Tide Business Account review

Tide has four business accounts, ranging from a free one to one that costs £69.99 per month

Tide is a popular choice for businesses, it’s got a range of different current accounts, including a free one, for sole traders and limited companies. 

Here’s what you get with the Tide business accounts, whether the upgrades are worth paying for and if it’s any good.

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Do you need a Tide Business account?

Before we get into the details of the account, it’s worth double checking whether you need a business account at all. Sole traders can simply use a regular current account for their business — either the one you have already or a separate one to keep everything aside. These accounts can come without fees or as many limitations, so might be preferred. However, if you have a limited liability company, you will need a business bank account. 

Of course, even if you don’t need one, you might prefer to have a business account like Tide because of the additional features it has for businesses, like invoicing and tax tools. 

Tide account tiers

There are four different Tide account tiers: Free, Smart, Pro and Max.

Here’s what each of them offer.

Feature	Free	Smart	Pro	Max
Monthly cost	Free	£12.49 + VAT	£24.99 + VAT	£69.99 + VAT
Virtual debit card	✅	✅	✅	✅
UK card transactions	Free	Free	Free	Free
ATM withdrawals	£1	£1	£1	£1
Cash deposits at PayPoint	3%	3%	3%	3%
Cash deposits at Post Office	0.99% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)
Foreign currency card transactions	2.75% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee
Transfers to/from other bank accounts	20p per transfer	25 free transfers	Unlimited free	Unlimited free
Transfers to foreign accounts	20p + 1.50% foreign exchange fee	20p above free limit + 0.50% foreign exchange fee	No transfer fee + 0.50% foreign exchange fee	No transfer fee + 0.50% foreign exchange fee
Linked Instant Saver Interest	2.78% up to £75k	3.29% up to £100k	3.60% up to £100k, 3.81% to £150k	3.60% up to £100k, 3.81% to £500k, 4.12% to £1m
Additional accounts	❌	1 free	2 free	3 free
Expense cards	£5/month per card	1 free	2 free	3 free
Team access	Free read-only	1 member with enhanced access	2 members with enhanced access	5 members with enhanced access
Invoicing	3 free/month	3 free/month	3 free/month	Unlimited
Payment links	✅	✅	✅	✅
Tap to Pay	✅	✅	✅	✅
Third-party accounting integration	✅	✅	✅	✅
Tide Accounting	From £9.99 + VAT	From £9.99 + VAT	Free	Admin Extra free
Support	Chat only	Prioritised chat & phone	Prioritised chat & phone	Prioritised + dedicated weekend
Legal help	❌	24/7 legal helpline with trademark filing & disputes support	24/7 legal helpline with trademark filing & disputes support	24/7 legal helpline with trademark filing & disputes support

Is it worth paying for extras?

The free account has plenty included — you can do most of your everyday banking at no additional cost with Tide, only paying if you need to deposit cash and for transfers into and out of the account. However, if you’d benefit from additional accounts, expense cards and team access then the Smart account may be suitable for you. 

As your team grows, you may then want to go up to the higher tiers to add extra team members. 

The other extras include Tide Accounting, which is included in the Pro and Max tiers, though if you want to add it to another tier, it’s £9.99 per month. 

Tide fees

Other than the cost of your chosen account tier, which are above, there are some additional fees you might come across, although these fees depend on the tier you’ve chosen.

Tier	Free	Smart	Pro	Max
ATM withdrawals	£1	£1	£1	£1
Cash deposits at PayPoint	3%	3%	3%	3%
Cash deposits at Post Office	0.99% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)	0.5% (min £2.50)
Foreign currency card transactions	2.75% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee	0% foreign exchange fee
Transfers to/from other bank accounts	20p per transfer	20p/ transfer after 25 free transfers	Free	Free
Transfers to foreign accounts	20p + 1.50% foreign exchange fee	20p above free limit + 0.50% foreign exchange fee	No transfer fee + 0.50% foreign exchange fee	No transfer fee + 0.50% foreign exchange fee

Which businesses can get Tide?

Tide is available for both sole traders and registered limited companies. 

Limited companies need to be registered with UK Companies House and you must be a director of the company to open the account.

Tide Business Account reviews

On our sister site, Smart Money People, customers have rated Tide 4.68/5, with customers finding it easy to use and talking highly about their customer service.

Negative reviews are mixed, with a small number of users finding that their accounts have been closed with no notice.  

Read reviews of Tide

Summary: is Tide any good?

The Tide business bank account is a great business account. You can do most of what you need to with the free account for very few fees, then you can upgrade it as your business grows. I’ve personally used Tide before and found it really easy to use and loved the invoicing feature. 

You can integrate your accounting software and Tide, which means you can share the information between them, or you can choose to pay for Tide’s accounting software. 

In terms of the paid upgrades, the Smart account would be a good account if you have a team member you want to integrate, or you can upgrade further if you have more team members you want to add. 

If you’d prefer to look at other accounts before you make your mind up, we’ve compared a range of other free business accounts to help you choose one.