QuickBooks Online Pricing: How Much Does QuickBooks Cost for 2024?

QuickBooks Online’s pricing starts at just $3.50 per month for its Simple Start tier, but its costs can run as high as $23.50 per month for the QuickBooks Advanced plan. If you operate in a specific industry like hospitality, it might be worth exploring the best accounting software for hospitality businesses to find options tailored to your unique needs.

It’s worth noting, however, that these prices are part of a special deal that gets you 90% off for the first seven months. After that, the Simple Start tier goes back to the standard price, which is $35 per month, while the Advanced plan goes as high as $235 per month. On top of that, you’ll have to forego the 30-day free trial to get access to these lower prices.

How does QuickBooks Online’s pricing compare to competitors? FreshBooks starts at $19 per month (but is currently offering 70% off for four months), while Zoho Books boasts a free plan, and paid plans that start at $15 per month.

Read on for a breakdown of QuickBooks Online plans and costs, along with guidance on which package is right for your business. From pros and cons to hidden fees and add-ons, we’ll explain everything you need to know about this top-rated accounting software and its pricing.

In this guide:

• QuickBooks Online Pricing Plans
• Who Is QuickBooks Best For?
• QuickBooks Additional Fees
• QuickBooks Online vs QuickBooks Desktop
• Integrations & Payment Gateways
• Which QuickBooks Online Pricing Plan Is Right For Me?
• Our Methodology: How We Evaluated QuickBooks as the Best
• Verdict – Is QuickBooks Online Good Value?

QuickBooks Online Pricing Plans 2024

QuickBooks Online pricing offers five main plans, plus a host of add-ons for an extra monthly charge.

There are no contracts, monthly and annual payments cost the same, and all plans are available through a 30-day free trial, which is useful for letting potential customers try it out first. QuickBooks is also currently running a special deal: opt out of starting with the free trial, and you can get your first three months half price.

Here are the prices and features for each plan.

• Solopreneur Plan – $20 per month
  • best for freelancers
  • 90% off for 7 months
• Simple Start Plan – $35 per month
  • best for small businesses
  • 90% off for 7 months
• Essentials Plan – $65 per month
  • best for growing small businesses
  • 90% off for 7 months
• Plus Plan – $99 per month
  • best for mid-sized businesses  
  • 90% off for 7 months
• Advanced Plan – $230 per month
  • best for enterprises
  • 90% off for 7 months

QuickBooks Online Solopreneur plan

First, there’s the Solopreneur plan. Formerly the Self-Employed plan, this is available for just $10 per month — $20 per month after the first three months — and supports a single user.

This plan is designed for freelancers who file a Schedule C IRS form to report their income as sole proprietor.

Key features are the ability to track income and expenses, photograph and organize receipts, estimate quarterly taxes, send invoices, accept payments, create basic reports, and track miles on the mobile app. 61% of freelancers today say their biggest problem is landing clients, so streamlining their process can clear room in their schedule to pursue their next gig.

Features that are not included in the self-employed plan, but are available with the Simple Start plan, include sales and sales tax tracking, 1099 contractor management, and the ability to create and send estimates.

See how QuickBooks compares to a key rival in our QuickBooks vs FreshBooks head-to-head guide

The QuickBooks home dashboard provides comprehensive information about your business. Source: QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online Simple Start plan

The QuickBooks Simple Start plan costs $17.50 per month — $35 per month after the first three months — and also supports one user.

This plan is best for small businesses, whether an LLC run by just one individual or a simple partnership. It’ll help someone keep their accounting data in one place, although it doesn’t offer many bells and whistles that could be useful for a larger operation.

Simple Starts includes all the features from the Self-employed Plan but adds a range of helpful additions covering everything from basic bookkeeping to budgeting.

For example, you can start recording fixed assets. You can also create a supplier database and generate purchase orders to help manage your accounts payable.

Similarly, you can create a client database and track overdue client payments to keep on top of who owes you what.

Finally, you can start creating budgets and cash flow projections based on your client and supplier information.

You can create an unlimited number of invoices and estimates, track your expenses and manage up to 1,099 contractors. You can bring live bank feeds into your account and access a range of third-party integrations.

Reporting tools are available on the Simple Start plan but they are a bit limited. Vehicle tracking is included, too, should you need to invoice for fuel and driving time for any job.

QuickBooks makes expense tracking easier when you opt for the Essentials plan. Source: QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online Essentials plan

The Essentials plan costs $32.50 per month — $65 per month after the first three months — supports three users and brings a range of accounts payable functions to small businesses compared to the Simple Start plan. These prices rose in early 2024, when this plan cost just $30 per month.

The Essentials plan is a great fit for growing small businesses that have an increased number of suppliers, employees, and clients.

You’ll be able to track bills, set up recurring billing, track expenses, record payments in multiple currencies, and scan bills to keep abreast of all the money your company is owed.

Time tracking is another new feature this plan offers. With it, users can track their billable hours, categorizing them under the correct client and employee, while automatically adding them to invoices. These hours can be added by the manager manually, though the employee in question can also be given permission to add their hours themselves.

QuickBooks provides invoice templates, so you can charge your clients quickly without a lot of repeat work. Source: QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online Plus plan

The QuickBooks Plus plan costs $49.50 per month — $99 per month after the first three months — supports five users, and includes several advanced features compared to the Essentials plan.

The Plus plan is best for mid-sized businesses that need to manage the complexities of billable hours across a raft of clients, as well as any businesses with an inventory of products or a growing number of ongoing projects that would be tough to manage otherwise.

The ability to track project profitability is another big benefit to this plan: A project management feature gives users a single location to view all projects, letting them see any given project’s labor costs, payroll, and expenses, in order to efficiently track project profitability and generate reports.

Under the Plus plan, products and the cost of goods can also be managed, with automatic notifications signaling when certain inventory is low and needs to be reordered. Product data can be imported from Excel or synced with Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, and other platforms.

QuickBooks Online Advanced plan

The QuickBooks Advanced plan offers the most features for the highest cost: It’s $117.50 per month — $230 per month after the first three months — supporting 25 users.

QuickBooks Advanced is best for enterprise businesses with support for extra users and new features which help businesses operate more efficiently at scale.

For example, it brings a dedicated account manager, priority customer support, customer user permissions, and online training courses.

It also supports batch importing, to help a single user create, edit, and send multiple invoices, checks, expenses, or bills. You can also automate key accounting tasks such as setting reminders for invoices, payments, or deposits. You can automatically notify customers when their payments have been received and you can route invoices through pre-set approval flows.

You can track KPIs with in-depth analysis tools, consolidate data from multiple companies into singular reports, and compare different companies, clients, or franchises. You also get access to exclusive premium apps such as LeanLaw, HubSpot, DocuSign, Bill.com, Salesforce, and more.

QuickBooks works on both desktop and mobile devices, so you can do your accounting on the go. Source: QuickBooks

Who Is QuickBooks Best For?

Honestly, QuickBooks Online has a large potential customer base. It’s one of the most popular accounting software options in the world, and our researchers ranked it the highest overall, meaning that it’s the top pick for the average business, small or large.

More specifically, QuickBooks itself notes that the service is great for “a sole trader, a small business, a bookkeeper or an accountant,” offering features that are budget-friendly enough for small operations and robust enough to handle enterprise-level organizations.

Simply put, if you need a rock-solid, feature-packed accounting solution at a fair price, QuickBooks is the best. But other accounting tools come with slightly different strengths. Check out our QuickBooks vs Zoho Books guide to learn more.

QuickBooks Online Additional Fees and Features

That’s not all, folks: QuickBooks offers a host of useful add-ons for an extra monthly charge. First, there’s payroll processing, a function that’s hugely useful for a business with more than a few employees, but one that’s rarely included in an accounting software service’s main offering.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll pricing comes in three plans — Core, Premium, and Elite — with each offering more features than the previous one. These plans also come with the 90% off for the first seven months deal. Here are their features and standalone prices:

• Core – $25 per month, plus $6 per employee, per month. This plan does the basics: It automatically runs payroll, files payroll taxes, and offers employee services like health benefits and workers’ comp.
• Premium – $42.50 per month, plus $9 per employee, per month. This plan adds role-based access, same-day direct deposit, and automatic time tracking for more granular, yet still automated control over paychecks.
• Elite – $65 per month, plus $11 per employee, per month. This plan includes tax penalty protection and a professional to offer hands-on help with setting up and troubleshooting.

The plans can be upgraded at any time, so if you’re in doubt, start with Core and see if it works for your payroll needs.

The Core plan can also be packaged with either the Simple Start accounting plan for $42.50 per month plus $6 per employee, or the Essentials plan for $57.50 per month plus $5 per employee, and the Premium plan can be paired with the Plus plan for $92 per month plus $9 per employee.

QuickBooks also offers payroll functionality, but it will cost you a bit extra. Source: QuickBooks

QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping

Paying for software doesn’t fully keep your accounting on track: You’ll still need to know how to use QuickBooks properly in order to get the most out of it. The QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping service solves this issue by connecting businesses with a live, certified expert to keep their books in order. The expert will categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, create reports including an income statement and balance sheet, and close the books every month.

The custom price varies depending on the size of your business but should be somewhere between $200 and $600 per month.

QuickBooks Setup Fee

Worried about setting up your QuickBooks account? For just $50, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping will set you up with an expert for one session.

Setting up the software involves plenty of one-time tasks that you’ll want to get right the first time, like connecting your bank account and setting up a series of automated processes and templates. Through Live Bookkeeping, you’ll get a single one-on-one session that can clear up any questions and start your accounting software subscription off on the right foot.

QuickBooks Capital

Also available from the service is a lending program called QuickBooks Capital. Those with QuickBooks Online accounts are potentially eligible, though they’ll still need to qualify on the strength of their accounting history.

Tax Forms & Support

QuickBooks sells tax forms directly to its users for an extra cost that will vary depending on which state your business is located within. They also sell some as kits, which come with the correct envelopes too. Here’s which forms you’ll likely need:

• W-2 kits
• 1099 kits
• W-3
• 1096

QuickBooks has also stopped allowing users to file their sales taxes online through the service. You’ll need to file business taxes manually and update your QuickBooks account with the information afterward.

Some Payroll plans include printed forms at no additional cost. The Premium and Elite plans also support automatic filings for state new hire paperwork.

Checks

QuickBooks also sells physical checks. You can buy:

• Standard checks – Starting at $60.98 for 50
• Wallet Checks – Starting at $47.07 for 50
• Manual Checks – Starting at $70.79 for 300
• Secure Plus Personal Checks – Starting at $42.79 for 120
• Voucher Checks – Starting at $71.68 for 50
• Office and Away Checks – Starting at $113.74 for 250

Are they worth getting? Well, they’re far pricier than many other vendors selling similar checks, so likely not.

However, the “Secure” brand of checks offer in-depth fraud protection measures that may justify the price, provided you anticipate security risks at your business.

You can buy branded checks directly from QuickBooks. Source: QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online Pricing vs. Competitor Pricing

QuickBooks Online isn’t perfect for every business, but how does its pricing compare to the costs charged by its competitors?

FreshBooks’ pricing starts at $17 per month, so it costs a little less than QuickBooks’ $20-per-month plan. FreshBooks stands out for a great set of features, but it does not offer the payroll processing or advanced tools that QuickBooks has.

Zoho Books is a top choice for small and growing businesses. Zoho Books has a free plan, while QuickBooks does not, and both Zoho Books and QuickBooks offer a large range of features on their higher-priced plans.

However, Zoho Books plans (after the free one) tend to be equal to or more expensive than comparable QuickBooks plans: Zoho’s popular plans cost $15, $40, and $60 per month, compared to QuickBook’s $17.50, $32.50, and $49.50 per month costs.

Some of Xero’s plans cost less than QuickBooks’ plans, but most do not. Xero’s plans cost $13, $37, and $70 per month, compared to the QuickBooks $17.50, $32.50, and $49.50 per month plans.

Before we dive into the details of each QuickBooks plan and its value, here’s a look at the latest accounting software deals and discounts from the biggest and best QuickBooks alternatives on the market.

QuickBooks Online vs QuickBooks Desktop

At the most basic level, QuickBooks Online is the cloud-based version of QuickBooks. All your data is stored in QuickBooks’ cloud and you’ll be able to access it anywhere on any device. QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, is locally installed with a license pricing model.

However, there are a serious of other changes which are worth considering. For instance, with QuickBooks Online, your security is handled by QuickBooks. However, as QuickBooks Desktop is locally installed, you’ll be responsible for your own data security.

QuickBooks Online has a monthly pricing structure — you pick the right plan and then pay every month for the service. QuickBooks Desktop, however, has a three-year license, or you can pay for yearly updates.

QuickBooks Online allows up to 25 users on its most expensive plans. However, the QuickBooks Desktop Pro requires you to pay $299 for every additional user, up to a maximum of three. Desktop Premier and Enterprise, meanwhile, allow up to five and 30 users, respectively.

QuickBooks Online also offers more automation features, which might be a better fit for small businesses — the more tasks you can delegate to the software, the more efficient your business will be. QuickBooks Desktop also has a more dated and harder-to-navigate UI than QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online Integrations & Payment Gateways

Any sized business has paperwork, even just a single freelancer. But with the right accounting or invoicing software for small businesses, filing tax information can be a simple and streamlined process. QuickBooks makes this process even easier thanks to a huge range of integrations and plug-ins you can use, with familiar names such as PayPal, Shopify and MailChimp all present and accounted for.

QuickBooks Online Integrations

QuickBooks’ range of over 650 integrations will help you connect your account to useful third-party apps and services. Perhaps you’ve already used some, like Google’s G Suite or Microsoft’s 365, or perhaps you just need to be able to accomplish something that QuickBooks doesn’t support. Whatever the case, the right integration will make your business operations even more streamlined.

Here’s a quick, non-exhaustive list of the most popular QuickBooks Online integrations, how they work, and how much they cost:

• PayPal — free — import PayPal sales, fees, taxes, tips, and discounts into QuickBooks as well as generate sales receipts.
• Square — free — import transactions into QuickBooks, review transactions and support multiple locations.
• Shopify — starting at $30 — automatically brings your sales data into QuickBooks.
• TSheets (now QuickBooks Time) — starting at $8 per user per month plus $20 per month base fee — access accurate employee time tracking for easy payroll.
• Fathom — starting at $44 per month — adds extra analysis tools and metrics to see how your business is performing.
• Gusto — starting at $40 per month plus $6 per month, per employee — payroll automation tool with automatic federal, state, and local tax filings.
• MailChimp — $7.99 — automatically updates new and changed customer records from your QuickBooks records.
• Housecall Pro — starting at $49 per month — allows you to easily keep track of jobs and customers with scheduling, dispatch, CRM, and automatic estimates and invoices.

Check out our guide to the best CRM for QuickBooks integration to learn more

QuickBooks offers a wide range of third-party integrations to make the platform an all-in-one hub for business. Source: QuickBooks Support

QuickBooks Online Payment Gateways

QuickBooks also offers connections to a variety of online payment processing services. PayPal and Square are included, as our integrations section above touches on, while Stripe and Authorize.Net are two more potential payment services.

In total, QuickBooks Online supports around 25 payment processors. If you’d prefer to keep it in-house, there’s QuickBooks Payments, which supports a variety of payment mediums, each with a different transaction fee:

• 1% charge for ACH transfers, up to a maximum of $10
• 2.4% + $0.25 for swiped cards
• 2.9% + $0.25 for invoices
• 3.4% + $0.25 for keyed-in cards

Supported credit cards include Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and Apple Pay.

Which QuickBooks Online Pricing Plan Is Right For Me?

Your business size and structure will determine which QuickBooks Online plan is best. If you’re a single freelancer, you won’t need to manage any other employees, and you won’t need to track many sales (if any) – so the Self-Employed Plan is best for you. We’ve ranked the best self-employed accounting software, and QuickBooks is at the top.

If you’re a small business looking for accounting software, you might want the Simple Start Plan, which allows you to create and manage invoices, estimates, bills, and sales taxes.

Once your business is large enough to require more automation and more employees, the Plus Plan likely makes sense, as it allows for recurring payments in addition to time tracking. It also includes inventory tracking, making it a must for an operation that sells more than a few products. Due in part to these reasons, QuickBooks is our pick for the best hospitality accounting software.

Finally, there’s the QuickBooks Advanced plan. This option is best for large businesses that could benefit from the extra support features, like a dedicated manager or virtual training classes.

Our Methodology: How We Evaluated QuickBooks Online Pricing

To accurately compare top accounting software, the Tech.co research team picked out the eight core categories to divide their efforts along, from help and support to accounts payable tools.

But for this guide, one of those categories was deemed the most important: “Pricing Factors,” the research category that covers price plans and the features included with each, as well as free trials or demos, deals, add-ons, and hidden costs. By comparing plan costs with the number and quality of features they provide, our team could determine whether the ratio of features to price made the plan a good deal or not.

Our team ranked all the best accounting solutions using a points system for each category. Once they were done, they compiled all category scores for each brand into a single 5-point score. This allows us to rank each software in comparison to the rest while tracking each and every feature. Once the dust had cleared, the winner was QuickBooks with a top score of 4.7 points overall.

QuickBooks Online Pricing FAQs