Flagship AML vs FreeAML

Data last checked 7 November 2026 · how we compare

The verdict

The crossover is now about five verifications a month — below that FreeAML is cheaper, above it Flagship is, and the client-pays option can change the answer entirely. FreeAML charges no subscription at all: $20 per individual check, $40 per entity (up from $15 and $35 in July 2026), no signup, with an option to pass the fee to your client. Flagship charges $73.37/month including GST plus $4.00 +GST ($4.40 including) per DVS identity verification.

Run the arithmetic. At three checks a month FreeAML costs $60 against Flagship’s $86.57. At five, FreeAML is $100 against Flagship’s $95.37, and at ten it is $200 against $117.37. The lines cross at about 4.7 checks. If you use FreeAML’s client-pays option your direct cost can fall to zero at any volume — though passing a fee to clients is a commercial decision, not merely a compliance one.

Coverage is closer than it was. Flagship confirms nine of eleven obligations, including staff training, SMR and TTR reporting, and compliance-officer governance. FreeAML now documents nine — program, risk assessment, CDD, ongoing monitoring, SMR and TTR preparation, record keeping, staff training (four short modules plus a free Academy, added since our July review) and, since its help pages were updated on 4 November 2026, compliance-officer roles with an audit trail — with enrolment partial and independent evaluation unverified. Flagship’s remaining edge is senior-manager approval workflows, a training register, ongoing monitoring on entity as well as individual checks, and a longer public track record.

Decision rule: a sole trader or micro-firm doing three or four verifications a month → FreeAML, and revisit once you know your real volumes. A firm doing five or more that pays for its own checks, or one that wants senior-manager approval workflows and a training register from one accountable vendor → Flagship, which is cheap enough that the premium over pay-per-use is small. Flagship verified July–September 2026; FreeAML re-verified November 2026.

Side by side

	Flagship AML Featured	FreeAML
Pricing	From A$73 · subscription	pay-per-use
Sectors	Legal practitioners, Accountants, Conveyancers, Real estate, Trust & company service providers	Real estate, Legal practitioners, Accountants, Conveyancers, Trust & company service providers
AUSTRAC enrolment	Unverified	Partial
ML/TF risk assessment	Yes	Yes
AML/CTF program & policies	Yes	Yes
Initial customer due diligence	Yes	Yes
Ongoing CDD & monitoring	Yes	Yes
Suspicious matter reports	Yes	Yes
Threshold transaction reports	Yes	Yes
Record keeping	Yes	Yes
Staff training	Yes	Yes
Compliance officer & governance	Yes	Yes
Independent evaluation	Unverified	Unverified

What actually separates them

Cost model: FreeAML is pure pay-per-use ($20 KYC / $40 KYB, no subscription; $15/$35 until mid-2026); Flagship is $73.37/mo incl GST plus $4.00 +GST per DVS verification.
Crossover: Flagship becomes cheaper at roughly five verifications a month — below that, FreeAML wins on cost.
Client-pays: FreeAML can shift the check fee to your client, potentially taking your direct cost to zero; Flagship bills the firm.
Documented coverage: Flagship confirms 9 of 11 obligations; FreeAML now documents 9 as well, with enrolment partial and independent evaluation unverified.
Training: both include it — Flagship via a Resource Centre plus a training register; FreeAML via four short modules with certificates and a free Academy (since late 2026).
Reporting: Flagship confirms SMR and TTR workflows; FreeAML documents SMR and TTR preparation for you to lodge in AUSTRAC Online.

Common questions

At what point does Flagship AML become cheaper than FreeAML?

At about five verifications a month. FreeAML charges $20 per individual check with no subscription (November 2026; it was $15 in July); Flagship charges $73.37 a month including GST plus $4.40 including GST per DVS verification. Setting those equal gives a crossover of about 4.7 checks. Below that FreeAML is cheaper; above it Flagship is, and the gap widens with volume — and note FreeAML’s client-pays option can remove your direct cost altogether.

Is FreeAML actually free?

There is no subscription, but the checks aren’t free — $20 per individual and $40 per entity (November 2026). What is genuinely unusual is the client-pays option, which lets you pass that fee to your customer (or mark it up), so your firm’s direct cost can be zero while the compliance work still gets done. Whether passing the fee on suits your client relationships is a commercial call. See the full FreeAML review.

What does FreeAML not cover that Flagship does?

Less than in July. FreeAML now documents staff training, an ML/TF risk assessment tool and SMR/TTR preparation on its own pages, closing the gaps our earlier comparison relied on. FreeAML's help pages, updated 4 November 2026 and checked by us on 7 November, also document a Compliance role, role-based access and an audit trail, so governance is Yes for both. What Flagship still confirms and FreeAML does not: a training register for completion records, senior-manager approval workflows, and ongoing monitoring on entity as well as individual checks. If you want one subscription vendor accountable for the whole layer, that is the difference you are buying.