InvoiceShelf
InvoiceShelf 3.0 alphas add bills and suppliers, moving it from invoicing into payables.
Comparison · Finance
FreeAgent vs Stigg
A side-by-side editorial comparison of FreeAgent and Stigg — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
FreeAgent vs Stigg: at a glance
What is FreeAgent?
FreeAgent is expanding beyond freelancers into landlord-specific accounting with automated rental statement processing.
FreeAgent has spent the past year layering Making Tax Digital compliance tooling—early access in September 2025, practice management tools in December, Self Assessment filing for 2025/26 in April 2026. Alongside that compliance track, it shipped a Pleo expense management integration and Fathom analytics connector to round out the financial workflow. The June 2026 launch of FreeAgent for Landlords marks the first deliberate product segment expansion beyond its core freelancer and small-business base.
What is Stigg?
Stigg adds credit reservation and settlement for AI operations days after its agent SDK.
Stigg can now reserve credits before an AI operation starts and settle the actual cost when it finishes. It follows the beta Agent Governance SDK, an open-source library built on Stigg's entitlements engine. Earlier October releases added an Airwallex billing backend, credit usage grouped by feature and a Stripe Projects listing.
FreeAgent vs Stigg: editorial side-by-side
FreeAgent
0.0FINANCE
FreeAgent is expanding beyond freelancers into landlord-specific accounting with automated rental statement processing.
◆ Current state
FreeAgent has spent the past year layering Making Tax Digital compliance tooling—early access in September 2025, practice management tools in December, Self Assessment filing for 2025/26 in April 2026. Alongside that compliance track, it shipped a Pleo expense management integration and Fathom analytics connector to round out the financial workflow. The June 2026 launch of FreeAgent for Landlords marks the first deliberate product segment expansion beyond its core freelancer and small-business base.
◆ Where it's heading
FreeAgent is running two parallel tracks: deepening UK tax compliance (MTD, CIS, Self Assessment) for existing users, and opening a new market segment with a purpose-built landlord product. Automated rental statement parsing—categorising letting agent statements into structured entries—is the technical differentiator for the landlord track, not just a UI rename. If the landlord product gains traction, FreeAgent's distribution through NatWest's SME banking network becomes a significant acquisition channel.
◆ Prediction
The next move is likely native HMRC MTD for Property Income submission from within the landlord product, closing the end-to-end compliance loop for landlord customers who currently need a separate tool to file.
Stigg
6.3FINANCE
Stigg adds credit reservation and settlement for AI operations days after its agent SDK.
◆ Current state
Stigg can now reserve credits before an AI operation starts and settle the actual cost when it finishes. It follows the beta Agent Governance SDK, an open-source library built on Stigg's entitlements engine. Earlier October releases added an Airwallex billing backend, credit usage grouped by feature and a Stripe Projects listing.
◆ Where it's heading
Credits have become Stigg's main pricing unit, and the product is adapting them to AI workloads whose cost isn't known up front. Reserve and settle, together with the governance SDK, turns the entitlements engine into a spending control for agents.
◆ Prediction
Expect the governance SDK to use reservations directly for agent limits, and more reporting on reserved versus settled usage.
Alternatives to FreeAgent and Stigg
Other Finance products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either FreeAgent or Stigg.
Firefly III
Firefly III ships seven develop builds in six days, still with no changelog attached.
Shift4
Shift4 starts its Q4 venue rollout in canary while Customer Hub adds enterprise modifiers.
GOAT.tax
GOAT.tax adds Form 6765 Section G reporting for large R&D credit filers.
Kill Bill
Kill Bill keeps two release lines alive with small invoice-template changes.
Zluri
Zluri is turning SaaS management into identity governance, and Segregation of Duties is the pivot.
See all FreeAgent alternatives → · See all Stigg alternatives →
Recent activity from FreeAgent and Stigg
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoStiggCredit Reservation & Settlement
- 5d agoStiggAgent Governance SDK (beta) ⚡
- 7d agoStiggCard brand and digital wallet details for payment methods
- 9d agoStiggAbility to group credit usage by feature ID
- 12d agoStiggAirwallex integration (beta)
- 23d agoStiggStigg is now available on Stripe Projects
- 2mo agoFreeAgent7 ways we’ve improved FreeAgent’s VAT functionality
- 3mo agoFreeAgentFile MTD quarterly updates on the go from your mobile
- 4mo agoFreeAgentProduct spotlight: FreeAgent for Landlords ⚡
- 4mo agoFreeAgentA game changer for landlord clients: automatically capture and categorise rental statements
- 5mo agoFreeAgentProduct spotlight: CIS simplified
- 6mo agoFreeAgentSelf Assessment filing for 2025/26 is live in FreeAgent
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between FreeAgent and Stigg?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Stigg is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is FreeAgent better than Stigg?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Stigg is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Finance products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to FreeAgent?
Top FreeAgent alternatives in Finance are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "FreeAgent alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/freeagent for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Stigg?
Top Stigg alternatives in Finance are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Stigg alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/stigg for the full list with editorial commentary on each.