Billing Better
Billing Better operates the Homebox UK platform, consolidating gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence into a single monthly direct debit for residential tenants, students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators and landlords.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Billing Better does
Billing Better is a UK-based private company founded in 2016, operating a consumer-facing utility management platform marketed as Homebox UK. The platform consolidates household utility accounts (gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence) into a single monthly direct debit, handling payments to underlying suppliers on the customer's behalf and offering comparison and switching tools for home movers. In January 2023, the company acquired Homebox, a utilities comparison and switching service, which added a dedicated home-mover proposition and was integrated into the existing platform.
The platform architecture is essentially a thin integration layer on top of a multi-supplier partnership network comprising major UK broadband providers (Vodafone, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Sky), energy suppliers (Octopus Energy, E.ON), a major regional water utility (Thames Water), and additional reseller relationships. It exposes self-service quoting via a residential website, a tenant portal, and a partner/agent portal for B2B resellers. Product variants are segmented by use case: residential tenants, students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators, landlords, and bills-included arrangements, with a co-bill-payer feature enabling cost-splitting across up to twelve residents.
The business model is subscription-based recurring revenue: customers pay a consolidated monthly amount, and Billing Better manages the underlying supplier relationships and provider switching on their behalf. Acquisition is hybrid: a self-serve product-led growth motion for direct consumers, paired with a channel/reseller motion through letting agents, universities (Exeter, Bristol, Leeds, Kent), build-to-rent operators and landlords. The company reports 36,000+ bills sorted cumulatively, 100% YoY customer growth prior to the Homebox acquisition, and a 1-10 headcount operating from London under CEO and founder Jack Ray.
Billing Better firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Billing Better
- Legal name
- Billing Better
- Website
- https://billingbetter.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Billing Better operates the Homebox UK platform, consolidating gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence into a single monthly direct debit for residential tenants, students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators and landlords.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Billing Better industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Utility bill management software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Utility & Municipal Billing Platforms (FSAMAJAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF), Recurring Billing & AutoPay Management (FSAMAJAE), Housing Contracting, Billing & Occupancy Management (EDALACAH)
Keywords
Where Billing Better is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Billing Better business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Utility Bundle Subscription: Monthly subscription model where customers pay a consolidated amount covering gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV license. The company manages payments to individual utility providers and handles provider switching on behalf of customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Standard utility bundle with flexible service selection |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Billing Better product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Billing Better operates the Homebox platform, which bundles residential household utilities—gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence—into a single monthly direct debit payment. Customers receive an instant online quote based on their address and household size, select service tiers, and pay one consolidated amount while Homebox handles payments and provider switching on their behalf. The platform also offers specialised variants for students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators, landlords and bills-included rental arrangements.
Product overview
Billing Better operates as a unified platform offering Homebox, a suite of bill-bundling products that consolidate gas, electricity, water, broadband, and TV license into a single monthly payment. The product portfolio spans multiple segments: the core Homebox residential offering, specialized variants for students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators, landlords, and bills-included arrangements. The platform also features a co-bill payers functionality that enables bill splitting among housemates. Billing Better acquired Homebox in January 2023 to expand its offerings for home movers amid 100% customer growth.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Homebox (Residential Household Bills Bundle) Bundles gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence into a single monthly direct debit for residential tenants and homeowners, with 100% visibility of all utility payments.
- Homebox for Students Specialised bill-bundling service for university students that allows splitting and sharing household utility costs with housemates.
- Homebox for Letting Agents Bills management solution for letting agents to offer tenants utility setup and consolidated billing services through a partner portal.
- Homebox for Build to Rent Utility billing service designed for build-to-rent property developers and operators to deliver streamlined bills-included experiences to tenants.
- Homebox for Landlords Bills management solution for landlords to include utility services with their rental properties.
- Homebox Bills Included All-inclusive utility billing service where utilities are bundled into rent payments for tenants.
Companies that use Billing Better
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Billing Better technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Billing Better partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- VodafonecoreVodafone is listed as an energy/utility partner providing broadband services integrated into the Homebox bundled utility platform.
- Virgin MediacoreVirgin Media is a broadband partner supplying internet services bundled through the Homebox platform for residential customers.
- TalkTalkcoreTalkTalk provides broadband services integrated into the Homebox utility bundle offering for students and residential customers.
- SkycoreSky is a partner providing TV and broadband services included in the bundled utility payment platform.
- Octopus EnergycoreOctopus Energy is an energy supplier partner providing gas and electricity services through the Homebox utility management platform.
- Thames WatercoreThames Water is a water utility partner integrated into the Homebox bundled payment system for residential customers.
- E.ONcoreE.ON is an energy supplier partner providing gas and electricity services through the Homebox platform for tenants and residential customers.
- University of ExeterminorUniversity of Exeter is listed as a partner, likely referring to student accommodation partnerships where Homebox manages utility billing for student lets.
- University of BristolminorUniversity of Bristol is listed as a partner, likely referring to student accommodation partnerships where Homebox manages utility billing for student lets.
- University of LeedsminorUniversity of Leeds is listed as a partner, likely referring to student accommodation partnerships where Homebox manages utility billing for student lets.
- University of KentminorUniversity of Kent is listed as a partner, likely referring to student accommodation partnerships where Homebox manages utility billing for student lets.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Billing Better competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bionic: UK business utility comparison and management platform. Comparable because it operates in the same utility switching and management space, though its primary customer is SMB rather than residential tenants. Bionic is a more mature and well-funded competitor.
- Look After My Bills: UK consumer bill-switching service that automatically monitors and switches household bills. Highly comparable because it addresses the same pain point of managing multiple UK household utilities, though without the bundled single-payment model that Homebox offers.
Others
- OpenRent: UK online letting agent serving landlords and tenants. Comparable on the rental-proposition side, particularly relevant given Billing Better's landlord and letting-agent sub-brands, though OpenRent does not bundle utilities.
- Rent Guarantor Services (Rent Guarantor UK): UK rent guarantor and tenant support service. Comparable only thematically as an adjacent UK tenant-services provider, with weak product overlap but shared end customer.
- HomeServe: UK home services and emergency repairs provider with subscription products. Comparable as an adjacent household subscription business, though focused on home cover rather than utility bundling.
Broad incumbents
- Uswitch: One of the UK's largest energy, broadband and utility comparison platforms. Overlaps with Homebox on the comparison and switching functionality acquired via Homebox, but Uswitch is a broad incumbent without a bundled single-payment offering.
- Compare the Market: Major UK price comparison platform covering energy, broadband and home services. Comparable on the utility comparison side of the Homebox product, but operates as a broad multi-vertical incumbent rather than a specialised bill-bundling platform.
Emerging players
- Habito: UK online mortgage broker that has expanded into home services. Comparable because it targets UK home movers with a digital, advice-led proposition; less direct overlap but competes for the same home-mover moment and channel.
- Movebubble: UK rental and home-mover app that helps tenants find, manage and settle into rental properties. Comparable because it targets the same home-mover and tenant audience with a digital platform, though its focus is on the rental search side rather than utilities.
- SpareRoom: UK flatshare and housemate platform. Comparable because its audience is essentially the same shared-household tenants that Homebox targets with the co-bill-payer feature, though SpareRoom does not handle utility management.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Billing Better social profiles
Digital presenceBilling Better financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Billing Better leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Billing Better subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Billing Better funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Billing Better M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Billing Better
What does Billing Better do?
Billing Better operates the Homebox platform, which bundles residential household utilities—gas, electricity, water, broadband and TV licence—into a single monthly direct debit payment. Customers receive an instant online quote based on their address and household size, select service tiers, and pay one consolidated amount while Homebox handles payments and provider switching on their behalf. The platform also offers specialised variants for students, letting agents, build-to-rent operators, landlords and bills-included rental arrangements.
Is Billing Better a public or private company?
Billing Better is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Billing Better founded?
Billing Better was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Billing Better based?
Billing Better is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Billing Better make money?
One revenue line is on record: utility Bundle Subscription.
Who are Billing Better's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bionic and Look After My Bills. Others are OpenRent, Rent Guarantor Services (Rent Guarantor UK) and HomeServe. Broad incumbents are Uswitch and Compare the Market. Emerging players are Habito, Movebubble and SpareRoom.
Does Billing Better have an API?
No public API is recorded for Billing Better.
What industry is Billing Better in?
Billing Better's product category is Utility bill management software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAJAG, Utility & Municipal Billing Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAMAFAF, Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms.