Ranking Small businesses
The 11 best small businesses tools (2026): PayPal
The best small businesses tools in October 2026 are ZipBooks, Akaunting and Wave. ZipBooks is the pick for small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place. We read the price of 10 of the 11 on their own sites.
11 ranked · 10 checked against their own site 26–31 October 2026
- Under $2577 of 10
- $25 to $9922 of 10
- $100 to $29900 of 10
- $300 or more11 of 10
- 11
- ranked
- $19
- median first paid plan
- 3
- of the 11 have a free plan
tickmarkbooks.com · First paid plan from each tool's own pricing page, read 26–31 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 Wave third with a free plan, then $19 a month.
Half of the 10 tools with a monthly paid plan charge $19 a month or less.
3 tools here have a free plan to try before you pay. The highest ranked are ZipBooks, Akaunting and Wave.
Pick by what you need
A free plan before you payZipBooksFree, then $15 a month
Freelancers and small businessesAkauntingFree, then $12 a month
Freelancers and solo ownersWaveFree, then $19 a month
Small businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the booksXeroFrom $27 a month
Lowest monthly price in the top fiveFreshBooksFrom $23 a month
The lowest monthly price we foundPennylaneFrom about $7.82 a month
All 11 picks at a glance
| # | Tool | Best for | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZipBooks | Small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place | Free, then $15 a monthits pricing page |
| 2 | Akaunting | Freelancers and small businesses that want open-source books they can host themselves | Free, then $12 a monthits pricing page |
| 3 | Wave | Freelancers and solo owners who want real double-entry books without paying for software | Free, then $19 a monthits pricing page |
| 4 | Xero | Small businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the books, no per-user fees | From $27 a monthits pricing page |
| 5 | FreshBooks | Service businesses and freelancers who bill clients and want their books in the same place | From $23 a monthits pricing page |
| 6 |  Zeni | U.S. startups that want AI bookkeeping and a dedicated finance team | From $549 a monthits pricing page |
| 7 |  Bookkeeper360 | Startups and growing small businesses wanting books, tax and CFO help from one US team | From $19 a monthits pricing page |
| 8 | Pennylane | Small businesses in France and their accounting firm working in one shared file | From about $7.82 a monthits pricing page |
| 9 |  Sage Accounting | VAT-registered sole traders and small firms up to 49 employees wanting payroll built in | From about $27 a monthits pricing page |
| 10 |  FreeAgent | UK sole traders and small limited companies filing their own VAT and Self Assessment | From about $13 a monthits pricing page |
| 11 |  Pilot | A US startup or small business that wants its books done for it in QuickBooks Online | Price not established |
Checked between 26 October 2026 and 31 October 2026. “About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026.
11 tools, ranked. How we rank
About this list
11 of 27 small businesses tools match “PayPal”. Of the rest: 2 on some plans only, 11 no, 3 unknown.
How the small businesses tools matching “PayPal” differ: 11 of 11 also match “Stripe”, against 4 of 16 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
PayPal: Yes — Square, Stripe and PayPal connect for payments and Gusto for payroll, each with its own setup article“Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)”Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row · 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
PayPal: Yes — Stripe and Shopify sync are included from Elite Cloud, and PayPal sits among twenty-plus payment providers“Accept payments from 20+ payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, eWay, M-Pesa, Flutterwave, Klarna, PagSeguro, etc.”Feature detail section below the comparison list, Payment Methods · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- Free, then $12 a month · source
Freelancers and solo owners
Best forfreelancers and solo owners who want real double-entry books without paying for software
PayPal: Yes — Shopify, Stripe and PayPal reach Wave only through the Make.com automation bridge on Pro“Yes. Wave Accounting integrates with Shopify, Stripe, and PayPal through Make.com, available on the Wave Pro plan. Wave also connects directly with 14 apps, including Etsy, Amazon, GoHighLevel, and Google Sheets.”Frequently Asked Questions, "Does Wave integrate with third-party apps like Shopify, Stripe, and PayPal?" · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- Free, then $19 a month · source
Small businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the books
Best forsmall businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the books, no per-user fees
PayPal: Yes — Xero publishes App Store listings for Stripe, Shopify, PayPal, Square and Gusto“Payout reconciliation: Automatically match payouts from Shopify Payments and more to your bank account. The integration handles fees, refunds, and taxes”Shopify by Xero listing, overview · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- From $27 a month · source
Lowest monthly price in the top five
Best forservice businesses and freelancers who bill clients and want their books in the same place
PayPal: Yes — Gusto drives the built-in payroll and PayPal and Stripe are supported payment processors across an app store of more than a hundred partners“Accept online payments from your clients using FreshBooks Payments, PayPal, or Stripe.”Help Center top categories, Payments category description · checked 2026-10-28
- Price
- From $23 a month · source
Side by side
Every field, side by side
Scroll sideways to see them all.
| Feature | ZipBooks | Akaunting | Wave | Xero | FreshBooks | Zeni | Bookkeeper360 | Pennylane | Sage Accounting | FreeAgent | Pilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Free double-entry books for solo owners, with bank imports, receipts and payroll kept behind the paid Pro Plan. | 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 bookkeeping with a dedicated finance team, built on QuickBooks Online Plus. | US-based outsourced bookkeeping, tax and CFO team working in your QuickBooks Online or Xero. | AI-native invoicing, accounting and business banking for small businesses and their accounting firms. | Sage's cloud small-business ledger with built-in payroll and the Sage Copilot assistant; US edition retired. | UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type. | A bookkeeping and tax service for startups that pairs software-driven dashboards with human financial advisors. |
| Category | Free accounting software, Accounting software, Small businesses, Freelancers and the self-employed, Cheapest accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms | Free accounting software, Accounting software, Small businesses, Freelancers and the self-employed, Cheapest accounting software, Works with QuickBooks Online, Works with Xero, Bookkeepers and accounting firms | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Free accounting software, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Online bookkeeping services, With a bookkeeper checking, Works with QuickBooks Online, Startups, Small businesses | Online bookkeeping services, Cheapest accounting software, With a bookkeeper checking, Works with QuickBooks Online, Works with Xero, Small businesses, Startups | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Free accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses | Online bookkeeping services, Cheapest accounting software, Works with QuickBooks Online, Works with Xero, Small businesses, Startups |
| Tags |
Questions buyers ask
How much do small businesses tools cost?
The median first paid plan is $19 a month, across the 10 of the 11 that publish a monthly price. They run from $7.82 to $549.
Which small businesses tools have a free plan?
3 of the 11 have a free plan.
How current are these figures?
The prices were read 26–31 October 2026.
Sources and method
Every price was read on the maker's own pricing page.
Pricing pages 10 read
- ZipBooks zipbooks.com/pricing
- Akaunting akaunting.com/plans
- Wave waveapps.com/pricing
- Xero xero.com/us/pricing-plans
- FreshBooks freshbooks.com/pricing
- Zeni zeni.ai/pricing
- Bookkeeper360 bookkeeper360.com/app
- Pennylane pennylane.com/fr/tarifs
- Sage Accounting sage.com/en-gb/sage-business-cloud/sage-accounting
- FreeAgent freeagent.com/pricing
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