Tide vs Revolut Business

The core trade-off

Tide is built around UK SME banking — UK transfers, UK invoicing, UK savings, UK accountant workflows. Revolut Business is built around multi-currency and FX — holding USD or EUR alongside GBP, sending international payments at near-interbank rates, issuing cards in multiple currencies. They overlap on the basics (UK account, debit card, invoicing, accounting integrations) but the centre of gravity is different.

FSCS and account type

Tide bank accounts issued via ClearBank are FSCS-eligible up to £85,000. Revolut Business in the UK is e-money — safeguarded under UK e-money rules but not FSCS-protected. For larger balances, Tide on a ClearBank-issued account or a fully licensed UK bank (Starling, Monzo Business) is the cleaner answer.

International payments

This is Revolut's home turf. You can hold 30+ currencies, send international payments at interbank FX up to your plan's monthly free allowance and beyond at a small markup, and issue cards in multiple currencies. Tide does international payments via partners but is materially more expensive at volume and doesn't hold balances in non-GBP currencies natively.

UK banking and tooling

Tide wins on UK SME ergonomics: invoicing on the free plan, integrated company formation, in-app Tide Instant Saver, deeper categorisation, and the UK accountant workflow most firms are used to. Revolut's invoicing and integrations are good, but Tide is the more native UK experience.

Plans and pricing

Both run a free tier and three or four paid tiers. Revolut's paid plans buy more free local transfers and international payments and higher FX allowances; Tide's paid plans buy more UK transfers, expense cards and enhanced tooling. Price by your actual volume — international FX volume pushes you to Revolut Grow/Scale; UK transfer volume pushes you to Tide Smart/Pro.

Sign-up offer

Tide currently runs REFER200 — up to £200 cashback. Revolut Business runs promotional sign-up offers from time to time but they vary and aren't always live. If both are otherwise equal for your use case, the REFER200 cashback is a clean reason to start with Tide.

Pick Tide if…

You operate mostly in GBP, want UK-first SME tools, value integrated company formation or want the £200 REFER200 cashback. Tide is the cleaner default for UK-focused businesses.

Pick Revolut if…

You handle significant non-GBP revenue or supplier payments, want to hold multiple currencies natively, or want issuer-level FX rates inside your business banking app.

Run both?

Common pattern: Tide as the UK operational account (and to claim the cashback), Revolut Business as the multi-currency wallet for international flows. Neither charges to hold the other.

FX in detail — what "interbank" actually means

Revolut Business converts up to a monthly FX allowance at the interbank rate (the rate banks trade with each other), then applies a small markup beyond the allowance — currently around 0.4–1% depending on plan and currency pair. Weekend conversions add a further weekend surcharge. For a business converting modest amounts within the plan allowance, the effective FX cost is close to zero. Wise Business is similar in spirit but uses a transparent per-conversion fee (typically 0.4%+ from the mid-market rate) with no monthly allowance — which often works out cheaper for irregular large conversions. Tide doesn't compete on FX at all; international payments are functional but priced as a UK SME tool, not an FX product.

Cards, virtual cards and per-team controls

Revolut Business is strong on cards: physical debit cards, multiple virtual cards per team member with merchant-level controls and budgets, and the ability to issue cards in any held currency to avoid FX on cross-border purchases. Tide's Free plan includes a single Mastercard debit; paid tiers add Expense Cards with categorisation, per-card limits and receipt capture. For a UK team that mostly spends in GBP, Tide's Expense Cards on Smart or Pro are sufficient and usually cheaper. For a globally distributed team or one with heavy SaaS spend in USD, Revolut's per-currency virtual cards genuinely save money on FX.

Pricing comparison at realistic volume

Headline plan fees only tell part of the story. A UK SME doing 100 UK transfers per month, no FX and modest card spend: Tide Free covers 20 free transfers and chargeable transfers thereafter; Tide Smart includes more and adds Expense Cards. Revolut's Basic includes 5 free local transfers; Grow (around £25/month) raises that and adds invoicing limits and FX allowance. For pure UK transfer volume at typical SME levels, Tide is usually cheaper. For any business doing more than £5–10k a month in FX, Revolut's plan fees pay for themselves several times over.

Tooling — invoicing, expenses and accounting

Both include invoicing on every plan, both integrate with Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent (Revolut also Sage). Tide's invoicing is slightly more polished for UK customers, with cleaner branding controls and tighter payment matching on paid tiers. Revolut's expense management is strong on cards and budgets, especially across multiple currencies. For a UK-only business focused on invoicing and accounting, Tide is the more native experience. For a multi-currency business focused on card-based spend control, Revolut is.

For specific business types

UK-only sole traders: Tide Free with the REFER200 cashback is the obvious default. UK Ltd companies with no international flow: Tide, with optional move to Smart for Expense Cards. E-commerce sellers across Europe and the US: Revolut Business for receiving in EUR/USD and FX, often with Tide alongside for UK ops. Agencies with overseas clients or contractors: Revolut for the multi-currency wallet, Tide for UK invoicing. Crypto-adjacent businesses: Revolut tolerates this better than most UK providers; Tide and high-street banks remain restrictive.

Support, reliability and switching

Both are in-app chat by default. Revolut Business's higher tiers (Scale, Enterprise) include account management. Tide's support is in-app chat across all tiers. Reliability is broadly comparable — both publish incident histories and both have had occasional outages, with no structural advantage either way. Switching providers is manual at both (the Current Account Switch Service does not cover most business accounts). Both can be held indefinitely with no charge on the lowest tiers, which is why so many UK SMEs end up running both rather than choosing.