Is Crunch software or an accountancy firm?
Both, sold separately, and conflating them is the most common mistake in Crunch comparisons. The self-serve software is Free (ad-supported), Lite at £4 a month, or Plus at £10 plus VAT a month. The accountancy service — named human accountants with the software bundled — is £27 plus VAT a month for sole traders, from £94 plus VAT for limited companies, and from £185 plus VAT for ecommerce and premier packages. HelloBooks only sells software.
Does Crunch Free really put ads on my invoices?
Yes. Crunch's own pricing page states that the Free tier displays ads in the platform and on invoices sent to your clients. Removing them is the stated purpose of Crunch Lite at £4 a month. HelloBooks Free carries a "Powered by HelloBooks" badge on client-facing documents, which is removed from Pro — but no third-party advertising at any tier.
Can I file MTD on the free Crunch plan?
No. Both MTD ITSA and MTD VAT returns require Crunch Plus at £10 plus VAT a month — they are crossed out on Free and Lite. So is the Open Banking bank connection, leaving Free and Lite users on CSV upload. If you are VAT-registered or caught by ITSA, Crunch's real entry price is £10 plus VAT a month, not £0 or £4.
Does Crunch file my Self Assessment?
This is genuinely ambiguous and worth asking directly. Crunch Plus advertises MTD ITSA quarterly updates submitted from the dashboard, but Self Assessment filing is also listed as a separate add-on described as worth £240 plus VAT on the pricing page, and from £120 plus VAT in the FAQ, with prices varying by deadline. Whether Plus alone covers the year-end final declaration is not clear from Crunch's own pages. Get it in writing before assuming.
Does HelloBooks file MTD for Income Tax?
No. HelloBooks is MTD-ready for VAT; MTD for Income Tax quarterly submission is not a shipped feature and we will not claim it. ITSA became mandatory from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords above the threshold. If that applies to you, Crunch Plus is HMRC recognised for it and we are not.
What does HelloBooks cost in the UK?
Free forever with 2,500 AI credits a month and up to two users. Pro is £7.99/month or £79.99/year against a list price of £15.99, with unlimited users, unlimited bank connections, MTD-ready VAT, multi-entity, API access, inventory, three-way matching and multi-currency with automatic FX. Business is £31.99/month or £319.99/year. No ads, and no per-user pricing.
Is Crunch a real accounting system?
The self-serve software is invoicing, expenses, bank reconciliation and tax filing for freelancers and small limited companies. Its software pages make no mention of journals, nominal codes, a chart of accounts or a general ledger. That is not a criticism of the accountancy service — where a human accountant handles the statutory side — but if you want to run double-entry books yourself, the Crunch software is not built for it.
What is Luca?
Crunch's AI assistant, and it is genuinely shipped: Luca powers AI auto-matching for faster bank reconciliation on Crunch Plus. Beyond auto-matching, no other AI capability is verified as shipped. HelloBooks includes AI categorization at 95%+ accuracy, OCR with line extraction, Munimji (a conversational assistant with 60+ tools), AI payables, AI calling for overdue receivables, a CFO agent, smart error detection and AI analysis on every report — from the Free plan.
What do Crunch customers complain about?
Response times dominate. Reviews.io, across 305 reviews, includes comments about flipping a coin to see whether they reply to your email, undisclosed six-week service level agreements, and query resolution taking over a week, with the platform interface described as awful and requiring constant support involvement. Older Capterra reviews cite account-handler churn — one reviewer had five handlers over six years — manual reconciliation friction, limited proactive tax advice, and a discontinued iPhone app. Overall Reviews.io sits at 4.1 with 78% recommending.
Does Crunch handle payroll?
Yes, as a paid add-on within the accountancy service rather than as a self-serve software module. Director payroll is included for up to two directors up to the NI threshold, with £20 plus VAT a month for salary above that. Employee payroll is £20 plus VAT a month for up to five employees, £25 for six to ten, £30 for eleven to fifteen. HelloBooks does not ship UK payroll at all, so this is a genuine Crunch advantage.
Can I migrate from Crunch to HelloBooks?
Yes, though note the tier gate. Bulk export of invoices and expenses is a Crunch Plus feature — we could not confirm bulk export on Free or Lite, so you may need to be on Plus for the month you leave. Export to CSV, then import chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, invoices and bills into HelloBooks, where the import uses AI to retain nominal codes and map intelligently. The flow at /migrate includes a dry-run preview and one-click rollback.
Can I still use an accountant with HelloBooks?
Yes, and most customers do. Free supports two users and Pro and Business have unlimited users with roles and permissions, so your accountant gets their own login rather than working from files you email. You can also find one through our free directory at /find-an-accountant, or your existing firm can join the free Partner Program for a multi-client practice dashboard and a wholesale discount. What we do not do is employ the accountant for you, which is exactly what Crunch's service does.
Which is cheaper overall?
It depends what you are comparing. Against Crunch software, HelloBooks Pro at £7.99 is slightly cheaper than Crunch Plus at £10 plus VAT and includes considerably more — inventory, multi-entity, multi-currency, purchase orders, API access and a full AI stack. Against the Crunch accountancy service at £27 to £185 plus VAT a month, HelloBooks is much cheaper but you are buying software rather than a person, so it is not the same purchase.
Is HelloBooks secure?
HelloBooks is SOC 2 Type II certified, with the report available under NDA through the Trust Center; ISO 27001 is on the compliance roadmap and we do not describe it as certified. Data is encrypted with AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit, MFA is available, hosting is AWS with 99.9% uptime and daily encrypted backups, and bank connections are read-only. HelloBooks is GDPR-aligned.