Which Is Better for bookkeeping-automated solo businesses?
If you trade as a UK sole trader, ANNA, and the reason is eligibility rather than features. Revolut’s own freelancer FAQ lists the markets where it opens business accounts for the self-employed: France, Germany, Italy, Poland and a dozen more. The UK isn’t on that list.
That leaves Revolut Pro, which lives in the personal app and isn’t the product this page compares. We’d rather tell you that here than let you find out at the end of an application, which is how most people currently find out.
Incorporate, and the comparison reopens. For a GBP-only limited company that would rather not pay for separate accounting software, ANNA’s tax dashboard and invoicing do the Xero job inside the bank app.
Photograph a Pret receipt on the bus and ANNA categorises the expense, tracks the VAT and updates the HMRC liability estimate before you’re back at your desk. No exports, no Sunday-evening spreadsheet. Revolut feeds Xero rather than replacing it.
The trade-off runs the other way on protection. ANNA’s spending balance isn’t FSCS-protected. For a business holding under £5,000 of working capital, we think that gap is manageable.
Hold more than that and Revolut’s PRA licence tips it: statutory cover on the transactional balance, plus the accounting integration if you want it.
So, in one line. Sole trader: ANNA, because Revolut Business won’t have you. GBP-only limited company with light reserves: ANNA on the workflow. Multi-currency, or real cash sitting in the account: Revolut.
Revolut vs ANNA Fees and Charges
Revolut Basic is £10 a month, flat, no minimum balance and no annual discount. Grow is £35 a month billed monthly, or £30 if you pay a year up front. Scale is £125 billed monthly, or £90 annually.
Read those two figures carefully, because they aren’t interchangeable. Budget Scale at £90 while you’re actually billed monthly and you’re £420 a year short. Check which rate your plan sits on before you set the direct debit.
The paid tiers buy bigger FX allowances and more free transfers. On Basic, beyond the £10, the fee you’ll meet is FX, once the £1,000 monthly allowance is gone.
ANNA’s Pay As You Go account is free to open and free to hold, with per-transaction fees on payments in and out. A sole trader sending six invoices a quarter pays pennies. A Shopify seller running 400 card payments a month is a different conversation.
ANNA also runs paid tiers (Plus, Pro, Business) bundling fixed transaction allowances and added features like spend-rule cards. We checked both providers in May 2026.
Neither account has a high fixed entry cost. Practical cost depends on transaction volume. Revolut Basic doesn’t charge for a quiet August. ANNA Pay As You Go doesn’t either, until transactions add up, we’d rather see pricing tied to use than a flat monthly hit.
| Cost | Revolut Basic | Revolut Grow | ANNA Pay As You Go |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | £10 flat | £35 billed monthly (£30 if paid annually) | £0 (per-transaction fees apply) |
| Eligibility | Ltd, LLP, partnership (no UK sole traders) | Ltd, LLP, partnership (no UK sole traders) | Sole traders and limited companies |
| Domestic transfers | Free within allowance | Free within allowance | Per-transaction fee |
| Multi-currency accounts | Yes (25+ currencies) | Yes (25+ currencies) | No (GBP only) |
| FSCS protection | Yes for new accounts from 11 Mar 2026 (PRA bank licence) | Yes for new accounts from 11 Mar 2026 | No on spending; Yes on Savings (Griffin Bank) |
| Representative costs verified from provider websites, May 2026. | |||
Revolut vs ANNA Features and Tools
Beyond pricing, the two accounts diverge most on what the app actually does for you. Revolut leans on third-party integrations, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent feed off the transaction stream. ANNA leans the other way: invoicing, receipt capture, and tax dashboard live inside the bank app itself.
For team cards, Revolut wins. Virtual and physical cards with spend rules and category limits on the paid tiers. ANNA offers cards too, but team-controls depth isn’t at parity. Four people all needing expense cards? Revolut.
On invoicing, both have it. Revolut creates invoices, sets them recurring, chases with reminders and handles VAT fields on every plan, Basic included. Anyone still telling you Revolut has no invoicing is working from an old page.
The catch is how the invoice gets paid. Bank transfer works out of the box. Taking card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Revolut Pay on that invoice means opening a separate Merchant account first.
ANNA still edges it for a solo business. Reminders chase clients at the seven-day mark, and the moment the money lands it’s reconciled against the invoice, with no second product to switch on.
Both offer GBP account numbers and sort codes, both support Direct Debit setup, both have mobile apps that don’t make you want to throw the phone across the room. Revolut’s app is the more polished of the two for daily banking; ANNA’s shines on the bookkeeping side.
Revolut vs ANNA International Payments
Invoice in euros on Monday, payment lands Thursday lunchtime, Revolut lets you hold the EUR rather than convert at whatever rate the day throws up. 25+ currency wallets, near-interbank rates inside allowance. ANNA can’t do any of that.
ANNA is sterling-only. No currency wallets, no SWIFT outbound, no foreign-currency invoicing. You can receive inbound foreign payments via GBP, but the conversion happens at the receiving bank’s rate. Fine for UK-only traders; a hard ceiling for anyone selling abroad.
ANNA is not worse at multi-currency; it simply does not play there at all. If your business touches a foreign currency more than once or twice a year, Revolut stops being optional and becomes the account you run everything through.
On the protection side, the regulator matters more than the app. Revolut got its PRA banking licence on 11 March 2026. New accounts from that date are FSCS-protected up to £120,000.
ANNA spending stays FCA-authorised e-money. Funds safeguarded, not FSCS-protected. Different statutory mechanism if either firm fails.
Revolut vs ANNA Customer Reviews and Reputation
When we checked Trustpilot in May 2026, Revolut Business sat at around 4.2 stars across 200,000+ reviews. ANNA sat at around 4.5 stars across a much smaller review base of 5,000-plus. Neither score is a red flag; ANNA’s edge reflects a smaller, more self-selecting customer base.
The themes diverge. Revolut customers praise the FX, app polish, and breadth of features for the price. Complaints cluster around account freezes during compliance reviews, a known fintech onboarding issue where a flagged transaction can lock the account for days while support catches up.
ANNA reviews skew toward sole traders and freelancers who love the tax tools and the invoice-chasing automation.
Complaints lean toward occasional outages on the payments rail and slower customer support than Revolut’s in-app chat. ANNA is also visibly less polished if you outgrow the sole-trader profile.
For support quality, Revolut has 24/7 in-app chat that responds in minutes for most queries. ANNA offers chat and email during business hours, with response times that vary by tier. If you’re on an entry tier and something goes wrong at 9pm on a Friday, Revolut will pick up first.
Revolut vs ANNA for AI Receipt Capture and Tax Automation
This is where ANNA pulls ahead. The receipt capture, VAT tracking, and in-app invoicing the earlier sections describe all run automatically inside the bank rather than bolted on afterwards, saving a freelancer chasing a slow corporate client an afternoon of admin every fortnight.
Revolut’s answer is integration, not automation. Direct connections to Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent push transactions into whichever package you’re already paying for.
If your bookkeeper lives in Xero, that’s the workflow you want. If you don’t have a bookkeeper and don’t want one, ANNA is the better deal.
The real choice: bookkeeping inside the bank, or the bank feeding your accounting software? ANNA replaces Xero. Revolut feeds it.
For a sole trader doing self-assessment alone, ANNA’s running tax estimate is the workflow saving that matters. We verified both integration lists against provider documentation in May 2026.
Downsides of Revolut and ANNA
ANNA’s weakness is no FSCS cover on the spending balance: funds are safeguarded, not protected by statute. If ANNA fails you join a creditor pool while an administrator whittles down the claims; FSCS pays most depositors automatically within seven working days. Eventually doesn’t pay Friday’s wages.
ANNA Savings is a separate Griffin Bank-backed product with FSCS cover to £120,000. That protection applies only to money moved into Savings, not the day-to-day spending balance. You can pair both, but it’s a setup decision, not the default.
Revolut’s biggest weakness for the reader of this page is who it turns away. UK sole traders can’t open a Revolut Business account at all. That isn’t a fee you can work around, it’s a door that doesn’t open.
The second is the account freeze risk. The compliance engine flags transactions and the account can lock for 24-72 hours. If payroll or a supplier run is due that week, we’d treat that as a real operational risk, not a footnote.
Revolut also has no overdraft on the Business product. If your cash flow dips into the red at month-end, you’ll need a separate credit line or a high-street account alongside. ANNA doesn’t offer overdraft either, neither provider replaces a traditional bank for working capital lending.
Neither provider is a perfect substitute for a high-street business bank. No physical branches, no relationship managers in the traditional sense, no cheque deposits, limited cash handling. If your business needs any of those, pair either account with a Lloyds, Barclays, or NatWest current account.
Alternatives to Revolut and ANNA
Both Revolut and ANNA are worth considering, but they’re not the only options. Here are the four alternatives we’d weigh first depending on your priorities:
Countingup, the other tax-automation business account in the UK market. Built-in bookkeeping, tax estimate, and accountant access. Pick this if you like the ANNA model but want to compare against a direct competitor.
Starling Business, UK-only, FSCS-protected, free monthly account with a strong app and high-street feel. Pick this if you want a conservative banking relationship without giving up the digital-first experience.
Tide, free UK business account with invoicing, expense cards, and accounting integrations built in. Pick this for a UK-focused SME that wants invoicing tools alongside named accounting integrations.
Mettle by NatWest, free sole-trader and limited company account from a high-street bank. FSCS-protected. Pick this if you want NatWest’s backing without the legacy bank fees.
Final Verdict: Revolut or ANNA?
For UK sole traders, ANNA, and it isn’t close: Revolut Business won’t open an account for you at all, so the tax tools and the invoice chasing are the whole comparison.
For incorporated businesses trading in more than one currency, or holding more than a few thousand pounds of working capital, Revolut wins on FSCS cover and currency breadth. Weigh the tax tools against the protected cash.
Choose Revolut if you are incorporated and trade in more than one currency. 25+ currency wallets, interbank FX inside the plan allowance. ANNA isn’t playing on this field at all. The same logic holds if you bill overseas clients, contract for foreign companies or import stock.
Read that first condition as a hard gate, not a preference. Revolut Business takes limited companies, LLPs and partnerships. A UK sole trader can’t open one, whatever the currency need.
Or choose Revolut if you want FSCS cover on the transactional balance. The PRA licence from 11 March 2026 puts new Revolut Business accounts at the £120,000 statutory limit. ANNA’s spending account cannot match that.
Already in Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent? Revolut is the cleaner pick. Named integrations push transactions straight in, so you’re not exporting CSVs every month-end while your bookkeeper waits. For most SMEs already paying for accounting software, that saving decides it.
Choose ANNA if you’re a sole trader: Revolut Business doesn’t accept unincorporated sole traders, so ANNA is one of only two accounts on this page that will have you, and the tax tools happen to suit the way a sole trader works anyway.
Choose ANNA if you bill in pounds and would rather not pay for separate accounting software. Receipt-scanning, expense categorisation and a live HMRC liability estimate do the Xero job inside the bank app.
Or choose ANNA if chasing late payers eats into your week. Reminders nudge clients at the seven-day mark without you opening Gmail at 9pm. Revolut can chase too, but taking card payment on the invoice needs a separate Merchant account first.
Want a running tax estimate visible all year, not a January surprise? ANNA. The dashboard updates projected HMRC liability with every transaction, so you know what to set aside before HMRC asks. Pair with ANNA Savings (Griffin Bank-backed, FSCS-covered) for cash reserves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ANNA or Revolut integrate with Xero?
Revolut integrates directly with Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent. ANNA does not offer direct named integrations with these platforms. ANNA’s built-in tax and bookkeeping tools handle categorisation and tax prep within the app itself, without exporting to Xero or similar. If you already use Xero, Revolut is the more practical choice. We verified both integration lists from provider documentation in May 2026.
Can UK sole traders open a Revolut Business account?
No. Revolut Business accepts limited companies, LLPs and partnerships. Revolut’s own FAQ on freelancer accounts lists the markets where the self-employed can open one, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia, Croatia, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The UK is not among them.
UK sole traders are directed to Revolut Pro instead, a separate account opened inside the personal Revolut app with no subscription fee. ANNA, by contrast, accepts sole traders directly. We checked this against Revolut’s published eligibility guidance in July 2026.
Which has better invoicing tools: Revolut or ANNA?
ANNA, and the gap comes down to one thing: card payment. Revolut supports invoice creation, recurring invoices, automatic reminders and VAT fields on every plan, Basic included. Invoices are payable by bank transfer with no extra setup.
The catch is card payment. To let a client settle a Revolut invoice by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Revolut Pay, you first have to open a separate Merchant account. ANNA needs no second product: invoices go out, reminders chase at the seven-day mark, and payments reconcile against the invoice automatically. For a solo business, we would still take ANNA here.
Is Revolut or ANNA FSCS-protected?
Revolut is a UK-licensed bank (PRA-authorised since 11 March 2026) for new accounts opened from that date, deposits are FSCS-protected up to £120,000 per eligible depositor. Existing Revolut customers may still be on the e-money arrangement until their account migrates to the bank entity.
ANNA’s spending account is an FCA-authorised e-money institution and is not FSCS-protected; funds are safeguarded in segregated accounts. ANNA Savings is a separate product backed by Griffin Bank with FSCS cover, that protection applies only to money moved into Savings, not the day-to-day spending balance.
For a primary UK current account with FSCS cover, Revolut now qualifies for new customers. ANNA is better positioned as a workflow tool for tax automation, paired with FSCS-protected reserves either in ANNA Savings or a separate bank account.
How we reviewed Revolut vs ANNA
Ranking criteria. We compared Revolut and Anna on pricing, fees, feature set, eligibility, and contract terms. We also verified regulatory status and deposit protection where applicable.
Data sources. We ran both accounts through a working week, receipt capture and a running tax estimate in ANNA, transactions pushed from Revolut into Xero, then checked the FSCS and safeguarding status of each.
We also read Revolut’s own eligibility guidance to confirm which UK business types it accepts. Registers checked May 2026; Revolut pricing and eligibility re-checked 14 July 2026.
Update cadence. We re-verify every provider on this page at least monthly, 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.
Related Pages
Looking for more comparison pages? We have head-to-head comparisons across digital and high-street business accounts.
- ANNA vs Countingup, two tax-automation accounts compared
- Revolut vs Starling, digital business accounts compared
- Revolut vs Airwallex, two multi-currency accounts compared
- Best business bank accounts, full comparison of 15 UK providers