Verdict: Mettle is the strongest free UK business banking option for sole traders, and it's not close. The FreeAgent inclusion alone saves £228/year vs paying for FreeAgent separately at Tide or Starling. The trade-offs are real (Ltd support is more limited; app polish lags Starling) but for the target audience — solo freelancers who want simple banking and proper bookkeeping — Mettle is the default.
What Mettle is
Mettle is a free business banking app owned by NatWest. It launched in 2020 as NatWest's challenger to Tide and Starling on the sole-trader/microbusiness side. It runs on a separate app and a separate brand, but the underlying account is a NatWest banking arrangement — so it has full UK banking licence, FSCS protection up to £85,000, and the regulatory standing of a high-street bank.
The killer feature is what comes bundled. NatWest acquired FreeAgent (the UK-built accounting software) in 2018; since then they've offered FreeAgent free to Mettle customers. FreeAgent's normal retail price is £19/month for sole traders — so a Mettle account is effectively a free banking + £228/year of accounting software in one bundle.
That bundling is why Mettle deserves a separate review rather than just a row in the comparison page: the maths is different from every other option.
Pricing
Free. Nothing per month. No transaction limits in normal usage. Cash deposits cost via Post Office at standard NatWest rates (free up to £20/month then 0.7%, with a £3 minimum).
Compare against equivalent setups:
- Tide Plus + FreeAgent: £9.99/month → £120/year
- Starling + FreeAgent separately: £0 + £19/month → £228/year
- Tide Standard + FreeAgent separately: £0 + £19/month → £228/year
- Mettle: £0/year — Mettle saves £120–228/year vs any equivalent setup
For a UK sole trader who genuinely needs accounting software (which is most freelancers earning meaningful money), this matters.
What you get
The bank account
- Free UK business current account (sole trader or single-director Ltd)
- Contactless debit card (Mastercard)
- Faster Payments, Bacs, Direct Debit (incoming and outgoing)
- Pots for VAT, tax, profit-share
- Standing orders and scheduled payments
- Mobile cheque deposit (up to £1,000)
- Cash deposits at Post Office
- iOS and Android apps
- FSCS protection up to £85,000 (via NatWest licence)
FreeAgent bundle
- Full FreeAgent sole trader or limited-company account
- Auto-syncs bank transactions from your Mettle account
- VAT MTD submission to HMRC
- Self Assessment tax return generation (sole trader plan)
- Expense management with receipt photo upload
- Invoice creation and tracking
- Payroll for small Ltds (additional setup)
Pros
- FreeAgent free saves £228/year. The headline. For anyone who needs MTD-compliant accounting software (which is most VAT-registered businesses and will be most sole traders from April 2026 under MTD ITSA), this alone makes Mettle the cheapest meaningful setup.
- Full UK banking licence and FSCS protection. Via NatWest. Holds up against Starling on regulation; better than Tide and Anna.
- Mobile cheque deposit. Tide doesn't offer this; Starling does.
- Tight integration with FreeAgent. Because both are NatWest-owned, the bank-to-accounting feed is instant and accurate. Beats most third-party integrations.
- NatWest backing means stability. Some challenger banks have had reliability issues; Mettle inherits NatWest's infrastructure.
- Account opening in 1–2 days. Faster than most high-street banks; slightly slower than Tide.
Cons
- Less polished app than Starling. Functional, clean, but not best-in-class. Some features feel more "challenger banking 2021" than "best-in-class 2026". Not a dealbreaker for most.
- Ltd support is narrower than sole trader support. Single-director limited companies are well-handled. Multi-director or more complex Ltd structures may run into limits — Starling and Tide handle those more flexibly.
- Fewer third-party integrations beyond FreeAgent. If you specifically want Xero or QuickBooks, Mettle's integrations are limited.
- No card reader / in-person payments. If you take card payments in person, you'd need to bolt on Square or SumUp separately. Tide and Anna both have integrated options.
- No multi-user access. If you have a bookkeeper or business partner who needs login, that's not directly supported (though FreeAgent itself supports multi-user access for accountants).
- Smaller customer base means smaller community. Fewer YouTube tutorials, fewer Reddit threads. Customer service is good but solving edge cases via community is harder than with Tide or Starling.
Who Mettle is best for
- UK sole traders who'd otherwise pay for FreeAgent
- VAT-registered freelancers who need MTD-compliant accounting software
- Anyone who wants a free, FSCS-protected business account from a UK bank
- Freelancers moving from spreadsheet bookkeeping to proper accounting software
- Anyone in the NatWest ecosystem (e.g. NatWest personal banking customers)
Who it's not for
- Multi-director limited companies (Starling or Tide handle these better)
- Anyone needing Xero or QuickBooks integration (FreeAgent is a great product but if you've committed to Xero/QB, the integration depth elsewhere is better)
- Anyone for whom in-person card payment matters (use Tide or Anna)
- Anyone who prioritises app polish above all else (Starling wins)
- Anyone with significant international payment volumes (use Wise Business as a secondary account)
How account opening works
Apply via the Mettle app. You'll need photo ID and a selfie for identity verification, plus your business details. Typically approved in 1–2 working days. Once approved, you get a sort code and account number immediately; the physical debit card arrives by post within 5 working days. FreeAgent is enabled from the app dashboard after the account is open.
If you're transitioning from an existing business account, Mettle supports the Current Account Switch Service — see our switching guide for the mechanics.
Mettle for limited companies
Mettle accepts single-director limited companies. The setup is broadly the same as a sole-trader application, but with an extra verification step for company status. FreeAgent's Limited Company plan is included.
For multi-director companies or more complex Ltd structures, Mettle's support tails off — at that point Starling Business (£7/month) is usually the better choice because of its broader feature set on the Ltd side.
Mettle is owned by NatWest and operates under NatWest's UK banking licence. Your funds are held in a NatWest-regulated account with full FSCS protection up to £85,000. This is materially safer than e-money institutions like Tide where funds are safeguarded but not FSCS-protected.
Your FreeAgent account moves to a paid subscription (£19/month for sole traders). All your data stays intact. You can also export your data and migrate to another accounting platform.
Yes — FreeAgent is sold separately at £19/month for sole traders or £29/month for limited companies. It's a strong product. But if you'd be paying for it anyway, getting it free with Mettle saves you the subscription.
FreeAgent (included with Mettle) supports payroll for single-director Ltds — PAYE submissions to HMRC, payslips, basic auto-enrolment pension processing. For more complex payroll (multiple staff, pension scheme management) you may need separate payroll software.
Yes — FreeAgent's sole trader plan (included with Mettle) generates a full Self Assessment tax return from your bookkeeping data. You can review, adjust, and submit it directly to HMRC.
Limited. Mettle is primarily a GBP UK-focused account. For overseas invoicing or paying overseas suppliers, pair Mettle with a Wise Business multi-currency account — that's a common setup we cover in the international payments section.
Typically 1–2 working days. Sometimes same-day for clean sole trader applications; sometimes longer if NatWest's underwriting flags additional checks. Tide is faster (often under 1 hour) but doesn't offer the FreeAgent bundle or the FSCS protection.
Two real ones. First, the app polish lags Starling — perfectly usable but you'll notice if you're switching from Starling personal. Second, Ltd support is narrower than the alternatives. For single-director Ltds or sole traders, neither is a deal-breaker. For complex Ltd structures, look elsewhere.
Editorial review as at May 2026. Mettle's product and pricing may change — check the live site for current details. Not financial advice. FreelanceToolkit UK has a partner relationship with Mettle; disclosed above.