The short answer: Xero is the closest like-for-like QuickBooks alternative for a growing small business, Wave is the best free option, FreshBooks is the better fit for freelancers and service businesses that live in invoices, and Zoho Books gives you the most accounting per dollar (and is free under $50K in annual revenue). If the only reason you are leaving is payroll, keep QuickBooks for the books and move payroll to Gusto or OnPay. Every price below is vendor-published and was checked on each vendor’s own pricing page in September 2026.
QuickBooks Alternatives Compared: Price, Free Plan and Best Fit
| Software | Best for | Entry price (per month) | Free plan | What you get at entry level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online (for reference) | US small businesses with a QuickBooks accountant | Simple Start $38 | Yes: 1 user, 2 invoices a month, 1 bank connection | Simple Start: 1 user plus 2 accountant users |
| Xero | Growing small businesses, multi-currency | Early $25 | No | Quotes and 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation |
| Wave | Solopreneurs and very small businesses | $0 (Starter) | Yes | Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records |
| FreshBooks | Freelancers, agencies, service businesses | Lite $23 | No | Invoicing and accounting for up to 5 clients |
| Zoho Books | Budget-conscious businesses wanting full accounting | Standard $15 (billed annually) or $20 monthly | Yes, if annual revenue is under $50K | Standard includes 3 users |
Vendor-published, checked September 2026. Prices are list prices before promotions and exclude taxes and payment-processing fees. QuickBooks was offering 50% off for 3 months and Xero 90% off for 6 months (US, until 30 September 2026) at the time of checking; Xero has also announced a price increase from 1 October 2026.
Want the full list of QuickBooks competitors with user ratings? See Spotsaas’ QuickBooks alternatives page, which compares more tools side by side.
What Are People Replacing QuickBooks With?
Most businesses leaving QuickBooks land on one of four tools, and the reason for leaving usually decides which one.
- Price creep: QuickBooks Online now runs from $38 a month for Simple Start to $340 for Advanced, and user limits push growing teams up a tier (Essentials includes 3 users, Plus 5). Businesses that feel they pay for features they do not use tend to move to Xero or Zoho Books.
- The end of QuickBooks Desktop for new buyers: Intuit no longer sells QuickBooks Desktop to new US subscribers. Anyone forced into a migration anyway often compares the whole market before picking QuickBooks Online.
- Invoice-heavy service work: freelancers and agencies often find FreshBooks’ client-centric invoicing and time tracking a closer fit.
- Cost to zero: very small businesses that only need invoicing and basic books go to Wave, or to QuickBooks’ own free plan.
The Best QuickBooks Alternatives in 2026
1. Xero: Best Overall QuickBooks Alternative
Xero is the most direct QuickBooks competitor: cloud accounting with bank reconciliation, bills, sales tax, 1099 management and reporting, backed by a large accountant and bookkeeper network, especially in the UK and Australia. It is the usual pick for businesses that want QuickBooks-level accounting without Intuit’s pricing structure.
- Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Early $25/month (quotes and 20 invoices, 5 bills); Growing $55/month; Established $90/month (adds multiple currencies, project time and cost tracking, and expense claims).
- Payroll: Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto, is an add-on at $36/month plus $6 per employee or contractor.
- Best for: growing small businesses, businesses that work with an outside bookkeeper, and anyone who needs multi-currency.
- Watch out for: the Early plan’s 20-invoice and 5-bill limits; most businesses with regular billing will need Growing.
2. Wave: Best Free QuickBooks Alternative
Wave gives you unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records on its free Starter plan. You pay only card-processing fees when customers pay online (2.9% + $0.60 per card transaction, 3.4% + $0.60 for Amex).
- Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Starter $0; Pro $19/month; Wave Advisors (bookkeeping service) from $149/month.
- Payroll: $40/month base plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid.
- Best for: sole proprietors and very small businesses whose main job is invoicing and tracking income and expenses.
- Watch out for: a much smaller app ecosystem than QuickBooks or Xero, and no inventory depth.
3. FreshBooks: Best for Freelancers and Service Businesses
FreshBooks is built around clients: invoices, estimates, proposals, retainers, time tracking and a client portal. For a consultant or agency, that structure maps to the work better than QuickBooks’ general ledger-first design.
- Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Lite $23/month (5 billable clients); Plus $43/month (50 clients); Premium $70/month (unlimited clients); Select is custom-priced. Extra team members are $11/month per user.
- Best for: freelancers, consultants and agencies billing by project or by the hour.
- Watch out for: client caps on Lite and Plus, and per-user charges as the team grows. Product businesses with inventory are better served elsewhere.
4. Zoho Books: Best Value Full-Featured Alternative
Zoho Books covers invoicing, bills, bank reconciliation, projects and reporting, and connects to Zoho CRM and the rest of the Zoho suite. Its free plan is a real plan, not a trial, for businesses under $50K in annual revenue.
- Pricing per organization (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Free; Standard $15/month billed annually ($20 monthly); Professional $40 ($50); Premium $60 ($70); Elite $120 ($150); Ultimate $240 ($275).
- Users included: 3 on Standard, 5 on Professional, 10 on Premium and Elite, 15 on Ultimate; extra users are $3/month ($2.50 billed annually).
- Best for: cost-conscious businesses that want QuickBooks-level features, and anyone already using Zoho apps.
- Watch out for: a smaller US accountant network than QuickBooks.
5. Sage Accounting and Other Options for Specific Needs
Sage Accounting is a common choice for UK-based businesses, and Sage Intacct is where mid-market companies go when they outgrow QuickBooks Online Advanced and need multi-entity accounting. Sage’s US pricing page could not be checked in September 2026, so we have not listed a price; request a current quote from Sage.
What Is Similar to QuickBooks but Free?
Three options cost nothing to start, each with a different catch:
- Wave Starter: the most generous free accounting plan here, with unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records. You pay card-processing fees and for add-ons such as payroll.
- Zoho Books Free: full double-entry accounting with up to 1,000 invoices a year, as long as annual revenue stays under $50K.
- QuickBooks Free: Intuit’s own free tier, covered in the next section. It is the right choice only if you plan to grow into QuickBooks later.
If you need payroll, none of these stay free: payroll is a paid add-on everywhere.
Is There a Totally Free Version of QuickBooks?
Yes. QuickBooks now lists a Free plan at $0/month with no credit card required. It lets you track income and expenses, send 2 invoices a month, run a profit and loss report and connect 1 bank account, with chat support. It is limited to 1 user and has no accountant access. For anything beyond light record-keeping, the next step up is Simple Start at $38/month.
How Much Does QuickBooks Cost in 2026?
| QuickBooks Online plan | List price per month | Users included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 (no accountant access) |
| Simple Start | $38 | 1 plus 2 accountant users |
| Essentials | $85 | 3 plus 2 accountant users |
| Plus | $140 | 5 plus 2 accountant users |
| Advanced | $340 | 25 plus 3 accountant users |
Vendor-published on quickbooks.intuit.com, checked September 2026. Paid plans carried a 50% discount for the first 3 months and a 30-day free trial at the time of checking.
The number that decides most comparisons is users. A five-person team that needs everyone in the books needs QuickBooks Plus at $140 a month; that same team fits on Zoho Books Professional at $40 a month billed annually.
Is QuickBooks Being Phased Out?
No, QuickBooks Online is not being phased out. What is being retired is the version many long-time users mean by “QuickBooks”: the desktop product.
Two changes matter. QuickBooks Desktop is no longer sold to new US subscribers, so the desktop route is closed to anyone starting today. And QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic and Standard are no longer offered, with those subscribers moved onto Enhanced.
Letting a desktop payroll subscription lapse has real consequences. Once the service is discontinued for your version, paychecks stop calculating taxes correctly, payroll can no longer be sent to Intuit for processing (direct deposit included), and Intuit does not file your payroll tax returns or W-2s for that year. Treat the migration date as a hard deadline.
Intuit’s own migration path is QuickBooks Online. It is a legitimate option, and it is also the moment most businesses realise they are free to compare the alternatives above, because they will be paying the switching cost either way.
Can You Just Buy QuickBooks Without a Subscription?
Not as a new US customer. The one-time-purchase desktop licence is no longer sold to new US subscribers, and every current QuickBooks Online plan is a monthly subscription. If avoiding a subscription is the goal, the realistic options are a free plan (Wave Starter, Zoho Books Free or QuickBooks Free) or keeping an existing desktop installation you already own, with the payroll limits described above.
Why Don’t Some Accountants Like QuickBooks?
In the US, most accountants still work in QuickBooks every day, and its accountant and bookkeeper network is the largest in the market. That network is a real reason to stay. The complaints that come up are mostly about the commercial side: regular price increases, the push from desktop to subscription, per-user tiers, and features split into paid add-ons. Outside the US the picture changes: in the UK and Australia, Xero has the deeper accountant network, which matters if your bookkeeper is not in the US.
The practical takeaway: ask your accountant which system they prefer before you switch. A tool your accountant already knows usually saves more than a lower subscription price.
QuickBooks Payroll Alternatives
The tools above replace QuickBooks as your accounting system. If what you actually need to replace is payroll, the candidates are different, and mixing the two up is a common mistake in this migration.
| Payroll option | Entry price (per month) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Workforce Payroll + Simple Start | $88 + $6.50 per employee | Bundled with accounting; Workforce Premium + Plus is $203 + $10 per employee |
| Gusto Simple | $49 + $6 per person | Full-service payroll; integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero |
| OnPay | $49 + $6 per worker | One plan with features included |
| Wave Payroll | $40 + $6 per employee | Pairs with Wave accounting |
| Xero Payroll (powered by Gusto) | $36 + $6 per employee or contractor | Add-on to any Xero plan |
| ADP, Paychex | Quote only | Worth quoting for multi-state payroll or an assigned representative |
Vendor-published, checked September 2026. For a full breakdown of Gusto’s plans and add-ons, see our Gusto pricing guide.
You do not have to move both at once. Keeping QuickBooks for the books while moving payroll to a dedicated provider is a common, well-supported setup, and it is usually the lower-risk order: payroll has hard deadlines and penalties, accounting migrations do not.
Can You Run Payroll in Excel Instead?
Yes, and it is free, which is why the question comes up so often. A spreadsheet can calculate gross pay, apply deductions and produce a payslip.
What a spreadsheet cannot do is the part that carries penalties. It does not know when a withholding table changes, it does not remit anything to a tax authority, it does not file a quarterly 941 or produce year-end W-2s, and it keeps no filing record if a return is later questioned. All of that stays your job.
A spreadsheet is defensible for paying yourself as a single-member business, or for contractors where there is no withholding. Once you have a W-2 employee, a payroll service is usually the safer choice.
How to Switch From QuickBooks
- Pick a cutover date, ideally the start of a month, quarter or financial year, so opening balances are clean.
- Export your data: chart of accounts, customers, vendors, open invoices and bills, and trial balance at the cutover date. Keep a read-only copy of QuickBooks reports for your records.
- Import and reconcile: Xero, FreshBooks and Zoho Books all publish QuickBooks import guides; reconcile the first month in both systems before you cancel.
- Reconnect bank feeds, payment processors and apps, then tell your accountant, who may have a preferred migration method.
- Handle payroll separately and on its own timeline (see above).
Related Reading
- QuickBooks alternatives on Spotsaas: more tools with ratings and reviews
- Accounting software: the full category
- Payroll software for accountants: multi-client platforms and partner programmes
- Online payroll services: how QuickBooks Payroll compares with the wider market
Related reading: Xero vs QuickBooks 2026: Pricing, Payroll and Who Each Suits, FreshBooks vs QuickBooks 2026: Pricing, Clients, Users and Payroll Compared, Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll 2026: Prices, Features and Verdict, AI for Accounting in 2026: 8 Use Cases, Tools and Controls for Finance Teams, Best ERP Software in 2026: 15 ERP Systems Compared by Size and Industry, Best Inventory Management Software in 2026: 11 Tools Compared
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to QuickBooks?
For most growing small businesses, Xero is the closest like-for-like alternative, with plans from $25 a month (vendor-published, checked September 2026). Wave is the best free option, FreshBooks suits freelancers and service businesses, and Zoho Books offers the most features for the price.
What is the best free alternative to QuickBooks?
Wave’s Starter plan is free and includes unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records; you pay only card-processing fees and for add-ons such as payroll. Zoho Books is free for businesses with under $50K in annual revenue. QuickBooks also has its own Free plan, limited to 1 user and 2 invoices a month.
Who is QuickBooks’ biggest competitor?
In accounting, Xero is the closest competitor and the most common destination for businesses leaving QuickBooks. Zoho Books competes on price, FreshBooks on invoicing for service businesses, and Sage in the UK and mid-market. In payroll, the main competitors are Gusto, ADP and Paychex.
Is Xero cheaper than QuickBooks?
At list price, yes. Xero’s plans are $25, $55 and $90 a month, against $38, $85, $140 and $340 for QuickBooks Online (both vendor-published, checked September 2026). Xero has announced a price increase from 1 October 2026, so check the current figure before you compare.
Is Xero better than QuickBooks?
It depends on where you are and who does your books. Xero is often preferred for its cleaner interface, multi-currency on the Established plan and its accountant network outside the US. QuickBooks has the largest US accountant network and bundled payroll. Ask your accountant which they support before deciding.
Can I import QuickBooks data into another platform?
Yes. Most QuickBooks alternatives import your chart of accounts, customer and vendor lists and open transactions, and Xero, FreshBooks and Zoho Books publish migration guides for QuickBooks users. Pick a clean cutover date and reconcile the first month in both systems before cancelling.
Is QuickBooks Payroll being discontinued?
Only parts of the desktop line. QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic and Standard are no longer offered and those subscribers moved to Enhanced, and QuickBooks Desktop is no longer sold to new US subscribers. QuickBooks Online Payroll continues and is Intuit’s migration path.
If your desktop payroll service is discontinued and you do nothing, paychecks stop calculating taxes correctly, you cannot send payroll for processing including direct deposits, and Intuit does not file your payroll tax returns or W-2s for that year.
What software is replacing QuickBooks Desktop?
Intuit’s answer is QuickBooks Online, with QuickBooks Online Payroll for payroll. Businesses that choose not to follow that path most often move to Xero or Zoho Books for accounting, and to Gusto or OnPay for payroll.
How much does QuickBooks charge to do payroll?
QuickBooks sells payroll bundled with accounting: Workforce Payroll with Simple Start is $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee, with Essentials $125 plus $6.50, and Workforce Premium with Plus $203 plus $10 per employee (vendor-published, checked September 2026). Compare total annual cost at your real headcount, not the headline figure.
Is QuickBooks a payroll software?
Not by itself. QuickBooks is accounting software, and payroll is a separate paid product sold alongside it. Buying a QuickBooks accounting plan does not give you payroll, which is worth remembering when you compare its price against a payroll platform such as Gusto.
Can I learn payroll well enough to do it myself?
The calculation is learnable quickly: gross pay, less pre-tax deductions, less federal, state and local withholding, less FICA, gives net pay. The hard part is the calendar and the filings: deposit schedules, quarterly 941s, the annual 940 and W-2s, plus state unemployment and registration in every state where you have an employee. Most people who run their own payroll get the arithmetic right and get caught by a deadline.
