Comparison
Marchant vs Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an affordable SMB accounting platform with a strong ecosystem. Here's where it wins, where Marchant wins, and how the two compare for a UK business filing MTD VAT.
Our honest take
Zoho Books is strong value if you are a UK-only business already invested in the Zoho ecosystem — the tight CRM and Projects integration, powerful workflow automation, and free plan make it genuinely competitive at the lower end of the market.
Marchant is the stronger fit if you are planning for France or Germany rather than filing there today. Neither product files to the DGFiP or ELSTER now; Marchant's French and German filing is planned for 2028 in the same subscription, while Zoho Books would still need a country-specific compliance tool alongside it, splitting data and doubling cost.
The differentiator is bundling. Zoho Books does UK MTD well, but payroll means buying Zoho Payroll as a separate product. Marchant includes UK payroll via BrightPay sync from the Professional tier, and multi-currency on every plan. Neither files in France or Germany today.
Zoho Books has carved out a real position in the UK SMB market — especially for businesses already running Zoho CRM or Zoho Projects, where the native integrations save meaningful time. If you are comparing Marchant vs Zoho Books because you want payroll and multi-currency in the subscription rather than bolted on, this page is for you.
Zoho Books handles UK VAT and MTD well, and its pricing is among the most competitive in the market — including a free plan for smaller businesses. The Zoho ecosystem (CRM, Projects, Inventory, Expense) is a genuine differentiator for businesses that want to standardise on one vendor. But it is a UK-centric compliance platform: French DGFiP TVA and German ELSTER VAT do not exist inside the product.
Below you will find an honest split of strengths on each side, a full feature comparison, a pricing snapshot, a migration guide, and answers to the questions we hear most before teams switch from Zoho Books.
Zoho Books
Where Zoho Books genuinely wins
- ✓Free plan for businesses under the revenue threshold — a meaningful option for early-stage companies evaluating full accounting software.
- ✓Deep Zoho ecosystem integration: Zoho CRM, Projects, Inventory, and Expense connect natively, reducing double-entry across sales and finance workflows.
- ✓Powerful workflow automation with custom scripts (Deluge) — useful for teams that want to automate approval chains and recurring entries.
- ✓Competitive pricing at the mid-tier: Professional at £20/mo covers five users with multi-currency, making it strong value for UK-only growing teams.
- ✓UK MTD VAT filing is well-supported and reliable — a solid choice for businesses that only need UK compliance.
Where Zoho Books is weaker for cross-border teams
- ✗No native French TVA (DGFiP) or German ELSTER VAT filing — expansion into France or Germany means a second accounting or compliance tool.
- ✗French and German payroll are not available — cross-border payroll requires separate SaaS products and reconciliation.
- ✗Multi-currency invoicing is locked to the Professional plan (£20/mo+) — UK-only Starter users cannot invoice in EUR natively.
- ✗The Zoho ecosystem is a strength inside Zoho — but if your stack is mixed (Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack), the advantage diminishes.
Marchant
Why Marchant is the stronger fit when you cross borders
- ✓Multi-currency invoicing across 50+ currencies with daily FX rates is available on all plans — no plan upgrade required.
- ✓Open banking (coming soon) across 2,400+ UK and EU institutions with daily sync, so German and French accounts sit next to UK ones.
- ✓Full English, French and German UI — one workspace for international finance teams without parallel ledgers.
Where Marchant is still catching up
- ~Marchant is a UK product until the French and German launches in 2028 — if you need filing in either market now, neither Marchant nor Zoho Books's UK plan covers it.
- ~Zoho's free plan is a genuine option for eligible businesses — Marchant's entry plan starts at £15/mo.
- ~The Zoho ecosystem depth (CRM, Projects, Inventory in one vendor) is hard to match if you are already Zoho-first.
- ~Mobile apps are rolling out — Zoho Books already has iOS and Android apps available today.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Marchant | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From £15/mo — UK compliance included | Free plan (revenue < £35K/yr); Standard £10/mo; Professional £20/mo; Premium £30/mo |
| UK VAT (MTD) | All plans — direct MTD submission | All plans — direct MTD submission |
| French TVA (DGFiP) | Planned — French launch 2028 | Not supported — no native DGFiP filing |
| German VAT (ELSTER) | Planned — German launch 2028 | Not supported — no native ELSTER filing |
| UK Payroll | BrightPay sync (coming soon) | Via Zoho Payroll (separate product) — not bundled |
| French Payroll (DSN) | Planned — French launch 2028 | Not supported |
| German Payroll (DATEV) | Planned — German launch 2028 | Not supported |
| Open banking | 2,400+ UK & EU banks — daily sync (coming soon) | UK & EU banks via third-party feeds — daily sync |
| Multi-currency invoicing | 50+ currencies with daily FX rates on all plans | Professional plan and above (£20/mo+) |
| SEPA batch payments | Coming soon — not available yet | Not a core feature |
| Third-party integrations | CSV import — Zapier, REST API and connectors coming soon | 50+ Zoho apps (CRM, Projects, Inventory) plus 1,000+ via Zapier |
| Fixed assets & depreciation | Coming soon | Yes — fixed asset register on Professional+ |
| Mobile app | iOS + Android (coming soon) | iOS + Android — available |
| Free trial / free tier | 30 days — no card required | Permanent free plan for eligible businesses; 14-day trial on paid plans |
| Accountant access | Included on all plans | Included — Zoho Books for Accountants portal |
Pricing comparison (verify before you buy)
Zoho Books pricing is publicly listed and competitive. Use this table as a planning snapshot, then confirm live prices on each website. The important question is not just headline cost — it is what you pay once you add multi-currency and any country compliance tools.
| What you are comparing | Marchant | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price (public list, UK) | Starter from £15/mo — UK compliance included | Free plan (revenue threshold); Standard £10/mo; Professional £20/mo (multi-currency) |
| Multi-currency invoicing | Included on all plans — no upgrade required | Professional plan and above (£20/mo+) |
| French + German compliance | Planned for 2028 — UK MTD and CIS today | Not available — requires separate country-specific tools |
| Accountant access | Included on every plan | Included — Zoho Books for Accountants |
| Free trial | 30 days, card not required | 14-day trial on paid plans; permanent free plan for eligible businesses |
Zoho Books pricing and plan inclusions are updated periodically — always verify on zoho.com/books before budgeting. The free plan has revenue and feature limits that may not suit growing businesses.
Switching from Zoho Books to Marchant
Migration ships in 2027. The steps below are how the move will work when it does — the rest of Marchant is live today.
Zoho Books exports are structured and complete, which makes migration straightforward. Most companies complete the core data move in an afternoon. Run both systems in parallel for one VAT period if your accountant prefers a soft cutover.
Export your chart of accounts and trial balance from Zoho Books
In Zoho Books, go to Reports and export a Trial Balance for the current period and a chart of accounts. Download your contacts, items and opening balances. Your Marchant onboarding checklist maps directly to these exports.
Move open invoices, bills and contacts
Export customers, vendors, unpaid invoices and bills to CSV from Zoho Books. Marchant's import templates align to Zoho's export columns to minimise re-mapping. If you use Zoho CRM contacts, export those separately and cross-reference.
Reconnect bank feeds in Marchant
Import the last 90 days of statements from each UK and EU account as CSV to give yourself a clean reconciliation window before you cut over completely. Open banking feeds are coming soon.
Recreate tax and payroll settings
Transfer HMRC PAYE references, VAT registration numbers, and scheme dates exactly — your accountant can review in a shared workspace. French or German registrations stay with your current provider until Marchant’s 2028 launches.
Parallel run one return, then cut over
Many teams file one more MTD return from Zoho Books while reconciling in Marchant, then switch filing credentials after that period closes. This gives your accountant a comparison check before you decommission the old platform.
Need help? Marchant support can review your Zoho Books export package before import. Send anonymised samples if your data policy requires it. The goal is zero surprises on VAT or payroll deadlines.
Common questions: Marchant vs Zoho Books
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