Provider review
Tide Business Account
Excellent invoicing tools on a free plan — and two customers can hold what looks like the same account with materially different protection.
Who holds your money
Tide is not a bank. It is an FCA-authorised financial services firm. Newer Tide business accounts are provided by ClearBank Ltd, a licensed UK bank. Older accounts were issued through PrePay Technologies, an electronic money institution.
ClearBank-provided accounts carry FSCS protection up to £120,000, shared with any other ClearBank-held balances such as a Tide savings product. Legacy e-money accounts are safeguarded, not FSCS-protected.
Verify the firm reference number on the FCA Financial Services Register before relying on this.
Scorecard
Seven criteria, each weighted. Every score below says what drove it.
Joint 4th for online and mobile banking at 74%, but outside the top five overall.
The strongest invoicing on any free plan, and the only free plan connecting directly to Sage.
Capped. Newer accounts run through ClearBank and are FSCS-eligible; legacy accounts are safeguarded only, and your sort code decides which.
No monthly fee, but only five free transfers a month. Fifty payments a month costs roughly £108 a year on the "free" plan.
2.00% AER with no plan fee to reach it, worth about £500 a year on £25,000.
Post Office cash at 0.5%, but no cheques at any value.
Broad acceptance across business types and structures.
Weighted total 3.8 / 5. Weightings published on how we rate.
Service quality evidence
| Overall service quality | Joint 5th, 69% |
| Online and mobile banking | Joint 4th, 74% |
| Relationship management | 6th, 64% |
Independent survey of around 1,200 SME customers a year per provider, conducted by BVA BDRC (now part of Ipsos) and published by the CMA in August 2026. All 17 surveyed providers are ranked; a provider shows as not ranked only where it does not offer the service or fewer than 100 of its customers gave an eligible score.
Interest on balances
Verified from provider site| Rate on the free tier | 2.00% |
| Best sustainable rate | 2.00% |
| Extra cost to reach it | None |
| Access | Instant access |
| Net on £25,000 | £500 |
Rates are set by your Tide plan: 2.00% AER on Free (to £75k), 2.50% on Smart at £12.49/mth, 3.00% on Pro at £27.49/mth, 3.25% on Max at £69.99/mth. At £25,000 the free plan wins outright — Smart earns £625 but costs £149.88, netting £475 against Free’s £500, and Pro and Max are worse still. The advertised 3.75–4.00% is an introductory rate for four months only and is excluded from scoring. Verified against tide.co, 4 August 2026.
Affiliate note
Where we hold a commercial arrangement with a provider, this box says so and every link on the page is marked. Commission never affects the score or the ranking.
Fees are checked against the provider’s published tariff. If a page has not been re-checked within 60 days, it says so at the top.
The verdict
Tide's product strength is admin rather than banking. Invoicing is built in and genuinely good, expense categorisation is thorough, and the free plan includes direct connections to Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent — a combination that several paid tiers elsewhere do not match. For a sole trader who invoices regularly, it removes real friction.
The thing every Tide customer should understand is that Tide is not itself a bank. Newer accounts are provided by ClearBank, which is a licensed UK bank, so eligible balances carry FSCS protection. Longer-standing members may still hold legacy accounts issued through an e-money institution, where money is safeguarded instead.
Your sort code settles it, and it is worth two minutes to check in the app. Accounts on the ClearBank sort code are FSCS-eligible; the legacy e-money sort code is not. It is unusual and slightly uncomfortable that a single brand can offer two materially different levels of protection under the same name, which is why we rank Tide below the clean-licensed accounts despite better tooling than most of them.
On cost, the free plan charges per transfer beyond a small monthly allowance, which catches out businesses making many payments. Twenty pence per transfer sounds trivial until you are running payroll and supplier batches. And account reviews — where a compliance check temporarily restricts access — come up repeatedly in negative reviews, though that risk exists at every regulated provider.
Who it suits
- Sole traders who invoice regularly and want it built into the account.
- Anyone on Sage, since the direct feed is included on the free plan.
- Businesses making few outbound transfers, who stay inside the free allowance.
Who should look elsewhere
- High-volume payers. Per-transfer charges beyond the small allowance add up fast.
- Anyone holding large balances without first confirming which entity holds them.
- Businesses needing an overdraft. Not offered.
Every tier, priced
What each plan includes, and what the step up actually costs over a year.
| Plan | Monthly | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| FreeBusiness account, Mastercard debit card, invoicing, expense tools, Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent integrations. Savings at 2.00% AER on balances to £75,000. Small monthly transfer allowance, then per-item charges. | £0 | £0 |
| SmartLarger transfer allowance, additional expense and team features. Savings at 2.50% AER to £100,000 — which at £25,000 earns less than the free plan once the fee is counted. | £12.49 | £149.88 |
| ProFuller allowances, priority support, legal helpline. Savings at 3.00% AER to £150,000. | £27.49 | £329.88 |
| MaxThe highest allowances and support priority. Savings at 3.25% AER to £1m. A £99.99 boost adds 3.75% on balances above £1m. | £69.99 | £839.88 |
Pricing must be verified against the provider's own site before publication. Providers reprice without notice.
The fees that are not in the headline
The monthly fee is what gets advertised. These are the charges that decide what you actually pay.
| Charge | Cost | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan fee | £0 on Free, monthly above | Compare the plan fee against the per-transfer charges you would otherwise pay. |
| Outbound and inbound transfers | Small monthly allowance, then around 20p each | The line that decides whether Free is actually free for you. |
| Cash paid in (Post Office) | Around 0.5%, min £2.50 | Occasional cash handlers. The minimum charge punishes small deposits. |
| Cash withdrawal at ATM | Around £1 | Businesses needing a till float. |
| Overdraft | Not offered | Businesses needing a working-capital buffer. |
Applying
Application is in-app and among the fastest in the market — often minutes from download to account details for a straightforward sole trader.
Tide is comparatively accommodating on business type and structure, which is part of its appeal. Certain sectors, including gambling, crypto exchange and adult services, are excluded, and community interest companies may face restrictions.
Where applications fail
- Excluded sectors — gambling, crypto exchange, adult services and others.
- Failed identity verification — the primary gate, as with most app-based providers.
- Companies House mismatch — the register must match your application.
- Compliance review — existing accounts can be restricted during review, which is a recurring complaint.
Alternatives worth costing
- Starling Business — A licensed bank with unambiguous FSCS cover, free transfers and an overdraft.
- ANNA Money — Better tax tooling, but e-money throughout with no FSCS route.
- Monzo Business — Clean licensed-bank protection and free transfers, though integrations cost £9 a month.
Tide questions
Is Tide a bank?
No. Tide is an FCA-authorised financial services firm, not a bank. Newer Tide business accounts are provided by ClearBank Ltd, which is a licensed UK bank, while older accounts were issued through an electronic money institution.
Is Tide FSCS protected?
It depends on your account. ClearBank-provided accounts carry FSCS protection up to £120,000. Legacy accounts issued through PrePay Technologies are safeguarded instead. Your sort code tells you which you hold — check it in the app.
Is the Tide free plan actually free?
There is no monthly fee, but transfers are charged at around 20p each beyond a small monthly allowance. For a business making a handful of payments a month it is effectively free; for one running payroll it is not.
Does Tide offer an overdraft?
No. If you need a working-capital buffer, Starling or a high-street account are the realistic options.
Why do Tide accounts get frozen?
Like every regulated provider, Tide can restrict an account during a compliance review. This comes up frequently in negative reviews. Keeping your business details current and your transaction patterns consistent with your stated business model reduces the risk.