# What bookkeeping software costs a month, across nine tools

> Source: Tick Mark Books — https://tickmarkbooks.com/blog/a-month-of-books-at-100-transactions/ (sourced research)
> By Tick Mark Books Research · Published 2026-10-26

_QuickBooks Online, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks and five AI-first tools priced on the same month at their regular prices, with the ledger each one still needs._

At 100 bank and card transactions a month, keeping one small business's books costs from $19 to $156 on the eight of nine tools we priced that keep books. Wave is the cheapest at $19. Xero, Puzzle, QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks all come in under $45. The two tools that work on top of a ledger cost the most once that ledger is counted: Pilot $137 and Booke AI $156.

At 500 transactions every tool stays on the same plan at the same price. The month only costs more when you want a person to check the books.

## The month, tool by tool

Regular monthly prices, read on each maker's own pages on 15 Oct 2026 (Puzzle, Digits, Pilot, Booke AI, Keeper) and 23 Oct 2026 (QuickBooks Online, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave). US prices, before sales tax.

| Product | 100 or 500 transactions | Freelancer alone | With a bookkeeper, at 100 | Plan priced |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---|
| Wave | $19 | $19 | none | Pro |
| Xero | $27 | $27 | none | Early |
| Puzzle | $30 | $30 | $619 | Starter |
| QuickBooks Online | $38 | $38 | none | Simple Start |
| FreshBooks | $43 | $43 | none | Plus |
| Digits | $65 | $65 | none | Essentials |
| Pilot | $137 | not stated | from $437 | Essentials + Simple Start |
| Booke AI | $156 | $156 | none | Business + Xero Early |

The month is one business with about $11,400 of expenses, two connected accounts (a checking account and a card) and one user. The busier month is 500 transactions and about $56,900 of expenses, and no plan changes. The freelancer's month is 30 transactions, and the plan must also import the bank feed and keep receipts with their transactions. Pilot's freelancer figure is not stated because no Pilot page says it reads receipts. A bookkeeper figure of none means the product sells no such plan, or we have not priced that service yet. Keeper has no row: it keeps no books, as its section below explains.

## The ledger is part of the bill

Pilot and Booke AI both run on a ledger you pay for separately, and their headline prices leave it out.

- **Pilot** Essentials is $99 a month, "Up to $100,000 in monthly expenses", on its [pricing page](https://pilot.com/pricing). Pilot keeps the books in QuickBooks Online, and its [client terms](https://pilot.com/terms/client-terms) have you "reimburse us for such costs" when it buys QuickBooks Online for you. Pilot names no minimum plan, so we add Simple Start at $38: $137.
- **Booke AI** is $129 a month per business on its [pricing page](https://booke.ai/pricing). It works inside either QuickBooks Online or Xero and names no minimum plan, so we add the cheaper of the two that holds the month, Xero Early at $27: $156. On QuickBooks Online Simple Start it would be $167.

By headline price the four AI-first tools read Puzzle $30, Digits $65, Pilot $99 and Booke AI $129. By what the month costs they read Puzzle $30, Digits $65, Pilot $137 and Booke AI $156.

## Why the cheapest plan is often not the figure

Three makers sell a cheaper plan that does not keep a full set of books for this month.

| Product | Cheaper plan | What it lacks | First plan that keeps the books |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | Free, $0 | Connects one bank; the month has two accounts | Simple Start, $38 |
| QuickBooks Online | Lite, $20 | No bank reconciliation on its plan card | Simple Start, $38 |
| Wave | Starter, $0 | Imports no bank transactions; you enter or upload them | Pro, $19 |
| FreshBooks | Lite, $23 | No bank reconciliation | Plus, $43 |

Read on QuickBooks Online's [pricing page](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/) and [Solopreneur page](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/), Wave's [pricing page](https://www.waveapps.com/pricing) and FreshBooks' [pricing page](https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing).

Xero Early, at $27 on Xero's [US pricing page](https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/), caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month. This month sends no invoices and enters no bills, so Early holds it. If you invoice from your ledger, look at Growing, $59.

## The figures use regular prices

All four big ledgers were on promotion when we read them. QuickBooks Online showed 50% off for 3 months, Xero 90% off for 6 months, Wave $9.50 a month for 3 months and FreshBooks 80% off for 4 months. Puzzle gives Starter free for its first 2 months. Each figure is the price you pay after the offer ends, billed monthly. Yearly billing is cheaper on most of these plans and is not the figure.

## A person checking the books costs hundreds more

Only two of the nine sell a plan where a bookkeeper checks the books, and both price it by your monthly expenses.

- **Puzzle** Full Service, $10K–$50K a month in expenses, is $619 on its [pricing page](https://puzzle.io/pricing), and $819 on the busier month. You buy it through a call. Its cheaper reviewed plans stop at $10,000 of monthly expenses.
- **Pilot** Core starts at $399 for up to $15,000 of monthly expenses, so it is from $437 with QuickBooks Online, and from $707 on the busier month. Pilot's page says "Starts at", so both are floors.

Digits points you to partner firms and sells no plan with a person on it. QuickBooks Online and Wave sell bookkeeping services of their own, which this study does not price yet.

## Keeper keeps no books

Keeper tracks expenses and files the tax return of the self-employed. No plan reconciles accounts or produces a balance sheet, and its [pricing page](https://www.keepertax.com/pricing) lists none, so it has no figure for this month. It belongs beside tax apps, priced by the tax year.

## What could move these figures

- Pilot names no minimum QuickBooks Online plan. If its bookkeepers need Plus, every Pilot figure is $102 higher.
- Puzzle's cheaper plans suggest transaction limits but publish none. If one appears below 500 transactions, the busier month moves to a pricier Puzzle plan.
- Booke AI joins the ledger as a user. We assume it does not take a paid seat.
- QuickBooks Online prices were read from the Internet Archive's copies of Intuit's pages of 18 and 19 Oct 2026, because Intuit's site would not load for us.

Prices change often, so every price above carries the day we read it. [How we price a month of books](/blog/how-we-price-a-month-of-books/) sets out the rules behind each figure. This is a comparison of software prices, not accounting or tax advice.

## Sources

- Wave, [pricing](https://www.waveapps.com/pricing), read 23 Oct 2026
- Xero, [US pricing](https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/), read 23 Oct 2026
- QuickBooks Online, [pricing](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/) and [Solopreneur](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/), Internet Archive copies of 18 and 19 Oct 2026
- FreshBooks, [pricing](https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing), read 23 Oct 2026
- Puzzle, [pricing](https://puzzle.io/pricing), read 15 Oct 2026
- Digits, [pricing](https://digits.com/pricing/), read 15 Oct 2026
- Pilot, [pricing](https://pilot.com/pricing) and [client terms](https://pilot.com/terms/client-terms), read 15 Oct 2026
- Booke AI, [pricing](https://booke.ai/pricing), read 15 Oct 2026
- Keeper, [pricing](https://www.keepertax.com/pricing), read 15 Oct 2026
- JPMorgan Chase Institute, [small business report](https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/institute/pdf/jpmc-institute-small-business-report.pdf), for the month's expenses

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Tags: pricing, comparison, quickbooks