Tide and Revolut both offer a range of digital bank accounts for businesses and freelancers. They’re both top-rated challenger banks with competitive offerings for both new and established companies.
But which is right for your business?
In this article, we’ll compare their banking features, fees, interest rates, mobile apps, customer service, account-switching processes, and security to help you decide which you should sign up with.
My thorough review has compared both accounts closely, so read on to get my verdict.
Tide vs Revolut: Which is the better choice?
Choosing which one of these two excellent challenger accounts is ‘best’ isn’t easy as they both have much to offer. But the accounts are aimed at slightly different types of business.
If you’re a business trading internationally, Revolut has the edge with the ability to send, receive and exchange in 25+ currencies at interbank rates. Currently, Tide only allows payments within the UK.
Revolut is also very progressive when it comes to crypto, allowing the direct purchase of cryptocurrency through the app
If you’re a business using an account primarily in the UK, we think Tide is the one to choose. It’s a regulated bank account as opposed to an e-money account, meaning you get FCA protection. They charge £1 per ATM withdrawal as opposed to Revolut’s flat 2%. It also offers a range of connected business services, such as free legal advice, free company registration, and the ability to get business loans with instant approval through the app. It’s a more comprehensive bank account offering for a business.
For a freelancer, we recommend the Revolut Pro account, which includes 0.8% cashback on all Pro debit card purchases, quick and easy ways to receive payments through QR codes, payment links, and customizable invoices, and access to free side-hustle tools within the Revolut app.
Both brands have excellent ratings on Trustpilot, with a 4.3 * average.
- One of the best Apps in the sector
- No Monthly or Annual Fees
- Easy Invoice Creation Functionality
- Post Office Deposits Cost £1
- 20p charge for transfers between accounts
- 3% charge for cash deposits at Paypoints
- Ecommerce – Easy integration with Ecommerce via Apps and Plugins
- International payments – Send and receive money from 200 countries
- Block cards or set accounting limits with a tap
- Available for Limited Companies Only
- Accounts do not support cash or cheque deposit
Tide vs Revolut Banking Features Compared
Here are the top features of the Tide Bank accounts.
Tide Plans
| TIDE BUSINESS ACCOUNTS | FREE | PLUS | PRO | CASHBACK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Free | £9.99 + VAT | £18.99 + VAT | £49.99 + VAT |
| Tide business card | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Expense cards for staff | £5 / month | 1 x free card incl. | 2 x free cards incl. | 3 free cards incl. |
| Transfers in and out | 20p / transfer | 20 / month free | Unlimited | 150 / month free |
| ATM withdrawals | £1 | £1 | £1 | £1 |
| Scheduled payments | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Accounting integrations | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create and send invoices | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Phone support | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 24/7 legal helpline | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 0.5% cashback with Tide card | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Get FREE | Get PLUS | Get PRO | Get CASHBACK |
Revolut Plans
Here are the core features of the Revolut business bank accounts:
| REVOLUT BUSINESS ACCOUNTS | FREE | GROW | SCALE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfers & exchange | |||
| Free international payments | – | 10 | 50 |
| Free local payments | 5 | 100 | 1,000 |
| Foreign exchange at the interbank rate | 0 | £10,000 | £50,000 |
| Crypto exchange | 1.99% fee | 0.99% fee | 0.99% fee |
| Bulk payments | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spend like a local in 150 currencies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Hold and exchange 30 currencies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| IBANs for global transfers | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Local accounts in GBP and EUR | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Accept payments online | |||
| UK consumer cards | 1% + £0.20 | 1% + £0.20 | 1% + £0.20 |
| International and commercial cards | 2.8% + £0.20 | 2.8% + £0.20 | 2.8% + £0.20 |
| Revolut Pay | 1% + £0.20 | 1% + £0.20 | 1% + £0.20 |
| Easy bank transfers | Fees will never exceed £1 per transaction | Fees will never exceed £1 per transaction | Fees will never exceed £1 per transaction |
| Create and track your invoices | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Request payments with shareable links | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Payroll Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Accountancy Integration | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Get Free | Get Grow | Get Scale |
Tide vs Revolut: how do the Fees Compare?
Both Tide and Revolut offer free entry-level accounts. Both these accounts give you everything you need to run a basic business, with certain features coming at extra cost.
Tide Fees
Tide charges £1 for ATM withdrawals, 20p for transfers between accounts, and £1 if you’re depositing cash via the Post Office.
Revolut Business Fees
With the free Revolut account, you will pay £3 for international payments (outside EEA), and pay just 20p for local (within EEA) payments, outside a free allowance of 5 per month.
Crypto exchange comes with a 1.99% fee, and bank transfers cost 1% + 20p. You can accept payments in person via the APP for a charge of 0.8% + 0.02p.
Tide vs Revolut Business Fee Comparison Table
| Feature | Tide | Revolut |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly account charge | Free | Free |
| Paid Plan | Plus £9.99/month | Grow £25/month |
| Paid Plan | Cashback £49.99/month | Scale £100/month |
| Fee for cash deposits | £2.50 for deposits up to £500 | Cash deposits not accepted |
| 0.5% of cash amount for deposits over £500 (at Post Offices) | ||
| 3% (at PayPoints) | ||
| Transfers between accounts (Tide/Revolut) | 20p | Free |
| ATM cash withdrawals | £1 each | 2% |
Tide vs Revolut Interest Rates
Neither Tide nor Revolut offers interest on business current accounts.
Tide vs Revolut Business for Paying in Cash and Cheques
Tide allows you to pay in cash via the Post Office but doesn’t allow cheque deposits.
Revolut does not allow either cash or cheques.
Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Has the Better Mobile App?
After examining the reviews for both Google Play and the APP store, it seems Revolut Business has a higher satisfaction rate compared to Tide. R
Revolut Business has a rating of 4.5 stars with 15.3K reviews on Google Play and 4.9 stars with 17.2K ratings on the Apple Store.
In contrast, Tide has a lower rating of 3.5 stars with 15.8K reviews on Google Play and 4.8 stars with 64.7K ratings on the Apple Store.
Many of the criticisms of the Tide app seem to be around the app freezing or other technical glitches.
Tide vs Revolut Business: Third-Party App Integrations
| Integration | Tide | Revolut |
|---|---|---|
| Xero | Yes | Yes |
| Sage | Yes | Yes |
| FreeAgent | Yes | Yes |
| Coconut | No | Yes |
| Kashflow | No | No |
| Quickbooks | Yes | Yes |
| Crunch | Yes | No |
| Clear Books | Yes | Yes |
| Reckon | Yes | No |
| Zoho Books | No | Yes |
| Zapier | No | Yes |
| Slack | No | Yes |
| Dynamics 365 Business Central | No | Yes |
| Pandle | No | Yes |
| Money Dashboard | No | Yes |
| Dext Prepare | No | Yes |
| Odoo | No | Yes |
| NetSuite | No | Yes |
| Shopify | No | Yes |
| Crezco | No | Yes |
| WooCommerce | No | Yes |
| Magento2 | No | Yes |
| PrestaShop | No | Yes |
| FreshBooks | No | Yes |
| Ember | No | Yes |
| QuickFile | No | Yes |
| Board | No | Yes |
Tide Vs Revolut: Using Your Card Abroad
When abroad, Tide allows you to use your card at any retailer accepting Mastercard without additional fees, providing you with the Mastercard exchange rate. However, if you need to withdraw cash from an ATM abroad, Tide charges a £1 fee.
Revolut offers a prepaid currency card for payments abroad in over 150 currencies, with no fees using the interbank exchange rate. It’s important to note that Revolut may charge a markup fee between 0.5% and 2.5% to the interbank rate on weekends due to foreign exchange markets being closed.
Tide vs Revolut Customer Support
Tide has a total of 15,853 reviews with a Trust score of 4.3 out of 5, which is an excellent rating.
On the other hand, Revolut has a much larger number of reviews, with 131,682 reviews and a higher Trust score of 4.5 out of 5.
Both companies have a majority of “Excellent” reviews, indicating that most users are satisfied with their services. However, it’s worth noting that Revolut has significantly more reviews than Tide because it’s a much larger company.
Account Switching
Neither Tide nor Revolut is signed up for the easy switching service, so account migration is something you’ll have to do yourself.
Tide vs Revolut: Which is Safer?
Both Tide and Revolut are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Tide’s bank accounts, provided by Clear Bank, also come with FCSC Protection, meaning up to £85,000 is protection should the bank fail.
As the Revolut account is an electronic money institution and not a bank, your money is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) but is instead safeguarded, meaning Revolut cannot use or invest the money.
Tide vs Revolut Summary
In conclusion, Tide and Revolut are both excellent accounts, but with quite distinct offerings that will appeal to a differing customer base.
Revolut aims its accounts squarely at businesses and freelancers operating internationally, at least some of the time. Or at businesses with a particular interest in crypto investments.
Tide is specifically aimed at UK businesses operating domestically, and their service is designed to facilitate business growth, whether by company registration, access to legal advice or finance.
