# Alternatives to Puzzle

> Source: https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle/alternatives/ (re-verified)
> Updated: 28 October 2026

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | A month at 100 transactions | Better than Puzzle at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [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 | — | 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 | Reconciles your accounts, Reads receipts and bills | 26 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 | Reconciles your accounts, Reads receipts and bills | 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 | Reconciles your accounts, PayPal | 26 October 2026 |
| [Stampli](https://tickmarkbooks.com/stampli.md) | Finance teams with high invoice volume, many approvers and several entities | On quote | — | Reads receipts and bills, Pays your bills | 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 | For accounting firms, Several businesses | 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 | Past your plan’s limits, Reconciles your accounts | 27 October 2026 |
| [FreshBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freshbooks.md) | Service businesses and freelancers who bill clients and want their books in the same place | From $23 a month | $43 | Your own bookkeeper, PayPal | 28 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 | Reconciles your accounts, Reads receipts and bills | 27 October 2026 |
| [Sage Accounting](https://tickmarkbooks.com/sage-accounting.md) | VAT-registered sole traders and small firms up to 49 employees wanting payroll built in | From about $27 a month | About $58 | Reconciles your accounts, PayPal | 27 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. FreeAgent

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — A Bank Reconciliation report compares the FreeAgent balance with the bank statement balance for each account; you run and review it yourself rather than it closing the month for you.](https://support.freeagent.com/hc/en-gb/articles/7096372611346-Bank-Reconciliation-report)
- [Reads receipts and bills: yes — Photograph, share or drag in a receipt or bill and Smart Capture extracts the key data, suggests a category and attaches it to the matching bank transaction for approval.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/expenses/)
- [PayPal: yes — Its partner directory carries Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, Tyl, SumUp, WooCommerce and a paid Amazon UK add-on, but no Shopify, Square or Gusto appear in any category of that directory.](https://www.freeagent.com/integrations/)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [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/)
- [Shopify: no — Its partner directory carries Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, Tyl, SumUp, WooCommerce and a paid Amazon UK add-on, but no Shopify, Square or Gusto appear in any category of that directory.](https://www.freeagent.com/integrations/)
- [Gusto payroll: no — Its partner directory carries Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, Tyl, SumUp, WooCommerce and a paid Amazon UK add-on, but no Shopify, Square or Gusto appear in any category of that directory.](https://www.freeagent.com/integrations/)

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

### 2. Zoho Books

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Bank and card accounts are reconciled inside the product, with matched and pending transactions in one view and reconciliation statements exportable as PDF per account and date range.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/accounting-software/bank-reconciliation/)
- [Reads receipts and bills: yes — Receipts can be photographed in the mobile app, uploaded or auto-forwarded from an email inbox, and autoscans turn them into transactions within a plan-wise monthly scan allowance.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html)
- [Accrual books and reports: yes — Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow sit among 70+ built-in reports you can run at any time; the pages read do not state whether the books are kept on a cash or accrual basis.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/accounting-software/accounting-financial-reports/)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [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/)
- [Stripe: partial — Stripe, PayPal, Square and Authorize.Net are supported payment gateways and Shopify stores connect on Elite and above (up to two)](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html)
- [Shopify: partial — Stripe, PayPal, Square and Authorize.Net are supported payment gateways and Shopify stores connect on Elite and above (up to two)](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html)

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

### 3. Pilot

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Bank and card accounts reconciled each month. Essentials: AI reconciles accounts and closes the books monthly.](https://pilot.com/pricing)
- [PayPal: yes — PayPal, Square listed](https://pilot.com/platform/integrations)
- [Square: yes — PayPal, Square listed](https://pilot.com/platform/integrations)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Ledger included: no — Works in QuickBooks Online; you pay for the license. Every bookkeeping plan is done in QuickBooks Online (FAQ: 'Pilot does all of its bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online').](https://pilot.com/terms/client-terms)
- [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)

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

### 4. Stampli

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reads receipts and bills: yes — Receipts can be submitted by web, mobile, messaging, upload or inbox, and are matched to card expenses with employees prompted when something is missing.](https://www.stampli.com/expenses/)
- [Pays your bills: yes — This is the core of the product: invoices are captured, coded, routed for approval and then paid by check, bank transfer, virtual card or international payment in the same workflow.](https://www.stampli.com/payments/)
- [People check the books: yes — Review is explicitly yours: Billy prepares work and routes exceptions, and the vendor says authorized people keep approvals, posting and payment release.](https://www.stampli.com/billy/)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Ledger included: no — Stampli runs the buying and paying workflow but not the books themselves: you keep paying for QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Sage Intacct or whichever accounting system you already run, which stays the book of record.](https://www.stampli.com/erp/quickbooks/)
- [Sign up without a sales call: no — There is no sign-up or checkout: buying starts with a quote request or a demo booking, and onboarding is run with a named success contact.](https://www.stampli.com/pricing/)
- [Contract and cancelling: partial — The term is whatever the order form says and renews itself for the same length unless either side gives thirty days' notice; either party may also end it on thirty days' written notice.](https://www.stampli.com/terms/)

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

### 5. Booke AI

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [For accounting firms: yes — Firm plan: many clients, white label; price on request. A separate plan for accounting firms adds multi-client management, a white-label client experience, custom pricing and priority onboarding to everything in Business.](https://booke.ai/pricing)
- [Several businesses: yes — Each business adds $129 a month, on one bill. Several businesses sit on one subscription; each is priced at the per-business rate ($129 a month monthly, $116 a month billed annually), prorated when added mid-period and joined to the combined charge at renewal.](https://booke.ai/pricing)
- [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 Puzzle:**
- [Ledger included: no — No: you also pay for QuickBooks Online or Xero. Booke works inside an existing QuickBooks Online or Xero file, joining it as a user; it is not a ledger and no ledger license is in its price.](https://booke.ai/)
- [Sends invoices: partial — Matches payments to ledger invoices; sends none. It matches incoming payments to invoices that already exist in QuickBooks Online or Xero, including multi-invoice payments.](https://booke.ai/quickbooks-online)
- [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/)

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

### 6. SimpleAI

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [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)
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Reconciliation is on every published SAAM plan: it matches your transactions against bank feed entries and flags mismatches, and converts statements into reconciled, accounting-ready transactions.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/solutions/accounting-automation)
- [Reads receipts and bills: yes — Receipts, invoices and bills are extracted and classified automatically and can be sent in from desktop, mobile or email; the reconciliation step is what matches the resulting entries to bank transactions.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Ledger included: no — SAAM is not the ledger: it extracts and classifies documents and then publishes entries into the accounting software you already pay for, so a Xero, QuickBooks or Accurate subscription sits on top of its price.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)
- [Sends invoices: partial — Sending invoices belongs to the other product lines, not SAAM: NOVA handles invoices and AR aging conversationally, and the e-Invoicing module issues Peppol invoices for Singapore, while SAAM only extracts AR documents.](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)

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

### 7. FreshBooks

Double-entry small-business ledger built around invoicing, with a read-only Claude connector for questions.

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Your own bookkeeper: yes — The bookkeeping service is sold on dedicated bookkeepers you can hand the busywork to, but it is a separate quote-priced engagement rather than part of a Lite, Plus or Premium subscription.](https://www.freshbooks.com/bookkeeping)
- [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](https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us)
- [For accounting firms: yes — The Accounting Partner Program is a standing program for accounting professionals with education, technology and client-workflow benefits; firm-level pricing, a multi-client console and white labeling are not described on it.](https://www.freshbooks.com/partner)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Shopify: no — Shopify and Square connections are not documented on the pages read.](https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us)

[View FreshBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freshbooks)

### 8. Digits

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

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Reconciliation runs continuously against connected or uploaded statements across bank, card and payroll accounts rather than once at month-end, with exceptions surfaced as they occur.](https://digits.com/pricing/)
- [Reads receipts and bills: yes — A receipt can be dropped in, photographed in the iOS app or forwarded to a per-business @digits.cc address, and Digits says it then processes and matches it against the ledger.](https://digits.com/product/ask-digits/)
- [Pays your bills: yes — Bill Pay reads the invoice, routes it for approval and pays by ACH inside the same ledger, and it is listed as Included on every public plan; payment processing costs are priced separately in the Help Center.](https://digits.com/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Your own bookkeeper: no — No bookkeeper comes with a subscription; Digits is software and refers businesses that want a person to certified partner firms, who bill separately for full-service accounting.](https://digits.com/ai-info/)
- [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/)
- [Shopify: no — Shopify, PayPal and Square payments are not named among them.](https://digits.com/ai-info/)

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

### 9. Sage Accounting

Sage's cloud small-business ledger with built-in payroll and the Sage Copilot assistant; US edition retired.

**Where it improves on Puzzle:**
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Bank and card accounts connect directly, transactions import automatically and reconciliation is a core feature of the cheapest plan rather than an upgrade.](https://www.sage.com/en-ca/sage-business-cloud/accounting/)
- [PayPal: yes — Sage names Stripe, PayPal and Shopify plus WooCommerce as connections for Sage Accounting, with the rest of the library in the Sage Marketplace](https://www.sage.com/en-ca/sage-business-cloud/accounting/)
- [Moves your history in: yes — Sage brings two years of transactional data, the chart of accounts and customer and supplier lists over from the previous accounting system through MoveMyBooks, and says it pays for that migration.](https://www.sage.com/en-gb/sage-business-cloud/sage-accounting/)

**Trade-offs against Puzzle:**
- [Gusto payroll: no — Square and Gusto are not named on the pages read.](https://www.sage.com/en-ca/sage-business-cloud/accounting/)

[View Sage Accounting](https://tickmarkbooks.com/sage-accounting)