Credit control software sends your payment reminders for you by email, SMS or WhatsApp on a schedule you set, and the fuller tools add statements, late fees, instalment plans, escalation and a way for your customer to pay from the reminder. Most tools charge a monthly subscription, sometimes with a charge per text message on top. Adfin's Essential credit control is free with unlimited reminders on every channel, and its Enhanced plan costs 0.3% of a paid invoice, only on invoices where you've used it, so £3 on a £1,000 invoice.
In this article
The short version
- Credit control software sends reminders for you and can add statements, late fees, instalments, escalation and payment links.
- Adfin's Essential credit control is free, with unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp.
- Enhanced costs 0.3% of a paid invoice, only where an enhanced skill was used, so £3 on £1,000.
- Payment fees are separate: 1% + 20p, with the percentage capped at £4 on direct debit and bank payments.
- Most other tools charge a monthly subscription, and some charge extra for SMS or don't take the payment.
What credit control software does
It watches your unpaid invoices and contacts your customers so you don't have to remember to. Most tools connect to your Xero or QuickBooks and stop chasing once an invoice is marked paid. The features on pricing pages do quite different jobs:
- Reminders: messages before and after the due date, written once and sent automatically.
- Channels: email is standard, and some tools add SMS and WhatsApp for customers who don't open email.
- Timing: a fixed schedule for everyone, or timing adjusted for each customer based on how they've paid before.
- Statements: one message listing everything a customer owes, useful when several invoices are open at once.
- Late fees: statutory interest and fixed compensation added to overdue business invoices.
- Instalments: an offer to spread a large balance over several payments, for customers who can't pay in one go.
- Escalation: firmer steps once the usual reminders have gone unanswered, up to a final notice and a formal route.
- Reporting: who owes what and for how long.
- Taking the payment: a link in each reminder to pay by card or bank, or collection by direct debit on the due date.
A tool that only chases leaves your customer paying however they paid before, usually by bank transfer when they get round to it, and you'll need a separate payment provider for anything else.
Free and paid plans side by side
Adfin takes the payment and does the chasing in one account, and its credit control comes in two plans.
| Feature | Essential (free) | Enhanced (0.3% per paid invoice, only where used) |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp | Included | Included |
| Sync with Xero or QuickBooks | Included | Included |
| Debtor reporting and customer statements | Included | Included |
| Timing, channel and tone tuned for each customer | Not included | Included |
| Statutory interest added to overdue business invoices | Not included | Included |
| Emails sent from your own email address | Not included | Included |
| Escalations, including an AI phone call and a law firm handover | Not included | Included |
The 0.3% doesn't apply to every payment. You're charged only on an invoice that gets paid after an enhanced skill was used on it, and it never goes above 0.3% of that invoice however many enhanced skills were involved. So a £500 invoice costs £1.50 and a £1,000 invoice costs £3, whether one enhanced skill was used on it or several. If an invoice was chased only with Essential reminders, you pay nothing for credit control.
You switch Enhanced on for a collection agent and choose which customers each agent covers, so you can keep reliable payers on the free plan and use Enhanced only on the accounts that tend to need more.
Payment fees are separate from credit control. When your customer pays through Adfin, most payments cost 1% + 20p, with the percentage capped at £4 on direct debit and bank payments but not on cards. Premium cards and direct debits over £2,000 cost more. Here's a £1,000 invoice paid by bank:
- Paid after Essential reminders only: £4.20 payment fee, nothing for credit control, £4.20 in total.
- Paid after an Enhanced agent chased it: £4.20 payment fee plus £3 for Enhanced, £7.20 in total.
There's no monthly fee, no contract and no charge for a failed payment.
How other tools charge
Most dedicated tools charge by the month, and the price doesn't change with what you collect. Using each vendor's own published UK prices:
- Satago starts at £45 a month for its Basic plan, which includes 100 email reminders per rolling 30 days and no SMS. Its Premium plan, at £80 a month, adds unlimited email and 100 text messages.
- Paidnice starts at £49 a month for up to 150 invoices a month, with SMS charged at 5p a message. It takes payments through a connected Stripe account, not its own.
- Xero and QuickBooks include email reminders in your subscription, and both need a connected payment provider to take the money.
When you compare, check whether SMS costs extra, whether a cap on reminders or invoices could push you up a plan, and whether you'll be paying a payment provider on top.
Which plan suits which customers
For customers who pay within a reminder or two, the free plan is likely to be enough.
Enhanced is more likely to be worth paying for on the accounts that don't. If a customer regularly pays three weeks late, £3 on a £1,000 invoice is set against the time you'd otherwise spend writing chasers, phoning and deciding when to get firm. For a customer who always pays on day two, the same £3 probably buys you very little, so it makes sense to leave them on an Essential agent.
Escalations cover the invoices that would otherwise end up with you on the phone. Once the usual reminders and overdue notices have gone unanswered, Adfin's collection agents move the invoice through stages you choose: an escalated notice from a more senior mailbox, a payment plan offer, an AI phone call, a final notice and a handover. The AI call says it's an AI and can send a secure payment link, but it can't change the amount or agree terms. At handover the invoice either comes back to you or goes to Garfield.Law, an SRA-regulated law firm that sends a letter before action and can start proceedings, with you staying the claimant.
Common questions
Does Adfin's 0.3% apply to every payment? No. It's charged only on paid invoices where an enhanced skill was used, and never more than 0.3% of that invoice, so £3 on £1,000.
Is there free credit control software in the UK? Adfin's Essential credit control is free, with unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp. Payment fees apply only when a customer pays through Adfin. Xero and QuickBooks include email reminders in their paid subscriptions.
Does credit control software replace a credit controller? It takes over the routine reminders, but a person still needs to handle disputes, agree payment plans and decide when to take formal action.
Can I use enhanced chasing for some customers and not others? Yes. Enhanced is switched on per collection agent, and you choose which customers each agent covers.
Are Adfin's payment fees part of the credit control price? No, they're separate. Most payments cost 1% + 20p, with the percentage capped at £4 on direct debit and bank payments but not on cards.
What happens when reminders don't work? With Escalations switched on, the invoice moves through steps you choose, ending in a handover back to you or to Garfield.Law, a law firm that can take it further.
Sources
- Adfin - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.adfin.com/pricing
- Adfin - Credit control (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.adfin.com/credit-control
- Satago - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.satago.com/pricing/
- Paidnice - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://paidnice.com/pricing
- GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt
