Xero
Xero is a cloud accounting platform that handles invoicing, bank reconciliation and reporting for small businesses and their accountants. It adds an AI assistant called JAX for routine admin and quick answers about the numbers.
#10 in Business & Finance ToolsAccounting SoftwareNo free plan
Who it's for
Best for
New businesses and sole traders who want a guided setup call for first books.
Growing firms that need automated admin and a ledger accountants can pick up.
Not for
Micro-businesses on tight budgets that repeated annual price rises would squeeze.
Firms that want instant cancellation and free access to past records on exit.
Features
JAX AI assistant
JAX handles routine tasks, surfaces real-time insights and answers business questions, translating financial data into simpler explanations.
1,000+ app integrations
Accounting data connects with more than 1,000 apps, so a business keeps its finance records alongside the other tools it already runs on.
Plans for every stage
Starter, Standard and Premium plans all cover the accounting essentials, aimed at sole traders, growing businesses and established firms.
30-day free trial
A 30-day trial opens Xero features with sample data or a business's own data, requires no credit card and can be cancelled at any time.
Accountant partner network
More than 250,000 accountants and bookkeepers use Xero, and a partner program gives firms AI tools for routine client work.
What users say
Pros
- Free one-to-one onboarding calls walk new accounts through setup, with the specialist staying patient through every question.
- Connecting a bank account during setup takes a few straightforward steps before the first reconciliation.
- Onboarding sessions finish with a follow-up email summary and help videos covering the topics discussed.
- Automated administration carried a consultancy to more than 30 staff with no extra back-office hires.
Cons
- Plan prices climbed 66% in four years on the same features, with annual 10% increases continuing on top of that.
- Cancellation requires 30 days' notice billed at the full rate, and charges keep running after a request to stop.
- Ending a subscription locks access to historical records until another monthly payment is made.
- Screens hang and slow down often enough during busy periods to make daily work frustrating.
- Credit cards stopped syncing for seven weeks, the fault was pinned on a third-party feed, and fees stayed unchanged.
- A page refresh wipes an in-progress quote with nothing saved, losing half an hour of work.
A selection of the review sources we used:
Summarized from public user reviews and community discussions. View details
Global Traffic Rank
Top 50k
Alternatives
Rank#10 in category#6 in category#11 in category#18 in category
Free planNoYesYesNo
ProGuided onboarding, quick bank setup, help videos, automationLow cost, free plan, smooth migration, helpful phone helpQuick HMRC filing, free with partner banks, fast phone supportSturdy ledger, bank rules, quick payroll, reliable feeds
Better forGetting full UK accounting and direct HMRC tax filing at no cost with a NatWest, RBS or Mettle bank account.
Weaker atConnecting a wide range of third-party business apps and reading transaction logs for custom ledger calculations.