# Alternatives to Cranston

> Source: https://tickmarkbooks.com/cranston/alternatives/ (re-verified)
> Updated: 27 October 2026

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | A month at 100 transactions | Better than Cranston at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Cranston](https://tickmarkbooks.com/cranston.md) | CPA firms that want returns and monthly books drafted inside their own software | From $30 a month | $57 | — | 27 October 2026 |
| [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books.md) | Small businesses and startups that want one ledger plus the wider Zoho app suite | Free, then $20 a month | $20 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Ledger included | 26 October 2026 |
| [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent.md) | UK sole traders and small limited companies filing their own VAT and Self Assessment | From about $13 a month | About $25 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Promotion and regular price | 26 October 2026 |
| [Puzzle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle.md) | A US startup on Mercury, Brex, Ramp, Stripe and Gusto that wants to replace QuickBooks | Price not established | $30 | Ledger included, SOC 2 report | 26 October 2026 |
| [Booke AI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/booke-ai.md) | A business or bookkeeping firm already on QuickBooks Online or Xero | Price not established | $156 | Australia, Sign up without a sales call | 26 October 2026 |
| [Stampli](https://tickmarkbooks.com/stampli.md) | Finance teams with high invoice volume, many approvers and several entities | On quote | — | SOC 2 report | 26 October 2026 |
| [Pilot](https://tickmarkbooks.com/pilot.md) | A US startup or small business that wants its books done for it in QuickBooks Online | Price not established | $137 | — | 26 October 2026 |
| [SimpleAI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/simpleai.md) | Accounting firms and finance teams processing high volumes of invoices and bank statements | From $79 a month | $106 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Past your plan’s limits | 27 October 2026 |
| [Digits](https://tickmarkbooks.com/digits.md) | A US startup or small business that wants its own AI-kept ledger in place of QuickBooks | From $65 a month | $65 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Ledger included | 27 October 2026 |
| [Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify.md) | Small finance teams that want receipts, cards and reimbursements feeding one ledger | Free, then $5 a seat a month | Does not apply | Cost for a solo freelancer, Past your plan’s limits | 26 October 2026 |

“About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026.

The ones people open most here come first, then the closest matches.

## Shortlist

### 1. Zoho Books

Cloud accounting ledger with Zia AI, bank feeds, sales tax and 1099 e-filing, from $20 a month.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A freelancer with bank feeds and receipt capture needs the Standard plan at $20 per organization a month billed monthly, since bank feeds start there.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Ledger included: yes — Zoho Books is the accounting ledger itself, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath it; the plan fee covers invoicing, banking, journals and the reports.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Bank and card feeds: yes — Banks and cards connect through third-party feed providers and statements are fetched periodically by themselves, with email auto-forwarding and file upload as fallbacks; feeds start on Standard, not Free.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/accounting-software/bank-reconciliation/)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Categorizes transactions: partial — Zia pre-fills the account and vendor against each imported bank line, so it suggests rather than posts by itself, and the page does not claim it learns from your corrections.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/accounting-software/ai-in-accounting/)
- [Your accountant can sign in: partial — The Free plan is quoted as one user plus one accountant, so an accountant seat is free there; the paid plans are quoted only as user counts, with extra users at $3 a month.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html)

[View Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books)

### 2. FreeAgent

UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A freelancer pays the Sole trader plan: £19 a month (about $25) plus VAT at the regular rate, £9.50 (about $13) for the first six months, with bank feeds and receipt capture included and no per-transaction charge.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — promotion: every paid plan is advertised at 50% off for the first six months (or first year on annual billing), after which the regular published price applies.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [Ledger included: yes — FreeAgent is the accounting ledger itself: it keeps the books, builds the accounting reports and files the returns, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath it.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/accounting-software/)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [What the AI costs: partial — included in every plan for smart categorization and the first ten captures a month; processing more than ten receipts or bills needs the £5 (about $6.70)-a-month Smart Capture Unlimited add-on.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — It keeps accruals-basis books with automatic accounting reports, a dashboard profit and loss and limited-company Final Accounts; what it publishes for cash is a Cashflow forecast, not a monthly cash flow statement.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [People check the books: no — Checking the AI is yours: Smart Capture ends with you approving each captured bill or receipt, and no plan includes a bookkeeper reviewing the books, only UK support accountants answering questions.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/expenses/)

[View FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent)

### 3. Puzzle

AI-native accounting software with optional bookkeeper services for startups and small businesses.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Ledger included: yes — It is the ledger; no QuickBooks or Xero needed. Puzzle is a double-entry general ledger of its own, sold as a QuickBooks replacement (Core card: 'Your QuickBooks replacement').](https://puzzle.io/legal/faq)
- [SOC 2 report: yes — SOC 2 Type II; report on request. The Vanta trust center lists SOC 2 Type I and SOC 2 Type II under Compliance, with reports behind 'Request access' (not requested).](https://trust.puzzle.io/)
- [Contract and cancelling: yes — Monthly or yearly (20% off); cancel in Billing. Plans are sold monthly or yearly (yearly saves 20% and is charged up front).](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/14990198-how-to-cancel-your-puzzle-subscription)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: partial — You reconcile on Starter; AI drafts it from Complete. Every plan has a reconciliation screen where you match the month's transactions to the statement until the difference is $0, then Puzzle runs an auto-validation check.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/6986882-how-to-reconcile-bank-and-credit-card-accounts-in-puzzle)
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — Cash and accrual P&L and balance sheet; no cash flow. Every plan keeps cash and accrual books at once ('Cash & accrual books' on Starter) and drafts a balance sheet and profit and loss.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/8441346-what-reports-does-puzzle-provide)
- [People check the books: partial — Only with a paid service; software plans: you check. On the software plans (Starter, Core, Complete, Scale) you close the books yourself, and Puzzle support does not do bookkeeping.](https://puzzle.io/pricing)

[View Puzzle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle)

### 4. Booke AI

An AI bookkeeper that works inside QuickBooks Online and Xero to categorize transactions and match documents.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Australia: yes — US, Canada, UK and Australia, in local currency.](https://booke.ai/)
- [Sign up without a sales call: yes — Business plan: sign up online; firm plan by call. The Business plan's 'Start now' goes to an online sign-up form (country, business or accountant, or 'Sign up using Xero').](https://booke.ai/pricing)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: partial — Prepares reconciliation; your team completes it. In QuickBooks Online it prepares work for reconciliation and does not promise a reconciled file; in Xero it can perform 'supported reconciliation actions for eligible configured cases' and leaves the rest open.](https://booke.ai/bookkeeping-automation-software)
- [People check the books: no — No: software only; your team reviews exceptions. No bookkeeper or accountant from Booke reviews the work on any plan.](https://booke.ai/)
- [Accuracy the vendor claims: no — No accuracy figure; claims up to 80% of feed work. No categorization accuracy figure is published.](https://booke.ai/bookkeeping-ai)

[View Booke AI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/booke-ai)

### 5. Stampli

Procure-to-pay workspace for invoices, vendors, payments and card spend, with AI coding and routing.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [SOC 2 report: yes — Stampli says it undergoes SOC 1, SOC 2 and SOC 3 certification with annual reviews and links a SOC 3 report; it also claims PCI DSS compliance.](https://www.stampli.com/security-policy-and-practices/)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: partial — Payments are reconciled one-to-one against the bank transaction and the record in your accounting system, but Stampli reconciles its own payments rather than closing out every bank and card account each month.](https://www.stampli.com/payments/)
- [Platforms: partial — web is the main place it runs, with mobile approvals and a mobile capture flow for receipts and mileage; the vendor never names Windows, Mac, iOS or Android.](https://www.stampli.com/expenses/)
- [For accounting firms: partial — There is a partner program for accounting firms built on referrals and revenue sharing, not a console where a firm runs many clients under its own branding.](https://www.stampli.com/partners/)

[View Stampli](https://tickmarkbooks.com/stampli)

### 6. Pilot

A bookkeeping and tax service for startups that pairs software-driven dashboards with human financial advisors.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Setup or onboarding fee: yes — Onboarding charge equal to one month. A one-time onboarding charge equal to one month of bookkeeping on every plan (so $99 on Essentials and $399 to $1,199 on Core, by band, at monthly billing).](https://pilot.com/faq)
- [Catching up past months: partial — Offered; no price published. Pilot says it offers catch-up bookkeeping, but the pricing page and FAQ carry no catch-up product or price.](https://pilot.com/blog/bench-vs-pilot-bookkeeping-service)
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — Cash basis on Essentials; accrual on Core. Essentials is cash-basis bookkeeping only.](https://pilot.com/pricing)

[View Pilot](https://tickmarkbooks.com/pilot)

### 7. SimpleAI

AI agents that extract, classify and reconcile accounting documents, then publish them into Xero or QuickBooks.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A one-person business can start on NOVA's Starter plan at S$39 a month for 30 document credits, one entity and three users; the SAAM accounting module's own entry plan is US$79 a month plus the Xero or QuickBooks subscription it publishes into.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/solutions/nova)
- [Past your plan’s limits: yes — Past the monthly credit allowance you buy add-on packs at a published rate, but the number of packs is capped per month, so very heavy months force a plan upgrade rather than open-ended overage.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)
- [Australia: yes — The SAAM pricing page prices plans for the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and rest of world, so it is sold well beyond its Singapore base](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — Financial statements come from NOVA, which generates Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements on request, whereas SAAM prepares entries for your own ledger to report from; neither page says the books are kept on an accrual basis.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/solutions/nova)
- [People check the books: no — No bookkeeper of the vendor's checks the output: review sits with you inside the platform, and NOVA requires human approval before anything is committed to the records.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)
- [Accuracy the vendor claims: partial — The vendor claims high precision in extraction and classification and says accuracy improves with your corrections, but it publishes no accuracy percentage and no description of how any figure was measured.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)

[View SimpleAI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/simpleai)

### 8. Digits

AI-native general ledger that books and reconciles itself, replacing QuickBooks or Xero for US businesses.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A solo operator pays $65 a month on Essentials, the plan Digits itself points solopreneurs to, with bank feeds, receipts in Vault and invoicing included and no per-user charge.](https://digits.com/pricing/)
- [Ledger included: yes — Digits is the general ledger itself, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath it; the vendor positions it as a replacement system of record.](https://digits.com/ai-info/)
- [Bank and card feeds: yes — Bank, card and payroll transactions come in automatically from more than 12,000 institutions through revocable tokens, and statements are auto-fetched for many banks, feeding continuous reconciliation.](https://digits.com/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [People check the books: partial — Digits runs its own automated quality checks and routes uncertain items to a Checklist, but a licensed human reviewer is not part of a business plan: for that you hire a firm from its partner directory.](https://digits.com/pricing/)
- [When the month is closed: partial — The close is continuous rather than dated: categorization, reconciliation, schedules and quality checks run through the period so books finalize faster, but Digits publishes no day-of-month by which reports are ready.](https://digits.com/pricing/)
- [QuickBooks Online: no — Digits does not run on top of QuickBooks Online, Xero, QuickBooks Desktop or NetSuite: it is the ledger, and those platforms are migration sources rather than integrations.](https://digits.com/ai-info/)

[View Digits](https://tickmarkbooks.com/digits)

### 9. Expensify

Receipt scanning, company cards, bill pay and reimbursements that feed QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite.

**Where it improves on Cranston:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — One person can run receipts, mileage and expense reports on the free Submit plan, and a paid workspace with reimbursements and accounting sync starts at $5 per member a month.](https://www.expensify.com/pricing)
- [Past your plan’s limits: yes — There is no transaction or account cap to pass; on a Control annual subscription, anyone active beyond the subscription size you committed to is simply charged at the higher pay-per-use rate.](https://help.expensify.com/articles/new-expensify/billing-and-subscriptions/explore-plans-subscriptions-and-pricing/Understand-Expensify-Pricing)
- [Bank and card feeds: yes — Card feeds import automatically from more than 10,000 banks worldwide, and the free plan can import a personal card, so transactions arrive without manual entry.](https://use.expensify.com/ai-disclosure)

**Trade-offs against Cranston:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: partial — It reconciles company card feeds against the card statement for a period so admins can tie out card activity, but it is not the ledger and does not reconcile bank accounts inside your books.](https://help.expensify.com/articles/new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Statement-Matching-and-Reconciliation)
- [Accrual books and reports: no — It produces spend reports, not financial statements: the vendor says outright that it is not an accounting ledger, so the profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow come from the ledger it feeds.](https://use.expensify.com/ai-disclosure)
- [Your accountant can sign in: partial — Accounting firms in the partner program get their own free account and a dashboard over client workspaces, but the vendor's pages do not say an outside accountant can be added to a single workspace without being billed as a member.](https://use.expensify.com/accountants-program)

[View Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify)