Free Invoicing Apps or Trade Software? What a UK Tradesperson Gives Up With a Free Tool (2026)

By Daniel Sedgwick, founder and managing director of Checker and a former gas engineer. He writes practical guides for UK trade businesses on field workflows, paperwork and admin.

Updated 19 October 2026

TLDR: Free invoicing apps cover invoices, quotes, VAT and CIS at no cost, inside a monthly or yearly cap. The invoice-first ones stop there: no certificates, no service reminders, no tax updates. Stay free if you issue no certificates. Move once every job ends with a certificate and an invoice that must match.

You finish a landlord gas safety record on site, then sit in the van and type the same customer, address and price into a second app to raise the invoice. The second app is free, so it feels like no cost at all.

Sometimes that is exactly right. Four free tools publish their limits, and the gaps are specific: a cap on invoices, no certificate, no reminder when a service falls due. Each stops at a different point, and the gap has a price in minutes. For work with no certificates, a free tool such as Zoho Invoice or Telaro suits best. For gas, heating or electrical work that ends in a certificate, a trade app such as Checker suits best. For paid types, see our invoicing apps guide.

Which free invoicing apps can a UK tradesperson use in 2026?

Four free options are open to a UK sole trader today: Zoho Invoice, Telaro Starter, Square Invoices and FreeAgent through certain business bank accounts. Each sets a different limit. Prices and limits are as at 19 October 2026, from each vendor’s own pages.

What does Zoho Invoice include for free, and where does it stop?

Zoho Invoice is free for UK businesses, capped at 500 invoices a year, with quotes, recurring invoices, payment reminders and a CIS setting. Its help page says limits are reviewed yearly, an account inactive for over 180 days has its data deleted after notice, and its FAQ recommends Zoho Books for Making Tax Digital.

What does Telaro Starter include, and what is its limit?

Telaro Starter is free with no card: 10 invoices a month on its pricing page, plus unlimited quotes and estimates, with saved customers, jobs, a calendar, expense tracking, quote-to-invoice conversion, VAT lines and deposits. The allowance resets on the 1st of each month, and its FAQ describes “CIS-friendly notes” on documents.

Its pricing page and FAQ say 10 invoices a month; its free-invoicing page says both “10 invoices a month plus unlimited quotes and estimates” and “up to three invoices, quotes or estimates every month” (read 19 October 2026), so check your own account. Its terms state “Telaro is a documentation tool, not accounting, tax or legal advice.” Its terms and privacy policy name no operating company (read 19 October 2026).

What does Square Invoices include free, and what does getting paid cost?

Square Invoices’ Free plan has no monthly fee and unlimited invoices, estimates, users and customers. The cost sits in card fees on every plan: 2.5% online and 1.75% in person.

Squareup Europe Ltd is authorised by the FCA to issue electronic money and provide payment services, reference no. 900846 in Square’s payment terms, and is an active company at Companies House. Trustpilot shows 3.6 out of 5 from 7,506 reviews.

When is FreeAgent free, and what does it do that the others do not?

FreeAgent is free while you keep a business current account with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank, or a Mettle account with at least one transaction a month. On the pricing page, a sole trader without one pays £19 a month plus VAT, halved for the first six months, after a 30-day free trial.

It is accounting software: the pricing page lists invoicing, estimates and CIS, and the free-licence page says the free account supports Making Tax Digital for VAT and Income Tax, including quarterly updates. NatWest Group, which bought it in 2018, says over 150,000 customers use it; Trustpilot shows 4.6 out of 5 from 3,037 reviews.

What does a free invoicing app leave out?

The invoice is covered. What sits around it is not: the certificate the invoice bills for, the reminder when a service falls due, a two-way link to your accounts and the tax update. The three invoice-first tools, Zoho Invoice, Telaro and Square, mention no certificates or service reminders on the pages listed under the table below.

Do free invoicing apps handle VAT and CIS?

Mostly yes, so VAT and CIS rarely decide the choice. Zoho Invoice has a CIS setting, Telaro describes VAT lines and CIS-friendly notes, and FreeAgent lists CIS. Test the domestic reverse charge wording on a sample invoice first. The rules are in our guide to invoicing with VAT, CIS and the domestic reverse charge.

Can a free invoicing app produce a gas safety record?

No page checked for Zoho Invoice, Telaro, Square or FreeAgent mentions gas, electrical or other certificates. That matters because HSE sets out what a gas safety check record must contain: each appliance and its location, the engineer’s name, registration number and signature, the check date, the property address, the landlord’s name and address, and any defect and action taken. The record is its own document, made elsewhere.

Every job done this way means entering the customer, address and price twice.

Do free apps send the quarterly updates Making Tax Digital needs?

The invoice-first ones do not. Sole traders and landlords with income from self-employment and property over £50,000 must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, with software that keeps digital records and sends quarterly updates. Zoho points those users to Zoho Books, and Telaro’s terms describe a documentation tool, not accounting. FreeAgent includes it.

Pages checked on 19 October 2026: Zoho Invoice pricing, features and CIS help; Telaro pricing, features, FAQ and terms; the Square Invoices page; Checker pricing, quotes and invoices, and accountancy integrations. FreeAgent is accounting software, so it sits outside this table.

How much does free actually save?

A worked example, with every input labelled:

• The business: a sole-trader gas engineer, not VAT-registered, so VAT on a subscription is a real cost.
• The volume: 30 jobs a month, each ending with a certificate or service record and one invoice.
• The retyping: 3 minutes a job to copy customer, address and price into the invoice app. This is an assumption; time five of your own jobs.
• The value of time: £12.71 an hour, the National Living Wage from April 2026, as a stand-in for what your hour is worth, and a floor.
• The plan: Checker LITE at £10.99 a month plus VAT, from our pricing page on 19 October 2026.

• Caps. 30 invoices a month is 360 a year. That fits inside Zoho Invoice’s 500 a year. It runs 20 a month over Telaro Starter’s 10 on its pricing page. Square has no invoice cap.
• Retyping. 30 jobs × 3 minutes = 90 minutes, or 1.5 hours a month. At £12.71 an hour that is £19.07.
• The plan. £10.99 plus 20% VAT = £13.19 a month. On the annual price of £109.99 plus VAT, it is £131.99 a year.
• The gap. £19.07 minus £13.19 = £5.88 a month, or £70.56 a year, in LITE’s favour.
• Break-even. £13.19 ÷ £12.71 = 1.04 hours, or 62 minutes a month. Across 30 jobs that is just over 2 minutes a job.
• If you are VAT-registered and reclaim the VAT, compare £10.99 instead: £19.07 minus £10.99 = £8.08 a month in LITE’s favour.

The sums run the other way for a decorator sending 8 invoices a month with no certificates. That fits inside Telaro’s 10 a month on its pricing page, and LITE would cost £131.99 a year for features the job never uses. Stay free.

Card fees do not change either. A £250 job paid by card on the doorstep costs 1.75%, or £4.38, on Square’s Free plan. Zettle’s UK pricing page shows the same 1.75% in person, and Zettle bills that fee, not us. Our card payments guide compares the readers.

When is a free tool enough, and when should you move?

What are the steps to test your own numbers?

Run this test on your last three months of work.

1. Count your invoices a month and compare them with the cap: 10 a month on Telaro Starter (pricing page), 500 a year on Zoho Invoice.
2. Count the jobs that end with a certificate or report. Each one is a second record to keep in step with its invoice.
3. Time the retyping on five real jobs, then multiply the average by your monthly jobs.
4. Price the gap. Multiply the minutes by your hourly value and compare the result with a plan’s price including VAT, or excluding VAT if you are VAT-registered.
5. Check the tax route. If your income from self-employment and property is over £50,000, confirm that the software holding your records works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

When is a free tool the right answer?

• You send fewer invoices than the cap and issue no certificates.
• You bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle and want accounts and Making Tax Digital free.

When does a paid trade app start to win?

• Every job ends with a certificate or report that the invoice must match.
• Annual service or renewal dates bring your repeat work, so reminders need the record.
• Your accountant wants invoices and payments in Xero, QuickBooks or Sage without retyping.

Where does Checker fit into this?

What do you get, and what does it cost?

Checker has three plans, priced plus VAT: LITE at £10.99 a month, PRO at £19.99 and PRO+ at £25.99, or £109.99, £199.99 and £259.99 a year. Every plan has unlimited records and reports, no contract and a free trial that needs no card. LITE covers certificates and reports, quotes, invoices, job sheets, Zettle card payments and KANE analyser integration.

Our quotes and invoices page lists VAT, CIS and domestic reverse charge options, and says finishing a report and tapping once pulls its line items across to the invoice.

Which plan covers reminders and accounts sync?

Service reminders, the customer database, scheduling and accounts sync start at PRO. LITE has none of them. Two-way sync of invoices and payments with Xero is available on PRO and PRO+, and we also support QuickBooks and Sage. Extra staff logins need PRO+.

When is Checker not the right answer?

• You issue no certificates and send fewer invoices than a free cap. A free tool does that job, and LITE adds cost for features you will not use.
• You bank with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle and want free accounts and Making Tax Digital updates. FreeAgent covers that. Our accountancy integrations page lists Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, and FreeAgent is not on it (pages checked 19 October 2026).

Free and paid options side by side

Option	Cost, checked 19 October 2026	Fits best when	Where it stops
Zoho Invoice	£0 for up to 2 users, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year	Light invoicing with VAT or CIS, no certificates	Zoho branding on invoices; not Making Tax Digital software
Checker	LITE £10.99, PRO £19.99, PRO+ £25.99 a month plus VAT; free trial, no card	Every job ends in a certificate or report and an invoice	LITE has no reminders, customer database or accounts sync; not accounting software, so no tax updates
Telaro Starter	£0 for 10 invoices a month on its pricing page (another Telaro page says three) and unlimited quotes	Quote-heavy work under 10 invoices a month	No certificates on pages checked
Square Invoices	£0 a month; card fees 2.5% online, 1.75% in person; Plus £20 a month	Taking cards in person, with unlimited invoices	Card fees are the cost; no job record
FreeAgent	Free with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account; otherwise £19 a month plus VAT	Accounts and Making Tax Digital updates in one product	Free only while you keep the bank account; no certificates

Zoho Invoice

Cost, checked 19 October 2026: £0 for up to 2 users, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year

Fits best when: Light invoicing with VAT or CIS, no certificates

Where it stops: Zoho branding on invoices; not Making Tax Digital software

Checker

Cost, checked 19 October 2026: LITE £10.99, PRO £19.99, PRO+ £25.99 a month plus VAT; free trial, no card

Fits best when: Every job ends in a certificate or report and an invoice

Where it stops: LITE has no reminders, customer database or accounts sync; not accounting software, so no tax updates

Telaro Starter

Cost, checked 19 October 2026: £0 for 10 invoices a month on its pricing page (another Telaro page says three) and unlimited quotes

Fits best when: Quote-heavy work under 10 invoices a month

Where it stops: No certificates on pages checked

Square Invoices

Cost, checked 19 October 2026: £0 a month; card fees 2.5% online, 1.75% in person; Plus £20 a month

Fits best when: Taking cards in person, with unlimited invoices

Where it stops: Card fees are the cost; no job record

FreeAgent

Cost, checked 19 October 2026: Free with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account; otherwise £19 a month plus VAT

Fits best when: Accounts and Making Tax Digital updates in one product

Where it stops: Free only while you keep the bank account; no certificates

Try a real landlord gas safety record and its invoice in one place before you pay for anything. Get Started Free

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

Authoritative sources

1. Checker pricing, checked 19 October 2026
2. Checker quotes and invoices
3. Checker accountancy integrations
4. Checker and Xero integration
5. Zoho Invoice UK pricing, checked 19 October 2026
6. Zoho Invoice help: how many invoices can I create for free
7. Zoho Invoice help: Construction Industry Scheme
8. Telaro pricing, checked 19 October 2026
9. Telaro FAQ
10. Telaro terms of service
11. Telaro privacy policy
12. Square Invoices UK, checked 19 October 2026
13. Square payment terms (FCA authorisation)
14. Companies House: Squareup Europe Ltd
15. FreeAgent UK pricing, checked 19 October 2026
16. FreeAgent: free accounting software with your bank
17. NatWest Group: FreeAgent
18. Trustpilot: Square, 3.6 from 7,506 reviews on 19 October 2026
19. Trustpilot: FreeAgent, 4.6 from 3,037 reviews on 19 October 2026
20. Zettle UK pricing, checked 19 October 2026
21. HSE: gas safety check records and what to keep
22. GOV.UK: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
23. GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates