supports Post Office deposits. Revolut does not accept cash deposits at all.

For providers supporting cash, you generate a paying-in slip in the app before visiting the deposit location. The process takes minutes but only works at participating locations. Check coverage near your trading address before picking a provider.

Break-Even Cash Volume

At £500 of cash a month, Starling costs £3.50 (0.7%, minimum £3 per deposit), Tide costs around £4 (four bags). Negligible against zero monthly fees. At £5,000 a month, Starling’s 0.7% reaches £35, above the £8/month traditional bank fee. The break-even is roughly £3,500 a month in cash deposits.

If your cash volume sits below that, online-only is cheaper than a high-street account. Above it, either accept the premium for digital features or run the two-account approach.

The Two-Account Approach

For businesses with daily cash takings, the cleanest setup is two accounts: online-only as the primary for digital income and accounting; a traditional bank account for cash deposits that sweeps weekly to the online-only account. Starling and Tide both allow multiple accounts without restriction.

Which Features Matter Most for Online-Only Business Accounts

Features that matter at a traditional bank (branch access, relationship manager, wet-signature forms) are unavailable by definition. What matters instead is app quality, integration depth, and whether FSCS protects your balance when something goes wrong.

App Quality and In-App Support

Tide, Starling, Revolut, and Monzo all offer real-time in-app chat with priority response on paid plans. We rate Monzo highest on UX polish, Starling tightest on banking basics, Tide broadest on business features, and Revolut most feature-dense (which can overwhelm if you only need basic banking).

If your support escalation routes matter (disputed transactions, fraud, card replacements), the banking-licence providers (Starling, Monzo, Zempler, Mettle) offer statutory dispute pathways that e-money providers do not.

Accounting Integrations

Tide, Starling, and Monzo Pro integrate directly with Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent. Revolut covers Xero and QuickBooks. Mettle includes a free FreeAgent subscription as an NatWest-backed benefit.

If your accountant reconciles monthly, pick a provider with native depth; manual CSV imports each month cost founder time you do not have.

FSCS Protection vs E-Money Safeguarding

Starling, Monzo, Mettle, and Zempler hold UK banking licences, so deposits are FSCS-protected up to £120,000 per eligible depositor. Revolut joined them in March 2026: new accounts are FSCS-protected, existing ones as Revolut migrates them across.

Tide, ANNA, and Counting Up hold e-money licences; funds are safeguarded in ring-fenced accounts but are not directly FSCS-covered.

The practical difference matters if a provider fails. Safeguarding returns your balance, but without the government guarantee or the statutory seven-working-day payout most depositors get from FSCS. If your working balance regularly exceeds £50,000, a banking-licence provider is the safer primary.

How to Choose the Right Online-Only Business Account

The right account depends on four things in this order: your cash deposit volume, your payment volume, whether you trade multi-currency, and which accounting integrations your books need.

Choose by Cash Volume

Under £500 of cash monthly: any provider on this list works, fee impact is negligible. £500–£3,500: Tide or Monzo via PayPoint keeps deposit costs below traditional bank monthly fees. Above £3,500: either a traditional bank primary, or the two-account approach covered above.

Choose by Payment Volume

Under 68 outgoing payments a month: Starling free or Tide free (20p each). 68–100: Tide Smart at £12.49/month or stay on Starling. 100+: Starling stays free regardless of volume, no other provider matches that at scale without a paid tier.

Choose by Accounting Needs

Xero or QuickBooks user: Tide, Starling, Monzo Pro, or Revolut. FreeAgent user: Tide, Starling, or Mettle (free subscription included). Want native invoicing and VAT tracking without a separate accounting app: ANNA or CountingUp, more expensive, but the bundle replaces a £10–25/month subscription.

How to Switch to an Online-Only Business Account

Switching from a traditional bank to an online-only provider adds complexity that a like-for-like switch does not: CASS coverage varies, cash deposit routes change, and some historic direct debits need re-authorising. Plan the switch over 30–60 days, not a weekend.

Which Providers Support CASS

Starling, Monzo, Revolut, Tide, and Zempler participate in the Current Account Switch Service: direct debits, standing orders, and incoming payments migrate within seven working days. Mettle, ANNA, and Counting Up do not participate in CASS; you migrate payment mandates manually.

For a non-CASS switch, export your existing direct debits list and update each one by hand. Budget 2–4 hours for the admin; this is the single most-skipped step in business account switches and the usual cause of missed payments.

Running Both Accounts in Parallel

Keep the old account open for 30–60 days after the switch. Occasional direct debits trigger late, and some clients take weeks to update vendor records. A parallel window catches these without service interruption.

If you are switching primarily for lower fees, model the saving against the one-off admin cost. For most active businesses, Starling or Tide pays back the switch effort within 2–3 months.

Updating Clients and Suppliers

Update your invoice template before sending the next batch. For outstanding invoices, email each client with the new account details and ask them to update their payment records. Payroll is the highest-risk mandate: update HMRC and your payroll provider before the first cycle after the switch.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Are online-only business bank accounts FSCS protected?

    Only the banking-licence providers. Starling, Monzo, Mettle, and Zempler are authorised UK banks, so eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per banking licence. Tide, Revolut, ANNA, and Counting Up hold e-money licences rather than banking licences. The money you hold with them is safeguarded in a ring-fenced account separated from the provider’s own funds, but it does not carry the same statutory government guarantee as an FSCS-protected bank.

  • Can you get a business loan from an online-only bank?

    Most online-only providers do not offer traditional business loans or overdrafts. Tide provides access to funding through a lending marketplace. You apply in the app and connect with suitable lenders. Starling offers an overdraft subject to eligibility, but it is the exception among digital providers. Revolut, Monzo, ANNA, Mettle, and Counting Up do not offer business lending. If you need an overdraft or term loan built into your banking, Starling is your most realistic digital option, or a traditional bank for larger facilities.

  • How do you deposit cash with an online-only business account?

    Tide accepts cash deposits via PayPoint at 3% of the deposit; Monzo charges £1 per deposit. Starling uses the Post Office network at 0.7% of the deposit amount (minimum £3). ANNA supports Post Office deposits. Revolut does not accept cash deposits. For providers that support cash, you generate a paying-in slip through the app before visiting the deposit location. We verified this process with each provider in April 2026.

  • How quickly can you open an online-only business bank account?

    Most online-only providers (Tide, Starling, Revolut, Monzo, and ANNA) open accounts within minutes to a few hours using app-based ID verification. You upload a photo ID, complete a selfie check, and receive an account decision in the app. Some applications trigger manual review and take 1–2 business days. Traditional banks typically take 5–10 working days including an appointment or video call.

  • Can a limited company open an online-only business bank account?

    Yes. Tide, Starling, Revolut, and Monzo all accept limited companies. You need to provide your Companies House registration number, proof of identity for directors, and confirmation of your registered address. Mettle is the exception. It only accepts sole traders and single-director LTDs and does not support companies with multiple directors or shareholders.

How we reviewed Best Online-Only Business Bank Accounts

Ranking criteria. We ranked providers on cost, eligibility, features, and ease of access. Cost and protection carry the heaviest weight because these matter across every business type and rarely change with reader preferences.

How we tested. We opened accounts with the providers that let us and ran each app through the everyday jobs, transfers, cash handling, and accounting sync, to see how they hold up.

Pricing and terms were checked in April 2026, and the FCA register cross-checked for regulatory status.

Update cadence. We re-verify every provider on this page regularly, and whenever a provider changes pricing, eligibility, or terms. The verification date on the page reflects the most recent full review. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.