Blankitt Finance vs Sage
Sage is the most established name in UK small-business accounting, with phone support and payroll in the box. It also caps users, meters receipt capture, and sells hardest on a 90%-off offer that ends at month seven. Here is the fair version of the choice.
Every Sage claim on this page was verified against sage.com's UK pages on 5 July 2026. Products move — if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
At a glance
The differences that tend to decide it — including the rows where Sage wins.
| What matters | Blankitt Finance | Sage Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | By legal entity — £14/mo covers one business, every feature, unlimited users | Three plans gated by users and features: Start £20, Standard £43, Plus £59 per month ex VAT (sage.com, July 2026) |
| The launch offer | No promo games — £14 is the price in month one and month fifty | 90% off for 6 months (£2 / £4.30 / £5.90), then full price from month 7 — a 10× step. Taking the offer replaces the 1-month free trial (their terms, July 2026) |
| Users | Unlimited on every tier | 1 user on Start, 3 on Standard; unlimited only on Plus at £59/mo |
| Bill & receipt capture | OCR + email-in included, allowance + PAYG | Not included on Start; 30/month on Standard, 100/month on Plus, then £0.20 per additional approved capture (their compare table, July 2026) |
| Payroll | Runs in Blankitt HR, a sibling product from £15/mo — same login, one bill across the platform | Bundled: 1 employee included (5 on Plus), then £1.50 per employee/month — genuinely convenient if you want both in one subscription |
| Multi-currency & inventory | Included on every tier | Plus only (£59/mo) — Standard adds CIS and suppliers, Start is invoicing + VAT basics |
| HMRC Capital Allowances helper | AIA/FYA pools with CT600-ready print — included | Not offered (July 2026) |
| Cap table & PSC register | Built in — shareholdings, options vesting, PSC register | Not offered (July 2026) |
| MTD (VAT + Income Tax) | MTD VAT live; MTD ITSA ready for the April 2026 mandate | MTD-ready across plans — Sage is a long-standing HMRC software vendor (fair credit) |
| AI assistant | AI where it earns its keep — capture extraction, reconciliation suggestions | Sage Copilot included in every plan — invoice chasing, anomaly spotting (a genuine plus, July 2026) |
| Support | The founder — direct line, same-day answers | Telephone support included on all plans — rare at this price point and worth crediting |
| Track record | Early access — building in public, with every release dated on the public changelog | Sage Group plc — decades of UK accounting heritage and a vast accountant network |
Where Sage is a great choice
We're not going to pretend otherwise — Sage has earned five decades of trust, and there are cases where it's simply the right answer.
- You want accounting and payroll in one subscription — 1–5 employees included, then £1.50 per employee.
- Telephone support matters to you — Sage includes it on every plan, which most rivals don't.
- Sage Copilot's AI (invoice chasing, anomaly detection) is included in all plans, not gated to the top tier.
- Your accountant lives in the Sage ecosystem, or you're migrating from Sage 50 / BrightPay where the path is smoothest.
- You value a FTSE-listed vendor with decades of HMRC filing heritage behind the product.
If that list describes you, take the trial (note: the trial, not the 90% offer — you can't have both). The cards below are where the two products genuinely diverge.
Where Blankitt fits
Blankitt leans into flat pricing and the company-structure tools a plan ladder never gets to.
Month seven is the real price
Sage's 90%-off banner makes the first half-year cost £2–£5.90 a month. From month seven you pay £20, £43 or £59 — a 10× step that lands after you've migrated everything in. Blankitt is £14 in month one and month fifty. Compare year-two costs, not launch offers.
One user shouldn't be a plan decision
Sage Start is a single-user plan; adding your bookkeeper means Standard at £43. Blankitt doesn't count users on any tier — your accountant, co-founder and bookkeeper log in without a pricing conversation.
Receipts without a meter
On Sage, capture isn't in Start at all, and Standard's 30 captures a month run out fast in a real business — then it's £0.20 per receipt. Blankitt includes OCR and email-in capture with a generous allowance and clear PAYG beyond it, on every tier, stated up front.
Company-structure tools accountants don't expect
The capital-allowances helper (AIA and FYA pools with a CT600-ready print) and the built-in cap table with PSC register don't exist in Sage Accounting. If you're a limited company with assets or shareholders, these replace spreadsheets nobody enjoys maintaining.
Everything included, one line on the invoice
Multi-currency, inventory, projects, unlimited invoicing — Sage ladders these across Start/Standard/Plus; Blankitt includes the lot at £14 per entity. The plan-picker anxiety of 'which features will I need next year?' simply isn't part of the purchase.
Grows to group structure
Blankitt runs from a personal ledger to multi-entity group consolidation — intercompany eliminations, ownership percentages, NCI. Sage's answer at that stage is a different, bigger Sage product. Ours is the same product with more entities.
Fair questions
Is Sage Accounting a good product?
Yes — Sage is the grand old name of UK small-business accounting for a reason: decades of HMRC heritage, an enormous accountant network, telephone support on every plan, and now Sage Copilot AI included throughout. If you want the FTSE-listed incumbent with a phone number, and bundled payroll in the same subscription, it's a rational choice. This page exists for the trade-offs: user caps, metered capture, feature ladders and the month-seven price step.
How much does Sage Accounting actually cost?
List prices on sage.com (July 2026, ex VAT): Start £20/month (1 user), Standard £43/month (3 users), Plus £59/month (unlimited users). The 90%-off promotion makes the first six months £2/£4.30/£5.90, then full price applies — and taking the promotion replaces the free trial. Payroll adds £1.50 per employee per month beyond the included allowance. Blankitt Finance is £14/month per business with every feature and unlimited users.
What's the catch with Sage's 90% off?
Three things to check before you commit. First, the price from month seven is 10× the promo price — budget for £20–£59, not £2–£5.90. Second, taking the offer means skipping the 1-month free trial (it's either/or in their terms). Third, the cheap Start plan is 1 user with no receipt capture — the plan most people actually need is Standard at £43. None of this is hidden, but the banner doesn't lead with it.
Sage bundles payroll — does Blankitt?
Not inside Finance. Blankitt payroll lives in Blankitt HR (from £15/month), a sibling product on the same platform, login and bill — with UK payroll, RTI, auto-enrolment and statutory pay as core product rather than a per-employee bolt-on. If you specifically want accounting and payroll inside one subscription line, Sage's bundling is genuinely convenient and we'd rather say so here.
Can I migrate from Sage to Blankitt?
Yes. CSV import covers your chart of accounts, contacts and open items, and bank feeds re-link in minutes. The sensible route is to run Blankitt from the start of a VAT quarter (or your year-end), keep Sage read-only for history, and cancel it once the first VAT return files cleanly. The demo is the fastest way to judge if the fit is right before touching anything.
Compare month seven, not month one.
Open the live demo, run your own numbers at full price on both sides, and decide on the product — not the banner.
Sage is a trademark of The Sage Group plc. Blankitt is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Sage. Comparison points reflect public information as of 5 July 2026; corrections welcome at [email protected].