Frappe Books vs FreeAgent
Frappe Books
frappe.io
FreeAgent
freeagent.comSide by side
| Figure | Frappe Books | FreeAgent |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | £4.17/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 23 |
| Spec score · Financial Management | 8.9 (#3) | 9.2 (#1) |
| Spec score · Bookkeeping Software | 8.7 (#22) | 9.3 (#5) |
| Accounting | It keeps double-entry books and includes a country-specific chart of accounts, journal entries, and financial reports. | FreeAgent automatically builds real-time business accounts from bank statements, invoices and expenses, and provides reports including Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Trial Balance. |
| API | Frappe supplies REST and RPC HTTP APIs, including CRUD endpoints for documents and whitelisted Python method calls. | The public API is HTTPS REST-style, uses OAuth 2.0, accepts JSON and XML, and supports GET, POST, PUT and DELETE methods. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Praise: ease of use | One SourceForge reviewer called the interface intuitive and well designed for a small business. | Independent reviewers repeatedly praise the clean interface, straightforward invoicing, easy bank reconciliation and suitability for non-accountants. |
| System requirements | Documented requirements are Frappe Framework develop branch, Python 3.14, current LTS Node.js and Yarn, Redis, and MariaDB 11.8, PostgreSQL 18 or SQLite 3. | Supported browsers are current Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge; JavaScript and cookies must be enabled, and Internet Explorer 11 is unsupported. |
| What it does | Frappe Books is accounting software for small businesses and freelancers. | FreeAgent is cloud accounting software for small businesses, freelancers, landlords, accountants and bookkeepers. |
Plans
FreeAgent
- Sole trader£10 a month
- Partnership or LLP£19 a month
- Limited company£33 a month
- FreeFree
- Bank-account-funded accountFree
- Eligible bank-account planFree
- Landlord — billed monthly£5 a month
- Smart Capture Unlimited add-on£5 a month
- Sole trader — billed monthly£9.50 a month
- Landlord monthly£10 a month
In their own words
Frappe Books
Frappe Books is accounting software for small businesses, available free under the AGPL-3.0 license. It supports quotes, invoices, payments, bills, supplier payments and returns, alongside double-entry bookkeeping, journal entries and financial reports. Inventory tools track stock across locations, including batches, expiry dates and serial numbers, and the software supports point-of-sale transactions. Businesses in India can produce GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 reports for GST returns. Books User, Books Manager and System Manager roles control access to records, reports and settings. Company data stays in the database of the customer’s Frappe site, and the software runs on the customer’s own server. It is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted use, web and Windows. On phones, it runs in a browser and can be added to the home screen, but an internet connection is required. The old desktop app is no longer supported. Frappe states that its quality and information security systems have ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 certifications and SOC 2 Type II attestation.
FreeAgent
FreeAgent is accounting software for business administration, invoicing, expenses, tax reporting and business reports. It builds real-time accounts from bank statements, invoices and expenses, with Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Trial Balance reports. Users can create recurring invoices, automate late-payment reminders, turn estimates into invoices and accept payments through Stripe and PayPal. FreeAgent can generate MTD-compatible VAT returns and file them directly to HMRC; payroll calculates PAYE and National Insurance and can submit Real Time Information payroll to HMRC. Its iOS and Android apps cover expense recording, time tracking, invoice management and bank transaction reconciliation. It supports bank feeds from most UK banks via Open Banking and connections to HMRC for MTD VAT. The software is designed for small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers. A free plan is listed, alongside paid plans such as Sole trader at £10 a month and Limited company at £33 a month. Smart Capture includes up to 10 receipts and bills per month as standard; a paid Unlimited add-on removes that cap.