# Alternatives to ZipBooks

> Source: https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks/alternatives/ (re-verified)
> Updated: 31 October 2026

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | A month at 100 transactions | Better than ZipBooks at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [ZipBooks](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zipbooks.md) | Small businesses and freelancers wanting free invoicing and books in one place | Free, then $15 a month | $10 | — | 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 | Users included, What the AI does | 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 | Promotion and regular price, What the AI does | 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 | Categorizes transactions, People check the books | 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 | Categorizes transactions, Reconciles your accounts | 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 | Categorizes transactions, 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 | Users included, What the AI does | 27 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 | Promotion and regular price, Users included | 28 October 2026 |
| [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 | Promotion and regular price, Users included | 28 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 | Promotion and regular price, Users included | 28 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 ZipBooks:**
- [Users included: yes — Free includes one user plus an accountant, Standard three, Professional five, Premium and Elite ten, Ultimate fifteen; extra users cost $3 each a month.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [What the AI does: yes — Zia answers finance questions in plain English, flags anomalies in report data, pre-fills bank statement categorization, drafts emails and generates invoices, quotes and reports from a prompt.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/accounting-software/ai-in-accounting/)
- [What the AI costs: yes — included — the AI page carries no separate price and the receipt autoscan allowance is part of the subscription, from 50 scans a month on Free to 1,000 on Premium and above.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [PayPal: 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)
- [Square: 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)

### 2. FreeAgent

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

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [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/)
- [What the AI does: yes — Two AI features: machine-learning categorization of bank transactions that learns from your corrections, and Smart Capture, which extracts data from receipts and bills and matches them to transactions.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/banking/)
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — The Guess feature categorizes imported bank transactions using machine learning on your own past explanations, so corrections you make feed the next suggestion.](https://support.freeagent.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115001586004-How-does-Guess-explain-your-transactions)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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/)
- [Square: 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)

### 3. Puzzle

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

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Categorizes by itself and learns from you. Every plan auto-categorizes ('Up to 98% auto-categorization' on Starter).](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/6986850-rules-and-categories)
- [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)
- [Shopify: yes — Shopify no](https://puzzle.io/integrations/stripe)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [PayPal: partial — PayPal, Square not named. PayPal: not named on any page read.](https://puzzle.io/integrations/stripe)
- [Square: no — PayPal, Square not named.](https://puzzle.io/integrations/stripe)

[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 ZipBooks:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — AI categorizes and learns your patterns. The AI Accountant categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts and identifies vendors.](https://pilot.com/platform/ai-accountant)
- [Reconciles your accounts: yes — Bank and card accounts reconciled each month. Essentials: AI reconciles accounts and closes the books monthly.](https://pilot.com/pricing)
- [People check the books: partial — Bookkeeper reviews on Core; Essentials is AI only. Essentials is described as AI doing the work ('AI categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and closes books monthly'), with support by in-app message.](https://pilot.com/pricing)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [Sends invoices: partial — Invoicing is an add-on service. Pilot has no invoicing feature in its bookkeeping plans.](https://pilot.com/faq)
- [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)

### 5. Booke AI

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

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Daily, and learns from your approvals and fixes. It processes new QuickBooks Online and Xero bank-feed transactions in a daily run, categorizes them from the client's own history, sends low-confidence ones to your team, and uses each approval or correction for later categorizations.](https://booke.ai/quickbooks-online)
- [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)
- [Support: yes — Chat (weekdays 9-6 EST) and email; no phone listed. Chat: in the platform, Mon-Fri 9 AM-6 PM EST, 2-hour response (the SLA's header says 3 hours).](https://booke.ai/sla)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [Stripe: no — None of Stripe, Shopify, PayPal, Square, Gusto. None is named on any page.](https://booke.ai/two-way-integrations)

[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 ZipBooks:**
- [Users included: yes — Every published SAAM plan, Starter included, carries unlimited users and unlimited entities, so adding a colleague or an outside accountant costs nothing extra.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)
- [What the AI does: yes — The accounting agent extracts data from invoices, bills, bank statements and supporting documents, classifies the entries, reconciles transactions and prepares them for publishing into your ledger, and it learns from your corrections and custom prompts.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en)
- [What the AI costs: yes — credits: the AI is the product and is in every plan, but what you process is metered in credits at one credit per document and one per bank statement page, with extra credits sold in capped packs.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/pricing)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [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)

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

### 7. Xero

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

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — promotion: new US customers get 90% off for six months, the offer closes 2 November 2026, and the regular plan price then applies and renews monthly.](https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/)
- [Users included: yes — Every plan takes unlimited users at no extra cost, so adding staff, a treasurer or an advisor does not change the monthly bill.](https://www.xero.com/us/versus/quickbooks-alternative/)
- [What the AI does: yes — JAX, built into the navigation bar and the mobile app, answers questions about your own Xero figures, pulls in outside market data and drafts admin such as invoices and quotes.](https://www.xero.com/us/ai-in-accounting/jax/)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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/)
- [Free trial or free plan: partial — There is no standing free plan, but any plan can be taken for one month at $0 before billing starts, so you can run your own books in it first.](https://www.xero.com/us/)
- [Contract and cancelling: partial — Billing is month to month with automatic renewal and no yearly commitment, but canceling takes one month of notice given in your Xero account rather than ending immediately.](https://www.xero.com/us/legal/terms/)

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

### 8. QuickBooks Online

Intuit's cloud ledger, now with Intuit Intelligence agents that categorize, reconcile and flag errors.

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — 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.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/)
- [Users included: yes — 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.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/)
- [What the AI does: yes — Intuit Intelligence runs inside the ledger, learning categorization patterns and performing bookkeeping tasks, with the deeper agents reserved for the Plus and Advanced tiers.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [Stripe: partial — 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.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/)
- [Getting your books out: partial — 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.](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/)

[View QuickBooks Online](https://tickmarkbooks.com/quickbooks-online)

### 9. FreshBooks

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

**Where it improves on ZipBooks:**
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — promotion: the headline rate is 80% off for four months on Lite, Plus and Premium bought between October 15 and November 16, 2026, after which the regular $23, $43 or $70 a month applies.](https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/buy-now-offer)
- [Users included: yes — Each plan covers the owner's own login and extra team members cost $11 a month each; only the quote-priced Select plan bundles two team member accounts at no extra charge.](https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing)
- [What the AI does: yes — The AI is a connector that lets Claude read your FreshBooks data and answer plain-language questions about invoices, expenses and cash flow; it cannot post, edit or categorize anything.](https://www.freshbooks.com/ai/claude)

**Trade-offs against ZipBooks:**
- [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)
- [Square: no — Shopify and Square connections are not documented on the pages read.](https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us)
- [Australia: partial — Separate storefronts sell to US, Canadian, UK and Australian businesses in USD, CAD, GBP and AUD, and the UK version submits MTD-compliant VAT returns to HMRC Canadian and Australian tax specifics are not spelled out.](https://www.freshbooks.com/en-gb/pricing)

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