# ZipBooks — Free-forever double-entry books whose machine learning categorizes transactions and learns from your corrections.

> Source: Tick Mark Books — https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks (structured, researched, re-verified)

ZipBooks is cloud accounting software for small businesses that combines invoicing, payments, bank-fed bookkeeping and double-entry reporting in one interface. Its machine learning picks a category for each imported transaction, scores its confidence and relearns whenever you correct it.

**Best for:** Small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Website | https://zipbooks.com |
| Category | Free accounting software, Bookkeepers and accounting firms, Accounting software, Cheapest accounting software, Freelancers and the self-employed, Small businesses |
| Open source | No |
| Price | Free |
| Price checked | 28 October 2026 |

Screenshot of ZipBooks: https://tickmarkbooks.com/img/1920/screenshots/zipbooks.webp, captured 31 October 2026

**What we checked**

- Pages last read: 28 October 2026
- Price on its site: Free plan (From its pricing page)

## What it costs

A month of books at 100 transactions: $10 a month at 100 transactions, on Accountant

## ZipBooks price and plans

Prices excluding tax, as ZipBooks publishes them.

| Plan | Price | What's included |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starter | Free | Keeps no full set of books; Flat fee |
| Smarter | $15 a month | Keeps no full set of books; Flat fee; adds What the AI does; adds What the AI costs; adds Categorizes transactions; adds Your accountant can sign in; adds Bank and card feeds; adds Moves your history in |
| Sophisticated | $35 a month | Flat fee; adds Users included; adds Reconciles your accounts; adds Profit by project or job; adds Funds for nonprofits |
| Accountant | Free | Flat fee; Plus USD per client account license a month, $10 a month |

Pricing page as we captured it: https://tickmarkbooks.com/img/1920/screenshots/zipbooks/pricing.webp, captured 31 October 2026

Read on https://zipbooks.com/pricing/, 28 October 2026.

## What ZipBooks costs at your volume

| Transactions | Cost | Plan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 100 | $10 a month | Accountant |
| 500 | $10 a month | Accountant |

## What we checked on ZipBooks

### What it costs to keep your books

**Cost at 100 transactions a month** · Yes — $10 a month on Accountant for 100 transactions. Includes required fees: USD per client account license a month $10.

> Your account is free, and client account licenses are $10 each per month.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4623064-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-zipbooks-accountant-plan · Help article on signing up for the Accountant plan, pricing line, checked 28 October 2026

**Cost at 500 transactions a month** · Yes — $10 a month on Accountant for 500 transactions. Includes required fees: USD per client account license a month $10.

> Your account is free, and client account licenses are $10 each per month.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4623064-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-zipbooks-accountant-plan · Help article on signing up for the Accountant plan, pricing line, checked 28 October 2026

**Cost for a solo freelancer** · Yes — A freelancer with about 30 transactions a month can stay on the free Starter plan, which connects one bank account and stores receipts, so the monthly cost is nothing.

> Connect 1 bank account
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Starter plan card, feature list, checked 28 October 2026

**Promotion and regular price** · No — none: the plan cards publish $15 and $35 a month as the standing prices, with no introductory period, countdown or struck-through figure anywhere on the pricing page.

> Sophisticated
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Sophisticated plan card, price cell showing $35/mo, checked 28 October 2026

**Ledger included** · Yes — ZipBooks is the ledger itself: double-entry books, chart of accounts, income statement and balance sheet are in the subscription, so you pay for no other accounting product.

> Does ZipBooks do double-entry ("real") accounting? Absolutely.
> — https://zipbooks.com/free-quickbooks-alternative/ · Frequently Asked Questions, double-entry accounting answer, checked 28 October 2026

**What the price is based on** · Yes — A flat monthly fee for one business: $15 for Smarter and $35 for Sophisticated, not counted per transaction, per bank account or per user.

> Smarter
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Smarter plan card, price cell showing $15/mo, checked 28 October 2026

**Users included** · Partly — The free Starter plan has no team members at all, Smarter adds five, and only Sophisticated invites unlimited users, so extra people mean a plan upgrade rather than a seat price.

> Add 5 team members
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Smarter plan card, feature list, checked 28 October 2026

### What the AI does with your books

**What the AI does** · Partly — Machine learning picks a category for every imported transaction, attaches a confidence score and learns from your corrections, but this sits on the paid plans rather than free Starter.

> When ZipBooks imports your bank transactions, we’ll categorize them, and give you a confidence score based on our accounting expertise and your own history.
> — https://zipbooks.com/accounting/categorization/ · Auto-Categorization page, Confidence Score section, checked 28 October 2026

**What the AI costs** · Partly — included in the plan fee rather than metered: the Smarter plan at $15 a month carries the machine-learning categorization row, and nothing is billed per suggestion or in credits.

> Automate categorization with personalized Machine Learning
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, machine learning row, checked 28 October 2026

**Categorizes transactions** · Partly — It chooses a category for each bank and card transaction and relearns when you fix one, though the comparison table leaves the row blank for the free Starter plan.

> If you find that something’s categorized wrong, simply make a correction, and ZipBooks will learn from its mistakes
> — https://zipbooks.com/accounting/categorization/ · Auto-Categorization page, Machine Learning section, checked 28 October 2026

**Reconciles your accounts** · Partly — You reconcile accounts by ticking off transactions against the statement balance, but the plan cards list quick reconciling of every account only from the $35 Sophisticated plan.

> Reconcile every account quickly
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Sophisticated plan card, feature list, checked 28 October 2026

**Reads receipts and bills** · Partly — Receipts are uploaded or dragged onto the transaction you pick and stored with it on every plan; the documented steps are manual, with no reading of the receipt or automatic matching.

> Scroll to the bottom of the window and you’ll see a box with the words “Drop to upload.”
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3059335-how-do-i-attach-receipts-or-other-documents-to-my-transactions · Help article on attaching receipts, step 4, checked 28 October 2026

**Pays your bills** · Partly — Bills are entered with vendor, due date and attachments and then marked paid by recording the payment yourself; no approval routing or paying the vendor from ZipBooks is documented.

> When you want to record a payment made to a bill, find it in your list, open it, and click on the blue Add Payment button
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3058997-how-do-i-track-outstanding-bills-in-zipbooks · Help article on tracking outstanding bills, closing paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

**Sends invoices** · Yes — Unlimited invoices and estimates on every plan, card or PayPal and Square payments, recurring auto-bill and reminders on paid plans, and payments post straight into the books.

> ZipBooks lets you create and send beautiful invoices and estimates in seconds and accept credit cards with the click of a button.
> — https://zipbooks.com/ · Home page, Getting paid has never been simpler section, checked 28 October 2026

**Accrual books and reports** · Yes — Every plan, the free one included, can switch its income statement and balance sheet between cash and accrual, and cash flow reports are available too.

> Switch between cash and accrual reporting
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, cash and accrual row, checked 28 October 2026

### Who checks the AI’s work

**People check the books** · No — Checking the books is yours to do: the vendor describes correcting miscategorized transactions yourself, and the plans buy software plus chat support, not a bookkeeper's review.

> If you find that something’s categorized wrong, simply make a correction, and ZipBooks will learn from its mistakes
> — https://zipbooks.com/accounting/categorization/ · Auto-Categorization page, Machine Learning section, checked 28 October 2026

**Your accountant can sign in** · Partly — An accountant is added as a team member with all relevant permissions in one click, but team members start on the $15 Smarter plan and count against its five places.

> Or simply check “Add as Accountant” to give them all relevant permissions.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3040328-how-do-i-add-team-members-to-my-account · Help article on adding team members, step 5 and closing note, checked 28 October 2026

### Where your books live and what it connects to

**Bank and card feeds** · Partly — Bank and card transactions stream in automatically once the account is verified, with balances pulled daily; the free Starter plan connects one account, paid plans several.

> Once we verify your account, all your transactions will be streamed in automatically.
> — https://zipbooks.com/accounting/bank-connect/ · Bank Connect page, opening paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

**Stripe** · Yes — Square, Stripe and PayPal connect for payments and Gusto for payroll, each with its own setup article

> Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row, checked 28 October 2026

**Shopify** · No — nothing on the site addresses Shopify sales or payouts.

> Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row, checked 28 October 2026

**PayPal** · Yes — Square, Stripe and PayPal connect for payments and Gusto for payroll, each with its own setup article

> Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row, checked 28 October 2026

**Square** · Yes — Square, Stripe and PayPal connect for payments and Gusto for payroll, each with its own setup article

> Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row, checked 28 October 2026

**Gusto payroll** · Yes — Square, Stripe and PayPal connect for payments and Gusto for payroll, each with its own setup article

> Integrate with other small business software (Gusto)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, integrations row, checked 28 October 2026

**Payroll** · Partly — integration only: payroll itself is run in Gusto, which is connected on the integrations page and synced back to ZipBooks after employees are mapped; ZipBooks runs no payroll.

> On the Integrations page, choose Gusto with the Connect Now button, then log in to your Gusto account
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/8779671-how-to-integrate-gusto-with-zipbooks · Help article on integrating Gusto, Step 2, checked 28 October 2026

**Moves your history in** · Partly — Past books come in as a CSV of transactions mapped to ZipBooks' template, and that import is a paid-plan feature; the vendor's QuickBooks migration guide no longer resolves.

> PLEASE NOTE: Importing using the CSV templates is a feature of paid plans only.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2940296-how-do-i-import-transactions-into-zipbooks · Help article on importing transactions, note after step 9, checked 28 October 2026

**Platforms** · Partly — web only in practice: it runs in any browser with a mobile-friendly layout you can pin to a phone, and the vendor says its phone app has been discontinued.

> The ZipBooks app has been discontinued as we work on developments and integrate it with new features that are currently in the works.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4820046-does-zipbooks-have-a-mobile-app · Help article: Does ZipBooks have a mobile app?, first line, checked 28 October 2026

**Getting your books out** · Yes — Transactions export to CSV and every report, including the trial balance and general ledger, exports to PDF or CSV; Sophisticated adds a whole financial package export.

> Choose whether you’d like to export a PDF or CSV file
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2943465-how-do-i-create-or-export-a-financial-report · Help article on creating or exporting a financial report, export steps, checked 28 October 2026

### Taxes

**Files your tax return** · Partly — ZipBooks files nothing itself; the vendor says it works with outside tax partners who handle state and federal returns, with no plan or price given for that.

> ZipBooks also works with reliable, prompt tax partners who can take care of state and federal taxes regardless of your entity type.
> — https://zipbooks.com/free-quickbooks-alternative/ · Free Quickbooks Alternative page, Want us to take everything off your hands section, checked 28 October 2026

**Files 1099s** · Partly — Payments can be marked as 1099 expenses and totaled per contractor in a 1099 Summary report, but the vendor says that report is not a tax form and you file each 1099.

> just remember that this is only a summary, not an official tax form. You’ll need to file individual 1099s for each vendor (or contractor)
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3031868-how-do-i-see-a-list-of-all-1099-expenses · Help article on the 1099 expenses list, closing paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

**Calculates sales tax** · Partly — Taxes are added on invoices on every plan and a Taxes Invoiced report totals what you collected by tax name, but no state-by-state rates or liability tracking are described.

> The report that appears will list the Tax Name (each type of tax you collect), and the Taxable Amount and Taxes Collected for each.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3037616-how-do-i-create-a-report-to-view-taxes-i-ve-collected-from-customers · Help article on the taxes collected report, step 3, checked 28 October 2026

**Files sales tax** · No — It reports what you collected and then tells you to check the rules and pay the tax yourself; no filing or remittance on your behalf is offered.

> Make sure to check the guidelines for when and where to pay each tax type you collect.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3037616-how-do-i-create-a-report-to-view-taxes-i-ve-collected-from-customers · Help article on the taxes collected report, closing line, checked 28 October 2026

### What it keeps track of

**Other currencies** · Partly — Invoices can be issued in over 100 currencies on every plan, but the vendor states reports only include transactions in your default currency, so you convert them back by hand.

> all transactions stay in the currency in which they are created (unless you manually change it). Reports will only include transactions in the default currency.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3040368-how-do-i-change-my-default-account-currency · Help article on changing default currency, Reports only include your default currency section, checked 28 October 2026

**Billable time** · Partly — Billable hours are tracked live or entered by hand against projects and tasks and pulled onto an invoice, but time tracking starts on the $15 Smarter plan.

> Auto-import and bill time entries
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, plan comparison table, time entries row, checked 28 October 2026

**Profit by project or job** · Partly — Projects can be created from the Smarter plan, but profit by project, location or custom class needs the smart tagging and tag-based reports sold on Sophisticated.

> Organize books with smart tagging (by location, project, and custom)
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Sophisticated plan card, feature list, checked 28 October 2026

**Funds for nonprofits** · Partly — A nonprofit tracks donations by donor, event, campaign or program using custom tags and tag reports, which is tag reporting rather than restricted-fund or grant accounting.

> Using custom tags you can also track donations by event, fundraising campaign, project and more.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3142430-how-do-i-use-zipbooks-as-a-nonprofit · Help article on using ZipBooks as a nonprofit, Track donations by donor section, checked 28 October 2026

### Who it is built for

**For accounting firms** · Yes — The Accountant plan gives a firm one dashboard over client books, its own branding on client accounts, bulk editing and financial package exports, and the firm's own account is free.

> Your account is free, and client account licenses are $10 each per month.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4623064-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-zipbooks-accountant-plan · Help article on signing up for the Accountant plan, pricing line, checked 28 October 2026

**Several businesses** · Partly — Several sets of books live under one login only on the Accountant plan, where each client account is a $10 a month license; a single business plan covers one company's books.

> Your account is free, and client account licenses are $10 each per month.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4623064-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-zipbooks-accountant-plan · Help article on signing up for the Accountant plan, pricing line, checked 28 October 2026

**Canada** · Yes — While we do support many international bank connections (including UK, Australia, and Canada), some providers may not sync directly.

> While we do support many international bank connections (including UK, Australia, and Canada), some providers may not sync directly.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3020903-does-zipbooks-work-outside-of-the-united-states · Help article: Does ZipBooks work outside of the United States?, third paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

**Australia** · Yes — While we do support many international bank connections (including UK, Australia, and Canada), some providers may not sync directly.

> While we do support many international bank connections (including UK, Australia, and Canada), some providers may not sync directly.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3020903-does-zipbooks-work-outside-of-the-united-states · Help article: Does ZipBooks work outside of the United States?, third paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

### Trying it, starting and getting help

**Free trial or free plan** · Yes — The Starter plan is free with no expiry, and starring a locked feature turns on a 30-day trial of the paid plans with no contract and no card.

> Nope, ZipBooks Starter plans are free forever.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3069039-did-my-free-plan-expire · Help article: Did my free plan expire?, first line, checked 28 October 2026

**Sign up without a sales call** · Yes — You register and pick a plan yourself from the pricing page, add a card in the subscription screen and are billed monthly; no sales call stands in the way.

> Sign up now
> — https://zipbooks.com/pricing/ · Pricing page, Starter plan card, registration button linking to app.zipbooks.com/register, checked 28 October 2026

**Contract and cancelling** · Yes — Month to month with the card billed automatically each month, and canceling is two clicks in the subscription screen, which drops the account back to the free plan.

> In the Accounting Plan field, click “Cancel Accounting Plan.”
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2912762-how-do-i-upgrade-or-change-my-subscription · Help article on changing your subscription, downgrade steps, checked 28 October 2026

**Support** · Partly — In-app live chat and email reach a person between 9am and 5pm Mountain Time on business days, and the vendor states it offers no phone support.

> We do not offer phone support at this time.
> — https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/8871549-how-do-i-reach-customer-support · Help article: How do I reach Customer Support?, closing line, checked 28 October 2026

## ZipBooks alternatives

- [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books) · Free plan, then $20 a month: Cloud accounting ledger with Zia AI, bank feeds, sales tax and 1099 e-filing, from $20 a month.
- [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent) · From £10 a month (about $13): UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type.
- [Puzzle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle) · No list price: AI-native accounting software with optional bookkeeper services for startups and small businesses.
- [Pilot](https://tickmarkbooks.com/pilot) · No list price: A bookkeeping and tax service for startups that pairs software-driven dashboards with human financial advisors.
- [Booke AI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/booke-ai) · No list price: An AI bookkeeper that works inside QuickBooks Online and Xero to categorize transactions and match documents.
- [SimpleAI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/simpleai) · From $79 a month: AI agents that extract, classify and reconcile accounting documents, then publish them into Xero or QuickBooks.
- [Xero](https://tickmarkbooks.com/xero) · From $27 a month: Small-business ledger with a JAX assistant that answers questions in plain language; unlimited users on every plan.
- [QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online) · Free plan, then $38 a month: Intuit's cloud ledger, now with Intuit Intelligence agents that categorize, reconcile and flag errors.
- [FreshBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freshbooks) · From $23 a month: Double-entry small-business ledger built around invoicing, with a read-only Claude connector for questions.

6 of the 9 publish a price.

[All 9 alternatives](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks/alternatives/)

## Sources and changes

Last changed 31 October 2026

**Sources** (21)

- https://zipbooks.com/pricing/, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4623064-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-zipbooks-accountant-plan, read 28 October 2026
- https://zipbooks.com/accounting/categorization/, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3037616-how-do-i-create-a-report-to-view-taxes-i-ve-collected-from-customers, read 28 October 2026
- https://zipbooks.com/free-quickbooks-alternative/, read 28 October 2026
- https://zipbooks.com/, read 28 October 2026
- https://zipbooks.com/accounting/bank-connect/, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2912762-how-do-i-upgrade-or-change-my-subscription, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2940296-how-do-i-import-transactions-into-zipbooks, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/2943465-how-do-i-create-or-export-a-financial-report, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3020903-does-zipbooks-work-outside-of-the-united-states, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3031868-how-do-i-see-a-list-of-all-1099-expenses, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3040328-how-do-i-add-team-members-to-my-account, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3040368-how-do-i-change-my-default-account-currency, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3058997-how-do-i-track-outstanding-bills-in-zipbooks, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3059335-how-do-i-attach-receipts-or-other-documents-to-my-transactions, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3069039-did-my-free-plan-expire, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/3142430-how-do-i-use-zipbooks-as-a-nonprofit, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/4820046-does-zipbooks-have-a-mobile-app, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/8779671-how-to-integrate-gusto-with-zipbooks, read 28 October 2026
- https://help.zipbooks.com/en/articles/8871549-how-do-i-reach-customer-support, read 28 October 2026

## Is this yours?

Claim ZipBooks: https://tickmarkbooks.com/claim/zipbooks

Report an error if a fact is wrong: hello@tickmarkbooks.com, subject "Report an error: ZipBooks (zipbooks)".