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Accounting · head to head

Conta Azul vs Sage 50

Conta Azul logo

Conta Azul

Accounting

Brazilian cloud system for small business finance, invoicing and sharing the books with the accountant

From
239.9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sage 50 logo

Sage 50

Accounting

Windows desktop accounting with the ledger held in a local data file rather than in a browser

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Conta Azul it is a Brazilian product with Brazilian fiscal logic, so it is of no use to an entity filing anywhere else, and a foreign group with a Brazilian subsidiary runs it as a local island alongside whatever the group reports in.; Sage 50 it is a Windows desktop application, so Mac users need a virtual machine or a hosted desktop, and every added remote worker becomes a hosting bill rather than another browser tab.
  • They diverge on capability: Conta Azul covers Electronic invoice issuance, Sage 50 covers Local company data file.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Conta Azul and Sage 50 actually diverge.

Attributes where Conta Azul and Sage 50 differ
AttributeConta AzulSage 50
Starting price239.9/month$29/month
PlatformsWebWindows
FoundedUnknown1981

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Conta Azul

  • Electronic invoice issuance
  • Receivables and payables
  • Boleto collection
  • Customer and supplier records
  • Sales orders and quotations
  • Accountant access
  • Recurring billing
  • Cash flow reporting

Only in Sage 50

  • Local company data file
  • Nominal, sales and purchase ledgers
  • VAT and sales tax handling
  • Job and project costing
  • Multi user access
  • Microsoft 365 integration
  • Remote data access
  • Report designer

Both cover

  • Bank reconciliation
  • Stock control

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Conta Azul

  • A Brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flownot Sage 50
  • A service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matchingnot Sage 50
  • A business whose accountant asks for organised records each month instead of a folder of documentsnot Sage 50
  • A small retailer or distributor needing basic stock control tied to the documents it already has to issuenot Sage 50

Sage 50

  • An established small business that wants its accounting data physically in the building rather than on a vendor's serversnot Conta Azul
  • A construction or trade business needing job costing and stock depth that the entry level cloud products do not matchnot Conta Azul
  • A company with unreliable internet where a browser only ledger would stop work whenever the line dropsnot Conta Azul
  • A long standing user with a decade of transaction history in the file for whom migrating to anything else is the expensive optionnot Conta Azul

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Conta Azul

  • It is a Brazilian product with Brazilian fiscal logic, so it is of no use to an entity filing anywhere else, and a foreign group with a Brazilian subsidiary runs it as a local island alongside whatever the group reports in.
  • Plans are scoped by revenue band, so a company that crosses a threshold pays more without necessarily using more of the product, and budgeting the software cost means forecasting turnover rather than usage.
  • It is not a tax calculation and filing engine, so the accountant still prepares the statutory obligations, and a business that expects the subscription to cover its Brazilian tax compliance has misread what it is buying.
  • Municipal service invoice coverage varies by city because each municipality runs its own system, so a business in a smaller or unusual municipality may find its service invoices still have to be issued on the city portal by hand.
  • The product targets micro and small companies under the simplified regime, so a business that grows into the more complex Brazilian tax regimes will outgrow it and face a migration at exactly the moment its accounting is becoming harder.

Sage 50

  • It is a Windows desktop application, so Mac users need a virtual machine or a hosted desktop, and every added remote worker becomes a hosting bill rather than another browser tab.
  • Multi user working shares a data file over the network, so all users effectively need to be on the same local network or on the same hosted server, and file corruption in a shared file environment is a recovery from backup rather than a support ticket.
  • The United States and United Kingdom editions are separate products with different tax engines, so a business trading in both markets cannot run one Sage 50 across them, and experience or add ons from one edition do not transfer to the other.
  • Additional users are licensed individually at full price, which means a part time bookkeeper, an approver who signs off purchase invoices and a manager who only ever reads reports all cost the same as the full time finance person.
  • Sage's development effort has moved to its cloud accounting products, so the eventual move off Sage 50 is a re-implementation with historical data conversion and a fresh chart of accounts rather than an in place upgrade, and that project only gets larger the longer the file grows.

Pricing, plan by plan

Conta Azul

239.9/month
  • Essencial (MEI)$239.9/month
    • 1 user access
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Controle (ME)$449.9/month
    • 2 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Avançado$519.9/month
    • 5 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Performance$839.9/month
    • 15 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing

Sage 50

$29/month
  • Pro Accounting$50/month
    • Core accounting
    • 1 user
    • Basic reports
  • Premium Accounting$85/month
    • 5 users
    • Job costing
    • Inventory

Which should you pick?

Choose Conta Azul if

  • You need electronic invoice issuance.
  • You also want receivables and payables.
Conta Azul review

Choose Sage 50 if

  • You need local company data file.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want nominal, sales and purchase ledgers.
Sage 50 review

Questions people ask

Is Conta Azul or Sage 50 better?
Neither clearly leads. Conta Azul starts at 239.9/month and Sage 50 at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Conta Azul or Sage 50?
Conta Azul starts at 239.9/month and Sage 50 at $29/month.
Does Conta Azul or Sage 50 run on more platforms?
Conta Azul runs on Web. Sage 50 runs on Windows.
What is Conta Azul best used for?
Conta Azul is most often used for a brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flow, a service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matching, a business whose accountant asks for organised records each month instead of a folder of documents, a small retailer or distributor needing basic stock control tied to the documents it already has to issue. Of those, a brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flow and a service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matching are not what Sage 50 is typically brought in for.
What can Conta Azul do that Sage 50 cannot?
Conta Azul covers Electronic invoice issuance, Receivables and payables, Boleto collection, Customer and supplier records. Sage 50 covers Local company data file, Nominal, sales and purchase ledgers, VAT and sales tax handling, Job and project costing. Both handle Bank reconciliation, Stock control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Conta Azul: Does Conta Azul do my tax filings?

No. It organises the operational and financial records and shares them with your accountant, who prepares and files the tax obligations. It is the record keeping layer, not the compliance filer.

Sage 50: Is Sage 50 cloud software?

No. The application runs on Windows and the ledger is a local file. The Sage 50cloud tiers add Microsoft 365 integration and a sync service for remote access, but the accounting itself is still desktop software.

Conta Azul: Can it issue service invoices for my city?

Coverage depends on your municipality, because each runs its own service invoice system. Check your specific city before subscribing, since a gap there is the difference between automation and manual issuance.

Sage 50: Can my accountant work in it?

Yes, and many accountants in the United Kingdom and the United States know it well. Practically they will either take a backup of the company file, or connect through the remote data access service, or work on a hosted copy. Agree which of those before you start.

Conta Azul: Why does the price depend on my revenue?

Plans are banded by turnover rather than purely by features or users. It keeps the entry price low for very small companies, but it means growth triggers a price change independent of how much of the product you use.

Sage 50: Does it still require an annual subscription?

Sage moved Sage 50 to subscription licensing, so continued access and tax table updates depend on an active subscription. Confirm what happens to your ability to open historical data if you stop paying.

Conta Azul: Will my accountant work in it?

Many Brazilian practices already do, and there is a dedicated accountant role. Ask your accountant before subscribing; if they work in a different product, the friction of running two systems usually falls on you.

Sage 50: Is the United Kingdom version the same product as the United States version?

No. They share a name and a heritage but they are different codebases with different tax handling. Buy the edition for the country where you file.

Conta Azul: Is it suitable if I leave the simplified tax regime?

It is built around smaller companies and the simplified regime. As the tax treatment becomes more complex, expect to outgrow it and to face a migration alongside a change of accounting complexity.

Sage 50: What about payroll?

Payroll is a separate Sage product with its own subscription and per employee cost. Budget for it separately rather than assuming the accounting subscription covers it.

Conta Azul: Is there an English interface?

It is a Brazilian product in Portuguese, aimed at Brazilian owners and accountants. Plan for Portuguese language operation.

Sage 50: How hard is it to move to a cloud system later?

Expect to convert opening balances and a limited window of transaction history rather than the full file, and to redo the chart of accounts, the customer and supplier records and any custom reports. Most businesses do it at a year end for that reason.

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