# The best accounting software tools with a free plan (2026) — Tick Mark Books

> Source: https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/free-plan (curated, re-verified)
> Updated 31 October 2026 · Reviewed by the Tick Mark Books editorial team

We compare 15 accounting software tools with a free plan as of October 2026. FreeAgent has the lowest paid entry price, from about $13 a month. 14 have a free plan.

15 tools in this category, ranked by what we can confirm about each (a public price, an API and docs, independent sources, stated limits; payment never changes the order). Each name links to its answer-first markdown twin.

## Facts

- Free to start: 14 of 15
- API: 0 of 15
- First paid plan a month: 15 of 15 publish one, $4 to $49, median $19
- Checked against their own sites: 26–28 October 2026 (15 of 15)
- Added in October 2026: 15

| Name | What it is | Pricing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Inkle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/inkle.md) | US accounting software with AI categorization, plus bookkeepers, tax filing and compliance in one app. | Free, then $30 a month |
| [ZipBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks.md) | Free-forever double-entry books whose machine learning categorizes transactions and learns from your corrections. | Free, then $15 a month |
| [Wave](https://tickmarkbooks.com/wave.md) | Free double-entry books for solo owners, with bank imports, receipts and payroll kept behind the paid Pro Plan. | Free, then $19 a month |
| [QuickBooks Solopreneur](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-solopreneur.md) | Intuit's one-person-business ledger: bank feeds, receipts, mileage and Schedule C tax readiness. | Free, then $20 a month |
| [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books.md) | Cloud accounting ledger with Zia AI, bank feeds, sales tax and 1099 e-filing, from $20 a month. | Free, then $20 a month |
| [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent.md) | UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type. | From £10 a month (about $13) |
| [Akaunting](https://tickmarkbooks.com/akaunting.md) | Open-source small-business books you host free yourself or run on its cloud, extended by 50+ paid apps. | Free, then $12 a month |
| [QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online.md) | Intuit's cloud ledger, now with Intuit Intelligence agents that categorize, reconcile and flag errors. | Free, then $38 a month |
| [BILL](https://tickmarkbooks.com/bill.md) | AP, AR and card spend on one platform, with AI agents that code bills and chase vendor W-9s. | Free, then $49 a seat a month |
| [Everlance](https://tickmarkbooks.com/everlance.md) | Mileage and expense tracking app for the self-employed, with tax filing on its top plan. | Free, then $10.99 a month |
| [Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify.md) | Receipt scanning, company cards, bill pay and reimbursements that feed QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite. | Free, then $5 a seat a month |
| [Melio](https://tickmarkbooks.com/melio.md) | Bill pay and invoicing for US small businesses, with AI bill capture and QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite sync. | Free, then $25 a month |
| [SnapTax](https://tickmarkbooks.com/snaptax.md) | Year-round quarterly tax estimates for 1099 workers, built on uploaded bank statements instead of bank connections. | Free, then $4.99 a month |
| [Veryfi Expense Management](https://tickmarkbooks.com/veryfi-expense-management.md) | Receipt and bill capture that reads the paperwork and syncs the expense to QuickBooks or Xero. | Free, then $19.99 a seat a month |
| [Zoho Expense](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-expense.md) | Travel, expense and corporate card management with Zia AI receipt capture, from $4 per user a month. | Free, then $4 a seat a month |

## October in accounting software tools with a free plan

- Prices checked: 15 of 15 tools, on their own pricing pages
- Last checked: 28 Oct, oldest check 26 Oct

## Accounting software tools with a free plan compared

| Tool | Price on its site | MCP server | API | Open source | Self-host |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Inkle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/inkle) | Free, then $30 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [ZipBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks) | Free, then $15 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Wave](https://tickmarkbooks.com/wave) | Free, then $19 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [QuickBooks Solopreneur](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-solopreneur) | Free, then $20 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books) | Free, then $20 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent) | From about $13 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Akaunting](https://tickmarkbooks.com/akaunting) | Free, then $12 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online) | Free, then $38 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [BILL](https://tickmarkbooks.com/bill) | Free, then $49 a seat a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Everlance](https://tickmarkbooks.com/everlance) | Free, then $10.99 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify) | Free, then $5 a seat a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Melio](https://tickmarkbooks.com/melio) | Free, then $25 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [SnapTax](https://tickmarkbooks.com/snaptax) | Free, then $4.99 a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Veryfi Expense Management](https://tickmarkbooks.com/veryfi-expense-management) | Free, then $19.99 a seat a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| [Zoho Expense](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-expense) | Free, then $4 a seat a month | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |

All 15 accounting software tools with a free plan we list.

## Narrow it down

- [Cost at 100 transactions a month](https://tickmarkbooks.com/best/free-plan/cost-100): 8

Products with a plan that costs nothing for good, not a trial, and what that plan leaves out against the cheapest paid one.

## Questions buyers ask

### Which tool here costs the least?

14 of the 15 have a free plan: Akaunting, BILL, Everlance, Expensify and Inkle and 9 more. The lowest paid plan is FreeAgent, from about $13 a month. Price checked on 26 October 2026.

### How much do accounting software tools with a free plan cost?

Paid plans run from $4 to $49 a month, across the 15 with a monthly price. The median is $19 a month.

### When were these prices checked?

We read each price between 26 October 2026 and 28 October 2026 on the maker's own pricing page.

## Sources and method

Cheapest month first, the ledger included; products we could not price at the end. [How we rank](https://tickmarkbooks.com/methodology/)

Every price was read on the maker's own pricing page.

- [Akaunting](https://tickmarkbooks.com/akaunting): [akaunting.com/plans](https://akaunting.com/plans), checked 28 October 2026
- [BILL](https://tickmarkbooks.com/bill): [bill.com/product/pricing](https://www.bill.com/product/pricing), checked 28 October 2026
- [Everlance](https://tickmarkbooks.com/everlance): [everlance.com/pricing](https://www.everlance.com/pricing), checked 27 October 2026
- [Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify): [expensify.com/pricing](https://www.expensify.com/pricing), checked 26 October 2026
- [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent): [freeagent.com/pricing](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/), checked 26 October 2026
- [Inkle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/inkle): [inkle.ai/pricing](https://www.inkle.ai/pricing), checked 27 October 2026
- [Melio](https://tickmarkbooks.com/melio): [melio.com/pricing](https://melio.com/pricing/), checked 26 October 2026
- [QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online): [quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/), checked 28 October 2026
- [QuickBooks Solopreneur](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-solopreneur): [quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/), checked 27 October 2026
- [SnapTax](https://tickmarkbooks.com/snaptax): [snaptaxapp.com/pricing](https://snaptaxapp.com/pricing), checked 28 October 2026
- [Veryfi Expense Management](https://tickmarkbooks.com/veryfi-expense-management): [veryfi.com/plans-pricing](https://www.veryfi.com/plans-pricing/), checked 27 October 2026
- [Wave](https://tickmarkbooks.com/wave): [waveapps.com/pricing](https://www.waveapps.com/pricing), checked 28 October 2026
- [ZipBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks): [zipbooks.com/pricing](https://zipbooks.com/pricing/), checked 28 October 2026
- [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books): [zoho.com/us/books/pricing](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/), checked 26 October 2026
- [Zoho Expense](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-expense): [zoho.com/us/expense/pricing](https://www.zoho.com/us/expense/pricing/), checked 27 October 2026

## Where next

### Related categories

- [Freelancers and the self-employed](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/freelancers)
- [Small businesses](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/small-business)
- [Bookkeepers and accounting firms](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/accounting-firms)
- [Cheapest accounting software](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/cheapest)
- [Works with Xero](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/works-with-xero)
- [Accounting software](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/accounting-software)
- [Works with QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/works-with-quickbooks)
- [AI tax for the self-employed](https://tickmarkbooks.com/category/ai-tax)