QuickBooks Online in our research
What it costs
A month of books at 100 transactions
$38
a month at 100 transactions, on Simple Start
Checked against the maker's own pages, 28 October 2026.
QuickBooks Online price and plans
Prices excluding tax, as QuickBooks Online publishes them.
Free
Free
Keeps no full set of books
- Flat fee
Simple Start
$38 a month
- Flat fee
Essentials
$85 a month
- Flat fee
- Adds Quarterly tax estimates
- Adds Billable time
Plus
$140 a month
- Flat fee
- Adds Reconciles your accounts
- Adds Inventory
- Adds Profit by project or job
Advanced
$340 a month
- Flat fee
Where these prices come from
quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing, checked
What QuickBooks Online costs at your volume
| Transactions a month | Cost | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| 100 transactions | $38 a monthon Simple Start | Simple Start |
| 500 transactions | $38 a monthon Simple Start | Simple Start |
What we checked on QuickBooks Online
Cost at 100 transactions a month
$38 a month on Simple Start for 100 transactions. Simple Start is 50% off for 3 months for new customers ($19 a month). The figure is the regular $38, paid after it.
Simple Start See profit & loss in real time $38
Cost at 500 transactions a month
$38 a month on Simple Start for 500 transactions. Simple Start is 50% off for 3 months for new customers ($19 a month). The figure is the regular $38, paid after it.
On the page: Simple Start plan card, price cell
Cost for a solo freelancer
A solo operator needing bank feeds plus receipt capture starts at Simple Start, $38 a month regular price, because the $0 Free plan connects only one bank and has no mobile app for receipts.
Mobile app access and third-party integrations not currently available with QuickBooks Free.
Promotion and regular price
promotion: every paid plan card shows a half-price figure for three months beside the struck-through regular price, so Simple Start is $19 then $38, Plus $70 then $140.
50% off for 3 months*
Ledger included
This is the accounting ledger itself, not an add-on to someone else's books, so no separate QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath the price.
Run and grow your business, unlock deeper insights, and work like you have a larger team behind you with the #1 accounting software for small…
What the price is based on
Pricing is a flat monthly fee per company file, chosen by feature tier rather than by transaction count, spending or revenue; only payroll adds a per-employee charge.
$38
Users included
Seats are bundled by tier rather than sold singly: Free and Simple Start one user, Essentials three, Plus five, Advanced twenty-five, with accountant logins on top.
25 users
Past your plan’s limits
The only published ceilings sit on the Free plan, one connected bank and two invoices a month, and the pages read never say what happens when you reach them beyond upgrading.
Connect 1 bank account directly to QuickBooks to automatically sync transactions for accurate, real-time data.
Catching up past months
Cleanup of past months exists only as a separately bought Intuit Expert service, not as part of any QuickBooks Online plan, and its price is not published.
Intuit Expert Cleanup helps you find every deduction, stay compliant, and save days of internal tax prep.
Notice before a price rise
Intuit's own footnote reserves the right to change pricing without notice, so the terms promise no notice period before a renewal price rises.
Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice.
What the AI does
Intuit Intelligence runs inside the ledger, learning categorization patterns and performing bookkeeping tasks, with the deeper agents reserved for the Plus and Advanced tiers.
Intuit Intelligence learns your categorization patterns and handles the heavy lifting automatically, with accuracy checks running quietly behind the…
What the AI costs
included: the AI features are listed inside each plan card rather than sold as credits or an add-on, with more agents unlocked as the tier rises.
Everything in Free, and:
Categorizes transactions
It categorizes bank and card transactions automatically and learns from how you have categorized before, then matches and records later transactions itself.
QuickBooks learns how you categorize income and expenses and then automatically matches and records transactions from then on.
Reconciles your accounts
Automated reconciliation is a Plus-tier and above feature on the plan cards; the Simple Start and Essentials cards do not list it, so cheaper tiers leave the matching to you.
Reconciles your books
Reads receipts and bills
Photograph a receipt in the mobile app and it is stored and matched to the transaction automatically; the Free plan has no mobile app, so this needs a paid tier.
Take photos of receipts—each receipt is stored and automatically matched to transactions for you.
Pays your bills
Bills can be tracked and paid from Simple Start upward, with five standard ACH payments a month included and fifty cents each beyond the allotment; approval workflows are an Advanced feature.
$0.50/standard ACH transaction over monthly allotments. Allotments may vary.**
Sends invoices
Invoices are sent from the ledger and customer card or bank payments are accepted and tracked inside the invoice through QuickBooks Payments, with reminders and status updates.
Accept credit cards and bank transfers in the invoice with QuickBooks Payments, get status updates and reminders.
Accrual books and reports
Profit and loss and balance sheet reports are produced on every tier including Free; the pages read do not state whether the books are kept on an accrual basis or name a cash flow statement.
Access the top 3 reports for your business: profit and loss, balance sheet, and account quick report.
People check the books
No bookkeeper checks the AI's work on a plain subscription; human review arrives only when you buy an Intuit Expert service on top, and even then the expert cannot file taxes.
As part of ongoing bookkeeping, your dedicated bookkeeper categorizes your transactions and reconciles your accounts each month.
Your own bookkeeper
A named bookkeeper comes only with the separately purchased Expert Full Service Bookkeeping tier; the cheaper Expert Assisted tier gives coaching but will not work in your books.
A dedicated QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper manages your books, sends reports, and shares insights to help you make smarter financial decisions.
Your accountant can sign in
Accountant logins are free and sit outside the user count, two on Simple Start through Plus and three on Advanced; the Free plan is the exception with none.
Yes, you can invite an accountant to collaborate with you for free with QuickBooks Online.
Accuracy the vendor claims
Intuit claims accuracy for the Accounting AI and guaranteed accuracy for its expert service, but the pages read publish no error rate, sample or measurement method behind either claim.
Your Accounting AI automates workflows to keep your books clean and up-to-date, so you can spend more time growing your business.
Bank and card feeds
Connected bank and credit card accounts sync transactions into the ledger automatically, and the Free tier is limited to a single connected bank account.
All of your bank and credit card transactions automatically sync to QuickBooks to help you seamlessly track income and expenses.
Stripe
Third-party app integrations are offered with paid plans and an app marketplace, but they are explicitly unavailable on the Free plan, and the pages read name no individual app such as Stripe or Shopify.
On the page: Paid plans include section, App integrations note
Shopify
Third-party app integrations are offered with paid plans and an app marketplace, but they are explicitly unavailable on the Free plan, and the pages read name no individual app such as Stripe or Shopify.
On the page: Paid plans include section, App integrations note
Payroll
add-on: payroll is bought as a bundle alongside the ledger, quoted at $88 plus $6.50 per employee when paired with Simple Start, not included in any accounting plan price.
$88 + $6.50/employee
Moves you off QuickBooks Desktop
Intuit offers help switching from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, though the pages read state neither how many years of history move across nor any fee for the move.
We’ll help you make the switch to QuickBooks Online.
Platforms
web, ios, android: it runs in any browser on a connected device, with a free companion app on the App Store and Google Play; some features are browser-only.
There is no need to download QuickBooks Online because it is connected to the cloud, which means you can access online accounting from any device…
Getting your books out
Reports including profit and loss, expenses and balance sheets can be exported and books shared with an accountant, but the pages read do not promise a full general ledger or trial balance export.
Run and export reports including profit & loss, expenses, and balance sheets.*
Files your tax return
Income tax preparation is not in any QuickBooks Online plan; it is a separate TurboTax-powered purchase that itself requires an active subscription, and bookkeepers may not file for you.
Tax preparation or filing services are not included in either Expert Assisted or Expert Full Service Bookkeeping, but are available to be purchased…
Files 1099s
Contractor payments can be assigned to 1099 categories and the forms prepared and filed from inside QuickBooks; Advanced adds free 1099 e-filing through Bill Pay Elite.
Stay compliant on all your 1099s, and at tax time, prepare and file 1099s right from QuickBooks.**
Quarterly tax estimates
Quarterly payment estimates come from Business Tax AI, which the plan cards list from the Essentials tier upward rather than on the cheapest paid plan.
Estimates quarterly payments
Calculates sales tax
Sales tax on invoices is calculated automatically from date, location, product category and customer, and a liability report tracks what is owed to each tax agency.
We calculate the sales tax rate based on date, location, type of product or service, and customer you indicate.
Inventory
Stock tracking is a Plus and Advanced feature on the plan cards, so the two cheaper paid tiers, Simple Start and Essentials, do not track inventory.
Track and manage inventory
Mileage
Business miles are tracked by the phone's GPS inside the QuickBooks mobile app and swiped into business or personal categories, with deduction reports built in.
Just drive, and we’ll use your phone’s location to detect when you’re driving. Or, add a trip manually.
Billable time
Employee hours can be entered and added to invoices from the Essentials tier upward; Simple Start's card does not carry the feature, and deeper tracking means QuickBooks Time.
Add employee time to invoices
Profit by project or job
Project profitability plus forty classes and locations start at Plus; Advanced lifts the class and location limit and adds AI that creates projects and allocates costs.
Track all your projects in one place, track labor costs, payroll and expenses.
For accounting firms
Intuit Accountant Suite is the firm-facing platform, free on its Core plan and $149 a month for Accelerate after January 2027, with a ProPartner partner program replacing ProAdvisor.
The Core plan is free. The Accelerate plan is also free through January 2027, then moves to $149/month.
Several businesses
Intuit routes businesses with several entities to its separate Intuit Enterprise Suite rather than QuickBooks Online, so multiple entities mean a different, more expensive product.
Intuit Enterprise Suite (IES) is an AI-native ERP solution built for multi-entity organizations needing heavy project costing for construction or…
Canada
Intuit runs separate country sites for Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia from the same footer.
Yes! QuickBooks is tax deductible according to IRS publication 946
United Kingdom
Intuit runs separate country sites for Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia from the same footer.
On the page: FAQ, Is the cost of QuickBooks tax deductible?
Australia
Intuit runs separate country sites for Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia from the same footer.
On the page: FAQ, Is the cost of QuickBooks tax deductible?
Free trial or free plan
There are two free routes: a standing $0 plan needing no card, and a thirty-day free trial of the paid tiers; you cannot take the discount and the trial together.
$0/mo No credit card required
Sign up without a sales call
Plans are chosen, optionally bundled with payroll, and bought through a three-step online checkout; a sales line exists but no call is required to subscribe.
1 Select plan 2 Add payroll(optional) 3 Checkout
Contract and cancelling
Billing is month to month with no annual contract, and the FAQ confirms plans can be switched or canceled at any time without talking to anyone.
Yes, you're free to switch QuickBooks Online plans or cancel at any time.
Support
Chat support reaches the Free plan; phone support is included from Simple Start upward, and Advanced adds Priority Circle. Sales runs Monday to Friday, 5 AM to 6 PM PT.
For Simple Start plans and above, phone support is free during the 30-day trial and included with your paid subscription to QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Online alternatives
All 9 alternatives6 more alternatives
6 of the 9 publish a price.
- PilotNo list priceA bookkeeping and tax service for startups that pairs software-driven dashboards with human financial advisors.
- Booke AINo list priceAn AI bookkeeper that works inside QuickBooks Online and Xero to categorize transactions and match documents.
- SimpleAIFrom $79 a monthAI agents that extract, classify and reconcile accounting documents, then publish them into Xero or QuickBooks.
- FreshBooksFrom $23 a monthDouble-entry small-business ledger built around invoicing, with a read-only Claude connector for questions.
Sources and changes
Last changed
Sources on quickbooks.intuit.com9
What changed on this page2
- Bookkeeping features, free plan, plan limits, prices, terms
- Bookkeeping features, plan limits
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