Ranking Bookkeepers and accounting firms
The best bookkeepers and accounting firms tools (2026): cost at 100 transactions a month
The best bookkeepers and accounting firms tools in October 2026 are ZipBooks, Akaunting and Webgility. ZipBooks is the pick for small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place. We read the price of 16 of the 17 on their own sites.
17 ranked · 16 checked against their own site 26–28 October 2026
- Under $2599 of 16
- $25 to $9966 of 16
- $100 to $29911 of 16
- $300 or more00 of 16
- 17
- ranked
- $22
- median first paid plan
- 4
- of the 17 have a free plan
tickmarkbooks.com · First paid plan from each tool's own pricing page, read 26–28 October 2026.
The short answer
ZipBooks ranks first. It has a free plan, and paid plans start at $15 a month.
Akaunting ranks second with a free plan, then $12 a month, and Webgility third from $79 a month.
Half of the 16 tools with a monthly paid plan charge $22 a month or less.
4 tools here have a free plan to try before you pay. The highest ranked are ZipBooks, Akaunting and Inkle.
All 17 picks at a glance
| # | Tool | Best for | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place | Free, then $15 a monthits pricing page | |
| 2 | Freelancers and small businesses that want open-source books they can host themselves | Free, then $12 a monthits pricing page | |
| 3 | Multichannel ecommerce sellers reconciling Amazon and Shopify payouts in QuickBooks | From $79 a monthits pricing page | |
| 4 | Accounting firms chasing clients for missing transaction detail at month end | From $9 a monthits pricing page | |
| 5 | Accounting firms taking on more client bookkeeping without hiring | From $149 a seat a monthits pricing page | |
| 6 | Small businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the books, no per-user fees | From $27 a monthits pricing page | |
| 7 | Service businesses and freelancers who bill clients and want their books in the same place | From $23 a monthits pricing page | |
| 8 | A US startup or small business that wants its own AI-kept ledger in place of QuickBooks | From $65 a monthits pricing page | |
| 9 | CPA firms that want returns and monthly books drafted inside their own software | From $30 a monthits pricing page | |
| 10 | Small accounting firms drowning in client invoices and statements that already run on Xero | From $13 a monthits pricing page | |
| 11 | Accounting firms and finance teams processing high volumes of invoices and bank statements | From $79 a monthits pricing page | |
| 12 | Small businesses in France and their accounting firm working in one shared file | From about $7.82 a monthits pricing page | |
| 13 | US-incorporated startups and foreign founders needing books and US filings together | Free, then $30 a monthits pricing page | |
| 14 | Accounting firms closing many QuickBooks Online and Xero client files each month | From $10 a monthits pricing page | |
| 15 | Small businesses and startups that want one ledger plus the wider Zoho app suite | Free, then $20 a monthits pricing page | |
| 16 | UK sole traders and small limited companies filing their own VAT and Self Assessment | From about $13 a monthits pricing page | |
| 17 | A business or bookkeeping firm already on QuickBooks Online or Xero | Price not established |
Checked between 26 October 2026 and 28 October 2026. “About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026.
17 tools, ranked. How we rank
About this list
17 of 30 bookkeepers and accounting firms tools match “Cost at 100 transactions a month”. Of the rest: 0 on some plans only, 0 no, 13 unknown.
How the bookkeepers and accounting firms tools matching “Cost at 100 transactions a month” differ: 17 of 17 also match “Cost at 500 transactions a month”, against 0 of 13 in the rest of the category.
The ranking
A free plan before you pay
Best forsmall businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place
Cost at 100 transactions a month: Yes — $10 a month on Accountant for 100 transactions. Includes required fees: USD per client account license a month $10.“Your account is free, and client account licenses are $10 each per month.”Help article on signing up for the Accountant plan, pricing line · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- Free, then $15 a month · source
Freelancers and small businesses
Best forfreelancers and small businesses that want open-source books they can host themselves
Cost at 100 transactions a month: Yes — $36 a month on Premium Cloud for 100 transactions.“$36 per month”Plan cards, PREMIUM CLOUD column, price cell with the MONTHLY toggle selected · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- Free, then $12 a month · source
Best formultichannel ecommerce sellers reconciling Amazon and Shopify payouts in QuickBooks
Cost at 100 transactions a month: Yes — $376 a month on Complete, on Xero Early for 100 transactions. Includes Xero Early at $27 a month, which Complete, on Xero Early needs.“$349 /mo”Plan cards, Complete column price cell with the billing control set to Monthly · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- From $79 a month · source
Lowest monthly price in the top five
Best foraccounting firms chasing clients for missing transaction detail at month end
Cost at 100 transactions a month: Yes — $36 a month on Uncat, on Xero Early for 100 transactions. Includes Xero Early at $27 a month, which Uncat, on Xero Early needs.“You can add a credit card at any time to start a paid subscription at $9 per client (i.e. client file) per month.”Billing article 'Uncat has a free 7-day trial', body paragraph on starting a paid subscription · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- From $9 a month · source
Accounting firms taking on more client bookkeeping without hiring
Best foraccounting firms taking on more client bookkeeping without hiring
Cost at 100 transactions a month: Yes — $97 a month on 25+ Licenses, on QuickBooks Online Simple Start for 100 transactions. Priced per user: 1 user at $59 each. Includes QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38 a month, which 25+ Licenses, on QuickBooks Online Simple Start needs.“25+ Licenses $59 per license/mo”Plan cards, 25+ Licenses column, price with the billing control set to Billed Monthly · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- From $149 a seat a month · source
Side by side
Every field, side by side
Scroll sideways to see them all.
| Feature | ZipBooks | Akaunting | Webgility | Uncat | Botkeeper | Xero | FreshBooks | Digits | Cranston | fileLedger by fileAI | SimpleAI | Pennylane | Inkle | Double | Zoho Books | FreeAgent | Booke AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Free-forever double-entry books whose machine learning categorizes transactions and learns from your corrections. | Open-source small-business books you host free yourself or run on its cloud, extended by 50+ paid apps. | Posts every marketplace order, fee and payout into QuickBooks or Xero at line-item level, not as a summary. | Asks your clients to explain uncategorized transactions, then syncs their answers back into the books. | Bookkeeping automation an accounting firm runs itself, priced by client entity inside QuickBooks Online or Xero. | Small-business ledger with a JAX assistant that answers questions in plain language; unlimited users on every plan. | Double-entry small-business ledger built around invoicing, with a read-only Claude connector for questions. | AI-native general ledger that books and reconciles itself, replacing QuickBooks or Xero for US businesses. | AI prepares draft returns and monthly books inside a firm's own QuickBooks, Xero and tax software. | Agent plans that read invoices and bank statements and post them into your Xero or QuickBooks books. | AI agents that extract, classify and reconcile accounting documents, then publish them into Xero or QuickBooks. | AI-native invoicing, accounting and business banking for small businesses and their accounting firms. | US accounting software with AI categorization, plus bookkeepers, tax filing and compliance in one app. | Month-end close platform for accounting firms, built on QuickBooks Online and Xero. | Cloud accounting ledger with Zia AI, bank feeds, sales tax and 1099 e-filing, from $20 a month. | UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type. | An AI bookkeeper that works inside QuickBooks Online and Xero to categorize transactions and match documents. |
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| Tags |
Questions buyers ask
How much do bookkeepers and accounting firms tools cost?
The median first paid plan is $22 a month, across the 16 of the 17 that publish a monthly price. They run from $7.82 to $149.
Which bookkeepers and accounting firms tools have a free plan?
4 of the 17 have a free plan.
How current are these figures?
The prices were read 26–28 October 2026.
Sources and method
Every price was read on the maker's own pricing page.
Pricing pages 16 read
- ZipBooks zipbooks.com/pricing
- Akaunting akaunting.com/plans
- Webgility webgility.com/pricing
- Uncat support.uncat.com/help/articles/0868810-uncat-has-a-free-7-day-trial
- Botkeeper botkeeper.com/pricing
- Xero xero.com/us/pricing-plans
- FreshBooks freshbooks.com/pricing
- Digits digits.com/pricing
- Cranston cranston.ai/pricing
- fileLedger by fileAI file.ai/platform/fileledger
- SimpleAI simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing
- Pennylane pennylane.com/fr/tarifs
- Inkle inkle.ai/pricing
- Double doublehq.com/pricing-plans
- Zoho Books zoho.com/us/books/pricing
- FreeAgent freeagent.com/pricing
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