Xero vs Sage Accounting

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 21 October 2026.

Written head to head: Xero vs Sage Accounting, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	Xero From $27/mo Visit Remove	Sage Accounting From £20/mo Visit Remove
What it is	Cloud accounting with three US plans, no per-user fees, Gusto payroll and the JAX AI assistant	UK cloud accounting with payroll and the Sage Copilot AI assistant included in all three plans
Free plan	No	No
Cheapest paid plan	$27/mo (Early)Xero pricing	£20/mo (Start)Sage Accounting pricing
What it covers	Per organization, no per-user licence fees; send quotes and 20 invoices, enter 5 bills; auto-reconcile is a $5/month add-on. Promotion: 90% off ($2.70/month) for the first 6 months for new US customers, until 2 November 2026.	UK price excluding 20% VAT; 1 user; payroll for 1 employee included, then £1.85 per employee a month; no receipt capture. Promotion: 90% off (£2/month) for the first 6 months.
Free trial	One month free on any Xero plan	30 days free of Accounting Standard, taken instead of the 90%-off offer
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Integrate with 1000+ apps	Not stated
Open source	No	No
Good for	Small businesses that want several people in the books without per-user fees Businesses that work closely with an accountant or bookkeeper Companies that bill or pay in foreign currencies	UK small businesses that want accounting and payroll in one subscription VAT-registered sole traders filing Making Tax Digital VAT returns Construction businesses that submit CIS returns
Watch out for	Early caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and auto-reconcile costs $5 a month extra Multi-currency, projects and expense claims need Established ($97/mo) Payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per person through Gusto	Sold on Sage's UK site in GBP excluding VAT; Sage's US site lists Sage 50 and Sage Intacct, not Sage Accounting Start has 1 user and no receipt capture; Standard is capped at 3 users Budgets, inventory and multi-currency need the Plus plan
Made by	Xero Limited	Sage Group plc

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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