# Alternatives to QuickBooks Online

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

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | A month at 100 transactions | Better than QuickBooks Online at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online.md) | Small businesses that want one ledger plus payroll, payments and an accountant login | Free, then $38 a month | $38 | — | 28 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, Getting your books out | 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 | Notice before a price rise, Reconciles your accounts | 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 | Catching up past months, Stripe | 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, Stripe | 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 | Getting your books out, 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 | Catching up past months, Your own bookkeeper | 28 October 2026 |
| [Xero](https://tickmarkbooks.com/xero.md) | Small businesses wanting the whole team and their advisor on the books, no per-user fees | From $27 a month | $27 | Notice before a price rise, Reconciles your accounts | 28 October 2026 |
| [QuickBooks Solopreneur](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-solopreneur.md) | Self-employed one-person businesses filing a Schedule C | Free, then $20 a month | $20 | — | 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. Zoho Books

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

**Where it improves on QuickBooks Online:**
- [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/)
- [Getting your books out: yes — Every report, profit and loss and balance sheet included, exports to PDF or spreadsheet; instant exports cap at 5,000 records for PDF and 20,000 for spreadsheets, larger ones run asynchronously.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Several businesses: yes — Several businesses can run as separate organizations under one login, and because the fee is quoted per organization each additional business carries its own subscription.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [Promotion and regular price: no — none — the $20 Standard rate is the standing month-to-month price; the lower $15 figure is simply the yearly billing rate, not a time-limited introductory offer.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [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/)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Bills and vendor approvals are in the paid plans, but paying vendors by ACH with two- and three-way matching is the separate BillPay add-on at $59 a month billed annually ($69 monthly).](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)

[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 QuickBooks Online:**
- [Notice before a price rise: yes — The terms of service promise at least 60 days' advance notice of a price or payment-term change, and a chance to decide whether to carry on before any increase.](https://www.freeagent.com/company/terms/)
- [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)
- [Stripe: 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 QuickBooks Online:**
- [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/)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Bills are captured, recorded and tracked as accounts payable inside FreeAgent, but actually paying them is left to partner products in its own Payment solutions directory rather than done in the product.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/expenses/)
- [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/)

[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 QuickBooks Online:**
- [Catching up past months: yes — From $300 per month of books. Catch-up bookkeeping is a one-time add-on on the pricing page: the team reviews, cleans up and closes each unfinished month, from $300 per month of books (the page's example: eleven months is $3,300).](https://puzzle.io/pricing)
- [Stripe: yes — Stripe and Gusto yes](https://puzzle.io/integrations/stripe)
- [Shopify: yes — Shopify no](https://puzzle.io/integrations/stripe)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [Reads receipts and bills: partial — Reads an uploaded receipt; no stated matching. You can attach documents to a transaction or bill.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/15138987-month-end-close-with-ai-close)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Records bills; payment through Ramp or Bill.com. Bills can be entered, imported by CSV or synced from Ramp and Bill.com, matched to payments and shown in AP aging.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/9165703-faq-accounts-payable)
- [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)

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

### 4. Pilot

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

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

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [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)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Bill payment is an add-on; Core manages 10 bills. Accounts payable is not in the bookkeeping plans by default.](https://pilot.com/faq)
- [Sends invoices: partial — Invoicing is an add-on service. Pilot has no invoicing feature in its bookkeeping plans.](https://pilot.com/faq)

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

### 5. Booke AI

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

**Where it improves on QuickBooks Online:**
- [Getting your books out: yes — Books stay in your ledger; 30 days to export the rest. The ledger never leaves QuickBooks Online or Xero, so the general ledger and reports stay with you.](https://booke.ai/data-handling)
- [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)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [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 QuickBooks Online:**
- [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)
- [Several businesses: yes — SAAM puts unlimited entities on every published plan at no per-entity charge, so a firm or group adds client books without a price step; NOVA by contrast allows one entity on each of its tiers.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [Promotion and regular price: no — none on the SAAM plan cards: the only discount the vendor names on them is 10% for annual billing, and the separate Bank Statement Extraction module is the one that runs a labeled limited-time promotion.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)
- [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)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Bills are captured and classified and every plan includes an approval workflow, but the agent's documented end point is publishing entries into your accounting software, not paying suppliers.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en)

[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 QuickBooks Online:**
- [Catching up past months: yes — FreshBooks' bookkeeping service says its partners will clean up months you are behind on, but the price is quoted after a call rather than published.](https://www.freshbooks.com/bookkeeping)
- [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)
- [Stripe: 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)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [Reads receipts and bills: partial — You can photograph or email a receipt and have the merchant, totals and taxes read off it, but automatic expense receipt data capture and emailed receipts begin on Plus, and bill receipt capture on Premium.](https://www.freshbooks.com/expenses-and-receipts-tracking)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Bills can be forwarded in, scheduled and paid to any vendor by ACH or check on every plan, but the accounts payable module is Premium and above and no approval routing is described anywhere.](https://www.freshbooks.com/bill-pay)
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Trial Balance reports are produced from a double-entry ledger, but double-entry accounting reports are withheld from Lite, and no page says whether the books are kept on an accrual basis.](https://www.freshbooks.com/accounting)

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

### 8. Xero

Small-business ledger with a JAX assistant that answers questions in plain language; unlimited users on every plan.

**Where it improves on QuickBooks Online:**
- [Notice before a price rise: partial — The pricing page reserves the right to change prices at any time, while the terms promise a reasonable effort to give 60 days notice of material changes, so the notice is an endeavor rather than a guarantee.](https://www.xero.com/us/legal/terms/)
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Bank reconciliation is on every plan: feeds arrive automatically, Xero proposes matches on one screen, and reconciling often keeps the cash-flow forecast honest.](https://www.xero.com/us/accounting-software/connect-your-bank/)
- [Stripe: yes — Xero publishes App Store listings for Stripe, Shopify, PayPal, Square and Gusto](https://apps.xero.com/us/app/shopify)

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [Categorizes transactions: partial — Bank rules categorize recurring transactions for you and Xero suggests matches, but hands-off auto-reconcile is a $5 a month add-on on Early and only included from Growing up; no page claims it learns from your corrections.](https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/)
- [Sends invoices: partial — Invoicing with online payment acceptance is on every plan, but Early is capped at 20 invoices a month before you must move up to Growing.](https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/)
- [Files 1099s: partial — Xero collects W-9s, tracks contractor payments against the $2,000 threshold and builds the 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC report on every plan, but filing goes through an e-filing partner app at extra cost or by CSV export.](https://www.xero.com/us/accounting-software/1099-reporting/)

[View Xero](https://tickmarkbooks.com/xero)

### 9. QuickBooks Solopreneur

Intuit's one-person-business ledger: bank feeds, receipts, mileage and Schedule C tax readiness.

**Where it improves on QuickBooks Online:**

**Trade-offs against QuickBooks Online:**
- [What the AI does: partial — Intuit Intelligence on Lite is limited to the Expert Assisted Tax tie-in; the categorization, deduction and chat AI features appear only from Simple Start upward.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/)
- [Pays your bills: partial — Automated bill pay is listed on Lite but not on the Free plan, and the vendor's pages describe no approval-routing step before payment.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/)
- [Accrual books and reports: partial — The plans produce a profit and loss and a balance sheet, but the vendor never claims accrual-basis books or a cash flow statement, and its expert service explicitly excludes full accrual work.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/solopreneur/)

[View QuickBooks Solopreneur](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-solopreneur)