FreeAgent for landlords and MTD: Provestor vs FreeAgent

If you're weighing up FreeAgent for Making Tax Digital, you're looking at one of the few general accounting tools that took landlords seriously. There's a real "FreeAgent for Landlords" variant, not a marketing page, and Making Tax Digital is already live. So the question isn't whether FreeAgent can do the job. It's how much of the property-tax thinking you want to do yourself, and what you'd reach for when a tax question lands. This page sets out the difference honestly, including where FreeAgent is the better fit.

If you're still working out what MTD software has to do at all, start with the MTD software guide. If you've already shortlisted FreeAgent, read on.

The short answer

FreeAgent is general cloud accounting with a genuine landlord variant on top. It handles invoicing, banking and Self Assessment, and the landlord version adds native joint-ownership splits and direct MTD filing. If you're an unincorporated landlord who's comfortable doing your own record keeping, it's a solid, well-reviewed choice, and it's free if you bank with NatWest, RBS or Mettle.

Provestor is narrower on purpose. It does property tax, and it does it in depth, with a property accountant available inside the same plan whenever you want one. If your priority is getting the trickier property-tax mechanics right rather than running a general accounting system, that focus is the point.

So this isn't a case of better or worse. It's a case of capable software you drive yourself versus property-tax depth with a person behind it, and which one matches the job you're hiring software to do.

What FreeAgent does well

It's worth being clear about FreeAgent's strengths, because they're real and they're better than most of its peers.

It's a mature accounting product with a dedicated landlord variant, not a general tool stretched to fit. That variant gives you native, automated joint-ownership splits: set the share per property and each owner manages their own MTD in a shared account. It's been MTD-ready for over a year, with a dedicated filing area that sends quarterly updates and the final declaration direct to HMRC and auto-populates the property pages. And if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle, the landlord plan is free.

If that description fits how you work, FreeAgent is a sensible choice and you may not need to read much further - unless you're looking for more support with tax questions.

Where the two part ways

The gap shows up the moment you look past the accounting and into the property-tax judgement calls.

FreeAgent gives you a strong engine and good guides. What it doesn't do is automate the property-specific rules that decide your bill: it publishes help articles on Section 24 and the line between capital and revenue, then leaves the judgement to you. Provestor puts everything into that part, handling those rules in the app rather than asking you to read up and decide.

Four of those rules matter most:

• Joint ownership. Both apps handle this well, and it's fair to say FreeAgent's native splits are a genuine strength. Provestor's approach is the same idea: tell it once who owns what share and it splits the income and expenses for you.

• The mortgage interest restriction (Section 24). Provestor separates the interest from any capital repayment and puts the interest in the right box, so you claim the basic-rate tax reduction correctly instead of over-claiming. FreeAgent records the figures and points you to its guide.

• Letting agent statements. Drag and drop a statement and the figures are read for you, or connect a partner agent and the data imports automatically by API, with rent, fees and costs separated. FreeAgent has no dedicated importer for this, so you'll need to manually enter every line from your letting agent statements.

• Capital versus revenue. Record the full cost in your books for completeness, while only the revenue portion flows into your MTD figures. The line between a repair and an improvement is handled rather than guessed.

None of this shows up in a feature count. It shows up in whether your numbers are right.

What happens when you have a tax question

Here's the difference that tends to matter most, and the one a feature list won't show you.

FreeAgent gives you the tools to keep your records and send your quarterly updates, and its support team will help you use the product. What software alone can't give you is an answer when the question is about your tax rather than the app. Is this cost allowable? Is this a repair or an improvement? Have I handled the mortgage interest correctly? FreeAgent is upfront here: it points you to a directory to find your own accountant, and it won't file for you. So you go and hire one: a new relationship, your portfolio explained from scratch, and a separate bill on top of the subscription.

With Provestor, the help is part of the product. Stay on the do-it-yourself plan and you keep full control, with support that covers the app rather than tax advice. The moment you want a second pair of eyes, you move up a plan and a Provestor accountant checks your quarterly updates before you send them, and prepares and submits your final declaration. Move up again and they take on the record keeping and filing entirely. It's the same app, the same records and the same team. There's no one new to brief and nothing to re-explain.

That's the heart of it. The starting price isn't really the difference. FreeAgent's landlord plan sits in the same ballpark as Provestor's entry plan, and FreeAgent can be free if you bank in the right place, so this was never going to be won on headline price. The difference is what you can reach when you get stuck: a help article and a directory, or a property accountant a plan away.

Built by tax specialists, not a tax feature

There's a reason the property-tax side runs deep. Provestor is built by a team with more than 20 years in property tax software and in practice as accountants, recognised with a Queen's Award for Innovation, Independent Firm of the Year at the British Accountancy Awards, and AccountingWeb's Accounting Excellence Pioneers award.

FreeAgent is a general accounting product with a genuine landlord variant, and that variant is one of the better ones. But it sits on a general-business engine, and the property-tax judgement still sits with you. Provestor is a tax firm that built software. Both can file your updates. Only one was designed, from the ground up, around getting the property tax right, and has the people behind it to stand by that.

FreeAgent and Provestor side by side

Which should you choose?

Choose FreeAgent if you're an unincorporated landlord, you're comfortable doing your own record keeping and handling the property-tax decisions yourself or with your own accountant, and especially if you bank with NatWest, RBS or Mettle, where the landlord variant is free.

Choose Provestor if your priority is property tax done right, you'd rather have Section 24 and the capital versus revenue line handled than left to you, you want letting agent statements imported automatically, and you want the option to hand the tax to a property accountant without leaving the app or starting a new relationship.

Switching from FreeAgent

You don't need years of history to move. Making Tax Digital starts fresh from the tax year you're in, so the practical step is to get your properties and ownership shares set up, connect your bank and any letting agents, and you're ready to record from there.

Common questions

Is FreeAgent recognised for Making Tax Digital? Yes. FreeAgent is on HMRC's list of recognised software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and has been MTD-ready for over a year, with a dedicated filing area that sends quarterly updates and the final declaration direct to HMRC. Provestor is on the same recognised list.

Does FreeAgent handle joint ownership? Yes, and well. FreeAgent's landlord variant has native, automated splits: set the share per property and each owner manages their own MTD in a shared account. Provestor does the same, and also handles Form 17 unequal splits automatically.

Can I get tax advice from FreeAgent? FreeAgent provides product support through its support accountants and points you to a directory to find your own accountant, but it won't file for you or answer your property-tax judgement calls. With Provestor, you can move up a plan and have a property accountant check your updates or handle them for you, inside the same app.

Is there a free trial? FreeAgent offers a trial, and the landlord plan is free if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle. With Provestor there's a free demo, so you can set up and try it before you commit. See the MTD plans.