Feature spotlight
Tide’s free plan: five transfers, then you pay
Tide has no monthly fee, which is not the same as being free. The free plan includes five transfers a month. Rent, wages, one supplier and an HMRC payment will use them before you have paid anybody else.
Our verdict
Usefulness
4.5 / 5
Does this solve a real problem well?
Uniqueness
4.5 / 5
Hard to get elsewhere.
Does this solve a real problem well?
Hard to get elsewhere.
Available on: Free plan
What it is
Tide’s free plan carries no monthly charge, and for a business making a handful of payments it genuinely costs nothing. The constraint is the transfer allowance: five free transfers a month, then roughly 20p per payment in and out.
That is a real limit rather than a soft one, and it is the single most misunderstood thing about Tide’s pricing. “No monthly fee” and “free” are doing very different work in that sentence.
What it actually costs
Assuming roughly 20p per transfer beyond the first five, and counting payments in and out:
| Transfers a month | Chargeable | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0 | £0 |
| 20 | 15 | £36 |
| 50 | 45 | £108 |
| 100 | 95 | £228 |
At fifty payments a month the “free” plan costs about £108 a year — the same as Monzo Business Pro, for an account with fewer features and no cheque handling.
Where the free plan is genuinely good
Two things stand out, and neither depends on transfer volume.
Savings at 2.00% AER. Tide’s free plan pays 2.00% on your balance, which beats every high-street bank we track and is far better than Starling, which pays nothing at all on business balances. On a £25,000 reserve that is £500 a year.
Invoicing built in. Create, send and match invoices from inside the account, on the free plan. Because Tide is the account, payment matching happens without a feed or a bridge.
Who it genuinely helps
- Sole traders and freelancers with a handful of clients, where five transfers genuinely covers the month.
- Businesses holding a reserve. 2.00% on a free plan is the best free-tier rate we track.
- Anyone who invoices and would otherwise pay for separate software.
Where it falls short
- Five transfers is the whole constraint. Beyond that you are paying per payment, in and out.
- No cheques at any value. If you are ever paid by cheque, this ends it.
- No lending. Tide does not offer overdrafts.
- Protection depends on your account. Newer accounts run through ClearBank and are FSCS-eligible; legacy ones are safeguarded only.
What else to consider
Starling is free with unlimited transfers, takes cheques and offers an overdraft. It pays no interest, which is the trade.
Monzo Lite is free, pays 1.30%, takes cheques and lends.
Mettle is free with a FreeAgent subscription included and pays 1.46%.
Full comparison: Starling vs Tide.
Our verdict
Free if you are small, priced like a paid account if you are not. The five-transfer allowance is not hidden — Tide publishes it — but it is easy to miss when the headline is “no monthly fee”, and it is the number that decides whether this account suits you.
The honest test is your payment count, not your turnover. Under ten transfers a month, Tide’s free plan plus 2.00% savings is a genuinely strong combination and better than Starling for anyone holding a reserve. Above about twenty, you are paying real money for an account that takes no cheques and offers no lending, and Starling does more for nothing.
Common questions
Is Tide really free?
There is no monthly fee, but the free plan includes only five free transfers a month and then charges roughly 20p per payment in and out. A business making fifty payments a month pays around £108 a year.
How many free transfers does Tide give you?
Five a month on the free plan. Both incoming and outgoing payments count, so it is fewer than it sounds — invoicing ten clients and paying four suppliers already exceeds it.
Does Tide pay interest on the free plan?
Yes, 2.00% AER, which is the best free-tier savings rate we track and considerably better than Starling, which pays nothing on business balances.
When should I upgrade from Tide free?
Above roughly ten transfers a month it is worth pricing Tide Smart at £12.49. But at that point Starling is free with unlimited transfers and also takes cheques, so compare both rather than assuming the upgrade is the answer.
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