Best bank account for freelancers and the self-employed UK

The short answer

“Freelancer” describes how you work, not your legal structure. Most UK freelancers are sole traders; some contract through their own limited company. The account rules follow the structure, so if you have a company, read our page on business bank accounts for limited companies too.

What sets freelancers apart is the shape of their income: irregular payments from a handful of clients, often by invoice, sometimes in another currency, with no employer deducting tax. The best account makes that easy to manage. For most freelancers that means:

• a free or cheap account from a full bank, so client money is FSCS-protected and separate from personal spending;
• tax set aside automatically as each payment lands;
• invoices that match themselves to payments; and
• a low-cost route for foreign-currency clients, which may be a second account.

Keep client money separate

A sole trader is not legally required to have a business account. HMRC does require you to keep records of business income and expenses, and its guidance on what records to keep if you’re self-employed assumes you can tell them apart from personal spending. If every client payment and every business cost runs through one account, the records largely keep themselves.

There is a practical reason too. Many personal account terms say the account is for personal use. A freelancer paid regularly by companies into a personal account may find the bank asks questions. Our guide on whether you can use a personal account for business covers when it is allowed, and do I need a business bank account as a sole trader? covers the legal side.

Two habits make the separation stick. First, change every payout destination at once: invoice templates, payment links, and the payout settings on any platform or payment processor you use, so no client money drifts back into the personal account. Second, pay business costs from the business card, including software subscriptions, equipment and travel. When income and expenses both sit in one account, your Self Assessment figures are largely a matter of reading the statement, and anything your accountant needs is in one place.

Then pay yourself on purpose. As a sole trader, the money is legally yours whichever account it is in, so a regular transfer to your personal account, after tax has been set aside, works like a salary and makes personal budgeting far easier than dipping in when you need to.

Invoicing and getting paid

Invoices are how most freelancers get paid, and a bank that issues them can match the payment automatically when it arrives. GOV.UK sets out what an invoice must include, including a unique number, your name and contact details, the customer’s details, a description of the work and the date. If a client does not agree a payment date, the law treats payment as late 30 days after the client receives the invoice or the work is delivered, according to GOV.UK’s late payment guidance.

How the main accounts handle it:

• Monzo Business Pro and Team include invoices and quotes in the app or on the web, with automatic matching and a pay-by-card link. Clients can pay by bank transfer, which is free, or by card through Stripe at £0.20 + 1.5% for standard UK cards on invoices and payment links. All plans have reusable payment links and QR codes. Our Monzo Business invoicing guide has the detail.
• Starling: Free invoicing in the app.
• Mettle: Free invoicing with auto-matching.
• Tide: 3 invoices a month (unlimited on Max) on the Free plan.

If invoicing is the only paid feature you want, Starling and Mettle give it away free. Monzo’s case rests on combining invoicing with Tax Pots and accounting sync in the same plan.

Setting tax aside

No employer deducts tax from a freelancer’s income, so the Self Assessment bill arrives in one or two large payments, months after the work. The most reliable fix is to move a share of every payment out of reach the moment it lands.

Monzo Business Pro and Team do this with Tax Pots: a percentage of every incoming payment, moved automatically, with up to 3 Tax Pots. We use Tax Pots in our own company account and they are one of the features we would least like to give up. You can do the same thing by hand on any account, using a savings space and a standing reminder; the automatic version just removes the chance of forgetting. Starling’s Spaces, Tide’s Tax Saver and Mettle’s Tax Pot are the closest equivalents.

Freelancers with higher incomes also need to plan for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, which GOV.UK says applies to qualifying income over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028. Monzo includes free Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software, built on Sage, on every plan including Lite. The tax set-aside calculator suggests a percentage to put aside, and the Tax Pots guide explains the set-up.

Getting paid from abroad

This is where freelancer banking costs differ most. An overseas client paying a UK sterling account usually sends an international transfer, and fees can be taken by the sending bank, intermediary banks and the receiving bank, plus a conversion margin.

Wise Business is the usual answer for regular foreign-currency income. A one-off set-up fee unlocks local account details in several currencies, so a client in Germany pays a euro account as a domestic transfer, and you convert to pounds at the mid-market rate plus a published fee. Wise is e-money, not a bank, so balances are safeguarded rather than FSCS-protected, and it does not take cash or offer lending. Many freelancers keep Wise for receiving and a UK bank for everything else.

Revolut sends freelancers to Revolut Pro, a business profile inside its personal app, which is useful for multi-currency card payments and receiving money. It is also e-money. Freelancers who trade through a limited company can use Revolut Business instead, which starts at £10 a month on the Basic plan.

Monzo Business works fine for the occasional euro invoice, and its fee sheet is clear about the cost. If foreign clients are most of your income, compare the incoming fee above against Wise before deciding. Our page on Monzo Business international payments covers the fee change on 1 November 2026 in detail.

Freelancer accounts compared

Tide’s international figure is for sending, on the Free plan. Starling does not publish its business international fees on its account pages.

Start free with Monzo Lite

If you are not sure what you need yet, Monzo Business Lite is a low-risk place to start. It is free, with free UK transfers, a card with no Monzo fee abroad, Tap to Pay, payment links, savings pots and the Making Tax Digital tool. When invoicing and Tax Pots become worth paying for, Pro is £9 a month, with the first month free. The Lite vs Pro vs Team comparison sets out exactly what each adds.

If you open Monzo Business through our link, you and we each get £50, but only if you have never opened a Monzo account before and you download the app, apply, add money and make a first card payment within 30 days. It works on any plan, including Lite.

Open Monzo Business LiteTakes you to monzo.com · Referral link