Tide plans and fees: the complete 2026 breakdown

The four Tide plans at a glance

Tide structures its pricing around four membership tiers. The Free plan has no monthly fee and charges per transaction. The three paid plans — Smart, Pro and Max — each carry a monthly subscription that buys a bundle of allowances: more free transfers, better FX rates, included team cards, and progressively more admin tools. Every plan gives you the same underlying business current account, Mastercard debit card, and access to the Tide app.

Prices below are the monthly pay-monthly rates. Tide also offers an annual payment option that reduces the effective monthly cost on each paid plan. Always confirm current prices on Tide's official pricing page before committing, as Tide adjusts plan inclusions and fees periodically.

Everyday banking: transfers, deposits and ATM

The most important number for most businesses is the free transfer allowance. On Free, you get 5 outbound bank transfers per month at no charge; beyond that, each transfer costs a per-item fee. Smart raises this to 30 transfers. Pro and Max both offer unlimited transfers, which is the primary reason high-volume businesses move to the upper tiers.

Cash and cheque deposits are available on every plan but are charged per item regardless of tier — the plan does not buy you a deposit allowance. If your business handles significant cash, the per-deposit fee adds up quickly and should be calculated separately from your transfer costs. ATM withdrawals are included on all plans.

International payments and FX fees

International card payments are one of the sharpest differences between Free and the paid plans. On Free, Tide charges a 2.75% foreign exchange fee on every card transaction made in a foreign currency. Smart, Pro and Max all drop this to 0% — a significant saving for any business that regularly pays overseas suppliers by card, travels for work, or buys software subscriptions priced in dollars or euros.

International bank transfers (SEPA and SWIFT) are available on all plans, but the specific fees per transfer vary. SWIFT payments in foreign currency are also available across all tiers. If you send money abroad frequently, compare the per-transfer fee on your chosen plan against a specialist currency provider before assuming Tide is the cheapest route for high-volume FX.

Tide Instant Saver rates by plan

Tide Instant Saver is an instant-access savings pot attached to your account. The interest rate you earn depends on your plan tier — higher plans earn a higher standard AER. All plans also have access to the Instant Saver Intro rate of up to 4% AER for new savers, subject to the tiered rate structure in Tide's Summary Box.

For the REFER200 campaign, the Instant Saver rate is secondary to the £125 reward itself. The reward for depositing £5,000 and holding it for one month will typically dwarf the interest earned in that period at any plan tier. Choose your plan based on your transfer and FX needs, not on the marginal difference in Instant Saver AER.

Team management: cards and access

Team Cards are physical or virtual expense cards issued to staff members, each linked to the business account. The number of Team Cards included in the plan fee differs by tier: Free includes none (cards are available at an additional monthly cost), Smart includes 1, Pro includes 2, and Max includes 3. Additional cards beyond the included number are available on paid plans at an extra monthly fee per card.

Team Access — the ability to give colleagues or your accountant a login to the Tide account — is available on all plans, though the permission levels available (read-only versus full access) vary by tier. If you need multiple people actively managing the account, check the current permission structure on Tide's own pages before assuming a specific access level is included.

Admin tools: invoicing, accounting and payroll

Tide bundles a range of admin tools into its plans, with the depth of tooling increasing at higher tiers. Invoicing is available on all plans but capped at 3 free invoices per month on Free, Smart and Pro; Max includes unlimited invoicing. For businesses that invoice more than 3 clients per month, the Invoice Assistant add-on (available from £5.99+VAT/month) unlocks unlimited invoices and automated payment reminders on any plan.

Accounting software is gated by tier: Free and Smart do not include Tide Accounting; Pro includes Tide Accounting as part of the plan; Max includes an Admin Extra bundle. The Xero Connector — which syncs your Tide transactions directly into Xero — is included on Smart, Pro and Max but not on Free. Third-party accounting integrations (FreeAgent, QuickBooks, Sage) are available on all plans. Payroll software is only included on Max.

Getting paid: payment links, tap to pay and cashback

Payment Links — shareable links that let customers pay by card without a terminal — are available on all plans. Card transaction fees apply when a customer pays through a link. Tap to Pay on iPhone (accepting contactless payments directly on your phone) is also available on all plans at no extra hardware cost.

The 0.5% cashback feature, which earns cashback on eligible card spend, is exclusive to the Max plan. Credit Score Insights, which lets you monitor your business credit score from within the app, is also a Max-only feature. These two features are the main differentiators between Pro and Max for businesses that do not need payroll.

Which plan is right for your business?

Free suits a brand-new business or a sole trader with very low transaction volume who wants to test the account before committing to a subscription. The 5 free transfers per month is the binding constraint: if you pay more than 5 suppliers or contractors per month, the per-transfer fees accumulate quickly.

Smart is the most popular entry point for active businesses. The 30 free transfers cover most small businesses comfortably, the 0% FX fee on card payments saves money for anyone paying overseas, and the included Xero Connector and Business Phone Number add genuine utility. At £12.49/month, it pays for itself with around 60 outbound transfers per month at the per-transfer rate — but the FX saving alone often justifies the upgrade before that point.

Pro makes sense when you have exhausted Smart's 30-transfer allowance or need Tide Accounting included rather than as an add-on. Unlimited transfers and 2 free CHAPS payments per month are the headline inclusions. The jump from Smart to Pro is significant in price (£15/month more), so it is worth confirming your transfer volume genuinely exceeds 30/month before upgrading.

Max is designed for businesses that want the full bundle: unlimited transfers, the highest Instant Saver rate, 0.5% cashback, payroll, 3 included Team Cards, 5 free CHAPS, and Credit Score Insights. At £69.99/month it is a substantial subscription, and it only makes sense if you are actively using the payroll, cashback and accounting features rather than paying for tools you will not use.

Per-item fees to watch

Several charges apply regardless of plan tier and are easy to overlook when comparing headline monthly prices. Cash deposits at Post Office and PayPoint locations are charged per deposit, not per pound — so ten £50 deposits cost more in fees than one £500 deposit. Cheque deposits through the app carry a per-cheque fee. Card replacement and expedited delivery carry their own fees. CHAPS payments beyond the monthly free allowance are charged per payment.

These per-item fees are the most common source of unexpected bills for new Tide members. If your business handles regular cash or cheques, calculate these costs separately from your transfer allowance before choosing a plan.

• Cash deposits (Post Office / PayPoint): charged per deposit regardless of plan
• Cheque deposits: charged per cheque regardless of plan
• CHAPS payments: free allowance varies by plan; charged per payment beyond the allowance
• Additional Team Cards: charged per card per month beyond the included number
• Card replacement: fee applies for lost or damaged card replacement
• Invoice Assistant: £5.99+VAT/month add-on for unlimited invoices on Free/Smart/Pro
• Tide Accounting: from £13.99+VAT/month as a standalone add-on on Free/Smart plans
• Tide Card Reader: from £159+VAT hardware purchase, available on all plans

Annual pricing: how much you save by paying upfront

Tide offers a discount for paying annually instead of monthly. The effective monthly rates when paying annually are lower than the pay-monthly prices shown above. If you are confident you will use the account for at least 12 months, the annual option is worth calculating. The saving is most significant on Max, where the annual rate reduces the effective monthly cost noticeably.

To see the current annual prices, toggle the 'Pay annually' option on Tide's pricing page. We do not publish the annual prices here because they are more likely to change than the monthly prices, and we want to avoid directing you to a stale figure.

Does the plan affect the REFER200 offer?

No. The REFER200 campaign attaches to opening a Tide business current account, not to choosing a specific plan. Both reward steps — the £75 for £100 of qualifying card spend and the £125 for the Instant Saver deposit — are available regardless of which plan you open on. You can open on Free, complete both steps, and still earn up to £200.

The only indirect connection is that the Instant Saver AER is higher on paid plans, so if you are depositing £5,000 for the campaign anyway, a higher plan earns slightly more interest during the holding period. But the interest difference over one month is small relative to the plan fee, so it is not a reason to upgrade.