Best QuickBooks Alternatives: Top 12 Free & Paid Competitors

There are many good reasons to love QuickBooks, from their clean dashboards, to their easy accounting tools.

And yet, some people out there are in the market for something different looking at Quickbooks competitors for a solid replacement. If you’re one of them, read out best QuickBooks alternatives review article!

In this piece we bring you the top 10 QuickBooks substitute apps that may suit your business needs a bit more. We’ll compare the features, pros, and cons, of each tool.

So, let’s get started!

Top 10 QuickBooks competitors with similar accounting software

Here are the accounting programs like QuickBooks that we think are the best QuickBooks alternatives. Although they are all fairly similar, some QuickBooks competitors will be better suited to your circumstances than others so read more about the QuickBooks competition below.

We are assuming, however, that you know something about software for accounting in general, and all the lovely tools and tricks it can offer you to get your banking and finances in order.

Here’s our full list of the best QuickBooks alternatives 2024:

Now that you’ve caught a glimpse of the general list of the best QuickBooks alternatives, the free ones and the paid ones, we can finally get down to inspecting each of these accounting software one at a time to once and for all determine which is the top QuickBooks alternative.

There won’t be a review of QuickBooks, but you should be aware that QuickBooks is always trotting out new products, which you can read about in our QuickBooks checking account review. 

Here are 10 good alternatives to QuickBooks:

1. Freshbooks (Best QuickBooks alternative overall)

Freshbooks has been in the accounting and invoicing software game since way back in 2003. Today, over 30 million people have tried Freshbooks at least once and many have continued using it. Freshbooks takes the cake for the best alternative to QuickBooks out there. It’s especially popular among startups and small business owners. 

What makes Freshbooks better than Quickbooks? Read our full QuickBooks vs FreshBooks comparison to find out.

Freshbooks is best for:

• Individuals

• Freelancers

• Startups

• Small teams

• eCommerce

• Small businesses

• Large companies

• QuickBooks alternative

Features

Standard accounting features and functionality with Freshbooks get you tools to handle your own bookkeeping or to work together with your professional accountant.

You got your basic general ledger features, balance sheet organization, and accounts payable and receivable tools. 

There are also advanced accounting tools which can help you plan your financial future, grow your business, and offer insightful financial reporting as to your banking and investment health.

There is standard automation that runs throughout many of the Freshbooks tools, for example, you get automated bank reconciliation, or time tracking that will use automation to keep up with logged hours and update invoicing. 

Freshbooks has great mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Pricing:

• FreshBooks Lite is $6 per month billed annually 

• FreshBooks Plus is $12 per month billed annually 

• FreshBooks Premium is $22 per month billed annually 

• Freshbooks offers custom pricing if you need unlimited billable clients

Freshbooks review 

Visit Freshbooks
 

2. Wave Accounting (Best free QuickBooks alternative)

Wave positions itself as a great free accounting software like QuickBooks. This is some good cloud-based financial planning software for small businesses and even freelancers and solo entrepreneurs. Aside from being one of the best free QuickBooks alternatives, Wave is also well-liked because of its ease of use.

Wave is best for:

• Solo entrepreneurs

• Startups

• Freelancers

• SMBs

Features

Starting with invoicing features, with Wave you can create professional looking invoices and send them, as well as accept payments with credit cards. 

The Wave accounting app’s simple automation can do things like send overdue reminders, or send out notifications when invoices are opened or paid.

You can use Wave as a checking account without fees, and this will include a Visa debit card, and a virtual card all usable from the Wave mobile app.

More serious accounting functions get you expense tracking, sales tax management and tax season planning, and small business accounting reports. 

There are other great advanced features for payroll management, including direct deposit, automatic bank remittances and even an employee portal.

Pricing

• Wave accounting, invoicing and banking are free accounting systems

• Payments and payroll features are on a pay-per-use scale

Wave Accounting review 

Visit Wave
 

3. Xero (Most similar to QuickBooks)

Most people with standard accounting needs would consider Xero to be software similar to QuickBooks. Xero’s paid plans are very competitive with those of QuickBooks, starting from an affordable price and then getting more expensive as you consider the premium packages. 

For more detailed comparison of Quickbooks vs Xero, make sure to check out our comparison article.

Xero is best for:

• Self employed business people 

• Small businesses

• Accountants

• Bookkeepers

Features

Xero is highly useful for accounting in project management. You can do job estimations and create quotes, track time and update invoices, send customized documents to clients and stakeholders, and monitor planned versus actual profitability. Sadly though, it does not seem like there is inventory management.

Xero also has a nice templates library for quotes and invoices.

Paying bills and claiming expenses is quite an easy task when using Xero. You can schedule payments and get overviews of outstanding bills all from the neat and user friendly Xero dashboard.

The premium Xero package lets you do your accounting in multiple currencies, and also has more workflows for project tracking, expense tracking and bulk bank reconciliations. 

Finally, Xero gets extra points for having solid customer support on all the accounting solution paid plans.

Pricing:

• Early plan is $12 per month 

• Growing plan is $34 per month

• Established plan is $65 per month

Xero review

Visit Xero 
 

4. Sage 50cloud (good QuickBooks alternative if you run large business or enterprise)

Sage is an absolute leviathan when it comes to business SaaS, especially for enterprises, making it a good QuickBooks alternative for larger companies and organizations. Among the Sage catalog of products, the Sage 50cloud is the package of accounting software we are looking at today.

Sage 50cloud is best for:

• Medium-sized companies

• Large companies

• Big business

• Enterprise-level organizations

• Government institutions

• Nonprofits

• Multinationals

Features

Basic Sage 50cloud tools include your standard invoice tracking, bill tracking and purchase order approvals. 

Sage 50cloud has some of ther most state of the art workflow automations, data analytics and financial reporting.

You got your inventory tracking, task management and job costing to help with project management purposes.

For things like payments and unlimited invoices, you can add on Sage Invoice Payments which will link with Stripe and PayPal.

Because Sage prices are per year instead of per user per month, you will likely need to figure something out if you want to subscribe unlimited users, as even the most premium package is good for a max of 40 users.

Pricing

• Sage 50cloud Pro Accounting is $346.80 per year 

• Sage 50cloud Premium Accounting is $554.40 per year 

• Sage 50cloud Quantum Accounting is $919.80 per year 

Visit Sage 
 

5. myBooks (Cheaper alternative to QuickBooks if you’re on a budget)

myBooks has two goals. First, to be an accounting solution famous for its ease of use, and secondly, to be the number one cheaper QuickBooks alternative, especially if you are running an operation with a lean budget.

myBooks is best for:

• Individuals on a budget

• Freelancers

• Startups

• Small teams

• SMEs

• Manufacturing

• Retail

• eCommerce

Features

myBooks is a great double entry accounting platform whether you choose to use the web browser version or the business apps for mobile devices. 

The clean and intuitive myBooks dashboards make it easy to monitor cash flow and stay on top of multiple bank accounts from a unified workspace. It is very similar to the one by QuickBooks, yet this tool remains cheaper than QuickBooks.

However, with cheaper plans, you can only manage one single bank account, and you have caps on the number of users on the platform. Same thing with bank transactions, where for unlimited transactions you need the most expensive plans

FMCG, or fast moving consumer goods, is one area that myBooks excels in, which is why it's great for retail and ecommerce. You get inventory tracking, online payments and multi-store management.

Pricing

• myBooks has a free plan for just 1 user

• Standard plan is $4.99 per month billed annually for 3 users max

• Premium plan is $9.99 per month billed annually for up to 10 users

• Prices are listed in CAD

Visit myBooks 
 

6. Zoho Books (Top QuickBooks alternative for small business and startups)

Are you in the market for QuickBooks alternatives for small businesses, because Zoho Books is your best option. As many of you know, Zoho is the maker of many fine applications to run startups and small businesses, but also bigger companies too.

Zoho Books is best for:

• Startups 

• Small business

• Accountants

• Financial planners

• eCommerce and retail

• Professional services

Features:

Even in the Zoho Books free plan, it is chock-full of tools. There is a fantastic client portal, you can make payments online and offline, and you can set up workflows to automate payment reminders.

You can use Zoho Books with multiple bank accounts and with many different currencies. You can also import your bank account statements and credit card statements.

Zoho Books integrates well with other Zoho apps if you need more CRM, inventory, customer service or analytics.

Pricing:

• There is a Zoho Books free plan

• Standard is $15 per month billed annually 

• Professional $40 per month billed annually 

• Premium $60 per month billed annually 

• Elite $120 per month billed annually 

• Ultimate $240 per month billed annually 

Zoho Books review 

Visit Zoho Books 
 

7. Quicken (best QuickBooks desktop alternative for tax planning)

Quicken is the brand name for a series of accounting and tax preparation apps, including Quicken Simplifi which is mostly mobile. The basic Quicken tools are very good substitutes for QuickBooks to help you with your taxes.

Quicken is best for:

• Individuals

• Startups

• SMBsd

• Tax professionals 

Features

Let’s begin with tax planning features. Quicken offers a tax-related spending tracker, taxable and tax-deferred account management, and you can easily import and export all your tax documents to tools like TurboTax.

Quicken is also an effective budgeting app. You can create one-month budgets, set budget saving goals, transfer budgets between accounts, do budget rollovers, and you can even get saving suggestions based on past spending.

Finally, the Quicken Simplifi mobile and web app for iOS and Android is very user friendly.

Pricing

• Simplifi is $3.99 per month billed annually 

• Quicken Starter is $3.49 per month billed annually 

• Quicken Deluxe is $3.99 per month billed annually 

• Quicken Premier is $5.99 per month billed annually 

• Quicken Home & Business is $8.99 per month billed annually 

Visit Quicken  
 

8. Lendio (Good alternative to QuickBooks if you want profit loss analysis)

Lendio is the maker of two separate products, one for managing small business loans and the other as more of a standard accounting software. 

Lendio is best for:

• Startups 

• Small businesses

• Loan management

• Profit loss analysis

Features

Lendio focuses on bringing good accounting tools to users at free or low prices with processing fees.

You have a decent set of tools for managing income and expenses, billing and payments.

As for profit loss analysis and reporting, Lendio has got you covered. You get real-time cash flow forecasting that tracks loans and revenues and sends automated alerts when there are updates or changes to your accounts.

Generating profit loss statements is easy, and the reports are clear to understand and share with all of your stakeholders.

Pricing

• Lendio has a free plan

• Lendio plus is $19.99 per month

• There are processing fees per transaction

Visit Lendio
 

9. FreeAgent (Great replacement for QuickBooks for ease of use)

FreeAgent is another great example of accounting software solutions for small businesses and startups, and it is a top QuickBooks replacement for being user friendly, not that QuickBooks is too difficult to use though.

FreeAgent is best for:

• Startups

• SMEs

• Medium-to-large size businesses

• Ecommerce

Features

First of all, with every FreeAgent plan, you can add unlimited users, unlimited clients and run an unlimited number of projects.

FreeAgent is incredibly user friendly, and it’s also very fast and free to set it all up.

You got your good tools for estimates, invoicing and expense tracking. Nothing special but they get the job done.

There are also a set of features to manage your sales tax configuration and reporting.

Pricing

• FreeAgent costs $10 per month for the first 6 months

• After that it costs $20 per month

Visit FreeAgent 
 

10. Bonsai (Top competitor for QuickBooks if you need templates)

While the tiny Japanese tree might be a favorite among Karate fans, Bonsai the app is positioning itself to be an all-in-one business suite of tools with workflow automations that help streamline day to day operations.

Bonsai is best for:

• Startups 

• SMEs

• Self employed

• Freelancers

• Small teams

• Remote teams

Features

Bonsai is a top QuickBooks competitor because of its amazing template library which you can use for all manner of accounting  purposes. 

There are invoice templates, quote templates, contract templates and more.

Bonsai Cash is a simple tool for managing finances and optimizing your tax planning. You get a physical card, a virtual card and can use Apple Pay.

Bonsai Tax is ideal for self employed people and freelancers. You can track expenses, identify tax write-offs and do tax quarterly estimates.

Pricing

• Starter plan is $24 per month billed annually 

• Professional plan is $39 per month billed annually 

• Business plan is $79 per month billed annually 

Visit Bonsai 

Which of the alternatives to QuickBooks is a good choice for you?

With so many excellent QuickBooks Online review articles available, there’s no doubting that it is a popular accounting software. However, there are many alternatives available that can provide a similar level of functionality and features. 

Freshbooks, Wave, Xero, and Zoho Books are some of the top QuickBooks alternatives that we have reviewed in this article. These platforms offer a range of tools for managing your finances, from invoicing and expense tracking to reporting and tax preparation.

However, if you're looking for an alternative to QuickBooks Online that also offers QuickBooks CRM integration, there are a few options to consider. For example, Zoho Books offers seamless integration with Zoho CRM, allowing you to manage your customer relationships and financials in one place easily. Another option is Sage Intacct, which offers advanced CRM capabilities as well as accounting tools.

Although not mentioned above, some people prefer Microsoft Dynamics 365 over QuickBooks. And while these two share some similarities, they also differ in many ways. You can learn more about it in our comprehensive QuickBooks vs Microsoft Dynamics 365 comparison.

Ultimately, the right QuickBooks alternative for your business will depend on your specific needs and preferences. Factors to consider include pricing, ease of use, integration with other software, and customer support. We hope that this article has helped you discover some new accounting software options and make an informed decision about the best tool for your business.

FAQs

Is there a free version of QuickBooks online?

There is no free version of Intuit QuickBooks Online. The cheapest plan is for self-employed people, which usually costs $15 per month, but is often sold at a half-price promotion. There are several good free alternatives to QuickBooks Online, like Zoho Books, Wave and myBooks.

What is the best alternative to QuickBooks online?

Out of the many good options for QuickBooks Online alternatives, many users would argue that the number one choice is Zoho Books, while others would say it is Freshbooks, Wave or Xero. Many of these accounting Saas perform similar functions and at pricing plans that are competitive with one another.

What's better than QuickBooks?

If you are looking for better accounting software than QuickBooks, then you must first figure out what are your needs and what is your budget. Some good QuickBooks substitutes include Sage 50cloud if you are a large business or enterprise, or Quicken if you prefer simplicity and affordability.

What is a good replacement for QuickBooks desktop?

There are many good replacements for QuickBooks Desktop. If you specifically want the desktop version and not the online version, then you probably want a more enterprise-level platform made by brands like Sage, Oracle NetSuite, or any of the Quicken products like Starter, Deluxe and Quicken Home & Business.