Freelancers do not need a clever business account. They need one that is free, safe, and does not make the bookkeeping harder. That is the lens we use when clients ask what to open, and it is usually why we land on Mettle, by NatWest. But "usually" is doing real work in that sentence, and the honest comparison has moved in the last couple of years — the free-versus-paid line and the deposit-protection line are not where most articles still say they are.

What Mettle actually is

Mettle accounts are provided by National Westminster Bank plc trading as Mettle. That matters more than the branding: it means Mettle is a bank account at a ring-fenced UK bank, regulated by the FCA and the PRA, not an e-money product. Eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000, the limit that has applied since 1 December 2025.

The core account has no monthly fee. There is one optional paid tier, Mettle+ at £4 a month, which adds quote creation, automatic quote-to-invoice conversion and automated payment chasing. Basic invoicing sits in the free account, so most sole traders never need the paid tier at all.

Eligibility is narrow by design: sole traders, or a limited company with up to two owners, UK tax resident, one account per person, balances up to £1 million. On a limited company only one owner can access the account. That shape fits a freelance business almost exactly and fits a growing team almost not at all.

The FreeAgent maths, done properly

The bundled software is the strongest part of the offer, and it is worth putting real numbers on rather than repeating a marketing line.

FreeAgent's own list price is £19 a month for sole traders and £33 a month for limited companies. Mettle customers get it free, on one condition: you must make at least one transaction a month. Miss that and the free entitlement lapses.

  • Sole trader, three years: £19 × 36 = £684 saved
  • Limited company (one or two owners), three years: £33 × 36 = £1,188 saved
  • Even on Mettle+ at £4 a month, a sole trader is still £180 a year ahead versus paying for FreeAgent alone

Worth knowing: NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank personal-brand business customers get FreeAgent free for as long as they hold the account, with no monthly-transaction condition. If you already bank with one of those, you may already have the software and not know it. Our FreeAgent page sets out how we use it on your behalf.

How the main alternatives compare

Starling is a fully licensed UK bank with no monthly fee on its business account, so on the two things that matter most it matches Mettle. The differences are at the edges: cash deposits cost 0.7%, minimum £3, and the business account is aimed at companies limited by shares and LLPs rather than the whole sole-trader market. If you take cash regularly, price that 0.7% before you switch.

Tide is not a bank. It is authorised by the FCA as an electronic money institution. Its plans run free, Smart at £12.49, Pro at £27.49 and Max at £69.99 a month. Protection depends on which product you are on: accounts powered by ClearBank carry full FSCS cover to £120,000, while e-money accounts held through PrePay Technologies are safeguarded rather than FSCS-protected. Safeguarding is a real protection, but it is not the same thing, and it is worth knowing which one you have.

High-street business accounts are familiar and branch-based, and most charge a monthly fee once an introductory free period ends. If you deposit cash weekly or need in-branch service, that fee buys something real. If you work from a laptop and get paid by bank transfer, you are paying for a counter you will never stand at.

The FSCS trap that catches sole traders

This is the part almost no bank comparison mentions, and it is the one that can actually cost you money.

FSCS protection is per person, per banking licence — not per account. For a limited company, the company is a separate legal entity, so the business account and your personal account each get their own £120,000. For a sole trader, they do not: you and the business are the same person, so your personal and business balances at the same licence are added together and share a single £120,000 limit.

Now recall that Mettle is provided by National Westminster Bank plc. A sole trader with a NatWest personal account and a Mettle business account is holding both on the same banking licence.

Worked example. Sam is a self-employed consultant. She keeps £40,000 of personal savings with NatWest and, having just been paid on a large project and set aside her tax, is holding £95,000 in Mettle. Combined: £135,000 on one licence. FSCS would cover £120,000, leaving £15,000 unprotected. Had Sam traded through a limited company, each entity would have had its own £120,000 and the whole balance would be covered.

The fix is straightforward and takes an afternoon: keep the tax reserve at a different banking licence, or if a genuinely large sum lands, remember that FSCS protects qualifying temporary high balances up to £1.4 million for six months from the date of deposit — which is designed for exactly that situation. If you are a sole trader routinely holding six figures, that is also a live prompt to look at whether incorporating makes sense for you.

So which should you open?

  • Sole trader or freelancer, paid by transfer, wants free bookkeeping software: Mettle. The FreeAgent bundle alone is worth £684 over three years, and it is bank-grade protected.
  • Limited company with three or more owners, or a team needing several cardholders: not Mettle — its two-owner limit rules it out. Starling or a high-street account.
  • Cash-heavy business: price the cash-handling charges first. They will dominate every other cost on the comparison.
  • Significant foreign currency: look at the specialists. None of the free accounts is built for it.
  • Holding large balances as a sole trader: whichever account you pick, spread across licences.

The rule that matters more than the account

Whichever you choose, the thing that genuinely changes your year is keeping business money separate from personal money. It is the foundation of clean books, of claiming your expenses in full rather than from memory in January, and of a painless transition to Making Tax Digital with its quarterly updates. A free account that feeds a free bookkeeping tool makes that rule cost nothing to follow — which is the real argument for Mettle, rather than any single feature.

We are not paid to recommend any of these, and we will say so when a different account suits you better. If you want the account, the software and the tax side handled together, get started with us from £19 + VAT a month, or see how the options compare on our business banking page.