If several people need to work in your books, or you want your accounting at the centre of a wider stack of apps, pick Xero: unlimited users on every plan and a large app marketplace are its two clearest wins. If you want to ring a UK number when something goes wrong, run payroll for a very small team and like the idea of stock control inside the accounts package, Sage makes a strong case. Sage is the long-established UK name; Xero is the cloud challenger from New Zealand.
Plans and pricing checked October 2026, and every figure below is read live from our pricing database, the same data as the table and calculator above.
Xero vs Sage pricing: how the plans compare
Xero's entry plan is £18/mo (Ignite), against £20/mo (Accounting Start) for Sage. The middle plans are £39/mo (Grow) for Xero and £43/mo (Standard) for Sage, and the top plans £70/mo (Ultimate) and £59/mo (Plus) respectively. Xero also sells a cheaper plan for businesses not registered for VAT, which cannot file VAT returns.
Two things sit behind the sticker price. Xero's entry plan caps how many invoices you can send each month, with no cap from the next plan up, while Sage lets you invoice without limit on every plan. And seats differ: Sage caps users on its entry plan, allows more on Standard and lifts the cap only on Plus, where Xero gives you unlimited users on every plan. The comparison table on this page shows each plan's current price, and the calculator above folds your invoice volume, users and employees into one estimated monthly figure for each. Neither asks you to sign a contract, and neither has a free plan.
- Users included: Xero Unlimited, Sage 1 (Start)
- Invoicing: Xero 20/mo (Ignite), Sage Yes (unlimited)
Who should pick Xero, and who should pick Sage?
Xero is built for a business that expects to grow. Unlimited users mean a co-director, a bookkeeper and a part-time administrator can all work in the file without a plan change, and the app marketplace means the stock, e-commerce or job management tool you add next year will almost certainly plug in. Support is online around the clock, which suits an owner who works odd hours and is happy with chat and email.
Sage is built for a UK owner who values the familiar. Support is by UK phone, and it has been the name on the UK accounts package for decades. It bundles payroll for a very small team into the plan price, and its Plus plan carries stock control where Xero offers only basic items. If you are a one-person business with no staff, the user cap on its entry plan costs you nothing.
Strip out everything the two have in common and three differences remain: seats (Xero's unlimited users on every plan against Sage's cap on the lower plans), help (a UK phone line from Sage, round the clock online support from Xero) and breadth (Xero's app ecosystem is the larger of the two). Decide which of those you care about most and you have probably chosen.
- Support: Xero 24/7 online, Sage UK phone
Do Xero and Sage both handle Making Tax Digital?
Yes, and this is not where they differ. Both file MTD for VAT returns on every plan, and both are HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment; Xero lists itself as MTD for Income Tax ready on every plan. Neither lists a Self Assessment return feature on its pricing page, so if you want the software to submit the personal return itself, ask each vendor rather than assume.
Xero vs Sage payroll: how each one charges
Both run PAYE and RTI submissions to HMRC from inside the product, and neither is free beyond its included allowance, so the payroll question is about headcount, not features. Sage's payroll cost is Bundled + £1.85/emp/mo: the first employee is bundled into the lower plans and a small allowance into Plus, then each further employee is charged. Xero's is £1.50/emp/mo (£1 Ultimate): the entry plan charges for every person you pay, the higher plans include a small number of people, and everyone beyond that is charged per person, at a lower rate on the top plan. With a larger team the per-person rate is what you are paying on both, so put your real headcount into the calculator rather than reading either headline.
CIS, stock and multi-currency: which plan unlocks what?
The feature gates are where the plan ladders diverge. On CIS, Xero calculates and reports CIS deductions on every plan, and only submitting the monthly contractor return to HMRC is an optional add-on, so a subcontractor may need nothing extra and a contractor pays for the add-on on any plan. Sage handles CIS from Standard, so a subcontractor or contractor on its entry plan has to step up. On stock, Xero tracks basic items rather than offering proper stock control, where Sage's Plus plan does. Multi-currency sits on an upper plan for both, so on either you pay more to invoice in euros or dollars. Project tracking is on Xero's top plan only and Sage does not offer it, so a business that costs jobs has only one of the two to choose from unless it adds an app.
- CIS: Xero Yes (filing add-on), Sage Yes (Standard)
- Stock: Xero Limited, Sage Yes (Plus)
- Multi-currency: Xero Yes (Comprehensive), Sage Yes (Plus)
- Project tracking: Xero Yes (Ultimate), Sage No
AI assistants and agent access
Both have a built-in assistant. The route for an outside AI agent differs: Xero publishes its own official Model Context Protocol server, while connecting an assistant to Sage relies on community-built tooling. That only matters if you already work in one of those assistants.
- Built-in AI: Xero Native (JAX), Sage Native (Sage Copilot)
- Agent access (MCP): Xero Native MCP (official), Sage Via 3rd-party (community)
Pros and cons for this matchup
Xero wins on unlimited users, the larger app ecosystem, round the clock support and CIS calculations on every plan. Its weak spots are the invoice cap on the entry plan, payroll charged per person from the first hire on that plan, basic stock, and multi-currency and project tracking that sit on its upper plans.
Sage wins on UK phone support, a bundled payroll seat on the lower plans, unlimited invoicing from the entry plan, and proper stock control on Plus. Its weak spots are the user caps on the lower plans, CIS that starts on Standard, multi-currency only on its top plan and no project tracking at all.
The verdict
For a UK business with more than one person in the books, or one that expects to bolt on other software, Xero is the pick: it gives you unlimited users on every plan where Sage only does so on Plus, and its app ecosystem is the larger of the two. For an owner who wants a UK phone line, runs payroll for a handful of staff and would rather have stock control inside the accounts package than in a separate app, Sage is the better fit. Both clear the Making Tax Digital bar, so compliance will not decide it. Put your invoices, users and headcount into the calculator above and let the estimated monthly figure, not the headline plan, settle it.