Accounting · alternatives
Alternatives to QuickBooks
24 accounting tools sit alongside QuickBooks in this directory. Below is what separates each from QuickBooks on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 5
- Cheaper to start
- 9
- QuickBooks starts at
- $30/month
Why people look past QuickBooks
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the QuickBooks entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
QuickBooks starts at $30/month. Across the 10 accounting tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $18/month.
There is no free tier
The record for QuickBooks carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 5 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
QuickBooks publishes 4 tiers, from $30/month up to $200/month. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the QuickBooks pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The corporate card that helps you spend less
- Can be used without paying; QuickBooks cannot.
- Starts $15 a month cheaper, at $15/month.
- 3 tiers to QuickBooks's 4.
Spend management combining corporate cards, bill payment and expense claims, now part of Paylocity
- Starts $1 a month cheaper, at $29/month.
- 3 tiers to QuickBooks's 4.
Simple business payments
- Can be used without paying; QuickBooks cannot.
- Starts $5 a month cheaper, at $25/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 5 tiers to QuickBooks's 4.
The smart way to send and receive business payments
- Starts $1 a month cheaper, at $29/month.
- Sold on a usage-based model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to QuickBooks's 4.
Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month
- Can be used without paying; QuickBooks cannot.
- Starts $27 a month cheaper, at $3/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to QuickBooks's 4.
Virtual card and spend management platform aimed at SaaS and travel spend
- Can be used without paying; QuickBooks cannot.
- Starts $17 a month cheaper, at $13/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to QuickBooks's 4.
Every QuickBooks alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks (this page) | $30/month | Subscription | 4 | |
| RampThe corporate card that helps you spend less | Free, then $15/month | Subscription | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| AirbaseThe first all-in-one spend management platform | $29/month | Subscription | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| MelioSimple business payments | Free, then $25/month | Freemium | 5 | vs QuickBooks |
| Wise BusinessThe smart way to send and receive business payments | $29/month | Usage-based | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Zoho Expense | Free, then $3/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| Mesh Payments | Free, then $13/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| Spendbase | Free | Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan | 2 | vs QuickBooks |
| Rydoo | $10/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| Moss | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Medius Expense | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Happay | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Kodo | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Circula | €15/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs QuickBooks |
| Soldo | £21/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| Ottimate | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Yooz | $199/month | Per month by invoice volume | 2 | vs QuickBooks |
| Workiva | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Basware | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Vena Solutions | On request | Quote | 2 | vs QuickBooks |
| Tropic | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| DATEV | On request | Quote | 3 | vs QuickBooks |
| insightsoftware | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Causal | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
| Medius | On request | Quote | 1 | vs QuickBooks |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the QuickBooks badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (5)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Ramp , Free, then $15/month
- Melio , Free, then $25/month
- Zoho Expense , Free, then $3/month
- Mesh Payments , Free, then $13/month
- Spendbase , Free
Cheaper than QuickBooks (9)
Entry price under QuickBooks's $30/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Ramp , Free, then $15/month
- Airbase , $29/month
- Melio , Free, then $25/month
- Wise Business , $29/month
- Zoho Expense , Free, then $3/month
- Mesh Payments , Free, then $13/month
- Rydoo , $10/month
- Circula , €15/month
What you would be giving up
QuickBooks is most often brought in for a small business whose accountant works in quickbooks and can take a free access seat rather than being sent exports, an owner who wants to be able to replace their bookkeeper without also replacing the accounting system, a service business needing project level profitability without buying a separate job costing tool, a company that wants a large third party app ecosystem to fill gaps rather than a system that must do everything itself. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If QuickBooks is broadly right and the question is cost, the QuickBooks pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Accounting category lists everything the directory holds, and best accounting tools ranks them.
QuickBooks runs on web, ios, android, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about QuickBooks alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to QuickBooks?
- 24 other accounting tools are listed in this directory, led by Ramp, Airbase, Melio, Wise Business. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to QuickBooks?
- 5 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Ramp, Melio, Zoho Expense, Mesh Payments, Spendbase.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to QuickBooks?
- Yes. 9 of the alternatives below start under QuickBooks's $30/month: Ramp at Free, then $15/month, Airbase at $29/month, Melio at Free, then $25/month, Wise Business at $29/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to QuickBooks?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from QuickBooks?
- QuickBooks is most often brought in for a small business whose accountant works in quickbooks and can take a free access seat rather than being sent exports, an owner who wants to be able to replace their bookkeeper without also replacing the accounting system, a service business needing project level profitability without buying a separate job costing tool, a company that wants a large third party app ecosystem to fill gaps rather than a system that must do everything itself. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to QuickBooks?
- None of the accounting tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these QuickBooks alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Accounting, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare QuickBooks against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against QuickBooks covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every accounting tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Accounting category, 24 tools beside QuickBooks. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.