Xero vs Sage Accounting
Xero or Sage Accounting? Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Compared on | Visit | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Made by | Xero Limited | Sage Group plc |
Choose Xero if…
- The job is small businesses that want several people in the books without per-user fees.
- The job is businesses that work closely with an accountant or bookkeeper.
Choose Sage Accounting if…
- You want a mobile app (iOS and Android).
- The job is UK small businesses that want accounting and payroll in one subscription.
- The job is VAT-registered sole traders filing Making Tax Digital VAT returns.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, Xero and Sage Accounting are also compared with their other rivals: QuickBooks Online vs Xero, Xero vs FreshBooks and QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks.
What Xero does
- Bank connections to 21,000+ institutions, with bank reconciliation on every plan
- JAX auto-reconciles transactions when it is highly confident and suggests matches otherwise (Growing and above)
- JAX AI chat answers questions about your financials with charts and tables, researches tax and benchmarks, and drafts invoices from quotes
- Smart Document Capture for bills and receipts on every plan
- Quotes, invoices and online invoice payments, plus free standard ACH bill payments
- Cash flow forecasts of 30, 60 or 180 days, dashboards and scorecards by plan
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
What Sage Accounting does
- Unlimited sales invoices with automatic invoice chasing; Sage Copilot drafts reminders in your tone
- Bank feeds that import, match and categorise transactions and learn from your category choices
- Making Tax Digital VAT returns with AI-powered mistake detection, plus CIS submissions
- Payroll with PAYE and National Insurance calculations, pension auto enrolment, salary payments and an employee app, in every plan
- AI-powered capture of receipts and invoices on Standard and Plus
- Sage Copilot business insights that flag risks, trends and unusual pay
Watch out for
- 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
Questions
Is Xero or Sage Accounting cheaper?
They price different things, so neither is simply cheaper. Xero's entry price, $27/mo (Early), is for the whole plan; Sage Accounting's, £20/mo (Start), is for the whole plan. Price the number of people, channels or contacts you have on each.
Do Xero and Sage Accounting have free plans?
Neither has a free plan. Xero's trial: one month free on any Xero plan. Sage Accounting offers a 30 days free of Accounting Standard, taken instead of the 90%-off offer.