How we built this list
Disclosed bias up front: this guide is published by Caltury and Caltury is on the list. We have included Caltury at #1 because we believe it is the best fit for the audience this guide is written for — Australian Tranche 2 reporting entities running 1 to 10 staff. For other audiences (banks, mid-market advisory firms, international expansion) other tools on the list are objectively better. Those cases are flagged inline.
The seven tools were selected because they are the seven most-frequently considered by independent Australian practices entering Tranche 2 in 2026. They are not the only AML/CTF tools available. Bank-tier platforms (Actimize, SAS, Tookitaki FinCense) are out of scope because their pricing makes no sense below 1,000 monthly customers. Pure-KYC tools without the broader Program / SMR / TTR / IFTI workflow (Frankie, IDVerse, identity-only point solutions) are also out, because Tranche 2 obligations span more than identity verification.
For each tool we list: who they fit, who they do not fit, starting price in the vendor’s native currency, and one concrete gap that buyers should weigh. Pricing was verified against each vendor’s public pricing page in June 2026; vendors who do not publish pricing are noted as such (we did not invent numbers). The seven tools are listed in order of fit for the typical 1 to 10 staff Tranche 2 practice, not by revenue or popularity.
Side-by-side comparison
Quick read of the seven before the per-vendor write-ups. All prices ex GST.
| Tool | Starting price | Free offer | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caltury | A$99 / month | Free until 1 July 2026, no card | Sole practitioner to 10 staff |
| easyAML | A$179 / month | Free until 1 July 2026 | Mixed-vertical 5 to 25 staff |
| TrustEasy | A$1,200 / year | 7 days | Accountants on Xero Practice Manager |
| FreeAML | A$0 sub + A$15-35 per check | No signup needed | Single-deal practices with very low volume |
| Arctic Intelligence (AML Accelerate) | ~A$3,800 / year | 14 days | Risk assessment specialists |
| First AML | Demo only (enterprise quote) | No public trial | Mid-large firms, 25+ staff |
| ComplyCube | USD $99 / month (~A$150) | 14 days + 50 checks | International expansion needs |
1. Caltury — disclosed bias
Built specifically for Australian Tranche 2 reporting entities entering reporting from 1 July 2026. Sole-trader operated, Sydney-hosted, AUD-priced, with the AUSTRAC enrolment wizard, ML/TF risk assessment generator, AML/CTF Program builder (Part A + Part B), KYC via Stripe Identity (AU DVS), sanctions and PEP screening via OpenSanctions, SMR / TTR / IFTI drafters in AUSTRAC’s required format, and 7-year tamper-evident records vault.
Who it fits: sole practitioners and 1 to 10 staff practices across all four Tranche 2 verticals (real estate, conveyancing, accounting, law). The pricing tier scales by capacity (Starter is 50 active customers, Practice is 250, Firm is unlimited) so single-deal-a-month practices never overpay.
Who it does not fit: banks, ADIs, money remitters, and Tranche 1 reporting entities. We are not built for the high-volume / high-risk tier where bespoke transaction monitoring and case management drives the buy. Mid-market advisory firms (25+ staff) will probably outgrow Caltury within a year — Arctic Intelligence or First AML are better suited.
The honest gap: Caltury is a small product run by a sole trader. The customer base is small in mid-2026 because the platform launched in mid-May 2026. Reviewing the road map and founder access is part of the trial; if those matter less than 50+ existing customers’ reviews, the easyAML or First AML maturity will weigh more.
2. easyAML
The closest direct competitor to Caltury in positioning. Multi-vertical Tranche 2 coverage (real estate, conveyancing, accounting, law), free until commencement to maximise pre-1-July signups, and a complete Program / KYC / screening / reporting stack. Strong sector landing pages, sustained marketing, well resourced.
Who it fits: mixed-vertical practices in the 5 to 25 staff band that want a recognised brand and active sales support. Multiple users included in the Starter tier suits a firm with shared compliance work across staff.
Who it does not fit: true sole practitioners with no plan to grow staff. The A$179 base plus per-verification surcharge math gets expensive at 1 to 2 deals a month. The price wedge is real for low-volume buyers.
The honest gap: per-KYC verification fees are charged separately on top of the subscription (A$20 KYC, A$40 KYB at last publish), which Caltury bundles in by capacity tier. The total cost of ownership for a single-deal-a-month practice is closer to A$220 to A$260 / month at easyAML than the A$179 headline.
3. TrustEasy
Accountant-exclusive. Tight Xero Practice Manager / Access PM integration, accountant-vocabulary throughout the product, and well-priced for a 2 to 5 staff accounting practice that already runs on Xero PM.
Who it fits: accountants on Xero Practice Manager. The integration alone covers a lot of the engagement-letter into CDD workflow handoff. Strong fit for the accounting vertical, full stop.
Who it does not fit: conveyancers, law firms and real estate agencies. TrustEasy does not sell into the other three Tranche 2 verticals; their copy and workflows are accounting-shaped.
The honest gap: if you are an accountant on Xero PM, this is genuinely a credible choice over Caltury. We would rather you pick TrustEasy than struggle with Caltury’s general- purpose integrations. If you are not on Xero PM, or you are mixed-vertical, TrustEasy is the wrong shape.
4. FreeAML
Pay-per-use model. No monthly subscription, no minimum spend. Marketed as “free AML/CTF” because the subscription line is genuinely A$0; the cost is on verifications, billed per check, and is optionally passed through to the client.
Who it fits: truly low-volume practices doing one or two designated- service matters a month and willing to pass per-verification cost through to the client. At 1 KYC per month, total spend is A$15 to A$50 / month against Caltury’s A$99.
Who it does not fit: practices doing 5+ verifications a month. The math flips quickly: 5 KYCs + 1 KYB at FreeAML is A$110, which is A$11 more than Caltury Starter with bundled checks. By 10 verifications a month, FreeAML is materially more expensive than every other tool on this list.
The honest gap: FreeAML’s pricing only works for very low volume. The other constraint is the workflow is built around the per-check transaction rather than the practice. Practices that want a single dashboard showing all customers, all screenings, all reports, will find FreeAML thin. Practices that genuinely only do 1 KYC a month will find FreeAML the cheapest credible option in Australia.
5. Arctic Intelligence (AML Accelerate)
Risk-assessment specialist. AML Accelerate is the flagship: a structured ML/TF risk assessment tool with industry benchmark data and a guided workflow. Has been in market for years, used across ANZ, with a CA ANZ partnership offering a 15% Y1 discount through end of 2026.
Who it fits: practices that view risk assessment as their hardest AML/CTF obligation and want a deep, methodology-led tool for it specifically. Larger advisory firms running annual risk reviews benefit from the benchmark data set.
Who it does not fit: practices that want a single tool covering enrolment, Program, KYC, screening, SMR / TTR / IFTI and audit. Arctic Intelligence is a risk-assessment platform first; the rest of the AML/CTF stack is bolted around it. The price tag also rules out most sole practitioners.
The honest gap: excellent at risk assessment specifically. The trade-off for the smaller end of the Tranche 2 market is the price tag does not match the typical 1 to 5 staff practice budget, and you still need adjacent tools (or manual workflows) for KYC and reporting.
6. First AML
Mid-large firm AML. New Zealand-origin, expanding into Australia for Tranche 2, with sales-led pricing keyed to customer volume and case complexity. Strong on case management, analyst-supported KYC, and enterprise workflow.
Who it fits: 25+ staff firms that already have a compliance team and want the dedicated case management plus analyst-supported KYC volume that First AML offers. Native integrations with ActionStep for legal mid-market are a real benefit if your stack matches.
Who it does not fit: sole practitioners and 1 to 10 person practices. The pricing model and sales process are oriented to firms with a compliance budget line item. A sole trader does not have one.
The honest gap: enterprise-priced for the smaller end of the Tranche 2 market. If you have 25+ staff and a compliance budget, First AML is a credible enterprise choice. If you do not, the time spent on the sales process alone exceeds the time spent setting up Caltury or easyAML.
7. ComplyCube
International identity and AML platform. Strong on the KYC and identity verification side, with global coverage for documents from 200+ jurisdictions. Has published AU-specific Tranche 2 content but the product is not AU-hosted.
Who it fits: AU practices with significant international client volume (offshore property buyers, cross-border M&A clients, international high-net-worth) where global document coverage matters more than AU-native workflow.
Who it does not fit: domestic-only Australian practices. ComplyCube does the KYC layer well but the AUSTRAC enrolment, Program builder and reporting templates are not AU-specific in the way the purely-AU vendors are. For a Bunbury conveyancer with all- local clients, ComplyCube is overkill.
The honest gap: data residency. AU clients’ identity records are processed outside Australia, which professional indemnity insurers and some institutional clients are increasingly asking about. If data sovereignty matters to your principals or your clients, the purely-AU vendors win.
Who should pick what
The honest summary, by practice shape.
- Sole practitioner or 1 to 3 staff, any vertical, doing 1 to 20 designated-service matters / month. Caltury. Cheapest credible bundled tier in AUD, AU-hosted, founder-accessible. easyAML is a defensible second choice if you want the larger brand and have the budget.
- Accountant on Xero Practice Manager. TrustEasy. The Xero PM integration alone is worth the price difference. Caltury is the right answer only if you are mixed-vertical (e.g. accountant who also does company formation).
- Genuinely low-volume practice doing 1 or 2 matters / month. FreeAML at A$15 to A$70 / month is the cheapest credible option. Re-evaluate at the 5-verifications-a-month threshold; the math flips against you above that.
- Mid-market firm, 25+ staff, with a compliance budget. First AML or Arctic Intelligence depending on whether case management (First AML) or risk assessment depth (Arctic) is the priority.
- Practice with material international client flow. ComplyCube for the KYC layer, paired with an AU-native tool (Caltury, easyAML) for the AUSTRAC enrolment, Program and reporting layer.
- Practice running an audit-grade evidence requirement (PI insurer, large institutional client). Caltury or easyAML for AU-hosted data residency. FreeAML for very low volume with full source-of-funds documentation. Avoid international-only tools.
The cost of being wrong is bigger than the cost of any of these tools. The penalty regime under the AML/CTF Act runs to A$22.2 million for a body corporate that fails to comply with key obligations. Whatever you pick, finish the AUSTRAC enrolment and the Program drafting before 1 July 2026. The tool is the wrapper around the obligations; the obligations are what AUSTRAC is going to ask about.
Caltury is AML/CTF software for independent Australian practices entering Tranche 2. Founded by Ben Horne (ex-ADF, sole trader, ABN 49 452 393 782, Australian- based). Sydney hosted on Supabase and Vercel. The trial is 14 days with no card; this guide is the right next step if you want a comparison sized to your practice specifically.
This guide is published by Caltury and includes Caltury on the list. We have disclosed bias inline. Prices and product details were verified against each vendor’s public pages in June 2026 and may change. This is not commercial advice; it is the same comparison we’d run for a peer practice asking the question over coffee. Each vendor named here is a registered Australian business; we are not affiliated with any of them and receive no referral compensation.